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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
If you want to effectively deploy the various components of Citrix XenApp to create an enterprise environment for application and desktop delivery, this hands-on guide is perfect for you. You start off by understanding the need and benefits of Citrix XenApp with respect to Virtualization technology. After this, you will get to grips with the requirement analysis and designing aspect of building XenApp systems and all the necessary installation and configuration procedures for Citrix XenApp, StoreFront and NetScalar Gateway are explained one by one in detail.
Step-by-step, you will learn to deploy your first XenApp with the Machine Creation Services method and Provisioning Services method. After this, you will explore the administering part of applications and systems, followed by printing in the XenApp environment. Next, you will learn all the trips and tricks required to troubleshoot and support the XenApp environment. By the end of this book, you will be ready to go live with your new XenApp environment.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
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Table of Contents
Getting Started with Citrix XenApp® 7.6
Getting Started with Citrix XenApp® 7.6
Copyright © 2015 Packt Publishing
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Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: November 2015
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Notice
The statements made and opinions expressed herein belong exclusively to the author and reviewers of this publication, and are not shared by or represent the viewpoint of Citrix Systems®, Inc. This publication does not constitute an endorsement of any product, service, or point of view. Citrix® makes no representations, warranties or assurances of any kind, express or implied, as to the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability, availability, or currency of the content contained in this publication or any material related to this publication. Any reliance you place on such content is strictly at your own risk. In no event shall Citrix®, its agents, officers, employees, licensees, or affiliates be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of profits, business information, or loss of information) arising out of the information or statements contained in the publication, even if Citrix® has been advised of the possibility of such loss or damages.
Citrix®, Citrix Systems®, XenApp®, XenDesktop®, and CloudPortal™ are trademarks of Citrix Systems®, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
Some of the images in the chapters are taken from the Citrix® website and documentation.
Credits
Author
Konstantin Cvetanov
Reviewers
Markus Darda
Shankha Mukherjee
Commissioning Editor
Usha Iyer
Acquisition Editors
Manish Nainani
Llewellyn Rozario
Content Development Editor
Kirti Patil
Technical Editor
Rahul C. Shah
Copy Editor
Sonia Cheema
Project Coordinator
Kranti Berde
Proofreader
Safis Editing
Indexer
Mariammal Chettiyar
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Nilesh Mohite
Cover Work
Nilesh Mohite
About the Author
Konstantin Cvetanov is a principal architect at ProSys Information Systems, which is one of only ten Citrix National Partners in the United States. He designs, implements, and supports enterprise virtualization systems and end user computing solutions for Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries. Before he joined ProSys, he worked for Citrix as an escalation engineer, fixing production outages on a daily basis and participating in the development and testing of the latest Citrix product releases and patches. Besides his experience inside and outside the Citrix organization, he has his own technical blog at http://www.pvsguy.com, where most frequently, he writes about Provisioning Server, XenApp, and XenDesktop.
From the rest of the Citrix products, he is very passionate about NetScaler. Beyond this, he is a cloud enthusiast with a strong passion for automation and troubleshooting methodologies. He is very interested in the transition from private to hybrid and public clouds. In his spare time, he enjoys reading about robotics and artificial intelligence.
About the Reviewers
Markus Darda is the owner of MD Consultancy (Germany) and DaComp GmbH (Switzerland). As a Senior Citrix Engineer and Architect, he works for enterprise customers in Europe where he designs and implements Citrix (XenApp and XenDesktop) environments based on different hypervisors. As a Citrix and Microsoft trainer, he also teaches about Microsoft server and Citrix products to customers who reside in Europe. He works for Citrix as a subject matter expert (SME) for different courseware and exams as well.
He has worked for German companies, such as LANXESS and T-Systems, Koenen en Co in the Netherlands, and companies in Switzerland, Sweden, and Norway.
Markus has worked on different Citrix courseware and has also reviewed Citrix XenApp 7.5 Desktop Virtualization Solutions.
Shankha Mukherjee has over 8 years of experience in the IT industry. He is currently working as a Windows L2 engineer at Accenture Services Pvt. Ltd., supporting client infrastructure for Windows, Citrix, and VMware architecture. He is currently working on a project to migrate and transform the applications/servers/databases from legacy to new generation datacenter environment for clients.
He has a BTech degree in information technology. Previously, he reviewed Getting Started with Citrix XenApp® 6.5 and Citrix® XenApp® 6.5 Expert Cookbook, both by Packt Publishing.
I would like to thank Packt Publishing and its team for providing this wonderful opportunity and I definitely look forward to more such opportunities. A special thanks to Kranti Berde for her cooperation and for patiently bearing me.
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To my wife, Ljubinka - I am forever grateful for your love and support.
To my daughter, Yoana - daddy is truly blessed to have you in his life.
To my brother, Daniel - your youth is your gift…make it count.
Preface
Getting Started with Citrix XenApp® 7.6 is a beginner's book that is based on the latest version of the Citrix XenApp product. It is aimed at providing an introduction to application virtualization and is a step-by-step implementation guide for Citrix administrators, system engineers, and consultants. Leveraging his expertise both as a consulting architect and a former Citrix escalation engineer, the author takes an end-to-end approach to the XenApp deployment by incorporating components, such as NetScaler and Provisioning Services, to lay the foundation for an enterprise-focused solution.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, Why Citrix XenApp® – Making the Case for App Virtualization, aims at explaining the benefits of Citrix XenApp in the context of the latest trends in the field of virtualization technology. It will help you adopt the ideas presented to you and justify the Citrix solution to your management team.
Chapter 2, Designing a Citrix® Solution to Fit Your Needs, explains that even though system architecture is suitable for a more advanced-level book, some design knowledge is needed in order to be able to build a relevant XenApp system that meets the needs of your IT enterprise. In this chapter, you will learn how to create a simple design of a Citrix solution that meets your business needs.
Chapter 3, Preparing Your System for XenApp® Deployment, explains the various methods of deployment and system requirements that need to be in place before deploying XenApp.
Chapter 4, Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp®, covers how to install the Citrix XenApp solution and perform initial configurations.
Chapter 5, Installing and Configuring Citrix® StoreFront™, provides a walkthrough of the steps needed to install and configure StoreFront in order to present XenApp resources to end users.
Chapter 6, Installing and Configuring NetScaler Gateway™, provides a walkthrough of the steps needed to install and configure NetScaler Gateway in order to provide end users with remote access to their published applications.
Chapter 7, Load Balancing with Citrix® NetScaler®, provides a brief overview of Citrix NetScaler and how a load balancing implementation fits into the XenApp deployment.
Chapter 8, Building Your First XenApp® Farm – Machine Creation Services, covers the first steps involved in deploying a XenApp farm using the Machine Creation Services method.
Chapter 9, Building Your First XenApp® Farm – Provisioning Services™, covers the first steps involved in deploying a XenApp farm using the Provisioning Services method.
Chapter 10, Administering a XenApp® Environment – Application Management, introduces an IT administrator to the XenApp administration (specifically, application publishing and management of the newly built XenApp system).
Chapter 11, Administering a XenApp® Environment – Server Management, introduces an IT administrator to administration and maintenance of XenApp servers and Delivery Controllers.
Chapter 12, Printing, is dedicated to explaining how printing works in a XenApp environment and deploying Citrix Group Policies to satisfy printing needs.
Chapter 13, Troubleshooting Tools, Tips, and Tricks, introduces basic and advanced troubleshooting techniques and teaches you how to leverage Citrix and third-party tools to support the XenApp environment.
Chapter 14, The Big Day – Going Live with Citrix XenApp®, provides a prelaunch checklist and best practice recommendations on rolling the XenApp environment out to production.
What you need for this book
This is based on the Citrix XenApp 7.6 Platinum edition and all its associated components, including StoreFront 2.6, Provisioning Services 7.6, and License Server 11.12. As part of an enterprise deployment, important products, such as NetScaler 10.5 and SQL Server, are explored. In order to conduct an implementation, in addition to the XenApp 7.6 installation media, you will need access to Microsoft Windows 2012 (trial versions are acceptable for a temporary Proof of Concept).
Who this book is for
This book is intended for IT administrators and consultants who want to build application and desktop virtualization solutions for their employers and customers. No prior knowledge of Citrix technologies is required.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Create a new folder called C:\SSL on the Delivery Controller and save the file there."
A block of code is set as follows:
Any command-line input or output is written as follows:
New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, appear in the text like this: "Upon launching the VM creation wizard, under Template, scroll down and select Windows Server 2012 (64-bit)."
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Tip
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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Chapter 1. Why Citrix XenApp® – Making the Case for App Virtualization
Whether we like it or not, change is upon us. The evolution in technology has changed the way we work, learn, and live. In fact, the world has become so data driven that we can subscribe to any type of data we want and receive it through our laptop or mobile device at any given location and time. In order to make all of this possible, something else had to be transformed—information technology. Nothing amazes me more than the change we've experienced in IT over the past 15 years. With the advancement of wireless communications, virtualization, cloud computing, and software-defined networking, IT organizations have had to adapt faster than ever to new demands from end users and management teams alike, while getting accustomed to a permanently steep learning curve. Amidst all these changes experienced in the technology sector, a company called Citrix (formerly known as Xitrix in the early 90s) took a simple and very intuitive concept and transformed it into an industry standard—and this is the mobile workstyle. Enabling companies to allow their employees to work from anywhere (and eventually on any device they want), while saving big on hardware and without compromising security—sounds too good to be true? Well, it's here to stay. The big question is how you transform your existing IT infrastructure that has no Citrix software installed on it into a complete and production-ready Citrix solution that will boost the productivity of your users, save unnecessary expense for your management team, and minimize administration efforts for the IT department. Hopefully, you will find the answer you are looking for in this book, and you will enjoy the journey in the meantime.
In this chapter, you will learn about the following topics related to Citrix virtualization:
Understanding virtualization
Before we dive into application virtualization with Citrix XenApp, it is important to make sure we have a fundamental understanding of virtualization. This is not meant to be a by-the-book definition, and generally, most definitions in this book will target your common sense and intuition rather than your ability to memorize dry material. If you are an experienced virtualization engineer, feel free to skip this section.
So, what is hardware virtualization? In a broader sense, it is the unlocking of the OS layer from the underlying physical hardware, making it possible to run multiple OSes (also referred as guest OSes) on top of a single hardware entity. Let's take, for example, a rack server. In a traditional IT infrastructure, we would ship the rack to our data center (or server room), install Windows 2012 R2 on it, and enable Internet Information Services (IIS) to run a web server. In this one-on-one relationship, we run a single instance of an OS and a single server role on a physical machine. So, if we require twenty web servers to manage our website, in a traditional environment, we would need to purchase twenty physical servers. Instead, if we decide to virtualize our workloads, we can install a piece of software, known as a hypervisor, onto our rack server that can run multiple guest OSes or VMs. We can now scale up and build many web servers on this single hypervisor, provided that it has sufficient processors and RAM. Since we have installed this software into bare metal and not on top of another OS, this is known as a Type-1 hypervisor. Citrix XenServer and VMware ESX are examples of Type-1 hypervisors. However, our options do not end here. If we decide to install a traditional OS, such as Windows 2012 R2 or Linux RedHat, onto our rack, we can then place a hypervisor on top of the OS and run multiple VMs. This is defined as a Type-2 hypervisor. Sun VirtualBox and VMware Workstation are examples of Type-2 hypervisors.
Most hypervisor platforms have a Graphical User Interface (GUI), which makes administration of guest OSes extremely efficient as you have your entire environment in the palm of your hand. Examples of management consoles are XenCenter (for Citrix XenServer), vSphere (for VMware ESX), and SCVMM (for Microsoft Hyper-V). Hypervisor installation and configuration is beyond the scope of this book. VM configurations, however, will be covered in Chapter 2, Designing a Citrix® Solution to Fit Your Needs, to the extent that they are relevant to the Citrix XenApp design. The following diagram illustrates the layout of Type-1 and Type-2 hypervisors:
Application virtualization
Now that we have a better understanding of hardware virtualization, we can focus on application virtualization. App virtualization is similar to hardware virtualization in the sense that the upper layer is separated from its underlying components. The former, however, entails the isolation of an application from its original OS and the application itself is presented to the end user as if it were native to their device regardless of the OS in use. For instance, Betty can launch a Windows-based accounting app from her Linux home computer, but this app actually runs on a server in the data center and not locally on her machine. This way, she can use any device she wants in order to fill out her spreadsheets and this application never gets exposed to any potential security threats from her device because it never actually executes on her machine. This is the key concept behind application virtualization that is addressed by the Citrix XenApp solution in an enterprise environment. One of many other use cases is running 32-bit apps on a 64-bit endpoint OS. This comes in very handy for financial services companies and healthcare institutions that rely heavily on legacy applications that are not being updated on a regular basis. However, what if Betty wants the full desktop experience instead of individual application instances? In this case, IT can assign a Windows 2012 R2 desktop to her that multiple other users share at the same time. Technically, this is referred to as desktop virtualization; however, in the context of Citrix and Microsoft, it is accomplished by the same product suite—Citrix XenApp in conjunction with Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (formerly known as Terminal Services).
Understanding Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) from Microsoft is an essential platform and a requirement for app virtualization via Citrix XenApp. It is a role in Windows 2012 Server that enables users to share a physical or virtual desktop located in the data center over the network via the Microsoft proprietary RDP protocol. Every user in an RDS environment needs an RDS license in order to use a remote desktop or application. RDS licensing can be per user or per device. These are also known as Client Access Licenses (CALs). Commonly, organizations employ a per user license, which allows one user to have access to all the instances of a particular product (for example, RD hosts), while device licenses make sense in an environment where multiple users connect to a single RD Host from the same computer (for example, shift workers using kiosks, and so on). So, you may find yourself wondering why you need Citrix in the first place when you can deliver remote apps and desktops to your users by simply configuring RDS on a Windows 2012 server. A lot has been said about the two products and the main arguments in favor of Citrix XenApp are the level of granularity involved in configuring and administering the environment, the security of the Citrix proprietary Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol, and the endpoint device support. Currently, 95% of Fortune 500 companies use XenApp to deliver applications and desktops to their end users, and Citrix has been focused on developing its virtualization portfolio for well over a decade with cloud networking and mobility products recently acquired to complete the circle of workspace transformation.
Introducing Citrix XenApp®
XenApp 7.6 (formerly known as Presentation Server, MetaFrame, and WinFrame) is an application virtualization software built to deliver a secure and highly-customizable set of applications and desktops to end users regardless of their location or endpoint device type. XenApp's Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) is installed on an RDS-enabled Windows Server OS, while the XenApp environment (also known as a farm or site) is managed by a Delivery Controller installed on a separate non-RDS Windows server. The applications can be installed on the XenApp VDA server, and a client software called Citrix Receiver needs to be deployed on the user's endpoint device to enable application launching. We will explore the XenApp architecture in further detail in Chapter 2, Designing a Citrix® Solution to Fit Your Needs, but, for now, it is important to remember (much like other enterprise software) that there is a management component (also known as a controller or broker) and a delivery agent. The communication between the two is vital for an operational environment. The following diagram illustrates the conceptual architecture of XenApp:
The XenApp conceptual architecture available at http://www.citrix.com/. © Citrix Systems, Inc.
XenApp 7.6 uses a proprietary Citrix communication protocol called ICA. ICA transmits data intercepted by XenApp from an application running on the server to the Citrix Receiver on the client device over standard network protocols, such as TCP/IP and, formerly, IPX/SPX. From the client side, when a user interacts with the application (for example, a mouse movement or keyboard input), the Receiver software on the client device circulates the traffic back to the application running on the XenApp server. Multiple virtual channels exist within the ICA protocol, such as multimedia, printing, USBs, smart cards, and others. These virtual channels define various functions within the ICA stream and different settings can be applied to control their impact based on the requirements of the environment. In Chapter 11, Administering a XenApp® Environment – Server Management, we will go into further details regarding Citrix group policies that can be implemented to manage application security and user experience. The following diagram illustrates the ICA protocol and virtual channels:
ICA protocol and virtual channels available at http://www.support.citrix.com. © Citrix Systems, Inc.
Citrix XenApp 7.6 uses the FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA), which is conceptually the same model used by Citrix XenDesktop. In fact, in 2013, Citrix merged the XenApp and XenDesktop technologies into a single delivery platform under the umbrella of XenDesktop 7.0. Starting with XenDesktop 7.0, you could deliver both applications and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) from a single pane of glass. However, less than a year later, Citrix reintroduced XenApp as a standalone licensed product, which once again used the same integrated management model as XenDesktop FMA. You do not have to purchase XenDesktop licenses in order to use XenApp. The latter can also be deployed on both virtual machines and physical servers depending on the nature of the existing infrastructure.
Design transformation in 7.x
Older versions of XenApp, such as 6.5, have a completely different design than 7.x releases. Pre-7.x XenApp uses Independent Management Architecture (IMA) as its operational platform. Citrix has since moved away from IMA and onto FMA, which is a more service-oriented multiproduct platform. If you've had previous experience with XenApp, you will find that 7.5 and 7.6 have a completely different look and feel than older versions. There have been significant changes in administration as well. Here are some examples of architectural modifications in 7.x:
New features in XenApp® 7.6
XenApp 7.6 offers features that were either absent in 7.5 but present in 6.5 or nonexistent in previous versions altogether. Here is a list of the main new functions that can be enabled in 7.6:
Application delivery models in XenApp® 7.6
Citrix enables you to deliver resources to end users in a variety of ways. Which model fits your environment best will depend on the business purpose of your solution. There are three methods for application delivery via XenApp—hosted apps, streamed apps, and hosted shared desktops. Let's have a look at them:
The XenDesktop model allows a user to have a dedicated OS and not share resources with other users by delivering a desktop to the user. The desktop can be pooled or private. Pooled desktops are nonpersistent and any changes made by the user outside of their profile are not retained upon reboot. Dedicated desktops are also assigned to a single user. All changes made by the user to the underlying system are retained after a reboot much like a physical computer when a personal vDisk is configured for users. Bear in mind that this approach is only available if you have a XenDesktop concurrent or user/device license.
The user logon process
In this section, we will explore the user logon process in XenApp in a hosted app scenario. As explained earlier, the true power of XenApp is that a user can launch a variety of remote applications running in a server environment at any time on any device. This is a brief overview of how the traditional logon process in XenApp 7.6 works:
Now, let's take a look at how the Citrix infrastructure makes the aforementioned transaction possible on the backend:
Note
With XenApp 7.6, the session prelaunch and lingering features can be leveraged to reduce wait times for the application to start by shifting profile load, GPO processing, and logon scripts to an earlier time. The benefits and functionality of these features are demonstrated in Chapter 10, Administering a XenApp® Environment – Application Management.
Citrix® licensing
An entire book can be written on licensing a Citrix environment, its underlying components, and how to make the best decision on what license to purchase. To sum up, three product editions are available for XenApp—Advanced, Enterprise, and Platinum. Advanced offers a basic set of features required to build an application virtualization solution, such as the ability to publish apps and desktops. Enterprise and Platinum provide a rich set of functionalities, such as image management via PVS and comprehensive monitoring tools that are needed to operate a large environment with business-critical applications and no fault tolerance.
Note
Visit http://www.citrix.com/go/products/xendesktop/feature-matrix.html for the most up-to-date Citrix product matrix.
It is important to note that the XenDesktop Enterprise and Platinum editions include XenApp, so if you were to purchase XenDesktop, you would have the flexibility to publish applications and shared desktops as well as dedicated end-user OSes. XenApp licensing is based on a session concurrency model where each user needs to be granted a license when a session (running application) is initiated. This license is returned to the license pool when a session terminates. The next time the same user launches an application, they are granted a new license. In other words, a license is not permanently tied to a user or a device, but is rather granted for the current session only.
After purchasing Citrix licenses, license files need to be installed on a Citrix license server version 11.12, which can reside on a Windows 2008 or 2012 OS, and it is also available as a Linux-based VPX (virtual appliance) imported directly to the hypervisor. The license service software can be downloaded from http://www.citrix.com/. During the first deployment presented by this book, you will learn how to work with Citrix license files and troubleshoot a Citrix licensing component.
Microsoft licensing
Most big vendors
