Lab: Part 13 – Configure Published Applications with XenDesktop 7.6

Step-by-step guide to configure XenDesktop/XenApp 7.6 to publish applications.

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XenDesktop 7.6 configuration is different than the good old XenApp 6.5. In this post, we will discuss how to publish applications via StoreFront with XenDesktop 7.6.

Configuration

Lab configuration

Two new virtual machines have been created to complete this task:

Virtual Machine #1 – StoreFront secondary server

• Name: XA01
• NSIP address: 10.0.0.71
• Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0
• 1024 MB of RAM
• 1 vCPU
• Network adapter: 1 – LAN (vLAN ID 2)
• 50 GB HDD
• Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Edition

Virtual Machine #2 – Client

• Name: PC01
• NSIP address: 10.0.1.10
• Subnet mask: 255.0.0.0
• 1024 MB of RAM
• 1 vCPU
• Network adapter: 1 – LAN (vLAN ID 2)
• 50 GB HDD
• Windows 10 Enterprise x64

We also need the two controllers virtual machines previously created in Lab: Part 11 – Install XenDesktop 7.6.

Requirements

• Make sure that XA01 can communicate with the two controllers (CDC01 – 10.0.0.71 and CDC02 – 10.0.0.72). Lab: Part 11 – Install XenDesktop 7.6
• Make sure that Citrix Receiver is installed on the client.
• StoreFront website is required. Lab: Part 14 – Citrix StoreFront 3.x
• XenDesktop 7.6 ISO. Lab: Part 11 – Install XenDesktop 7.6

Virtual Delivery Agent installation

Mount XenDesktop 7.6 iso to the virtual machine.

Installation will start automatically.

Then Select Virtual Delivery Agent for Windows Server OS.

Select Enable connections for a server machine.

Select Next.

On the following screen, select Virtual Delivery Agent and Citrix Receiver.

Configure the two delivery controllers.

cdc01.citrixguru.lab
cdc02.citrixguru.lab

Click on Test connection to validate the configuration.

Select All the features.

Configure ports automatically.

Installation in progress.

XA01 will reboot during the installation.

Installation will resume after the reboot.

After all the prerequisites, core components will be installed.

Validate communication

Open Event Viewer (eventvwr), and look for Citrix Desktop Service Event 1010.

Both controllers should be referenced here.

The next event (Event 1012) is about the registration to these controllers.

This event shows that the server has successfully registered with one of the controllers.

Applications installation

For this lab, Adobe Create Suite Collection 6 will be installed on XA01.

Configure Published Applications

When the installation is done, connect to CDC01 – 10.0.0.71 open Citrix Studio and select Machine Catalogs.

Create catalog

On the right, select Create Machine Catalog. Click Next to go to the next screen.

Select Windows Server OS.

Our virtual machine is not managed by MCS or PVS, select Another service or technology.

Enter the computer AD account of the Citrix server: CITRIXGURU\XA01$.

The catalog is now created.

Select the catalog.

Then select the Citrix server: XA01.citrixguru.lab and make sure that the server is registered.

Create delivery group

Select Create Delivery group.

Select the catalog previously created.

Select Applications.

Enter CitrixGuru\Domain Users to publish these apps to all users in the domain.

Select the applications:

• Acrobat X Pro
• Dreamweaver
• Photoshop
• etc.

The list of applications should be automatically pre-populated by Citrix Desktop Studio.

Enter a name for the new Delivery Group.

The delivery group is now created, select it and take a look at the Details tab.

Launch applications

Connect to StoreFront with a domain account, few applications should be available:

Click on Adobe Acrobat icon. The application should start in few minutes.

Additional configurations

Limit visibility of applications

In case you need to hide some applications or only allow specific users to access them, navigate to the Applications tab, and Select the application you want to modify.

Select Properties.

Navigate to Limit Visibility, select Limit visibility for this application to the users listed below.

I have an AD group created for users allowed to have Photoshop (CITRIXGURU\CTX_APP_PHOTOSHOP). This group is empty.

The configuration will be updated as below.

On StoreFront, Photoshop is now unavailable.

Create folders for administrators

Select Create Folder.

Enter the name of the folder.

Drag and drop applications in the new folder.

Note that this configuration is only visible for administrators in the Citrix Desktop Studio. To add folders on the StoreFront website, follow the procedure below.

Create folders for users

Select the application, right click and select Properties. Then navigate to Delivery.

Refresh Storefront, and go to Categories. The new Web folder is visible.

And Dreamweaver has been moved to that folder.

 

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