Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) 7.15.9000 LTSR

Last Modified: Jul 9, 2022 @ 9:34 am

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Hardware

Hypervisor Host Hardware

  • Citrix Blog Post Citrix Scalability — The Rule of 5 and 10: Simply take the number of physical cores in a hypervisor host, multiply it by 5 or 10, and the result will be your Single Server Scalability. Use 5 if you’re looking for the number of XenDesktop VMs you can host on a box, and use 10 if you’re looking for the number of XenApp user sessions you can host on a box.

Virtual Machine Hardware

  1. Hypervisor Support – CTX131239 Supported Hypervisors for XenDesktop and Provisioning Services
    • 7.15 LTSR Cumulative Update 3 (but not Cumulative Update 2) supports vSphere 6.7 Update 1
  2. VDA virtual machine sizing:
    1. For virtual desktops, give the virtual machine: 2+ vCPU and 2+ GB of RAM
    2. For Windows 2008 R2 RDSH, give the virtual machine 4 vCPU and 12-24 GB of RAM
    3. For Windows 2012 R2 RDSH, give the virtual machine 8 vCPU, and 24-48 GB of RAM
    4. See Daniel Feller Sizing Windows 2016, Windows 2012 And Windows 10 Virtual Machines
  3. If using RAM caching (MCSIO or PvS), add more RAM for the cache
  4. Remove the floppy drive
  5. Remove any serial or LPT ports
  6. If vSphere:
    1. To reduce disk space, reserve memory. Memory reservations reduce or eliminate the virtual machine .vswp file.
    2. The NIC should be VMXNET3.
    3. For vGPU, if vSphere 6.7 Update 1 and 7.15 LTSR CU3, set vgpu.hotmigrate.enabled Advanced vCenter Server Setting to true. (source = William Lam How to enable vGPU vMotion in vSphere 6.7 Update 1)
  7. If this VDA will boot from Provisioning Services:
    1. For vSphere, the NIC must be VMXNET3.
    2. For vSphere, configure the CD-ROM to boot from IDE instead of SATA. SATA comes with VM hardware version 10. SATA won’t work with PvS.
  8. For Windows 10 – see CTX224843 Windows 10 compatibility with Citrix XenDesktop
    • Citrix provides partial support for Semi-Annual Channel Targeted (aka Current Branch) versions of Windows 10
    • Citrix provides full support for Semi-Annual Channel (Broad) (aka Current Branch for Business) versions of Windows 10, starting with the VDA version released after a Windows 10 version is designated as Broad (typically 4 monthly patches after initial release).
      • Windows 10 1703 Broad is supported by VDA 7.15, since VDA 7.15 was released after Windows 10 1703 was designated as Broad (after four monthly Windows patches).
      • Windows 10 1709 Targeted: Citrix Product Manager in the comments mentioned that 7.15 will support 1709. Citrix has a live article about all this: CTX229052. The Microsoft patches required for 1709 will come out in 2 dates:
        • Nov 14th (Patch Tuesday KB4051314) will allow you to upgrade from 1703 and older with a VDA already installed, to 1709.
        • ’11D’ patch (last week of November via Microsoft Update Catalogue) will allow you to do a fresh new VDA install on top of 1709.
      • It’s possible that LTSR 7.15 Cumulative Updates will support newer versions of Windows 10.
  9. Install the latest version of hypervisor drivers (e.g. VMware Tools).
    1. If Windows 7 on vSphere, don’t install the VMware SVGA driver. For more details, see Citrix CTX201804 Intermittent Connection Failures/Black Screen Issues When Connecting from Multi-Monitor Client Machines to Windows 7 VDA with VDA 7.x on vSphere/ESXi.
  10. The vSphere Activity Monitoring Feature with NSX Guest Introspection feature uses a TDI driver (vnetflt.sys), which might cause a “Connection Interrupted” message when users log off of Citrix. See VMware 2121307 Windows virtual machines using the vShield Endpoint TDI Manager or NSX Network Introspection Driver (vnetflt.sys) driver fails with a blue diagnostic screen and XenDesktop 7.12 logoff: Connection interrupted at Citrix Discussions.

If vSphere, disable NIC Hotplug

  1. Users could use the systray icon to Eject the Ethernet Controller. Obviously this is bad.
  2. To disable this functionality, power off the virtual machine.
  3. Once powered off, right-click the virtual machine, and click Edit Settings.
  4. On the VM Options tab, expand Advanced, and then click Edit Configuration.
  5. On the bottom left, enter devices.hotplug. On the right, enter false. Then click Add.
  6. Then click OK a couple times to close the windows.
  7. The VM can then be powered on.

Windows Preparation

  1. Computer Group Policy – Make sure the Master VM is in the same OU as the Linked Clones so the Master VM will get the computer-level GPO settings in its registry. Run gpupdate on the master after moving the VM to the correct OU. When Clones are created from the Master, the computer-level GPO settings will already be applied, thus eliminating a timing issue.
  2. If RDSH (Server OS), disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration in Server Manager > Local Server.
  3. Optionally, go to Action Center (Windows 8.1 or 2012 R2) or Control Panel > Security and Maintenance (Windows 10/2016) to disable User Account Control, and enable SmartScreen.

    1. In Windows 10 1703 and newer, search the Settings app for Change User Account Control settings.
    2. SmartScreen is configured in Windows Defender Security Center > App & browser control.
  4. Run Windows Update.

  5. Add your Citrix Administrators group to the local Administrators group on the VDA. Computer Management.
  6. The Remote Desktop Services “Prompt for Password” policy prevents Single Sign-on to the Virtual Delivery Agent. Check registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services. If fPromptForPassword = 1 then you need to fix group policy. The following GPO setting will prevent Single Sign-on from working.
    Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Remote Desktop Services | Remote Desktop Session Host | Security | Always prompt for password upon connection
    Or set the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Portica\AutoLogon (DWORD) = 0x1. This registry value only applies to Desktop OS, not Server OS. (source = comments)
  7. For Windows 7/2008 R2 VDAs that will use Personal vDisk, or AppDisk, or any other layering technology, install Microsoft hotfix 2614892 A computer stops responding because of a deadlock situation in the Mountmgr.sys driver. This hotfix solved a Personal vDisk Image update issue detailed at Citrix Discussions.
  8. If this VDA is Windows Server 2008 R2, see https://www.carlstalhood.com/windows-server-2008-r2-post-sp1-hotfixes/.
  9. To remove the built-in apps in Windows 10, see Robin Hobo How to remove built-in apps in Windows 10 Enterprise.
  10. For Remote Assistance in Citrix Director, configure the GPO setting Computer Configuration | Policies | Administrative Templates | System | Remote Assistance | Offer Remote Assistance. See Jason Samuel – How to setup Citrix Director Shadowing with Remote Assistance using Group Policy for more details.
  11. If you intend to use Citrix’s SCOM Management Packs for XenApp/XenDesktop, make sure WinRM is enabled on the VDA by running winrm quickconfig. Or you can enable WinRM using Group Policy.

Install Virtual Delivery Agent 7.15.9000 LTSR

Citrix periodically releases Cumulative Updates for LTSR versions of VDA. The latest Cumulative Update for 7.15 is CU9 (7.15.9000). Get in the habit of periodically upgrading your LTSR VDAs to the latest Cumulative Update.

CLI Install:

Command Line Install Options are detailed at Install using the command line at Citrix Docs.

GUI Install:

  1. Mount the downloaded XenDesktop 7.15.9000 LTSR ISO.
  2. Run AutoSelect.exe from the ISO.

    1. Alternatively, you can download the standalone VDA package and run that instead. Go the main XenDesktop 7.15.9000 download page. Expand the section labelled Components that are on the product ISO but also packaged separately to download the Standalone VDA installers. Note: 7.15.9000 also has a VDA installer called Desktop OS Core Services that is designed for Remote PC deployments and is not typically used on virtual machines.
    2. If you want to later install Browser Content Redirection, then you’ll need to install the VDA 7.15 CU9 with HTML5 disabled. You do that by including the /FEATURE_DISABLE_HTML5 command line switch when running XenDesktopVDASetup.exe.
  3. Click Start next to either XenApp or XenDesktop. The only difference is the product name displayed in the installation wizard.
  4. On the top right, click Virtual Delivery Agent for Windows Desktop OS, or Windows Server OS, depending on which type of VDA you are building.

  5. In the Environment page, select Create a Master Image, and click Next.

  6. For virtual desktops, in the HDX 3D Pro page, click Next.
  7. In the Core Components page, if you don’t need Citrix Workspace app installed on your VDA, then uncheck the box. Workspace app is usually only needed for double-hop connections (connect to first VDA, and then from there, connect to second VDA). Click Next.
  8. In the Additional Components page, uncheck Citrix AppDisk/Personal vDisk. This feature has been deprecated and is being replaced by Citrix App Layering (Unidesk). If you are installing VDA on Windows 10 1709 or newer, then it is critical that you uncheck this. Click Next.

  9. In the Delivery Controller page, select Do it manually. Enter the FQDN of each Controller. Click Test connection. And then make sure you click Add. Click Next when done.
  10. In the Features page, check boxes. Only the top box is checked by default. If you want to use the other features, check the boxes. Then click Next.
  11. In the Firewall page, click Next.
  12. In the Summary page, click Install.

  13. Click Close if you are prompted to restart.
  14. After the reboot, login.
  15. If you see a Locate ‘XenDesktop LTSR CU9’ installation media window:

    1. Don’t close the Locate window.
    2. Mount the XenApp_and_XenDesktop_7.15.9000.iso.
    3. Go back to the Locate window.
    4. On the bottom left, under This PC, click the mounted drive. Then click the Select Folder button.
    5. Installation will resume.
  16. Note: NT SERVICE\CitrixTelemetryService needs permission to login as a service.
  17. In the Call Home page, make your choice, click Connect, and then click Next.
  18. In the Finish page, click Finish to restart the machine again.

  19. According to CTX225819 When Launching an Application Published from Windows Server 2016, a Black Screen Appears for Several Seconds Before Application is Visible, HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent\DisableLogonUISuppression (DWORD) should be set to 0.

Profile Management 7.15.7000 Hotfix 1 – Security Fix

This update fixes a Local privilege escalation as detailed at CTX319750 Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Security Update. This hotfix is not needed if you are running VDA 7.15.9000.

  1. Download Hotfix ProfilemgtWX64_7_15_7001 and extract it.
  2. From the ProfilemgtWX64_7_15_7001 folder, run profilemgt_x64.msi.
  3. In the Welcome to the Citrix Profile management Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  4. In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
  5. In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
  6. In the Ready to install Citrix Profile management page, click Install.
  7. Click OK if prompted to update existing files.
  8. In the Completed the Citrix Profile management Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  9. Click Yes when asked to restart now.

Also update the UPM VDA Plugin.

  1. Download Hotfix UPMVDAPluginWX64_7_15_7001 and extract it.
  2. From the UPMVDAPluginWX64_7_15_7001 folder, run UpmVDAPlugin_x64.msi.
  3. In the Welcome to the UpmVDAPlugin Setup Wizard page, click Next.
  4. In the End-User License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms and click Next.
  5. In the Destination Folder page, click Next.
  6. In the Ready to install UpmVDAPlugin page, click Install.
  7. Click OK if you see Files in Use.
  8. Click OK to update existing files.
  9. In the Completed the UpmVDAPlugin Setup Wizard page, click Finish.

Microsoft FSLogix

If you need to roam the user’s Outlook .OST file (Outlook Cached Mode), Outlook Search Index, OneDrive cache, OneNote data, SharePoint data, Skype data, and/or Teams data, then download, install, and configure Microsoft FSLogix. FSLogix has more Office roaming features than Citrix Profile Management. A common architecture is to enable FSLogix Office Container for the Office cache files and use Citrix Profile Management for all other roaming profile files and registry keys.

Microsoft FSLogix is free for all Microsoft RDS CALs, Microsoft Virtual Desktop Access per-user CALs, and all Microsoft Enterprise E3/E5 per-user licenses. Notice that per-device licenses are excluded.

G0-EUC tested FSLogix Profile Container (not Office Container) and found that it reduces capacity by 27%. (source = The impact of managing user profiles with FSLogix)

Do the following to install Microsoft FSLogix on the VDA machine:

  1. Go to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/install-ht and click the download link.
  2. Extract the downloaded .zip file.
  3. In the FSLogix \x64\Release folder, run FSLogixAppsSetup.exe.
  4. Check the box next to I agree to the license terms and conditions and click Install.
  5. In the Setup Successful page, click Restart.
  6. Make sure the Windows Search service is set to Automatic and Running.
  7. If Office is already installed, then repair the Office installation after installing and starting the Windows Search Service.

FSLogix is configured through Group Policy or by editing registry values on each FSLogix Agent machine.

Browser Content Redirection

Browser Content Redirection (BCR) can optionally be added to VDA 7.15 Cumulative Update 3 or newer. This is a back port of the same BCR feature in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD) 1811.

BCR requires Workspace app and will not work with Receiver, including the LTSR version of Receiver.

To install BCR on VDA 7.15.9000:

  1. Download Browser Content Redirection 15.15. The BCR add-in has not been modified for 7.15.9000.
  2. If you installed the VDA using AutoSelect.exe, then you’ll need to uninstall the VDA and reinstall it, but this time from the command line.

    1. On the 7.15.9000 ISO, go to \x64\XenDesktop Setup and copy the path to the XenDesktopVDASetup.exe file. Copy as path appears when you hold down Shift while right-clicking.
    2. Open a command prompt and paste the path.
    3. At the end of the path, enter /FEATURE_DISABLE_HTML5 and press Enter.
    4. Reinstall the VDA like normal.
  3. After VDA 7.15 CU8 is installed with the HTML5 Feature disabled, run the downloaded BCR_x64.msi. It installs silently and quickly.
  4. To verify it is installed, open Programs and Features (or Apps and Features) and find Citrix Browser Content Redirection version 15.15.0.10.
  5. If you open Services on the VDA, you’ll see the Citrix HDX services.

BCR GPO Admin Templates

7.15 does not have the Citrix Policy settings to control BCR so you’ll instead need to install a GPO ADMX template. This template was updated in November 2019.

  1. In the same download page for Browser Content Redirection 15.15, scroll down to find the ADMX Files and then download it.
  2. Extract the .zip file.
  3. Inside the extracted ADMX folder, open the 64bit folder and copy MultimediaGroupPolicy.admx to the clipboard.
  4. Go to your PolicyDefinitions folder (in Sysvol, or C:\Windows) and then paste the .admx file.
  5. Back in the extracted ADMX files, go up a folder to the root of the ADMX files and copy MultimediaGroupPolicy.adml to the clipboard.
  6. Go to your PolicyDefinitions folder (in Sysvol, or C:\Windows), open the en-US folder, and then paste the .adml file.
  7. When you open a Group Policy that applies to the VDA Computers, in the Computer half of the GPO, under Administrative Templates, you’ll see a new node named HDX Browser Content Redirection. The settings in this folder are the same ones configured in Citrix Policy in newer versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (CVAD). See https://www.carlstalhood.com/published-applications/#browsercontentredirection for configuration details.

BCR requires Workspace app and will not work with Receiver, including the LTSR version of Receiver.

Citrix Desktop Service

To prevent Citrix Desktop Service (BrokerAgent) starting and registering with the Delivery Controllers before the boot process is complete, see Jeremy Saunders Controlling the Starting of the Citrix Desktop Service (BrokerAgent).

Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP)

Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is enabled by default. To disable it, create the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Telemetry\CEIP\Enabled (DWORD), and set it to 0 (zero). Also see CEIP at Citrix Insight Services at Citrix Docs.

See https://www.carlstalhood.com/delivery-controller-7-15-ltsr-and-licensing/#ceip for additional places where CEIP is enabled.

Connection Quality Indicator

The Connection Quality Indicator tells the user the quality of the connection. Position of the indicator is configurable by the user. Thresholds are configurable through group policy.

Download it from CTX220774 Connection Quality Indicator and install it. The article is very detailed.

Group Policy templates are located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Connection Quality Indicator\Configuration. Copy the files and folder to <Sysvol>\Policies\PolicyDefinitions, or C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.

Find the settings under Computer Config | Policies | Administrative Templates | Citrix Components | Virtual Desktop Agent | CQI

Version 1.2 adds the GPO settings to the user half of a GPO.

Notification display settings lets you customize the user notifications, or disable them.

Connection Threshold Settings lets you set the notification thresholds.

Adaptive Transport

XenApp/XenDesktop 7.15 includes Adaptive Transport, which uses EDT protocol, which uses UDP Ports 1494/2598 for HDX connections to the VDA. The UDP ports should already be open in the Windows Firewall.

Adaptive Transport is disabled by default, but can be enabled in the Citrix Policy setting HDX Adaptive Transport.

Slow Logons

Citrix Discussions Xenapp 7.9: Wait for local session manager: “I have a Xenapp 7.9 environment on Windows 2012 R2. When logging in through Citrix I got message “Wait for local session manager” for 20-30 seconds. When logging in to the server with RDS, I do not have to wait for this.”

“Add the following 2 registry keys to your 7.9 VDA server – then try connecting to it using ICA to see if the issue still occurs:

Add reg keys in “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\GroupPolicy”
Dword: “CacheGpoExpireInHours” – Value = 5-24 (# of Hours) ***start with value of 5***
Dword: “GpoCacheEnabled” – Value = 1

Restart the machine after adding these registry keys and attempt an ICA connection (at least twice) to see if that helps the Login delay.”

 

Mark DePalma at XenApp slow logon times, user get black screen for 20 seconds at Citrix Discussions says that pushing Tile Refresh to a background task speeds up logons.

  1. Regedit:
    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
     
    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\DisableUPMResetCache]
    @="DisableUPMResetCache"
    "Version"="1,1,1,1"
    "StubPath"="REG ADD HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\ImmersiveShell\\StateStore /v ResetCache /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f"
    "Locale"="*"
  2. UPM Exclusions:
    Directory - '!ctx_localappdata!\Microsoft\Windows\Caches'
    Registry - 'SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\DisableUPMResetCache'

 

Marvin Neys at XenApp slow logon times, user get black screen for 20 seconds at Citrix Discussions says that deleting HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UFH\SHC at logoff reduces logon times from 40 seconds to 6 seconds.

Remove-Item HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UFH\SHC

 

For additional logon delay troubleshooting, see Alexander Ollischer XenApp/XenDesktop – “Please Wait For Local Session Manager” message when logging into RDS. He found some Windows Updates that caused a logon delay.

 

XenApp recalculates WMI filters on every reconnect. CTX212610 Session Reconnect 30 sec Delay – DisableGPCalculation – WMI Filters indicates that recalculation can be disabled by setting HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Reconnect\DisableGPCalculation (DWORD) to 1. Note: this registry value might stop Citrix Policies from being re-evaluated when users reconnect (source = Citrix Discussions).

 

If your VDA is 2008 R2, then CTX207038 Application not launching and the session is stuck at the PreLogon state: The ‘IgnoreRegUserConfigErrors’ registry setting on the Terminal Server will cause Winlogon to ignore the fact that it cannot contact a DC in the domain of the authenticating user to get the information it is looking for.

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
    • Value (DWORD) = IgnoreRegUserConfigErrors = 1

 

CTX212439 Desktop Session Stuck in Pre-Logon State with Message “Please wait for the Local Session Manager”:

  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\Kerberos\Parameters\MaxTokenSize (DWORD) = 48000
  • Delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM\GracePeriod\L$RTMTIMEBOMB

Controller Registration Port

Some environments will not accept the default port 80 for Virtual Delivery Agent registration, even though registration is authenticated and encrypted on port 80. To change the port, do the following on the Virtual Delivery Agent:

  1. Open Programs and Features. If Windows 10 1703 or newer, open Apps and Features.
  2. Find Citrix 7.15 LTSR CU8 – Virtual Delivery Agent, and click Change or Modify (Windows 10 1703 and newer).
  3. Click Customize Virtual Delivery Agent Settings.
  4. Edit the Delivery Controllers, and click Next.
  5. On the Protocol and Port page, change the port number, and click Next.
  6. In the Summary page, click Reconfigure.
  7. If you see a Call Home page, click Connect, enter mycitrix.com credentials, and then click Next.
  8. In the Finish Reconfiguration page, click Finish to restart the machine.
  9. You must also change the VDA registration port on the Delivery Controllers by running C:\Program Files\Citrix\Broker\Service\BrokerService.exe -VDAPort
  10. For Local Host Cache, on the Delivery Controller, run C:\Program Files\Citrix\Broker\Service\HighAvailabilityService.exe –VdaPort <CORRECT PORT #>. (Source = CTX229493 VDAs Do Not Register in LHC Mode When Registration Port is Not Set To Default)

Verify that VDA registered with a Controller

  1. If you restart the Virtual Delivery Agent machine, or restart the Citrix Desktop Service
  2. In Windows Logs > Application log, you should see an event 1012 from Citrix Desktop Service saying that it successfully registered with a controller.
  3. If you don’t see successful registration, then you’ll need to fix the ListOfDDCs registry key.
    1. See VDA registration with Controllers at Citrix Docs.
    2. See The Most Common VDA Registration Issues & Troubleshooting Steps at Citrix Blogs.
  4. You can also run Citrix’s Health Assistant on the VDA.

  5. See CTX220772 Technical Primer: VDA Registration for a very detailed explanation of the VDA Registration process.

Citrix Workspace app LTSR

If you want to run Workspace app on the VDA machine, then upgrade it to Workspace app 1912 LTSR (19.12.7000).

VDA 7.15.9000 comes with Workspace app 1912.7000 LTSR.

  1. Download Citrix Workspace app 1912.7000.
  2. On the VDA, as administrator, run the downloaded CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe.
  3. In the Welcome to Citrix Workspace page, click Start.
  4. In the License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the license agreement, and click Next.
  5. In the Enable Single Sign-on page, check the box next to Enable single sign-on, and click Install.
  6. In the Installation successful page, click Finish.
  7. Click Yes when asked to restart now.
  8. For configuration instructions, see the Workspace app article.

Citrix PDF Printer 7.11.0 for Workspace app for HTML5/Chrome

  1. To allow printing from Workspace app for HTML5/Chrome, install Citrix PDF Printer. Get it from the Citrix Workspace app for HTML5 download page in the Additional Components section. Note: this PDF Printer is only used by Workspace app for HTML5 and Workspace app for Chrome.
  2. Go to the extracted CitrixPDFPrinter_7.11.0 and run CitrixPDFPrinter64.msi.
  3. In the Please read the Citrix PDF printer License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms, and click Install.
  4. In the Completed the Citrix PDF Universal Driver Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  5. In Programs and Features (or Apps & Features), it is shown as version 7.11.0.11.

  6. Configure a Citrix Policy to enable the PDF printer. The setting is called Auto-create PDF Universal Printer in the user half of a Citrix Policy GPO.

Citrix File Access 2.0.3 for Workspace app for Chrome OS

  1. If you support Workspace app for Chrome OS (Chromebook) and want published applications to open files on Google Drive, install Citrix File Access on the VDAs. Get it from the Citrix File Access for Chrome.
  2. Go to the extracted Citrix_File_Access_2.0.4 and run FileAccess.msi.
  3. In the Please read the File Access License Agreement page, check the box next to I accept the terms, and click Install.
  4. In the Completed the File Access Setup Wizard page, click Finish.
  5. File Access is listed in Apps & Features or Programs and Features as version 2.0.4.34.
  6. File Access has a default list of supported file extensions. The list can be expanded by editing the registry on the VDA. See CTX219983 Receiver for Chrome Error: Invalid command line arguments: Unable to open the file as it has an unsupported extension.
  7. To open a file from Google Drive, right-click the file and open the file using Citrix Workspace app.

Framehawk Configuration

To enable Framehawk, see https://www.carlstalhood.com/citrix-policy-settings/#framehawkconfig

Remote Desktop Licensing Configuration

On 2012 R2 and newer RDSH, the only way to configure Remote Desktop Licensing is using group policy (local or domain). This procedure also works for 2008 R2 RDSH. This procedure is not needed on virtual desktops.

  1. For local group policy, run gpedit.msc. Alternatively, you can configure this in a domain GPO.
  2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Licensing.
  3. Double-click Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers. Change it to Enabled, and enter the names of the RDS Licensing Servers (typically installed on XenDesktop Controllers). Click OK.
  4. Double-click Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode. Change it to Enabled and select Per User. Click OK.
  5. Optionally, you can install the Remote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser Tool. In the Server Manager > Add Roles and Features Wizard, on the Features page, expand Remote Server Administration Tools, expand Role Administration Tools, expand Remote Desktop Services Tools, and select Remote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser Tool. Then Finish the wizard.
  6. If it won’t install from Server Manager, you can install it from PowerShell by running Install-WindowsFeature rsat-rds-licensing-diagnosis-ui.
  7. In Server Manager, open the Tools menu, expand Remote Desktop Services (or Terminal Services), and click Remote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser.

  8. The Diagnoser should find the license server, and indicate the licensing mode. If you’re configured for Per User licenses, then it’s OK if there are no licenses installed on the Remote Desktop License Server.

Several people in Citrix Discussions reported the following issue: If you see a message about RD Licensing Grace Period has expired even though RD Licensing is properly configured, see Eric Verdumen No remote Desktop Licence Server availible on RD Session Host server 2012. The solution was to delete the REG_BINARY in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM\GracePeriod only leaving the default. You must take ownership and give admin users full control to be able to delete this value.

C: Drive Permissions

This section is more important for shared VDAs like RDSH (Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2016).

The default permissions allow users to store files on the C: drive in places other than their profile.

  1. Open the Properties dialog box for C:.
  2. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
  3. If UAC is enabled, click Change permissions.
  4. Highlight the line containing Users and Create Folders, and click Remove.
  5. Highlight the line containing Users and Create files (or Special), and click Remove. Click OK.
  6. Click Yes to confirm the permissions change.
  7. If you see any of these Error Applying Security windows, click Continue. This window should appear multiple times.
  8. Click OK to close the C: drive properties.

Pagefile

If this image will be converted to a Provisioning Services vDisk, then you must ensure the pagefile is smaller than the cache disk. For example, if you allocate 20 GB of RAM to your Remote Desktop Session Host, and if the cache disk is only 15 GB, then Windows will have a default pagefile size of 20 GB, and Provisioning Services will be unable to move it to the cache disk. This causes Provisioning Services to cache to server instead of caching to your local cache disk (or RAM).

  1. Open System. In 2012 R2 and newer, you can right-click the Start button, and click System. Note: in Windows 10 1703 and newer, this method no longer opens the correct tool.
  2. Another option is to open File Explorer, right-click This PC, and click Properties. This works in Windows 10 1703.
  3. Click Advanced system settings.
  4. On the Advanced tab, click the top Settings button.
  5. On the Advanced tab, click Change.
  6. Uncheck the box next to Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Then either turn off the pagefile, or set the pagefile to be smaller than the cache disk. Don’t leave it set to System managed size. Click OK several times.

Direct Access Users

When Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent is installed on a machine, non-administrators can no longer RDP to the machine. A new local group called Direct Access Users is created on each Virtual Delivery Agent. Add your non-administrator RDP users to this local group so they can RDP directly to the machine.

From CTX228128 What is the HKLM\Software\Citrix\PortICA\DirectAccessUsers registry function: The HKLM\Software\Citrix\PortICA\DirectAccessUsers registry key determines which Local group the VDA references to determine if a user should be allowed Unbrokered RDP access. Members of the Local Administrators group will always be granted access. If the Registry Key does not exist, or gets deleted, VDA will always allow the Unbrokered RDP Connection. The Registry key and local group are created as part of the VDA installation process.

Windows Profiles v3/v4/v5/v6

Roaming Profiles are compatible only between the following client and server operating system pairs. The profile version is also listed.

  • v6 = Windows 10 (1607 and 1703) and Windows Server 2016
  • v5 = Windows 10 (1511 and older)
  • v4 = Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2
  • v3 = Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
  • v2 = Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
  • v2 = Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

For Windows 2012 R2, install Microsoft hotfix 2890783, and set the UseProfilePathExtensionVersion registry value to 1.

CTX230343 Reset Profile Options Is Greyed Out In Citrix Director states that the UseProfilePathExtensionVersion registry value is required on Windows 2012 R2 to enable Director users to reset profiles.

Registry

Black Screen when launch Published Apps on Windows Server 2016

From CTX225819 When Launching an Application Published from Windows Server 2016, a Black Screen Appears for Several Seconds Before Application is Visible: Citrix and Microsoft have worked together together to deliver code fixes for both Windows Server 2016 and XenApp. Microsoft is targeting their KB4034661 patch for the third week of August 2017. This fix requires a registry edit to enable.

  • Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent
    • Value (DWORD) = DisableLogonUISuppression = 0

Published Explorer

From Citrix CTX128009 Explorer.exe Fails to Launch: When publishing the seamless explorer.exe application, the session initially begins to connect as expected. After the loading, the dialog box disappears, and the Explorer application fails to appear. On the VDA, use the following registry change to set the length of time a client session waits before disconnecting the session:

  • Key = HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\TWI
    • Value (DWORD) = LogoffCheckerStartupDelayInSeconds = 10 (Hexadecimal)

Blank Start Menu Icons

With VDA 7.15 Update 1, the icons on the Start Menu of Windows 2012 R2 and Windows 2016 are sometimes blank.

To workaround this issue, use Group Policy Preferences to set the following registry value at every logon:

  • Key = HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell\StateStore
    • Value (DWORD) = ResetCache = 1

Screen Saver

From Citrix CTX205214 Screensaver Not Working in XenDesktop: By default, Screen Saver doesn’t work on Desktop OS. To enable it, on the VDA, configure the following registry value:

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Graphics
    • Value (DWORD) = SetDisplayRequiredMode = 0

Smart Card

From CTX231942 Windows 10 April 2018 Update (v1803) – Citrix Known Issues – Smart Card Service (SCardSvr) will run only if a Smart Card reader is connected. As ICA sessions redirect the Smart Card, it finds the service not to be running and fails.  💡

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Cryptography\Calais
    • Value (DWORD) = AllowServiceAccessWithNoReaders = 1

Logon Disclaimer Window Size

From XenApp 7.8 – Session Launch Security/Warning Login Banner at Citrix Discussions: If your logon disclaimer window has scroll bars, set the following registry values:

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432node\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_DLLS\Multiple Monitor Hook
    • Value (DWORD) = LogonUIWidth = 300
    • Value (DWORD) = LogonUIHeight = 200

Login Timeout

From Citrix CTX203760 VDI Session Launches Then Disappears: XenDesktop, by default, only allows 180 seconds to complete a logon operation. The timeout can be increased by setting the following:

  • Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\PortICA
    • Value (DWORD) = AutoLogonTimeout = decimal 240 or higher (up to 3599).

Also see Citrix Discussions Machines in “Registered” State, but VM closes after “Welcome” screen.

From Citrix CTX138404 Application Connection Starts but Disappears after Timeout: after loading the application, the dialog box disappears and the application fails to appear.

  •  Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\TWI
    • Value (DWORD) =ApplicationLaunchWaitTimeoutMS = decimal 60000

HDX Flash

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX139939 – Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 – Citrix Known Issues: The registry key value IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion is queried by the HDX Flash service to check for maximum Internet Explorer version that HDX Flash supports. For Flash Redirection to work with Internet Explorer 11 set the registry key value IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion to 11 on the machine where HDX flash service is running. In case of XenDesktop it would be the machine where VDA is installed.

  • Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\Server\PseudoServer
    • Value (DWORD) = IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion = 11 (Decimal)

From Citrix Discussions: Add the DWORD FlashPlayerVersionComparisonMask=0 on the VDA under HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Citrix\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\Server\PseudoServer.  This disables the Flash major version checking between the VDA and Client Device.

Workspace app for HTML5/Chrome OS Enhanced Clipboard

From About Citrix Receiver for Chrome 1.9 at Citrix Docs: To enable enhanced clipboard support, create a REG_SZ registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\wfshell\Virtual Clipboard\Additional Formats\HTML Format\Name=”HTML Format”. Create any missing registry keys. This applies to both virtual desktops and Remote Desktop Session Hosts.

Workspace app for HTML5/Chrome OS Upload Folder

The Worksspace app for HTML5 (or Chrome OS) lets upload files.

By default, the user is prompted to select a upload location. If you use the Upload feature multiple times, the last selected folder is not remembered.

Citrix CTX217351 How to customize file upload and download using Workspace app for HTML5 and Chrome. You can specify a default uploads location by editing HKLM\Software\Citrix\FileTransfer\UploadFolderLocation on the VDA. Environment variables are supported. When this value is configured, users are no longer prompted to select an upload location. The change takes effect at next logon.

Note: HTML5/Chrome Workspace app also adds a Save to My Device location to facilitate downloads.

4K Monitors

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX218217 Unable to span across multiple monitors after upgrade to 7.11 VDA, Black/Blank screen appears on the monitors while connecting to ICA session: .

  1. For VDA 7.11 and newer, calculate the video memory that is required for monitors using the following formula:
    SumOfAllMons (Width * Height) * 4 / 0.3, where width and height are resolution of the monitor. Note: There is no hard and fast rule that will work for all cases.
    Example: Consider the resolution of monitor 1 is 1920*1200 and monitor 2 is 1366*768. Then SumOfAllMons will be (1920*1200 + 1366*768)
  2. CTX115637 Citrix Session Graphics Memory Reference describes how multi-monitor resolution is determined.
  3. Open the registry (regedit) and navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vbdenum
  4. Increase the value of “MaxVideoMemoryBytes” REG_DWORD value to the above calculated memory.
  5. Reboot the VDA.

Citrix Policies also control graphics performance.

COM Port Threads

CTX212090 COM Port Intermittently Inaccessible During ICA Sessions: increase the default value of “MaxThreads” under the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\picaser\Parameters from 20 to a value greater than the number of COM port connections you want to support. For example, if a XenApp server supports 100 sessions and each session opens two COM ports, the value of “MaxThreads” should be greater than 200.

NVIDIA GRID License

Allow NVIDIA GRID License to apply after the session is started. (Source = Jan Hendrik Meier NVIDIA GRID license not applied before the user connects – License Restriction will not be removed until the user reconnects)

  • Key = HKLM\SOFTWARE\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\GridLicensing
    • Value (DWORD) = IgnoreSP = 1

Legacy Client Drive Mapping

Citrix CTX127968 How to Enable Legacy Client Drive Mapping Format on XenApp: Citrix Client Drive Mapping no longer uses drive letters and instead they appear as local disks. This is similar to RDP drive mapping.

The old drive letter method can be enabled by setting the registry value:

  • Key = HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\UncLinks (create the key)
    • Value (DWORD) = UNCEnabled = 0

When you reconnect, the client drives will be mapped as drive letters (starts with V: and goes backwards).

Print Driver for Non-Windows Clients

This section applies to Windows 8.1/2012 and newer VDAs.

From CTX140208 Client printing from Mac and Linux clients on Windows 10, Server 2012 R2, and Server 2016. By default, Non-Windows clients cannot map printers due to a missing print driver on the VDA machine.

  1. Requirements:
    • Internet Access
    • Windows Update service enabled
  2. In Windows 10 1803+, open Printers & scanners. On the right (or scroll down) is a link to Print Server Properties.
  3. In older versions of Windows, you can get to Print server properties from Devices and Printers.
    1. In Windows prior to Windows 10 1703, click Start, and run Devices and Printers.
    2. In Windows 10 1703, open Printers & scanners, then scroll down, and click Devices and printers.

    3. In the Printers section, highlight a local printer (e.g. Microsoft XPS Document Writer). Then in the toolbar, click Print server properties.
  4. In the Print Server Properties window, switch to the Drivers tab. Click Change Driver Settings.
  5. Then click Add.
  6. In the Welcome to the Add Printer Driver Wizard page, click Next.
  7. In the Processor Selection page, click Next.
  8. In the Printer Driver Selection page, click Windows Update. The driver we need won’t be in the list until you click this button. Internet access is required.
  9. Once Windows Update is complete, highlight HP on the left, and then select HP Color LaserJet 2800 Series PS (Microsoft) on the right. Click Next.
  10. In the Completing the Add Printer Driver Wizard page, click Finish.

SSL for VDA

If you intend to use HTML5 Workspace app internally, install certificates on the VDAs so the WebSockets (and ICA) connection will be encrypted. Internal Workspace apps will not accept clear text WebSockets. External users don’t have this problem since they are SSL-proxied through Citrix Gateway. Notes:

  • Each Virtual Delivery Agent needs a machine certificate that matches the machine name. This is feasible for a small number of persistent VDAs. For non-persistent VDAs, you’ll need some automatic means for creating machine certificates every time they reboot.
  • As detailed in the following procedure, use PowerShell on the Controller to enable SSL for the Delivery Group. This forces SSL for every VDA in the Delivery Group, which means every VDA in the Delivery Group must have SSL certificates installed.

The following instructions for manually enabling SSL on VDA can be found at Configure TLS on a VDA using the PowerShell script at Citrix Docs.

  1. On the VDA machine, run mmc.exe.
  2. Add the Certificates snap-in.
  3. Point it to Local Computer.
  4. Request a certificate from your internal Certificate Authority. You can use either the Computer template or the Web Server template.

    1. You can also use group policy to enable Certificate Auto-Enrollment for the VDA computers.
  5. Browse to the XenApp/XenDesktop 7.15.9000 LTSR ISO. In the Support\Tools\SslSupport folder, shift+right-click the Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 script, and click Copy as path.
  6. Run PowerShell as administrator (elevated).
  7. Run the command Set-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted. Enter Y to approve.
  8. In the PowerShell prompt, type in an ampersand (&), and a space.
  9. Right-click the PowerShell prompt to paste in the path copied earlier.
  10. At the end of the path, type in -Enable
  11. If there’s only one certificate on this machine, press Enter.
  12. If there are multiple certificates, you’ll need to specify the thumbprint of the certificate you want to use. Open the Certificates snap-in, open the properties of the machine certificate you want to use, and copy the Thumbprint from the Details tab.

    In the PowerShell prompt, at the end of the command, enter ‑CertificateThumbPrint, add a space, and type quotes (").
    Right-click the PowerShell prompt to paste the thumbprint.
    Type quotes (") at the end of the thumbprint. Then remove all spaces from the thumbprint. The thumbprint needs to be wrapped in quotes.
  13. If this VDA machine has a different service already listening on 443 (e.g. IIS), then the VDA needs to use a different port for SSL connections. At the end of the command in the PowerShell prompt, enter -SSLPort 444 or any other unused port.
  14. There are additional switches to specify minimum SSL Version and Cipher Suites. Also see Citrix CTX226049 Disabling Triple DES on the VDA breaks the VDA SSL connection.
  15. Press <Enter> to run the Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 script.
  16. Press <Y> twice to configure the ACLs and Firewall.
  17. You might have to reboot before the settings take effect.
  18. Login to a Controller, and run PowerShell as Administrator (elevated).
  19. Run the command asnp Citrix.*
  20. Enter the command:
    Get-BrokerAccessPolicyRule -DesktopGroupName '<delivery-group-name>' | Set-BrokerAccessPolicyRule ‑HdxSslEnabled $true

    where <delivery-group-name> is the name of the Delivery Group containing the VDAs.

  21. You can run Get-BrokerAccessPolicyRule -DesktopGroupName '<delivery-group-name>' to verify that HDX SSL is enabled.
  22. Also run the following command:
    Set-BrokerSite –DnsResolutionEnabled $true

You should now be able to connect to the VDA using the HTML5 Workspace app from internal machines.

The Citrix blog post How To Secure ICA Connections in XenApp and XenDesktop 7.6 using SSL has a method for automatically provisioning certificates for pooled virtual desktops by enabling certificate auto-enrollment and setting up a task that runs after the certificate has been enrolled.

  • From Russ Hargrove at A note on VDA certificates in 7.14 at Citrix Discussions: Citrix installs a new “Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop HDX Service” certificate in the Personal store which breaks the automation of the Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 script. To fix the problem, modify the task scheduler powershell script to:
    Enable-VdaSSL.ps1 -Enable -CertificateThumbPrint (Get-ChildItem -path cert:\LocalMachine\My | Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.Subject -eq ""} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Thumbprint) -Confirm:$False
  • For certificate auto-enrollment on non-persistent Remote Desktop Session Hosts (aka Server OS VDAs), see Non-Persistent Server SSL to VDA by Alfredo Magallon Arbizu at CUGC.

Anonymous Accounts

If you intend to publish apps anonymously then follow this section.

  1. Anonymous accounts are created locally on the VDAs. When XenDesktop creates Anon accounts it gives them an idle time as specified at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\AnonymousUserIdleTime. The default is 10 minutes. Adjust as desired.
  2. Pre-create the Anon accounts on the VDA by running "C:\Program Files\Citrix\ICAConfigTool\CreateAnonymousUsersApp.exe". If you don’t run this tool, then anonymous users can’t login.
  3. You can see the local Anon accounts by opening Computer Management, expanding System Tools, expanding Local Users and Groups and clicking Users.
  4. If you want profiles for anonymous users to delete at logoff, then you’ll need to add the local Anon users to the local Guests group.
  5. If you open one of the accounts, on the Sessions tab, notice that idle timeout defaults to 10 minutes. Feel free to change it.

Group Policy for Anonymous Users

Since Anonymous users are local accounts on each Virtual Delivery Agent, domain-based GPOs will not apply. To work around this limitation, you’ll need to edit the local group policy on each Virtual Delivery Agent.

  1. On the Virtual Delivery Agent, run mmc.exe.
  2. Open the File menu, and click Add/Remove Snap-in.
  3. Highlight Group Policy Object Editor, and click Add to move it to the right.
  4. In the Welcome to the Group Policy Wizard page, click Browse.
  5. On the Users tab, select Non-Administrators.
  6. Click Finish.
  7. Now you can configure group policy to lockdown sessions for anonymous users. Since this is a local group policy, you’ll need to repeat the group policy configuration on every Virtual Delivery Agent image. Also, Group Policy Preferences is not available in local group policy.

Antivirus

Install antivirus using your normal procedure. Instructions vary for each Antivirus product.

Microsoft’s virus scanning recommendations (e.g. exclude group policy files) – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158.

Citrix’s Recommended Antivirus Exclusions

Citrix Tech Zone Endpoint Security and Antivirus Best Practices: provides guidelines for configuring antivirus software in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environments

Citrix Blog Post Citrix Recommended Antivirus Exclusions: the goal here is to provide you with a consolidated list of recommended antivirus exclusions for your Citrix virtualization environment focused on the key processes, folders, and files that we have seen cause issues in the field:

  • Set real-time scanning to scan local drives only and not network drives
  • Disable scan on boot
  • Remove any unnecessary antivirus related entries from the Run key
  • Exclude the pagefile(s) from being scanned
  • Exclude Windows event logs from being scanned
  • Exclude IIS log files from being scanned

See the Blog Post for exclusions for each Citrix component/product including: StoreFront, VDA, Controller, and Provisioning Services. The Blog Post also has links to additional KB articles on antivirus.

Symantec

Symantec links:

Trend Micro

Trend Micro Slow login on Citrix environment after installing OfficeScan (OSCE): The following registries can be used to troubleshoot the issue. These registries will allow a delay on the startup procedure of OSCE until the system has launched successfully. This avoids deadlock situations during login.

Citrix CTX136680 – Slow Server Performance After Trend Micro Installation. Citrix session hosts experience slow response and performance more noticeable while users try to log in to the servers. At some point the performance of the servers is affected, resulting in issues with users logging on and requiring the server to be restarted. This issue is more noticeable on mid to large session host infrastructures.

Trend Micro has provided a registry fix for this type of issue. Create the following registry on all the affected servers. Add new DWORD Value as:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TmFilterParameters] “DisableCtProcCheck”=dword:00000001

Trend Micro Links:

Sophos

Best Practice for running Sophos on virtual systems: we’ve amassed the following practical information about how you can optimize our software to work with this technology.

Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows XP+: Installation and configuration considerations for Sophos Anti-Virus on a Remote Desktop Services server: It maybe desirable to disable the Sophos AutoUpdate shield icon

Sophos Anti-Virus for Windows 2000+: incorporating current versions in a disk image, including for use with cloned virtual machines: This procedure will make sure that the produced target/cloned computers:

  • Get their distinct identity with Enterprise Console, under which they can be subsequently managed.
  • Have the desired version of Sophos Anti-Virus already installed and configured on the created image.

Palo Alto Traps

  • Install Traps Agent for Windows:
    • Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) installation—Intended for non-persistent endpoints that replicate (also referred to as spawn) from a golden image which has Traps installed.
    • Temporary session—Intended for either physical or virtual endpoints (such as a Remote Desktop Server) that repeatedly revert to a snapshot (or image) on which Traps is not installed.

Windows Defender Antivirus

Deployment guide for Windows Defender Antivirus in a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment

Cylance

CTX232722 Unable to launch application with Cylance Memory Protection Enabled. Cylance must be run in compatibility mode in order to the VDA and Cylance to run on the same machine. See the article for detailed instructions.

Optimize Performance

VDA Optimizer

Installation of the VDA might have already done this but there’s no harm in doing it again. This tool is only available if you installed VDA in Master Image mode.

  1. On the master VDA, go to C:\Program Files\Citrix\PvsVm\TargetOSOptimizer, and run TargetOSOptimizer.exe.
  2. Then click OK. Notice that it disables Windows Update.
  3. See CTX125874 How to Optimize XenDesktop Machines for the list of registry values changed by the TargetOSOptimizer tool. You can use Group Policy Preferences to set these values.

Windows 10 / Windows 2012 R2 / Windows 2016 and newer

Optimization Notes:

RDSH 2008 R2

Citrix CTX131577 XenApp 6.x (Windows 2008 R2) – Optimization Guide is a document with several registry modifications that are supposed to improve server performance. Ignore the XenApp 6 content and instead focus on the Windows content.

Norskale has Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop and XenApp 6 Tuning Tips Update.

Windows 7

Microsoft has compiled a list of links to various optimization guides. It’s a common practice to optimize a Windows 7 virtual machine (VM) template (or image) specifically for VDI use. Usually such customizations include the following.

  • Minimize the footprint, e.g. disable some features and services that are not required when the OS is used in “stateless” or “non-persistent” fashion. This is especially true for disk-intensive workloads since disk I/O is a common bottleneck for VDI deployment. (Especially if there are multiple VMs with the same I/O patterns that are timely aligned).
  • Lock down user interface (e.g. optimize for specific task workers).

With that said the certain practices are quite debatable and vary between actual real-world deployments. Exact choices whether to disable this or that particular component depend on customer requirements and VDI usage patterns. E.g. in personalized virtual desktop scenario there’s much less things to disable since the machine is not completely “stateless”. Some customers rely heavily on particular UI functions and other can relatively easily trade them off for the sake of performance or standardization (thus enhance supportability and potentially security). This is one of the primary reasons why Microsoft doesn’t publish any “VDI Tuning” guide officially.

Though there are a number of such papers and even tools published either by the community or third parties. This Wiki page is aimed to serve as a consolidated and comprehensive list of such resources.

Daniel Ruiz XenDesktop Windows 7 Optimization and GPO’s Settings

Microsoft Whitepaper Performance Optimization Guidelines for Windows 7 Desktop Virtualization

Seal and Shut Down

If this VDA will be a master image in a Machine Creation Services or Provisioning Services catalog, after the master is fully prepared (including applications), do the following:

  1. Go to the properties of the C: drive, and run Disk Cleanup.
  2. If Disk Cleanup is missing, you can run cleanmgr.exe instead.
  3. Windows 10 1703 and newer has a new method for cleaning up temporary files.
    1. Right-click the Start button, and click System.
    2. Click Storage on the left, and click This PC (C:) on the right.
    3. Click Temporary Files.
    4. Check boxes, and click Remove files.
  4. On the Tools tab, click Optimize to defrag the drive.
    `
  5. Run slmgr.vbs /dlv and make sure it is licensed with KMS and has at least one rearm remaining. It is not necessary to manually rearm licensing. XenDesktop will do it automatically.
  6. Run Delprof2 to clean up local profiles. Get it from http://helgeklein.com/download/.
  7. Machine Creation Services and Provisioning Services require DHCP.
  8. Session hosts (RDSH) commonly have DHCP reservations.
  9. Base Image Script Framework (BIS-F) automates many sealing tasks. The script is configurable using Group Policy.
  10. Shut down the master image. You can now use Studio (Machine Creation Services) or Provisioning Services to create a catalog of linked clones.

Troubleshooting – Graphics

If Windows 7 on vSphere, don’t install the VMware SVGA driver. For more details, see CTX201804 Intermittent Connection Failures/Black Screen Issues When Connecting from Multi-Monitor Client Machines to Windows 7 VDA with VDA 7.x on vSphere/ESXi.

For Citrix Policies that control graphics codecs, see https://www.carlstalhood.com/citrix-policy-settings/#graphics

Citrix Blog post – Optimising the performance of HDX 3D Pro – Lessons from the field

From Citrix Knowledgebase article CTX218217 Unable to span across multiple monitors after upgrade to 7.11 VDA, Black/Blank screen appears on the monitors while connecting to ICA session:

  1. For VDA 7.11 and newer, calculate the video memory that is required for monitors using the following formula :
    SumOfAllMons (Width * Height) * 4 / 0.3, where width and height are resolution of the monitor. Note: There is no hard and fast rule that will work for all cases.
    Example: Consider the resolution of monitor 1 is 1920*1200 and monitor 2 is 1366*768. Then SumOfAllMons will be (1920*1200 + 1366*768)
  2. CTX115637 Citrix Session Graphics Memory Reference describes how multi-monitor resolution is determined.
  3. Open the registry (regedit) and navigate to:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\vbdenum
  4. Increase the value of “MaxVideoMemoryBytes” REG_DWORD value to the above calculated memory.
  5. Reboot the VDA

From Citrix Discussions: To exclude applications from Citrix 3D rendering, create a REG_DWORD registry value “app.exe” with value 0 or a registry value “*” with value 0.

  • XD 7.1 and XD 7.5:
    • x86: reg add hklm\software\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0
    • x64: reg add hklm\software\Wow6432Node\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0
  • XD 7.6/7.7/7.8/7.9/7.11 both x86 and x64:
    • reg add hklm\software\citrix\vd3d\compatibility /v * /t REG_DWORD /f /d 0

Wildcards are not supported. The asterisk * here has a special meaning “all apps” but is not a traditional wildcard. To blacklist multiple apps e.g. both appa.exe and appb.exe must be done by creating a registry value for each app individually.

This is most problematic in Remote PC since most physical PCs have GPUs. I recently had to blacklist Internet Explorer to prevent lockup issues when switching back to physical.

Uninstall VDA

Uninstall the VDA from Programs and Features.

Then see CTX209255 VDA Cleanup Utility.

To run the VDA Cleanup Tool silently:

  1. Execute VDACleanupUtility.exe /silent /noreboot to suppress reboot.
  2. Once the VDACleanupUtility has finished executing, setup Auto logon for the current user.
  3. Reboot.
  4. After reboot, tool will launch automatically to continue Cleanup.

Another option is to delete CitrixVdaCleanup value under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce. Then after reboot, run VDACleanupUtility.exe /silent /reboot to indicate that it’s running after the reboot.

Related Pages

155 thoughts on “Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) 7.15.9000 LTSR”

  1. Hi Carl, Can we enable HDX3d pro option during Server OS agent installation? i am not getting this optino while installing Server OS agent.

  2. Nice info thanks for sharing with Us. For Fix HP printer not showing up – If you don’t see your printer listed in the main window, click the Add a printer or scanner option and wait while Windows tries to detect your printer, make sure it’s connected to your PC and switched on. or connect HP number to resolve your query.

  3. Hi Carl,

    thanks for all these tipps!
    Just two questions, I hope I didn’t just miss them while reading:

    As far as I remember Citix recommends to install the VDA after the image has been created in PVS.
    From what I read above you install it before creating the PVS image.
    Do you have a definitive recommendation for the sequence?

    Do you have a recommendation for handling Xenserver Tools (Version and installation sequence)?
    I frequently have problems caused by them like BSODs, stuck PVS images, large number of retries, etc.

    Thanks,
    Stefan

    1. I don’t think installation order matters. Newer versions of VDA and PVS Target Device should have identical MCSIO drivers.

      To update XenServer Tools, you probably have to reverse image. I’m not sure if install order matters, but I would probably install it before I install the VDA.

      1. Great, thanks!
        I am installing XenServer Tools quite at the beginning of creating the image but after the installation of the latest Windows cumulative update and the OS language packs.
        Recently I tried to change the sequence to install them directly after the OS installation BEFORE Microsoft cumulative update and the language packs.
        The result was that the PVS imaging process got stuck after a few percents.
        Changed the sequence back and it worked again immediately.
        So I just wondered if you have any recommendations or experiences on that.

  4. Hi Karl, wondering if ms teams is compatible in PVS 7.15 or just MCS as well as the teams optimisation pack? We are also looking to use fslogix.

      1. Thanks. I thought so too. We have our IT managed by a service provider and are being told teams and its Optimization pack is not best practice to run on a PVS image but only MCS. Admittedly I couldn’t find anything from citrix that confirmed that statement. (apologies for spelling your name incorrectly in the previous post btw). We are planning on using on fslogix for teams only part of the profile management everything else will be windows roaming profile. anything we should be aware of?

        Thanks.

  5. Long time listener, first time caller…

    Recently discovered an issue where printers were not redirecting on some of the machines in one of the environments that I support, even though the printer policies had been set correctly, and it worked properly on most of the machines in the site. Lots of MetaFrame events in the Application event logs, specifically Event ID 1104 (“Client printer auto-creation failed. The printer driver is not allowed based on the Driver Mapping List policy. Check your Driver Mapping List policy in the Citrix Policy Manager.”) After banging my head looking at the GPOs/GPResults and event logs, I decided to open the Print Detective on the failing machines. It turns out the VDA installer did not install the Citrix Universal Printer or Citrix XPS Universal Printer drivers on several of the Windows Server 2016 VDAs that were built. The source files got copied onto the machine properly (C:\Program Files\Citrix\printer), but they were never installed into the OS. Had never seen that before, and figured I’d share.

    The quick fix was to open the Print Management tool, and add the drivers using the source directory noted above.

    1. Mark I owe you a beer. I just put in CU8 and ran into this exact problem. Finally at 10:00 pm after banging my head against the wall I finally found your comment. Thank you sir for posting.

  6. Hi Carl, Thanks for your continuous efforts to help the Citrix community and engineers across the globe. We are facing any issue with XenApp 7.15 LTSR CU3 new deployment. Published Desktops (Server 2012 R2 VDA) are disconnecting/reconnecting after successful launch with Connection Interrupted Message, but Published Applications works seamlessly without any issues. Above issue is facing with all Citrix Receivers from 4.7 onwards. With Receiver 4.6 Published Desktops works fine.

    Disabled HDX Adaptive Transport and tried no luck. Tried with Different MTU/MSS values still no luck. Raised a case with Citrix, Investigation is going from 3 weeks but no luck.

    Could you help us ?

    1. Do you see any of the desktop? Is Receiver installed inside the desktop? If so, is it maybe grabbing the session you’re trying to launch?

      What do you see in Event Viewer on the VDA? Any login scripts or group policies that might be causing it? You can do a Process Monitor (procmon) trace to see what’s happening during login.

      1. Hi Carl

        Receiver is not installed in Server VDA. Also published desktop launches as expected but it will disconnect once I hover the mouse onto desktop. Again it will reconnect after 2 mins. It happens continuously. Never allow us to access anything inside desktop. But RDP to the Server VDA works fine. Issue persists with all VDAs. Tried with Receiver all versions including LTSR and workspace app 1909.

        There are many events with id TDICA 1007, 1005 and 1004 under System logs. Event says the connect to the client ip:port suspended, closed etc..

  7. Hi Carl,

    I have a 7.15 CU1 site with 3 DDC. I need to create a pool of private VDI where the default port 80 for VDA is not possible because of another local application using this port.

    I can change the VDA port with commands like agentconfig -portnumber 8888 -enable_firewall_port TRUE but then I also to change it on the DDC site and then all my other VDI pools are impacted and this is not an option.

    I tried to play with NETSH PORTPROXY to fool the VDA but with no luck (the listener you create is in conflict with the other app)

    I asked the network team to setup firewall rules doing the same kind of translation
    vda local port 8888, ddc local port 80 (default)
    traffic from vda to ddc:8888 is translated to ddc:80
    traffic from ddc to vda:80 is translated to vda:8888

    A telnet using these ports is OK from both directions but still the VDA cannot register

    Exception ‘The message with To ‘http://:8888/Citrix/CdsController/IRegistrar’ cannot be processed at the receiver, due to an AddressFilter mismatch at the EndpointDispatcher. Check that the sender and receiver’s EndpointAddresses agree.’ of type ‘System.ServiceModel.EndpointNotFoundException’..

    Any idea ?

    Can I setup a new DDC using an alternate port (eg 8888) that will handle only this specific pool ?

    Kind regards

    Yvan

  8. Hi Carl. I would like to test a bit with server fetch and client render. What server address and port do I have to enter in the Browser Content Redirection Proxy Configuration? Is it the address and port of our secure gateway?

      1. Tried entering our proxy server address and port. If I use Chrome then the Browser Content Plugin is green and stays green. SO BCR seems to work. The only thing is that the viewpoint stays empty (white). So, there is no YouTube content to choose from. I will keep troubleshooting.

        1. What is your CWA version? Does your proxy require explicit authentication?
          If so, make sure you have CWA 1907 or higher. Also, in CTX230052 we describe how to verify that Server Fetch Client Render is working at the network layer – can you confirm packets are reaching your proxy?

      1. Did some tests at home. When using our web proxy the content redirection starts when browsing to youtube in Chrome. The Chrome BCR plugin gets green. Then I get a popup to enter a username and password. The popup overrides my citrix vdi session. Chrome plugin is still green. On IE the content redirection fails it proceeds with server fetch and server render.

  9. Installed Browser Content Redirection on our 7.15cu4 VDA (PVS image). YouTube on Chrome works perfect. But on IE 11 is not working at all. I can see the add-on in IE and it looks enabled. Cannot see what I am missing here. I can see the HdxBrowserCef.exe running with Chrome but no HdxBrowser.exe when using IE 11. Advice is much appreciated.

      1. Thanks a lot Carl. That really helped me out:

        The Local intranet option “Include all sites that bypass the proxy server” should be unchecked (disabled).

        did the trick for me.

  10. I installed BCR in our 7.15cu4 VDA (PVS image). Using Chrome works perfect. But no luck with IE 11. Any ons some helpfull tips?

  11. Hello Carl,
    have you a procedure (step by step) to request and configure SSL on VDA (XD 7.15.4000) for non-persistant machines, please ?
    Many thanks.
    Best regards

  12. Hello Carl. Can you tell me if scripting the process to create a Master VM with the VDA installed for MCS has been documented? I have followed steps on this blog for preparing the Master VM for deploying MCS Linked clones. What I would like to accomplish is having a 2016 RDSH Server set a VM Template that can be converted to a VM that will become a new Master VM for a new Delivery group and all we need to do is just run either a runbook or remote powershell command to kick off that process.

      1. We want to set up a vm template that will have all the Citrix software and Citrix settings needed to become a master VM for a new application. Then that new vm can be added to a new catalog in the Site.

      2. I wanted to update you on this initiative and also follow up with a question.
        We have a script that will create the computer objects in the OU and will take a new XA Master VM and create a new MCS Catalog and spin up the new VDA’s created in the earlier steps. That all seems to work well. There is one thing that I cannot figure out as it requires me to install the VDA software manually. Using either the manual method in Studio or using the script, the creation process would hang on it creating the snapshot of the new Master VM. After a long delay it would return an error “Preparation of the Master VM Failed…”. What I ended up having to do was go back to the VDA install on the new Master and manually reconfigure the controller section to be set to “Let Machine Creation Services do it automatically”. After that , it all seemed to work.
        The script I use on newly created VDA Masters is as follows:

        c:\temp\VDAServerSetup.exe /quiet /disableexperiencemetrics /components VDA /masterimage /virtualmachine /optimize /exclude “Citrix Telemetry Service”,”Personal vDisk”

        What is the command line syntax for setting the options I need for this to work properly? Or does it function setting that value by default if no option is given?

  13. What Windows 10 version are reccomended on a non-persistent VDI? Are considering going for the LTSC 2019, but are not confident If that would best choice. And what VDA version should I go for 7.15 LTSR, or just go for latest release.
    Btw. Anyone now If I can do a in-place upgrade of Windows 10 Enterprise 1803 SAC, to LTSC 2019?

  14. Hi Carl, After i upgrade VDA 7.15 CU1 to CU4 , UPM is not working thorugh WEM (1906) but if we configure through Citrix Policies , it is working fine.

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