12Dec
In my previous post about installing Citrix XenClient 2.1 without having a DVD-drive in the computer, I showed you how to create a USB key with the content of the installation media. Now I have Citrix XenClient installed and I’m ready to create and install my virtual machines. Although I still don’t have a DVD-drive attached to my laptop, so I need to find a different way of installing my VM’s. Most of the operating system installation media I download from Internet as ISO-file. So it would be nice if Citrix XenClient could use those ISO’s, so we only have to select the ISO in order to start the installation of the VM. Before you can use ISO directly in Citrix XenClient we have to make some changes to the system first. Citrix XenClient can only use the ISO’s if they are located on the local hard-drive in the folder /storage/isos. The problem is that we don’t have remote access to that folder, so there is no way to transfer the ISO from a Windows machine to the Citrix XenClient machine. In order to make it possible to access the hardrive remotely we need to enable SSH in Citrix XenClient first.
- Open a terminal window by pressing Ctrl-t Citrix XenClient window. This will open a terminal window.
- In the terminal window enter: touch /config/ssh_enabled
- Reboot XenClient
After Citrix XenClient is rebooted, we are checking the IP address. We need the IP address later.
- Open the terminal window again by pressing Ctrl-t Citrix XenClient window.
- Type ‘ifconfig | less’
- The network adapter brbridged is the console’s listening IP. Remember or write down this IP address.
Now you have enabled SSH on you Citrix XenClient machine. Now we are able to connect remotely to the Citrix XenClient and copy the ISO to the local hard-drive. The only thing we need to do is to make sure we have a file-transfer tool which supports SSH, so we can transfer the ISO over SSH.
- Download WinSCP or use a file transfer utility of your choice. Make sure it can connect over SSH.
- Connect to the IP address which you did look up in the previous step (brbridged).
- Enter credentials of the root account if you have set them within Citrix XenClient.
- Transfer the ISO-file from your local hard-drive to the hard-drive of XenClient. Make sure you put the ISO-file in the /storage/ISOs/ folder. This is the only way Citrix XenClient can use the ISO. You will notice that there is already a ISO called xc-tools.iso within the folder.
- After you have uploaded the ISO to the harddrive of the Citrix XenClient machine, you need to press CTRL+q in the homescreen of Citrix XenClient. This will refresh the information visible in Citrix XenClient.
- You can create a new VM. Before starting the VM, make sure you select the right ISO from the Tools CD drop-down menu in the properties of the VM.
- Also check that the boot order is set correctly, so the DVD-drive is started up before the harddrive starts.
- Now the install of the VM will start.
You can also use this guide to upload a ISO-file to install applications to your VM. Enjoy using Citrix XenClient!
09Dec
Tonight I needed to install Citrix XenClient 2.1 to a HP EliteBook 2760p. We would like to show our customers the new features of Citrix XenClient 2.1, so we arranged the HP Tablet for demonstration’s. I took the laptop with me and first thing I did was unpacking the laptop and started the download of the latest version of Citrix XenClient. While unpacking the Tablet I noticed that a DVD/CD drive was not available. So I had to make a decision; install with USB key or over the network (PXE). Because the USB key was the closest solution I started with that. The first thing you will see, when you take a look at the ISO-file you have downloaded, is that you can only create a USB key when you use a linux-based OS to create the bootable installation media. I do not have any Linux-based operating systems in my home network, so I needed to find a solution to extract the content of the ISO to my USB key and make it bootable with a Linux MBR. After a while I found a working solution. To safe you some time I would like to share my steps with you. Hopefully they will help you with installing Citrix XenClient 2.1 by a USB key.
- First of all make sure that you have downloaded the Citrix XenClient 2.1 Installation media. You can click here to download the ISO.
- Download the Universal-USB-Installer by clicking here.
- After the download is complete, start the Universal-USB-Installer.
- Accept the license agreement first.
- Click the drop-down menu under Step 1 and select “Try unlisted Linux ISO (New Syslinux)”.
- Click the drop-down menu under Step 2 and select the location of the Citrix XenClient 2.1 ISO.
- Click the drop-down menu under Step 3 and select the driveletter of the USB key you want to use for the installation.
- Check the box “Format <Driveletter USB> Drive (Erases Content).
- Click Create.
- The software will warn you that you are about to erase the content of you USB key. Click Yes within this warning.
The Universal-USB-Installer will create the USB key for you. During this process you will notice that the software uses 7zip to extract the ISO to the USB key. After the USB key is created you can close down the software and remove the USB key from the system.
Before you start the installation make sure you have made the necessary changes to the systems BIOS, in order to enable all the requirements for Citrix XenClient to run. In this case I needed to set the following BIOS settings on the HP EliteBook 2760p:
- Under System Configuration > Device Configurations > Check if the SATA Device Mode is set to AHCI.
- Under System Configuration > Device Configurations > Check “Virtualization Technology”.
- Under System Configuration > Device Configurations > Check “Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O”.
- Under System Configuration > Device Configurations > Check if the TXT Technology is set to Disable.
With these BIOS settings configured the setup can install Citrix XenClient 2.1 onto you system. Don’t worry if your BIOS settings are not configured correctly, because the installation will run a pre-installation check to make sure the correct BIOS settings are made. This will give you the option to correct the BIOS settings before continuing the installation.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Citrix XenClient 2.1. Enjoy it!
07Jul
Yesterday Citrix released the beta of Provisioning Services 6.0. In this version the focus is on improving the image management process. Some of the new or improved features in Provisioning Services 6.0:
- Integrated vDisk Version Management: Allows you to create and manage versions directly within the Provisioning Services Console. Versions can be targeted specific groups of devices facilitating the image lifecycle flow through maintenance, test, and production. In addition, versions are maintained as difference files, conserving storage space.
- Automated vDisk Updates: Allows you to define recurring scheduled tasks that automate the process of vDisk patching using tools like Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).
- Support for vDisk Replication: Allows you to safely use replication solutions like Microsoft DFS Replication to distribute vDisks across multiple servers or geographic locations. Provisioning Servers will maintain an inventory of available vDisks and versions and adjust load balancing as needed to ensure sessions are only assigned to servers that have access to the required vDisk/version.
The beta will run through July and August and is open to Citrix partners and existing customers who have Provisioning Services licenses, or Enterprise or Platinum XenDesktop, XenApp, or XenServer licenses. Provisioning Services 6.0 is compatible with XenDesktop 5 and SP1, XenApp 6, and XenServer 5.6, FP1, and SP2.
14Feb
Last night I received a message from our RESGuru Max about the Cause and Effect sheet I published in January. RESGuru delivered a new version of the sheet including the Cause and Effects from Workspace Manager 2011.
Here you can download v1.5 of the sheet: WM-Cause-and-Effect-V15
The article on the RESGuru site can be viewed by clicking here.
To compare the sheet you can find the origional article about v1.4 here.
Thanks to Max for sharing the new version with us!
11Jan
Today I found out that RESguru wrote a tech-note regarding the Cause and Effect chart for RES Workspace Manager. This chart describes the different effects in the user session and when they are applied to the user. The events are categorized in the same structure the RES Workspace Manager Console is build up. By using this sheet you can easily determine if it’s necessary for a user to logoff and logon or that a refresh of the workspace is enough. Here you can see a picture from a small part of the sheet:
You can found the original post here.
If you are looking for a copy of the chart you can download it here.
Thanks to RESguru for sharing this information with us!
30Nov
Tonight I did read a article on the blog from RES Software explaining the Zero Profiling technology and the way RES Software’ Powerfuse and Workspace Automation is handling this technology. Powerfuse saves application specific information in the homedirectory from the users. When you look at the Pwrmenu folder for the first time, you will notice that Powerfuse handles his own filetypes for saving information.
Their are three filetypes you can find in the Pwrmenu folder:
.upf: in this file type the global User Preferences are stored
.upr2: in this file type application specific HKCU registry settings are being store
.upf2: in this file type application specific files are being stored (i.e. placing a favorite shortcut in your Internet Explorer)
Before the extension you will find a GUID. This GUID is the same GUID which is generated when you add a managed application to Powerfuse. Look at the managed application to check the GUID and follow the rules about the extension. A combination of those two will supply every administrator with a new method of troubleshooting.
Read more in this article on the RES Software Blog.
15Oct
The big moment! The exam. Five days of training and some evenings to learn. I have started the exam with my best effort. After the exam there were no test results on my computer. Just ‘Thanks for completing the course and exam.’. So no results? Let’s find out what the exam coordinator has to tell. She confirmed that I have passed my exam with 80 %!!!!
YEAY I’m Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator for Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008!
15Oct
Today we have looked at the module Printers. Citrix has it’s own printing facility in XenApp 5.0 and within that facility it is possible to replicate drivers across your farm, by comparing the list with printers with other servers. There is also a way to create a whitelist of drivers, so need to worry about drivers which are installed accedently. At last we looked at the registry to finetune some settings with printdrivers and the print-routing settings.
And then the last moments before the exam. Preparations are necessary for us to pass the exam. We have learned a lot about the advanced features in XenApp 5.0. Hopefully we will pass the test without problems. To be continued. I will publish my results.
14Oct
A new day in the classroom. We have talked about optimizing and troubleshooting clients, sessions, the Web Interface and the Secure Gateway. A lot of information in one day, but we have survived. What can we say about the clients? Just use the right client and if you have a locked-down terminal, use the Java client. This will render a client for Citrix thru the Java client. Essential is keeping you Java client up-to-date. Monitoring and troubleshooting sessions can be achieved on a easy base by implementing Citrix Edgesight. When you have the Platinum license model of Citrix, it is free of use. Remember that a SQL database is required, so it could cost some money.
Monitoring and optimizing is possible through he Access Management Console under the Web Interface node. Under that node a several settings can be applied and in the web directory from the Web Interface we can make of a troubleshooting options. Be careful with editing the source files from the Web Interface. This can make the Web Interface not working anymore.
In the last part of the day we have talked about de Secure Gateway. We went through the process of connecting to a Secure Gateway and how to monitor the connection. Also setting up a secure connection to the Secure Gateway was part of the day.
At the end of the day we reviewed the modules from the previous training days, because we have planned the exam for tomorrow. Now I will continue studying all of the modules and look forward to the exam. Hopefully I can tell you that I’m CCAA after tomorrow. To be continued!
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