Upgrading Citrix StoreFront 2.0 to 2.1

Greeting friends. It's been awhile since my last post, but I figured I would throw out a quick blog about upgrading Citrix StoreFront. With the release of XenDesktop 7.1, Citrix included new versions of other XD components like StoreFront, UPM, Receiver, etc. It just so happens that I had a newly built StoreFront server sitting in my lab. So new in fact, that I hadn't configured any sites or anything like that. Just a plain Windows Server 2008 R2 VM, with StoreFront 2.0 installed...that's it. So, upgrading StoreFront to 2.1 was VERY straight forward. Pretty much a Next, Next, Next, Finish scenario. Keep in mind, there are some things to consider if you have multiple sites, clustered StoreFront servers, etc. Please refer to the Citrix e-Docs page for additional upgrade information. You will need a valid MyCitrix account to download the Storefront 2.1 install file.

Once you have the StoreFront files downloaded, double click on the .exe to get started

Wait while the StoreFront setup gets ready

Thoroughly read through the License Agreement, check to accept the terms and click "Next" to continue

Verify the Roles and sub-components and click "Install".

 Wait while StoreFront 2.1 installs.

 Once the install is complete, click "Finish".

 That's it!! You're done! Pretty simple huh?

Now get out there, upgrade your StoreFront servers, and start building sites til your hearts content. Cheers.

Meetup with Copenhagenbased PODIO - social collaborative workspaces

Check out this candid interview with Podio's Gustav Jonsson.

Citrix Synergy 2013 Predictions

Greetings friends. It's been a little while since my last post. This is a busy time of year for IT Pros and I'm no exception. Lots of virtualization going on around here. However, I am looking forward to next week, where I will be attending my first ever Citrix Synergy. I'm pretty excited about going. I think the opportunity to meet the big Citrix gurus of the world, is the thing I'm looking forward to the most. I'm sure there will be plenty of new product announcements made during the Keynote, but I thought it would be fun to toss out my own predictions for Synergy 2013. These are just my personal thoughts and opinions.


+ Excalibur release date - My company has been working with Citrix to preview the next release of XenDesktop, since June 2012. I suspect an official release date will be made at Synergy for somewhere around end of Q3.

+ ShareFile- A few months back ShareFile CEO Jesse Lipson announced an optimized ShareFile client for VDI was in the works. I suspect the availability for this will be announced at Synergy. There are a bunch of ShareFile workshops being offered at Synergy this year so I expect a lot of ShareFile goodness taking place.

+Podio- Last year Podio was a huge hit at Synergy. I expect this trend to continue this year. Although Podio recently announced new chat features, there is one Podio feature missing, that I expect to be announced at Synergy this year.....Podio for Windows 8. Podio, coming to a Windows Store near you.

+Lync Support- VOIP support in VDI has been challenging. Citrix made an attempt at optimizing VOIP traffic with the release of XenDesktop 5.6 FP1 and the Lync Optimization Pack. I personally felt this fell short of customer expectations. Since its release Citrix and Microsoft have been working together to create a Lync plugin for Receiver. I suspect some type of announcement will be made regarding this joint effort, perhaps an official release of an updated Lync plugin for VDI.

+ Acquisition Rumors- No Synergy would be complete without the announcement of some type of acquisition. It seems to me that Citrix has gotten real buddy-buddy with Goliath Technologies lately. This past April Craig Ellrod published a Citrix blog detailing the greatness of Goliath's monitoring solution. (Blog Link) With the overhaul of EdgeSight coming in the next release of XenDesktop, Goliath would be a good fit as an additional Enterprise/Platinum monitoring feature.

+ Software Defined Networks- SDN has seen slow adoption. However, Citrix is a big player in this space so I suspect SDN and Netscaler updates will be announced.

+ Other Stuff- Other things I think will be announced are: Updates on the progress of Project Avalon, the announcement of an upcoming release of XenServer, lots of Cloud and Mobility announcements, and another fun presentation from Brad Peterson.

I'm also looking forward to visiting all the vendor booths. Many vendors I work with today, will be there, so it will be good to see what they have in store. What are your thoughts on Synergy 2013? I hope to see everyone there. Cheers

Citrix XenMobile Promo.

Here is a spiffy new promo for the recently announced Citrix XenMobile. It will be interesting to see how well this product does in a MDM Market already full of big players. What are your thoughts.

Citrix Command Center 5.1 Part 1: Install

Citrix Command Center is a powerful tool used to centralize the management and configuration of multiple Citrix solutions. It supports all versions of NetScaler and Branch Repeater, including VPX, and it offers support for Access Gateway and XenServer. There are also reporting and monitoring functions. Citrix released version 5.1 yesterday. You can download it here. (MyCitrix account required) In today's post I will walk through the install process. It's pretty straight forward. I went with an "Evaluation" install just to get the basics under my belt. I will follow up with more posts related to configuring and administration soon. I will be installing 5.1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, however there is support for Linux if you so choose. Enjoy

Download the 5.1 msi. Double click to get started

Click "Yes" to the UAC prompt

Click "Next" to continue

Accept the License Agreement and click "Next"

Select the install destination and click "Next".

Select your Installation Type and Click "Next" I chose Evaluation

Click "Done" to finish the install

Open a browser and go to http://localhost:8443. Enter UserID and Password. Click "Login"

Finished!

Citrix XenApp Manager For Windows 8/RT

I just installed the Citrix XenApp Manager on my Windows 8 laptop. I have to say, this is a pretty neat little app. It allows you to connect to a XenApp 6.5 server and manage basic sessions tasks like disconnecting or logging a user off. There is also a really cool simulation mode you can use without connecting to a production XenApp environment. The tool supports up to 10,000 sessions. In order to use the tool you must be running XenApp 6.5 FP1 w/ hotfix DSCXAmd650WX64001 applied. The hotfix can be downloaded here. 
The XenApp Manager Administration Guide (pdf) can be found here.
You can download XenApp Manager right from your Windows 8 PC, via the Windows Store or clicking here.
Below are some screenshots from my setup. Enjoy.

To enable XenApp Manager on your XenApp 6.5 Server:

Download and save the hotfix  Double Click the .msi  to start the install

Click Run

Accept the License Agreement and click "Install"

Click "Finish" to complete the install.

Go to your Server Services and set the XenApp Command Reporting Service to "Automatic". Click OK

To install Citrix XenApp Manager on Windows 8/RT

Open the Windows Store and do a search for "Citrix"

Find the XenApp Manager app and click "Install"

From your metro view click on the XenApp Manager tile.

Enter the IP or Hostname of your XenApp 6.5 and click "Add"

You can then see user session information

You can also try a "Simulation" mode and Click "Add"

Here you can see simulated user sessions and options.

Using Citrix TaaS (Auto Support)

If you have logged into Citrix.com recently, you may have noticed this little banner page pop up at the bottom of your screen, with this little Robot avatar asking if he can help you. This is a promotion for the launch of TaaS (Tools-as-a-Service) or Auto Support. This was in beta forever, but in a nutshell its a free tool from Citrix that collects log files from your virtual environment and checks for known issues, and helps diagnose problems. It can also be used to run a quick health check. It's important to note that Auto Support is only supported with XenDesktop, XenApp, XenServer and NetScaler products. There are various methods to retrieve log files from your Citrix Products, detailed here. I ran through the process of uploading XenServer status reports from a couple 6.0.2 hosts in our lab. Below are some screenshots of that process. I would love to hear about experience or opinion of TaaS. Cheers

You can access Auto Support here (MyCitrix Account Required)

Log in w/ your MyCitrix account

Click the Blue "Get Started" box.

Give your log file a Description. You can also add a Citirx Case #

Click "Run" when the Java prompt comes up.

Report gets Uploaded. May take a few seconds

An Overview is Presented w/ various details

Example Host Memory Usage

Example Health Check Recommendation.