Creating a Load Balanced Multi-Node Citrix StoreFront 2.0 Server Group with NetScaler Gateway 10.1!

Over a year ago I wrote a blog post covering the recently released Citrix Receiver StoreFront 1.0 at the time, which can be found here. Much has changed in the world of Citrix technologies in a year and a half, and I felt it was time to provide an update for the new Citrix StoreFront 2.0 which among other major enhancements has removed the Microsoft SQL database requirement!! Horray! Here’s the updated architectural overview that I will be covering in this blog post: Additionally, you’ll notice updated vernacular relating to the Access Gateway component as CAG VPX (v5.0.x) can be [...]

VDI-in-a-Box (VIAB) Project Curacao Technology Preview: Installation and Configuration Using Hyper-V Server 2012! Part 1

As many of you know, Windows 8 virtual desktops are supported (in technical preview) in the current release of VDI-in-a-Box (VIAB) 5.2 with the following limitation: RDP Connections Only.  This has been available since day one of Microsoft’s Windows 8 release. About a week ago (on May 10th), Citrix made available a public tech preview for VIAB Project Curacao (Read more here), which adds full HDX/ICA support for Windows 8 virtual desktops along with several other key enhancements. In the following blog post, I will share my experiences building a stand-alone Hyper-V Server 2012 host with local storage and a [...]

VDI-in-a-Box (VIAB) Project Curacao Technology Preview: Installation and Configuration Using Hyper-V Server 2012! Part 2

If you’ve just stumbled upon this article, I recommend you start from the beginning by clicking the Part 1 link below.  For easy reading, I’ve broken this blog post into three parts: Part 1: Hyper-V Server 2012 Installation and Importing VDI-in-a-Box Part 2: VDI-in-a-Box Initial Configuration < YOU ARE HERE! Part 3: Windows 8 Image and Template Creation Since Hyper-V Server 2012 doesn’t include any consoles or snap-ins, I recommend using Windows 8 or another Windows Server 2012 machine to remotely connect Hyper-V Manager.  Instructions for installing Hyper-V Manager on Windows 8 can be found here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2012/05/29/installing-the-remote-management-tools-for-windows-8-hyper-v.aspx.  Once installed, launch Hyper-V [...]

VDI-in-a-Box (VIAB) Project Curacao Technology Preview: Installation and Configuration Using Hyper-V Server 2012! Part 3

If you’ve just stumbled upon this article, I recommend you start from the beginning by clicking the Part 1 link below.  For easy reading, I’ve broken this blog post into three parts: Part 1: Hyper-V Server 2012 Installation and Importing VDI-in-a-Box Part 2: VDI-in-a-Box Initial Configuration Part 3: Windows 8 Image and Template Creation < YOU ARE HERE! Next, we will go ahead and create the Windows 8 VM that will be used for creating our VIAB pools.  In Hyper-V Manager, select the Action menu and click New –> Virtual Machine (Also available on the right navigation window): Click Next: Enter [...]

Citrix Receiver for HTML5 1.0 Installation, First Impression, and Live Demo Video

There has been a lot of hype at recent Synergy conferences regarding the new Citrix Receiver for HTML5 component, which in some cases may eliminate the need for a full Citrix Receiver client.  In this post, I’m going to do a brief review of the initial setup of Receiver for HTML5 1.0 (Released Friday), which integrates with Citrix Receiver Storefront, previously covered here. Receiver for HTML5 has a simple executable that is installed on the Storefront server(s).  The installer can be found at citrix.com under Downloads -> Citrix Receiver -> Receivers by Platform -> Receiver for HTML5 1.0 NEW! After [...]

Creating a Load Balanced Multi-Node Citrix Receiver StoreFront Server Group for use with Citrix CloudGateway

Hopefully, you are well aware that Citrix Web Interface is no longer being developed past the current version, 5.4. Stephane Thirion and Thomas Koetzing have covered product development and some background information well in their excellent blog posts you can find here: Instead of rehashing all the background details, I wanted to go through an advanced multiple server Receiver Storefront deployment with NetScaler being used for load balancing.  Then, I’ll cover the critical components required to connect through Access Gateway Enterprise Edition (on the NetScaler Platform) and Access Gateway VPX (v5.0.4). Let’s start with an architectural overview to discuss the [...]

Installing and Configuring Citrix Desktop Director 2.0 for use with XenApp 6.5

If you’re anything like me, the minute you heard that Desktop Director 2.0 would now integrate with XenApp 6.5, you became all excited!  If you haven’t used or seen Desktop Director yet, you are in for a treat! If you’ve tried configuring an existing Desktop Director instance to point to XenApp 6.5, you may have experienced my frustrations and in my experience the eDocs guide linked here was no help.  According to eDocs, this should be as simple as configuring Service.AutoDiscoveryAddresses for XenDesktop and Service.AutoDiscoveryAddressesXA for XenApp. If you’re supporting multiple XenDesktop sites and multiple XenApp farms, you should be able to comma separate these [...]

Installing Citrix NetScaler nCore VPX 9.3 and Access Gateway Enterprise Edition in VMware Workstation for Evaluation Purposes

Several months ago I blogged about installing Access Gateway VPX Express in VMware Workstation. I recently realized that while this post has received numerous hits and comments, a more valuable blog post would focus on installing NetScaler nCore VPX and Access Gateway Enterprise Edition in VMware Workstation! VMware Workstation, or any lab environment for that matter, is the best place for an individual learning or evaluating NetScalers as it is most often isolated or detached from the corporate environment.  The approach will be similar to my post on CAG VPX Express, but in the end we will be ready to [...]

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