How to install Citrix XenDesktop 7.6.
More from the Lab!
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 1 – Considerations
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 2 – Hardware
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 3 – Windows and Hyper-V installation
- Lab: Part 4 – Hyper-V Networking
- Lab: Part 5 – NetScaler 11 Architecture and Installation
- Lab: Part 6 – Configure NetScaler 11 High Availability (HA Pair)
- Lab: Part 7 – Upgrade NetScalers in HA
- Lab: Part 8 – Save, Backup and Restore NetScaler 11 configuration
- Lab: Part 9 – Install Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (Dedicated)
- Lab: Part 10 – Citrix Licensing demystified
- Lab: Part 11 – Install XenDesktop 7.6
- Lab: Part 12 – Setup NetScaler 11 Clustering (TriScale)
- Lab: Part 13 – Configure Published Applications with XenDesktop 7.6
- Lab: Part 14 – Citrix StoreFront 3.x
- Lab: Part 15 – Configure SSL in StoreFront
- Lab: Part 16 – StoreFront load balancing with NetScaler (Internal)
- Lab: Part 17 – Optimize and secure StoreFront load balancing with NetScaler (Internal)
- Lab: Part 18 – Secure LDAP (LDAPS) load balancing with Citrix NetScaler 11
- Lab: Part 19 – Configure Active Directory authentication(LDAP) with Citrix NetScaler 11
- Lab: Part 20 – RDP Proxy with NetScaler Unified Gateway 11
- Lab: Part 21 – Secure SSH Authentication with NetScaler (public-private key pair)
- Lab: Part 22 – Ultimate StoreFront 3 customization guide
- Lab: Part 23 – Securing Citrix StoreFront DMZ deployment
- Lab: Part 25 – Upgrade to Citrix StoreFront 3.7
- Lab: Part 26 – Install/Upgrade Citrix XenDesktop 7.11
- Lab: Part 27 – Getting started with Microsoft Azure
- Lab: Part 28 – Getting started with Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 29 – Configure XenDesktop And XenApp Service with Microsoft Azure and Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 30 – Configure Identity and Access Management in Citrix Cloud with Microsoft Azure AD
- Lab: Part 31 – Configure NetScaler Gateway Service for XenApp and XenDesktop Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 32 – Configure MCS with XenDesktop and XenApp Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 33 – Configure Azure Quick Deploy with XenDesktop and XenApp Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 34 – Configure Site Aggregation for Citrix Workspace in Citrix Cloud with XenDesktop 7.x located on-premises
- Lab: Part 35 – Configure a Hybrid NetScaler MA Service environment in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 36 – Configure ShareFile in Citrix Cloud with StorageZones on-premises
- Lab: Part 37 – Upgrade NetScaler HA pair with NetScaler MA Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 38 – How to Configure Full VPN Setup with Citrix NetScaler in CLI
- Lab: Part 39 – Configure Multi-Factor Authentication with Azure MFA Service and Citrix Workspace
- Lab: Part 40 – Getting Started with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 41 – Configure Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 42 – OS Layer with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 43 – Platform Layer with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 44 – Application Layers with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 45 – Layered Image Deployment with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 46 – Elastic deployment with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 47 – User Layers with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 48 – Windows 10 and PVS with Citrix App Layering
In this post, we will describe the steps to install a new XenDesktop site with two controllers.
Lab configuration
Virtual Machine #1 – First controller
- Name: CDC01
- IP address: 10.0.0.71
- Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0
- Domain: CITRIXGURU
- 2048 MB of RAM
- 1 vCPU
- Network adapter: 1 – LAN (vLAN ID 2)
- 50 GB HDD
- Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter edition
Virtual Machine #2 – Second controller
- Name: CDC02
- IP address: 10.0.0.72
- Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0
- Domain: CITRIXGURU
- 2048 MB of RAM
- 1 vCPU
- Network adapter: 1 – LAN (vLAN ID 2)
- 50 GB HDD
- Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter edition
We also need the virtual machines created for SQL and Citrix Licensing.
Download XenDesktop 7.6
Go to https://www.citrix.com/downloads/xendesktop.html.

Select the version, in this lab we will install XenDesktop 7.6 Platinum Edition.
Below are some guides from Citrix.
Requirements
All requirements are available here.
Below are the most important about XenDesktop controllers.
Supported operating systems
- Windows Server 2012 R2, Standard and Datacenter Editions
- Windows Server 2012, Standard and Datacenter Editions
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions
Configuration
- Disk space: 100 MB. Connection leasing (which is enabled by default) adds to this requirement; sizing depends on the number of users, applications, and mode (RDS or VDI). For example, 100,000 RDS users with 100 recently-used applications require approximately 3 GB of space for connection leases; deployments with more applications may require more space. For dedicated VDI desktops, 40,000 desktops require at least 400-500 MB. In any instance, providing several GBs of additional space is suggested.
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 (Windows Server 2008 R2 only).
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1 (4.5.2 and 4.6 are also supported).
- Windows PowerShell 2.0 (included with Windows Server 2008 R2) or 3.0 (included with Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012).
- Visual C++ 2005, 2008 SP1, and 2010 Redistributable packages.
Install XenDesktop 7.6
Mount XenDesktop 7.6 iso download from Citrix website to both virtual machines.
First controller
Connect to the first controller virtual machine and start the installation.
Select Start (XenDesktop, Deliver applications and desktops).

Select Delivery Controller.

Accept license.

Select Delivery Controller and Studio. In this lab, we will have separate servers for Licensing and StoreFront.

Select Next.

Select Automatically configure firewall rules.

Select Install to start the installation.

Install in progress.

XenDesktop 7.6 is installed on the first controller.

Configure XenDesktop 7.6
Select deliver applications and desktops to your users, then An empty, unconfigured Site.
Enter the site name: CitrixGuru_Site.

Enter your database information:
Database server: SQL01
Database name: XD7_DB
Follow this procedure to create the database on the SQL database: XenApp/XenDesktop 7.x database permissions.

Select Test connection to validate the connection with the database. Studio will ask you for alternative credentials if your current account does not have access to the database.

Next step is to enter the license server: lic01.citrixguru.lab, and select Connect to validate the license server.

Select Connect me.

Select No, You can join later and Finish.

Configuration in progress.

XenDesktop 7.6 is configured.

Install second XenDesktop controller
Follow the same steps as for the first controller.
Configure second XenDesktop controller
Select Connect this Delivery Controller to an existing Site.

Enter the address of the first controller.

Select No to delegate this task to the DBA guys.

Select Generate scripts to create the SQL update file.

Run this script on your database then select OK.

XenDesktop configuration has been updated.

Select Configuration > Controllers.

There is now two controllers in the Citrixguru_Site configuration.
You may see this screen in Citrix Studio at some point and have an error message doing the automatic Site upgrade. (

The service instance is already registered with the configuration service
To fix this issue, follow this procedure: XDDS:C266BBDF – XenDesktop 7.6.
Our XenDesktop site is now configured with two active controllers.
More from the Lab!
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 1 – Considerations
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 2 – Hardware
- Building a Dual-Xeon Citrix Lab: Part 3 – Windows and Hyper-V installation
- Lab: Part 4 – Hyper-V Networking
- Lab: Part 5 – NetScaler 11 Architecture and Installation
- Lab: Part 6 – Configure NetScaler 11 High Availability (HA Pair)
- Lab: Part 7 – Upgrade NetScalers in HA
- Lab: Part 8 – Save, Backup and Restore NetScaler 11 configuration
- Lab: Part 9 – Install Microsoft SQL Server 2014 (Dedicated)
- Lab: Part 10 – Citrix Licensing demystified
- Lab: Part 11 – Install XenDesktop 7.6
- Lab: Part 12 – Setup NetScaler 11 Clustering (TriScale)
- Lab: Part 13 – Configure Published Applications with XenDesktop 7.6
- Lab: Part 14 – Citrix StoreFront 3.x
- Lab: Part 15 – Configure SSL in StoreFront
- Lab: Part 16 – StoreFront load balancing with NetScaler (Internal)
- Lab: Part 17 – Optimize and secure StoreFront load balancing with NetScaler (Internal)
- Lab: Part 18 – Secure LDAP (LDAPS) load balancing with Citrix NetScaler 11
- Lab: Part 19 – Configure Active Directory authentication(LDAP) with Citrix NetScaler 11
- Lab: Part 20 – RDP Proxy with NetScaler Unified Gateway 11
- Lab: Part 21 – Secure SSH Authentication with NetScaler (public-private key pair)
- Lab: Part 22 – Ultimate StoreFront 3 customization guide
- Lab: Part 23 – Securing Citrix StoreFront DMZ deployment
- Lab: Part 25 – Upgrade to Citrix StoreFront 3.7
- Lab: Part 26 – Install/Upgrade Citrix XenDesktop 7.11
- Lab: Part 27 – Getting started with Microsoft Azure
- Lab: Part 28 – Getting started with Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 29 – Configure XenDesktop And XenApp Service with Microsoft Azure and Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 30 – Configure Identity and Access Management in Citrix Cloud with Microsoft Azure AD
- Lab: Part 31 – Configure NetScaler Gateway Service for XenApp and XenDesktop Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 32 – Configure MCS with XenDesktop and XenApp Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 33 – Configure Azure Quick Deploy with XenDesktop and XenApp Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 34 – Configure Site Aggregation for Citrix Workspace in Citrix Cloud with XenDesktop 7.x located on-premises
- Lab: Part 35 – Configure a Hybrid NetScaler MA Service environment in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 36 – Configure ShareFile in Citrix Cloud with StorageZones on-premises
- Lab: Part 37 – Upgrade NetScaler HA pair with NetScaler MA Service in Citrix Cloud
- Lab: Part 38 – How to Configure Full VPN Setup with Citrix NetScaler in CLI
- Lab: Part 39 – Configure Multi-Factor Authentication with Azure MFA Service and Citrix Workspace
- Lab: Part 40 – Getting Started with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 41 – Configure Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 42 – OS Layer with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 43 – Platform Layer with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 44 – Application Layers with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 45 – Layered Image Deployment with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 46 – Elastic deployment with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 47 – User Layers with Citrix App Layering
- Lab: Part 48 – Windows 10 and PVS with Citrix App Layering
Hello Nicholas,
Thanks for the awesome articles. Really helpful and congratulations for your CTP.
I just want to check what hosting feature have you configured here as Xendesktop needs one?
Is it SCVMM? Can we have a post on how to integrate it as well please?
Thanks,
Pavan