CVAD Exam

The Machine Catalogs and Delivery Groups Relationship

• A 1:1 relationship of machine catalogs to Delivery Groups can ease management and administration. • There are scenarios where a Machine Catalog will contribute machines to multiple Delivery Groups • Delivery Groups can have machines from multiple machine catalogs

MCS Created Random/Non-Persistent Desktop - Reboot Effects

• If hypervisor supports clone on boot, it resets the differencing disk on reboot. • If the hypervisor does not support clone on boot, the Differencing disk is deleted following a reboot, discarding user changes. 1. Virtual machine is in steady state 2. The virtual machine is rebooted and the differencing disk is disconnected 3. A new differencing disk is created 4. A new differencing disk is attached 5. The old differencing disk is queued for deletion

Profile Protection

• Profile Management provides profile protection by enhancing the way it handles profiles. • Profile Management maintains a last known good backup of the NTUSER.DAT file. • If Profile Management detects corruption, it uses the last known good backup copy to recover the profile.

On-Premises Admin Scope

•A Scope combines objects from the Site to a unit that a Role can be applied to. -All Site Objects -Machine Catalogs -Delivery Groups -Hosting Connections -Application Groups

Store Authentication Service Server Groups

•A Server Group is a group of StoreFront servers that shares a common configuration and provide access to the same resources. •Server Groups require external load-balancing. -All servers in a group share a common base-URL pointing to the load-balancer.

Define Resource Locations

•A default resource location: •Is automatically created. •Can be renamed. •There is also the option to add additional resource locations.

Review Citrix Policies

•A review of Citrix policies should be conducted yearly. •The more policies there are, policy management can become unmanageable. •Remove any unused or disabled policies. •Determine whether new policies are required and existing policies need to be updated.

Architecture Layers - The Citrix Cloud Approach

•Access Layer •Control Layer

Public Cloud Deployment

•All components hosted by Partner or by the Customer. •Also known as the forklift model.

Application Groups

•Application Groups are optional. •Application Groups let you manage collections of applications across different Delivery Groups or used by a subset of users within Delivery Groups.

Backup Citrix Databases

•Backups of Citrix Databases should be performed daily •Citrix Databases to be backed up can include or not limited to -Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Databases •Site Database •Configuration Logging Database •Monitoring Database -Citrix Provisioning Database

Citrix Cloud with an On-Premises Resource Location

•By moving to Citrix Cloud, they no longer need to maintain their Delivery Controllers or worry about their site databases. Nor do they need costly SQL licenses to host the Site databases. •Using public cloud as a resource location to host resources helps to offload the compute layer setup and maintenance to a public cloud vendor so that the internal IT can focus on business critical applications and securing the mission critical data.

Certificates

•Certificates are electronic "passports" that permit a person, computer or organization to exchange information securely over the Internet (or within their internal infrastructure) using the public key infrastructure (PKI).

Delivery Controller Services

•Citrix AD Identity Service -manages Microsoft Active Directory computer accounts for VMs. •Citrix Analytics - collects site configuration usage information for use by Citrix •Citrix App Library - supports management and provisioning of AppDisks, AppDNA integration, and management of App-V. •Citrix Broker Service - selects the virtual desktops or applications that are available to users. •Citrix Config Synchronizer Service (CSS) - if a change has been made since the last check, the principal broker uses CCS to synchronize (copy) information to a secondary broker. •Citrix Configuration Logging Service - records all configuration changes and other state changes made by administrators to the site. •Citrix Configuration Service - site-wide repository for shared configuration. •Citrix Delegated Administration Service - manages the permissions granted to administrators. •Citrix Environment Test Service - manages self-tests of the other Delivery Controller services. •Citrix High Availability Service - runs on the Secondary broker and communicates with the principle broker. •Citrix Host Service - stores information about the hypervisor infrastructures used in a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment, and also offers functionality used by the console to enumerate resources in a hypervisor pool. •Citrix Machine Creation Service - Orchestrates the creation of desktop VMs. •Citrix Monitor Service - collects metrics for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, stores historical information, and provides a query interface for troubleshooting and reporting tools. •Citrix Orchestration Service - these are not currently used, but must be enabled. Do not disable them. •Citrix Remote Broker Provider - these are not currently used, but must be enabled. Do not disable them. •Citrix Smart Tool Agent Service (Local System) - coordinates software deployment and transmits deployment logs •Citrix Smart Tools Monitor Service (Local System) - monitors applications and services and collect and transmits metrics. •Citrix Storefront Privileged Administration Service - supports privileged management operations of StoreFront. •Citrix Storefront Service - supports management of StoreFront. •Citrix Telemetry Service - collects diagnostic information for analysis by Citrix, such that the analysis results and recommendations can be viewed by administrators to help diagnose issues with the site. •Citrix Trust Service - these are not currently used, but must be enabled. Do not disable them.

Citrix ADM Setup Process

•Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) is a virtual appliance that runs as a virtual machine. •Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM) integrates with Citrix Director to provide network analysis and performance management. 1. Download, import, and configure the Citrix Application Delivery Mgmt. appliance. 2. Configure the appliance to monitor the Citrix Gateway. 3. Configure Director to integrate with the HDX Insight feature.

SCOM Integration

•Citrix Director queries SCOM server for health and performance alerts every 60 seconds. Allows for filtering and historical view of SCOM alerts from within Citrix Director

User Layer

•Citrix Workspace app running on user device and other endpoints. •The User Layer covers all user devices or endpoints that are used to make connections to resources. •Enables on-demand access to resources made available to end user.

Alerts and Notifications

•Citrix alerts are alerts monitored in Director that originate from Citrix components. You can configure Citrix alerts within Director in Alerts > Citrix Alerts Policy. As part of the configuration, you can set notifications to be sent by email to individuals and groups when alerts exceed the thresholds you have set up. Configure the notification as emails to individuals and groups, Octoblu webhooks, and SNMP traps.

Verify backups of Key Citrix Components

•Citrix components should be backed up daily •Items to be backed up can include, but not limited to: -Citrix Databases -User data (user profiles / home folders) -Application data -Citrix Hypervisor VM/Pool metadata (or equivalent for other hypervisors) -StoreFront Configuration -License Files -Dedicated Virtual Desktops

Built in Citrix Support Printing

•Citrix printing solutions are secure by design, so no additional configuration is needed to enable to described security features.

Manual Migration Tasks

•Configure Hosting •Create new Catalogs (MCS or Existing/PVS) •Create new Delivery Groups •Publish Apps and Desktop •Configure Delivery Group and Application settings •Configure Zones (if applicable) •Configure Tags (if applicable)

Add a Host Connection for the Resource Location

•Customers start a configuration of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service by creating a Host connection, followed by creating a Machine Catalog and then a Delivery Group. •The steps to create a Host Connection, Machine Catalog and Delivery Group are exactly the same as those for an on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site. •Add Hosting Connections: 1. Click Manage. The management console opens. If a connection has not been created yet, you are guided to that step. 2. Select Configuration > Hosting in the navigation pane. 3. Select Add Connections and Resources in the Actions pane. 4. Create a new Connection. Select your hypervisor and type in the credentials. 5. Select the desired Storage for the hosting connection. 6. If deploying on Azure ARM, select the desired Region. 7. Select the desired Network where VDAs will be deployed.

Control Layer

•Delivery Controller makes load-balancing decisions and manages availability of devices in the resource layer. •Delivery Controllers brokers connections to resources. •The components within the Control Layer determine flexibility and scalability of the deployment.

Monitor the Disk

•Director provides IOPS and disk latency measurements of Server and Desktop OS VDAs. •The Machine Utilization panel is extended to display the real-time average IOPS and disk latency for a selected VDA as graphs.

Featured App Groups

•Displaying applications together as a bundle makes it easier for users to find related applications. •Use Featured App Groups by specifying keywords, categories, or specific application names to create bundles of related applications.

Citrix Cloud Connector Silent/Automated Installation

•Download Cloud Connector •Run CWCConnector /? to retrieve parameters. •Sample: -CWCConnector.exe /q /Customer:Customer /ClientId:ClientId /ClientSecret:ClientSecret /ResourceLocationId:ResourceLocationId /AcceptTermsOfService:true •Logs: -%LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\CitrixLogs\CloudServicesSetup -%ProgramData%\Citrix\WorkspaceCloud\InstallLogs •Script available from Citrix that both downloads and installs Cloud Connector.

Printer Drivers

•Each endpoint needs the drivers for its printers. •Each VDA needs all drivers for all printers of the endpoints. •Drivers can be automatically installed upon connection. •Installing many drivers can cause system instability. Use manufacturer Universal Drivers to reduce number of required printer drivers

Active Write Back

•Enable the Active Write Back feature to save some profile contents back prior to logging off. •With Active Write Back, every 5 minutes the latest copy of each changed file is copied back to the file server. When a user logs on again (after crash or from different machine), the saved version of the document will be included in the profile.

ICA keep alive

•Enables to send packets from server to client at configurable interval. •Enables servers to detect connection failures. •Can be enabled via policy. •Session Reliability uses similar mechanism. •ICA keep-alive does not work if you are using Session Reliability

Test your connections

•Environment access testing should be performed daily •Simulate a connection both internally and externally to ensure desktop and application resources are available before most users log on for the day.

Federated Authentication with Azure AD

•Features: -Multi-factor authentication. -Federation to different identity providers. -Self-service password change and reset. •Requirements: -On-premises corporate Active Directory. -Azure AD with a user who has global administrator permissions. -Synchronization between on-premises Active Directory and Azure AD •Things to note: -Use only the Citrix Cloud Library to manage users and user groups. -Users are prompted to sign in again when launching an app or a desktop. -Users have a different sign-in experience in Azure AD.

On-Premise vs Citrix Cloud

•For on-premise deployments everything is a customer's responsibility. •For Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service subscribers, the Access Layer components can be offloaded to Citrix Cloud and some of the Control Layer is offloaded to Citrix Cloud.

HDX Monitor

•HDX Monitor is a free tool provided for download on the Citrix Insight Services website. Users can run the tool inside a session or admins can use the tool to monitor a session remotely within the domain.

Application Health, Usage, Probing

•Health: The health of each published application in a Site can be monitored using the Application Faults and Application Errors columns in the default view of the Applications section. •Usage: It indicates the number of application instances currently running (both connected and disconnected instances). •Probing: Application probing automates the process of checking the health of published applications in a Site.

Citrix Policy Priority

•If multiple policies are linked to an OU, the link order determines their precedence. •Policies that have lower numbers take precedence over policies with higher numbers. •If multiple Citrix Policies exist within a single GPO, their priority is used forconflict resolution.

Historical Resource Utilization

•In the Machine Utilization panel, click View Historical Utilization to view the historical usage of resources on the selected machine. •The utilization graphs include critical performance counters of CPU, memory, peak concurrent sessions, average IOPS, and disk latency.

View the HDX Channels

•In the User Details view, check the status of the HDX channels on the user's machine in the HDX panel. •This panel is available only if the user machine is connected using HDX.

The Site Database

•Logging Database System •Monitor Database System •Site Database System •Delivery Controller System

Average Logon Duration

•Logon data can be reviewed for the last (2 or 24) hours, last week, last month or year. •The large number, 29s, indicates the Average Logon Duration for that specific set of logons at that time interval.

Delegated Admin On Premise vs. Citrix Cloud

•On-Premises Deployments Delegated Administration is configured within Citrix Studio. •Citrix Cloud Deployments Delegated Administration is configured at both the Citrix Cloud and the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service levels.

Traditional On-Premises Deployment

•On-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site has Delivery Controller, Citrix Studio, Citrix Director, Citrix License Server, the Database and VDA within the customers' datacenter. •The maintenance and upgrade of all these components have to be done by the Citrix administrators.

Confirm Capacity

•Perform a monthly capacity assessment of the Citrix environment to determine environment utilization and any scalability requirements. -use trends view within director to track cvad deployment over time

Workspace App Application Delivery Categories

•Provides a hierarchical structure in the Start menu of the client and helps to locate related applications.

MCS I/O Optimization

•Provides the ability to place differencing disks on separate local storage. •Provides the ability to leverage virtual machine memory as write cache to reduce I/O.

Service Accounts

•Purpose: Reduce impact of individual permission and account issues, while increasing security since it limits the privileges of individual admin accounts. •Leading practice is to have a database service account for each Citrix product/each purpose.

Hosting Platform: Service Provider

•Reasons for this model range from costs and lack of experience to security considerations. •The Citrix administrator team allows a third party to manage everything for them. •The machines are usually hosted in dedicated or shared data centers of the third party.

Configure Citrix Workspace App Manually

•Recommended for advanced users. •Supports installation from: -A Network Share -Windows Explorer -Command Line •Allows advanced configuration using Command Line. •Use the syntax: -**CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe \[Options\]**

Citrix Scout

•Run Citrix Scout from a single Delivery Controller to capture key data points and CDF traces for selected computers, followed by secure and reliable upload of the data package to Citrix Technical Support.

PVS Catalogs

•Same VMs -Create new manual Machine Catalog and Delivery Group in Citrix Cloud. -Edit VDA configuration in vDisk to register with Cloud Connector. -Boot target devices on new vDisk version. •New VMs -Update SDK on PVS servers to support Citrix Cloud. -Edit VDA configuration in vDisk to register with Cloud Connector. -Use Citrix Virtual Desktops Setup Wizard to deploy new Machine Catalog and VMs. -Create Delivery Group and migrate users. -Decommission old VMs.

Schedule Restarts

•Scheduled restarts can be configured for Server OS Machine Catalogs (Desktop OS Catalogs cannot be). •Both Server OS and Desktop OS Catalogs can be power managed via Citrix Studio or PowerShell.

Delivery Controller Services Communication Service Scripting

•Scripts allow complex tasks to be performed in relatively few steps. •Scripts allow simple creation and editing. --Use cases: •Service script a health check of all Citrix services. •Service script a change database connection string for all the services. •Service script to re-register all instances with Central Configuration Service (CCS). •Service script to unregister instances to remove a rogue Delivery Controller out of a Site.

Session Sharing

•Session sharing is a mode in which more than one published application runs on a single connection. Session sharing occurs when a user has an open session and launches another application that is published on the same server; the result is that the two applications run in the same session.

Citrix Profile Management - User Store

•Set required permissions to the user store on a file server •Plan for redundancy •Variables from the following providers can be used: •System (%username%) •Active Directory (#department#) •UPM (!ctx_osname!)

Auto Client Reconnect

•Setting to control automatic reconnection, in case of interrupted connections. 1. User initiates a session from PC001. 2. The network connection is interrupted. 3. Citrix Workspace app on PC001 automatically reconnects to the session from PC001.

Citrix Cloud Connector Installation

•Simple download and install from Citrix Cloud •No configuration needed •No user interface •Install two for automatic updates, redundancy, and load balancing •Option to script install •Do not clone Cloud Connectors

Shortcut Integration

•Start menu integration and desktop shortcut management provide a seamless desktop experience for users. •Defining a common Start Menu directory to put all shortcuts makes it easy for users to locate their published apps.

Access Layer

•StoreFront authenticates internal users. •StoreFront displays aggregated resources from multiple sources. •Citrix Gateway authenticates and validates user's permission to access resources. •This layer covers all Citrix infrastructure devices that are providing authentication points, and are used to orchestrate the access to resources.

MCS and the Cloud Connector

•Studio in the cloud creates provision requests. •Provision requests are sent to the hosting connection. •The Cloud Connector Remote HCL service interacts with the on-premises hypervisor. •Machines are created and will register with the Cloud Connector Remote Broker service on boot.

Microsoft Sysinternals

•Sysinternals is an advanced set of tools from Microsoft to enable IT Professionals to diagnose and troubleshoot a Windows environment. •The Sysinternals Suite consists of more than 70 free tools. •Such as: -Process Explorer -Process Monitor -ProcDump

Microsoft Common Tools

•System monitor •Performance monitor •Network monitor •Command line tools •PowerShell

Hosting Platform: Citrix Cloud

•The Citrix administrator team allows Citrix to manage the necessary infrastructure of the site. •The applications and desktops can remain on premises in a private data center or hosted in a public cloud of your choosing •New versions of the software in use will automatically be provided for Citrix-managed machines, while on premise machines need to be maintained and updated manually.

Hosting Platform: Cloud Hosted

•The Citrix administrator team allows a third party to manage the hardware, for example: Microsoft Azure, Azure Resource Manager or Amazon AWS. •This model offers flexibility when it comes to adding new machines to the data center and it can also be a cost effective solution.

Saving User Printing Preferences

•The Citrix policy "Printer properties retention" specifies whether or not to store printer properties and where to store them. •By default, the system determines if printer properties are stored on the user device, if available, or in the user profile. •Citrix recommends that the default setting not be changed, because saving printer properties on the user device is the easiest way to ensure consistent printing properties.

Hardware Layer

•The Hardware Layer provides the virtual computing needed by the Access, Control and Resource Layers. •Influences the scalability and performance of the deployment.

Site Infrastructure

•The Infrastructure lists the Site's host resource connection information and Delivery Controllers.

Resource Layer

•The Resource Layer houses all of the machines that are used to host the resource sessions that users are connecting to. •The architectural orientation where administrators consider how best to manage and control these resources, such as through creating policies to grant or restrict features.

Shadow

•The Shadow feature allows a Delegated Administrator to: -See the same content from the session as the user. -Interact with the applications inside the session on behalf of the user. -Chat with the user of a session. •The following requirements must be met for Shadowing: -Special permissions -Network requirements to be met.

Historical Application Failure Monitoring

•The Trends view accesses historical trend informationfor: •Sessions •Connection failures •Machine failures •Logon performance •Load evaluation •Capacity management •Machine usage Resource utilization for each site

VDA Cleanup Utility

•The VDA Cleanup Utility is designed to assist with the following scenarios: -When errors occur during upgrade from an earlier version of VDA. -When unexpected behavior or performance is experienced after upgrade from an earlier VDA. -If VDA upgrade is not possible due to feature incompatibility and/or a clean uninstall is required. -The VDA Cleanup Utility removes components, files, and registry values of VDA 5.6 onwards.

Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA)

•The VDA role enables users to access their resources delivered on the machines in which the VDA is installed. •The VDA is an agent that is installed on machines running Windows Server or Windows Desktop operating systems that allows these machines and the resources they host to be made available to users. •The VDA is the intermediary between the Delivery Controller and the user's device (Citrix Workspace app, specifically). •The VDA registers with the Delivery Controller so user connections can be brokered. •The VDA updates the Delivery Controller with session information. •The VDA sends the information to Citrix Workspace app. •The VDA-installed machines running Windows Server OS allow the machine to host multiple connections for multiple users and are connected to users on one of the following ports: •TCP port 80 or port 443 if SSL is enabled •TCP port 2598, if Citrix Gateway Protocol (CGP) is enabled, which enables session reliability •TCP port 1494 if CGP is disabled or if the user is connecting with a legacy client

Install Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA)

•The VDA software is required to be installed on each machine (virtual or physical) that is used to deliver apps and desktop resources to users. •The VDA software can be installed only on Windows Server OS, Windows Desktop OS and supported Linux Distributions.

Delivery group Properties - Application Pre-launch

•The session prelaunch feature helps specified users to access applications quickly, by initiating sessions before they are requested. •A session is started when a user logs on to Citrix Workspace app, and remains active until the last open application in the session closes.

App Monitoring Policies

•There are three total Citrix policy settings that can impact application monitoring: •Enable monitoring of application failures •Enable monitoring of application failures on Desktop OS VDAs •List of applications excluded from failure monitoring

Loopback Considerations

•There are two modes for loopback processing -- Merge or Replace. •Loopback Mode set to Merge: -All user settings from the Users' OU are applied. -All user settings from Computers' OU are applied, overwriting conflicting settings. •Loopback Mode set to Replace: -No user settings from the OU of user is applied. -Only User settings from the OU of computers is applied.

Hosting Platform: On-Premises

•This model offers complete control over every aspect of the deployment, including choice of the hardware manufacturer. It also comes with complete responsibility for designing and operating security, climate control, backup, maintenance and updates. •A typical on-premises configuration consists of one or more Delivery Controllers

Use PowerShell with a Citrix Cloud Deployment

•To use the Citrix Remote PowerShell SDK with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service deployment, the SDK must first be installed. -Download the installer. -Install the installer. -Follow the dialogs to complete the installation

Printer Mapping Setting - Auto Create

•Use the "Auto-create client printers" policy setting to control which endpoint-side printers are automatically made available in user sessions.

Printer Mapping Setting - Session Printers

•Use the "Session printers" policy setting to control which network printers are mapped in user sessions.

Verify Registration and Session Availability

•Verify, daily, that the appropriate number of idle desktops and application servers are powered on and registered with the Delivery Controllers to ensure availability for user workloads. •Use Trends analytics to determine how many application and desktop resources to have available to support your users.

Citrix Cloud with both an On-Premises Resource Location and a Public Cloud Resource Location

•You can deploy to as many resource locations as we want with Citrix Clouds, and those resource locations can be a mix of on-premises and the supported public clouds.

Director Notifications

•you can set notifications to be sent by email to individuals and groups when alerts exceed the thresholds you have set up.

Citrix Policy Filters

-Access Control -Citrix CloudBridge -Client IP Addresses -Client Name -Delivery Group -Delivery Group Type -Tag -User or Group

Proxy and Firewall Considerations

-Citrix Cloud connector •Connection outbound on port 443 -Citrix Cloud Management Console •Uses browsers' proxy settings

Launch Process

-Citrix workspace passes credentials to gateway for authentication -storefront then enumerates and looks for resources available to the user -then storefront reaches out to DDC and SQL to enumerate what the user has access to -storefront gives ica file to users to be able to use resources

On-Premises Admin Roles

-Full -Delivery Group -Machine Catalog -Help Desk -Host -Read only

Citrix Policy Settings

-ICA Policies -Load management policies -Profile Management Policies -Receiver Policies -VDA Policies -Virtual IP Policy Settings

Application Properties

-Identification -Delivery -Location -Groups -Limit Visibility -File Type Association -Zone

VDA Machine Monitoring

-The Filters > Machines view in the Director console displays the machines configured in the Site. -The Server OS Machines tab includes the load evaluator index, which indicates the distribution of performance counters and tooltips of the session count if you hover over the link. -Click the Failure Reason column of a failed machine to get a detailed description of the failure and actions recommended to troubleshoot the failure.

Store Authentication Methods

-Unauthenticated -Username and Password (default option) -Pass through from Citrix Gateway -Domain Pass through -Smart Card -HTTP Basic

Self-Service Mode

-allows users to subscribe to applications from the Citrix Workspace app user interface. This enhanced user experience is similar to that of a mobile app store. Enabled: Users can choose which app they favorite and add to the Start Menu or desktop, applications can be removed, users can add additional stores Disabled: All assigned published apps are automatically subscribed to, applications will automatically be placed in the Start Menu, categories will be used as Start Menu folders, applications cannot be removed / will reappear.

Things we depend on in the VDA Registration Process

-domain membership -time sync -controller specification when registering the VDA -communication port (80)

CVAD Site Databases

-site database -configuration logging database -monitoring database

Define Administrator Access Permissions for Citrix Cloud

1. Begin from the Identity and Access Management page on the the Administrators tab. 2. Click the More options button for the targeted administrator and select Edit Access. (Requires Full Access permissions) 3. Select Custom access to delegate permissions and configure. 4. Save your changes.

Configure Citrix Workspace App with an ADMX File

1. Copy ADMX and ADML files to PolicyDefinitions or central store. 2. Create a policy using the Citrix Administrative Template. Recommended for managed endpoints

MCS Process

1. Create the master virtual machine by installing and configuring the desired OS and applications. 2. Create a snapshot of the master virtual machine. 3. MCS creates a full copy of the snapshot and stores it in the first storage repository configured (only). 4. MCS creates a preparation virtual machine to be used for the image preparation process. 5. MCS attaches an Instruction Disk to the Preparation VM that contains the image preparation steps. 6. MCS powers on the preparation VM. 7. MCS begins the image preparation process, which includes rearming KMS, enabling DHCP, and (optionally) performing PvD inventory. 8. The preparation VM updates the copy of the snapshot following the completed image preparation process. 9. MCS shuts down the preparation VM. 10. The instruction disk reports the results of the image preparation process and is then deleted. 11. MCS detaches the OS disk of the preparation VM and deletes the virtual machine. 12. MCS replicates the copy of the updated snapshot to each storage repository configured. 13. MCS creates identity disks in memory for each virtual machine to be created. 14. MCS creates the virtual machines by attaching identity disks and creating and attaching the differencing disks.

Three core steps to create resources:

1. Define the master image 2. Provision Machines 3. Assign resources to users

Load Management

1. Each Server OS VDA reports its load values to the Delivery Controller. 2. The Delivery Controller saves the load values in the Site Database. 3. Requests for Resources come into StoreFront. 4. StoreFront relays the request to the Delivery Controller who for a new session makes a load-balancing decision by using the load values from the database: 5. The Delivery Controller decides the least busy VDA

How to Apply a License File

1. Launch License Administration Console. 2. Click Administration tab on top right corner. 3. Login using your domain administrator credentials. 4. Select Vendor Daemon Configuration. 5. Select Import License. 6. Specify the license file and import it. 7. Verify Successful import information message is seen. 8. Restart Citrix Licensing Service.

Citrix Policy Precedence

1. Local GPO 2. XenApp or Xen Desktop 3. Site-level GPOs 4. Domain-level GPOs 5. Organizational Units

Policy Processing Order and Precedence

1. Local GPO 2. XenApp or XenDesktop Site GPO 3. Site-level GPOs 4. Domain-level GPOs 5. Organizational Units

Access Citrix Licenses

1. Select Configuration > Licensing in the Studio navigation pane. 2. Select Allocate Licenses in the Actions pane. 3. Type the License Access Code, which is supplied in an email from Citrix. 4. Select a product and click Allocate Licenses. 5. Licenses can then be accessed through studio.

Endpoint Attached Print Job Routing

1. The External Endpoint connects to the VDA over HDX and negotiates Printer-A 2. User creates a print request to the Printer-A. The HDX protocol optimizes and compresses the print job. 3. The system routes the print job over the HDX virtual channel, through the client, and then to the local print device (Printer-A)

VDA Attached Print Job Routing

1. The Internal Endpoint connects to the VDA over HDX 2. The VDA installed printer is made available to the end user from within session 3. The system routes the print job directly from the VDA to the local attached print device (Printer-E)

VDA Mapped Print Job Routing

1. The Internal Endpoint connects to the VDA over HDX 2. The VDA mapped printer is made available to the end user within the session using Citrix local policies, login scripts, or GPO 3. The system routes the print job directly from the VDA to the print server, and then the print device (Printer-E)

Endpoint Mapped Print Job Routing

1. The Internal Endpoint connects to the VDA over HDX and auto-connects to Printer-D, via the print server 2. User creates a print request to Printer-D from within their HDX session 3. The system routes the print job directly to the network print server and then the print device (Printer-D)

Username and Password Through Cloud Connectors

1. The user authenticates to Workspace Experience. 2. Workspace Experience determines which Resource Location the user belongs to. 3. Workspace Experience forwards the user credentials to a Cloud Connector in the users Resource Location.

Session Reliability

1. User initiates a session from PC001. 2. The network connection is interrupted. • Citrix Workspace app displays a still image and buffers user input for 180 seconds. • The VDA is aware of the broken connection, but does not disconnect the session for 180 seconds. 3. The network connection is restored and buffered input is sent to the server. -The session remains active on the server -Session Reliability re-connects users without re-authentication prompts

Profile Streaming Process

1. User starts session on a VDA; the profile is loaded, but only placeholder files are created on the VDA. 2. User opens a file from his profile using an application on the VDA. Citrix Profile Management downloads the actual file from the user store path and replaces the placeholder. 3. The file now resides locally on the VDA and can be manipulated. 4. On logoff, the file is saved back to the user store path.

StoreFront On-Premises

1. Workspace app contacts StoreFront on LAN. 2. StoreFront authenticates with AD. 3. StoreFront forwards credentials to XML service on Cloud Connector. 4. Cloud Connector proxies the XML request to Cloud Delivery Controller. 5. Cloud Delivery Controller queries the database.

Workspace Experience

1. Workspace app contacts Workspace in Cloud. 2. Workspace authenticates with Cloud Delivery Controller. 3. Cloud Delivery Controller proxies authentication to Cloud Connector. 4. Cloud Connector queries Domain Controller. Cloud Delivery Controller queries the database

How to Create a Citrix Cloud Delegated Administrator

1.Add an Administrator to the Citrix Cloud subscription via an invite. 2.Use the Citrix Cloud Studio and click on Configuration > Administrators > and click Scopes. 3.Click Create Scope and define the scope. 4.Pair the Scope with a Role. 5.Navigate to the Citrix Cloud Identity and Access Management > Administrators and select the newly invited administrator. 6.Choose Edit access and delegate specifically to the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. 7.Choose the pre-configured Scope and Role and then click Save.

Move Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops onpremises deployment to Citrix Cloud with an on-premises resource location

1.Create a Citrix Cloud account. 2.Install Cloud Connectors. 3.Add the Connectors as XML servers to the existing StoreFront. 4.Add connectors as STA on Citrix ADC and StoreFront. 5.Use MCS to provision new VDAs on-prem or reuse existing manual VDAs. 6.Create Delivery Group and manually migrate settings to Cloud. 7.Convert Studio policies to (7a) GPO or recreate in (7b) cloud Studio. 8.Decommission old Controllers and Databases.

Steps to Create an On-Premises Custom Administrator

1.Create the intended scope and role by defining the permissions and the objects to apply them to. 2.Create new a Administrator. 3.Specify a user or user group for the new Administrator. 4.Select the Scope. 5.Assign the Role. (Such as the one created in step 1) 6.Save the new Administrator. 7.Edit the Administrator to assign additional Scope & Role pairs as needed.

User Access to Resources

2 options for Citrix admin to deploy a means for users to access their resources: -Citrix Workspace Platform -Citrix Storefront

Windows Licensing for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

A Key Management Server (KMS) is a special role that can be added to most Microsoft Windows servers to serve the activation requests for other servers •The VDA install on a Windows Server machine adds the role of Remote Desktop Services (RDS). •An RDS server requires connecting to a separate Microsoft license server that needs to be activated, configured and holding appropriate RDS licenses to issue.

Local Host Cache (LHC)

Allows the Delivery Controller to continue connection brokering operations in a Site to when a database outage occurs. -Utilizes two services •Config Synchronization Service •High Availability Service During an outage, one of the Cloud Connectors is elected to be the primary broker for the resource location. •Local Host Cache only works with an on-premises StoreFront deployment. It does not compliment Workspace Experience.

View Session Details

Also in Citrix Director •The detailed session view offers far more information about the session of a user: -Running applications and processes -VDA data and performance metrics like disk queue length -Session status, and Citrix Workspace app version -Applied policies

Hard Registration

Both ends are acknowledged. Communication both ways between controller and VDA

Controller is a ________ service

Broker

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Hosting Platforms

CVAD supports deployment across the following platforms: -Microsoft Azure Resource Manager -Citrix Hypervisor (aka XenServer) -VMware vSphere (vCenter +ESXi) -Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager -Amazon Web Services (AWS) -Nutanix Acropolis -Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Profile Caching

Cache vs. Delete -By default, profiles are cached locally to be reused on subsequent logons. -Use policy to "Delete locally cached profiles on logoff" for: •Persistent published desktop environments

Citrix Gateway

Citrix Gateway is a security hardened appliance (virtual or physical) which communicates with internal resources on behalf of external users to: •Authenticate users. •Allow secured external connections to StoreFront (reverse web proxy). •Allow secured access to internal hosted applications and desktops (HDX proxy).

The Citrix Workspace App

Citrix Workspace app is software that allows client devices to: -Log on with their credentials -Enumerate the available list of resources -Launch the resource (Applications or Desktop)

User Profile Migration

Configure UPM to migrate existing profiles: 1. User logs on to VDA. 2. The Profile Management service detects that a roaming profile exists, but the user store is empty. Windows loads the roaming profile from the defined profile path. 3. User modifies files and registry settings during the session and then logs off. 4. The Profile Management service on the VDA writes profile data to the user store path on a file server and will use this profile for any subsequent logon.

Which layer does the Citrix Delivery Controller belongs to?

Control Layer

Which Citrix infrastructure component brokers end user connections to application and desktop resources?

Delivery Controller

Deploying Citrix Workspace App

Deployment Types: -Enterprise Software Deployment -Install through StoreFront -Manual installation -Citrix Workspace app for HTML5

VDA is a ______ service

Desktop

What do you use to monitor your site?

Director

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a client/server protocol that automatically provides an Internet Protocol (IP) host with its IP address and other related configuration information such as the subnet mask and default gateway.

What is the role of StoreFront?

Enumerating, Aggregating, and Presenting Desktops and Applications

Hybrid Clouds

Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms.

The director runs off of ______

IAS

Configure On-Premises StoreFront with Cloud Connectors

In Storefront under delivery controller section

MCS vs. PVS

MCS - leverages hypervisor APIs through studio to deploy virtual machines from a single master image snapshot (more storage intensive) PVS- leverages streaming technology to provision virtual machines from a single shared master image (more network intensive)

Local Host Cache (LHC) Normal Operations vs Outage

Normal: •Delivery Controller synchronizes configuration data from the Site Database to a local SQL Express database every two minutes, if changes have been made. Outage: •During an outage, the BrokerService stops listening for StoreFront and VDA information. •The BrokerService instructs the Secondary BrokerService to start listening for and processing connection requests.

What port is used for communications between the VDA and your delivery controller?

Port 80

Public and Private CAs

Public CAs: •Use certificates from publicly available trusted Certificate Authorities (CA) to secure network connections. •Keep private key secured. •Intermediate certificates may be required. Private CAs: •For use within companies or managed environments. •Use internal or private CAs to issue certificates. •Add the internal CA to the list of trusted CAs. •Citrix also supports the use of self-signed certificates.

Create Machine Catalogs and Delivery Groups

Register resources Create collection of resources Assign users

Registration and Considerations

Registration: •The VDA software is required to be installed on each machine (virtual or physical) that is used to deliver apps and desktop resources to users. •The VDA software can be installed only on Windows Server OS, Windows Desktop OS and supported Linux Distributions. Considerations: •Verify that the Delivery Controller is correctly specified, because if the VDA does not register with the Delivery Controller, then the Delivery Controller will be unable to broker sessions to the VM running the VDA.

Consider Citrix License Editions

Server OS Published Desktop Server OS Published App VDI - Windows VM Hosted Apps Published Linux Server Desktops Hosted Physical Desktop Server VDI

Experience Citrix Workspace App Configuration

Setup configurations to use Citrix Workspace app for authentication and enumeration of resources, configure it to use a specific store. Methods to configure: -ADMX -Storefront Activate -Manual -Email

Citrix Health Assistant

The Citrix Health Assistant is a Windows tool which automates the process of checking for the causes of common configuration issues in a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment.

Universal Print Driver

The Citrix Universal Print Driver (UPD) is a feature-rich, device independent driver that converts print jobs to a transfer format, which can then be printed on the endpoint.

Universal Print Server

The Citrix Universal Print Server Component is a service component that can be installed on print servers.

Universal Printer

The Citrix Universal Printer (CUP) is a single, generic printer in a session on a VDA. •The Citrix Universal Printer is an auto-created printer object that is not linked to any specific printer defined on the client. •The CUP uses the Universal print driver to transfer print jobs to the endpoint device. •Users can print to this pseudo-device and can choose to output the print job on any endpoint attached or mapped printer.

How to Configure an XML Service Trust

The Citrix XML Service Trust is enabled by using the following PowerShell command: Set-BrokerSite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXMLServicePort $true

MCS Created Static/Persistent Desktop - Reboot Effects

The Differencing disk is not deleted following a reboot, persisting user changes. 1. The virtual machine is in steady state. 2. The virtual machine is rebooted. 3. The virtual machine completes the startup process and the same differencing disk is still attached.

VDA Registration

The Remote Brokering Provider is the Citrix Brokering Protocol. •During the VDA install the ListOfDDC addresses is configured. -Here however, configure the Citrix Cloud Connector addresses. •The VDAs talk to the connector, which proxies all of the traffic up to the Delivery Controllers that are managed in Citrix Cloud for you.

Secure Ticket Authority

The Secure Ticket Authority (STA) produces Secure Tickets, which can be exchanged for session information. •Every Delivery Controller hosts a Secure Ticket Authority •The STA must be reachable by StoreFront and the Citrix Gateway •The Secure Ticket is used to avoid transporting user-specific data over unsecured networks. •A new Secure Ticket is issued for every resource launch, is only valid inside the current SSL/TLS session, and has a limited lifespan.

Public Clouds

The public cloud is defined as computing services offered by third-party providers over the public Internet, making them available to anyone who wants to use or purchase them.

Delivery Group Properties - Application Lingering

The session linger features help specified application sessions stay active, after a user closes all applications within the session.

Site Database Types

Three Databases for a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site. 1. Site Database 2. Configuration Logging Database 3. Monitoring Database

Site Databases Configuration

Three Options to Configure: 1. Create databases automatically through Studio, user account requires sysadmin permissions 2. Generate database scripts to create databases manually. •Create three empty databases •Set collation to _100_CI_AS_KS •Run database script on SQL server using SQMLCMD 3. Configuration is not required when subscribing to Citrix Cloud, site is pre-created, database backups are taken care of by Citrix

How many databases are created by default when deploying an On-Premise Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site?

Three. •Site database •Configuration logging database •Monitoring database

Importance of a VDA

To be able to use it as a resource

Use PowerShell with an On-Premises Deployment

To manage Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops using PowerShell: 1.Install Citrix Studio or the PowerShell SDK. 2.Open a PowerShell console window. 3.Load the Citrix PowerShell Snap-insAdd-PSSnapin Citrix*. 4.Enter the commands needed,for example: Get-BrokerSite.

Why is it important to pay attention to launch time?

To understand the end-user experience

Printer Driver Mapping

Use the "Printer driver mapping and compatibility" policy setting to specify substitution rules for endpoint printers.

Soft Registration

VDA is able to communicate to the controller but the controller cannot communicate to the VDA

View a Session

View a session in Citrix Director •In the default session view, administrators can perform some session management tasks and use the Activity Manager to: •Stop an application •See a program's CPU and memory consumption •To switch to a more detailed view, click on the Details button in the top right corner.

Biggest difference between multi-session & single-session

With multi-session you have more scalability vs. with a single-session you have more resources without affecting other users, hence losing scalability

Domain Name System (DNS)

a naming database in which internet domain names are located and translated into internet protocol (IP) addresses. The domain name system maps the name people use to locate a website to the IP address that a computer uses to locate a website.

cloud-bases saas

a software distribution model in which a service provider hosts applications for customers and makes them available to these customers via the internet.

Private Cloud

an on-demand configurable pool of shared computing resources allocated within a public cloud environment, providing a certain level of isolation between the different organizations using the resources.

Netscalar

gives you external access to internal resources