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Free beta Exam! Citrix XenApp 6.5 Advanced Administration A22

RATokeshi — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:12:54 +0000

http://citrixtraining.com/courses/course_view.cfm/course_id:381/ Free beta Exam! Citrix XenApp 6.5 Advanced Administration A22 #XenApp

How to tell if Desktop Delivery (VDI) is a Relevant Option

RATokeshi — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 06:31:44 +0000

These are a few key reasons that Desktop Virtualization or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is such an important driver currently and how to tell in the future if it is a relevant delivery option.

• Minimum device resources in each device tier and the cost–tier relationship.
• Ubiquity of Internet connectivity.
• Hardware relationship to operating system base requirements.
• Operating system hardware dependence, configuration complexity, and size compared to local storage cost/size.
• Application hardware dependence, configuration complexity, and the size compared to local storage cost/size.
• Data file size and its relationship to network cost/throughput.

We have reached an interesting point where each of these relationships make Desktop virtualization appealing. First, lets look at the devices.

• Minimum device resources in each device tier and the cost–tier relationship.
What is called the minimum resource in many devices is capable of supporting a virtualized or local desktop. The desktop and laptop tiers have converged. The early 1980’s meant an IBM PC that had a color screen and could connect to a TV. The Compaq and IBM 25 pound “luggables” of the ‘80’s and their 9” monochrome screens. In the 1990’s, laptops were like a desktop-lite version of hardware. In fact at that time, you would choose to make compromises and do without in terms of hardware. Even in the case of the “desktop replacements” there was compromise at least in terms of cost. Now desktop or laptop hardware have a huge overlap whose decision points are all on the budget and preferences of the consumer. Either way, laptop or desktop across both of their range will have the physical resources to power up and present a desktop.
Take a step down to the tablet form factor. The ‘80’s Day-Timer leather bound notebook or business cards, contact and to-do lists have given way to the ‘10’s tablets. Their $100 three-ring binder or now their Man-purse with their tablet or slate could mark a person of business.
Another step down and the legend of the little black book, and the Moleskine, the ‘90’s Palm Pilot’s and the ‘00’s Blackberry’s, and now iOS and Android. Two decades of ICA and now HDX client capable (O.K. 6-ish years but both the decades have a device with a client) devices. Look at the phones of today where it barely turns your head to see a dual-core phone. How long ago did you get your first dual core laptop or desktop? As we start to look at the tablet/ slate docking stations and the “Nirvana Phone” connection to desktop monitors, keyboard and mouse we really can see that we have come a long way from:
1980 - I know a kid that goes to a computer lab.
1990 – We have computers at work.
2000 – We have a computer at home.
2010 – I can’t throw a rock without everyone posting it on YouTube from his or her phone. Of course we have a computer and the kids have one and our console games have Internet access.
We are living in in a time where everybody has a device ON THEIR PERSON that is capable of accessing the Internet and displaying a desktop. A manufacturer is taking some heat for putting full Windows 7 on their dual core phone. Computing is not a question of when, where, or how. The question is which of my many devices at my disposal will be the most comfortable to compute from for this task?

• Ubiquity of Internet connectivity.
I think that this is pretty much self-explanatory. The interesting point is how internet access has bled through to devices that were un-imaginable years ago. From a desktop or laptop that needed an external token-ring adapter or an external modem. Modems coming standard, then 10 meg, then 100 meg, now 1 Gig at home and 10 Gig in the datacenter. Any handheld device that doesn’t have a cellular connection has wi-fi. In the past a book only needed to be under a lamp. Now we expect our e-readers to have wireless and cellular access. Our cars can have cellular access to remote assistance as well as tracking or aftermarket retrofitted cellular rear-view mirrors from On-Star. Look at the refrigerators with internet access, my Schlage-link front door lock, and home lights and cameras, our books, our watches, and even our shoes have ability to transmit data. As data transmission capabilities reach the most mundane of objects through Arduino chips and wireless networks more capabilities will continue to seep up the device food-chain.

• Hardware relationship to operating system base requirements.
How much of the hardware available is needed to run the operating system? Do you remember the “turbo” button? How about the math co-processor? When was the last time you actually worried about the ability of new hardware to run the current OS? There was a time that you might have to limp along playing solitaire until you could upgrade your machine to run the apps you wanted. Even the most meager desktop or laptop is not slow, it is some form of space or power saving feature set. We live in a time where the OS is only a small subset of the physical resources utilized by the powerhouse machines we buy today.

• Operating system hardware dependence, configuration complexity, and size compared to local storage cost/size.
Even when we consider the extremes of OS requirements type 1 local hypervisors, Intel VT-x, VT-d, or AMD-V is not exactly the extremes of the gaming machine market. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had one at arm’s reach already. The days of OS’s having problems installing a base operating system are pretty uncommon. PC repair is still a marketable skill, but OS installs can be handled by anyone that can recognize the “Next” button. I bring up storage cost and size because the accumulation of music, and other media was the old reason to scramble to reinstall an OS to add a new drive with more space to accommodate data. I’m in no way trying to say that the current 3TB drives are un-fillable, but I am saying that the 8-16 GB of OS post install is a tiny percentage of space compared to the KB sized texts, MB sized music and images, and GB sized movies. 490-something movies plus operating system? Doesn’t that sound like a lot of stuff?

• Application hardware dependence, configuration complexity, and the size compared to local storage cost/size.
While applications can require their own hardware, cameras, microphones etc., the “AppStores” and internet downloads make the installations trivial. Even large application installs like office productivity apps do not consume a significant portion of the local disk anymore.

• Data file size and its relationship to network cost/throughput.
The interesting part of this is that as the ability of the network to transfer data increases the ability to synchronize data between datacenter and desktop and cloud. The small document size to availability of ubiquitous bandwidth allows you documents to follow you to any device or location.

Why are these details important?

The device you need to display a desktop is at your fingertips. In fact you probably always have a device at home, work, in a bag, in your pocket, or at a kiosk nearby to get to a desktop. Even if there was no device, how long would it take to get to a store with one? An electronics store, big-box store, cell phone outlet, or even bookstore has a device that you can access the internet. A device to access the internet that is always there from a wi-fi hotspot, cellular, or even dial-up if you can find a modem. You have plenty of hardware resources; plenty of storage, and plenty of bandwidth of access your files from anywhere using any application installed on any OS located anywhere.

The original Any, Any, Any has become an ANY to the 5th power. The usefulness of a virtualized desktop is achievable today via your pocket (cell phone). As you install your Citrix Receiver on your rooted Android e-reader tomorrow, imagine the time traveler explaining it to Gutenberg. Almost as hard to explain the computer, as it is to explain the access through the e-reader evolved mass-produced book. How does the time traveler explain to Bill Bowerman founder of Nike that performance data transmitted out of sensors in the shoes evolved from the rubber soles he molded from a waffle iron? Tomorrow’s dual core shoes that have the physical resources to install a Citrix Receiver are the norm the day after tomorrow?

Copy vhd's to your Hyper-V server via Powershell

RATokeshi — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:17:06 +0000

What do you do if you want to copy your vhd's from a share to your storage on your Hyper-V server?

I guess cut and paste...

What if you don't want to get your fingers all sticky from the GUI?

Lets try some powershell:

First lets create the directory so wh acn have a copy of the vhd's where we want it. Lets create a folder in the c:\ drive called VHD-staging

{code}
New-Item c:\VHD-staging -type directory
{code}

Great now we have a directory.
Now lets connect to the share:

{code}
New-PSDrive -name P -psprovider FileSystem -root \\10.0.0.1\ShareName
{code}

Now we have a connection to the share on the P drive.

The last step is to recursively copy the vhd's and any configuration files, snapshots etc.

{code}
Copy-Item -rec -filter * p:\ c:\VHD-staging
{code}

There you have it
{code}
New-Item c:\VHD-staging -type directory
New-PSDrive -name P -psprovider FileSystem -root \\10.0.0.1\ShareName
Copy-Item -rec -filter * p:\ c:\VHD-staging
{code}

Quick steps to create a folder, connect to a share and copy the contents.

Why reconfigure proxy.xml for your vCenter and XenDesktop?

RATokeshi — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 01:50:00 +0000

Wow, a lot of jumping between XenServer, Hyper-V and vSphere this week. It really was fun, fun, fun until I had to take my daugher’s T-bird away. But that is yet another story.

Today’s topic is everyone’s favorite xml file, proxy.xml. What fun! Ah, the pleasant days spent in a customer’s datacenter, conference room, or cube hacking away at this file. I could tell you stories only fit for the “National Enquirer”. Unfortunately today I am only going to tell stories about why this particular CTX article is so important.
CTX125578
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX125578
XenDesktop Error: The hosting infrastructure could not be reached at the specified address

So here is the problem. You are just cruising along, minding your own business, trying to install XenDesktop. You have a nice frosty Big Gulp, then a few Next Next Next’s and suddenly you can’t reach hosting infrastructure. Now this may be true of your datacenter is in another building, campus or another room, but what if it is in a rack arms length from your laptop? I, for example can walk across my office to where the AC air intake is and I can definitely “reach my hosting infrastructure”. In fact if I stand in the right place I can reach 4 different hosting infrastructures. I look like a Jabba the Hut playing Twister, but I can reach them.

I guess the message is implying “reach the hosting infrastructure” from the NETWORK. Oh. That makes more sense.

So lets look at the first step. Hosting infrastructure isn’t really talking about all of the specific hypervisor hosts when its XenDesktop involved. In fact, XenDesktop is not really all that interested in all of the hosts in your virtualization infrastructure. XenDesktop is more interested in how your machines are controlled inside of your virtualization infrastructure. So, while in a XenServer environment all of the hypervisor hosts have some ability to contact the idea how things are run, what and which host is in control, things don’t run that way in Hyper-V and vSphere. In fact, while you can run the xe command: xe role-list
You can find out the roles in a XenDesktop pool.
vm-power-admin: The VM Power Administrator role has full access to VM and template management and can choose where to start VMs and use the dynamic memory control and VM snapshot features
vm-admin: The VM Administrator role can manage VMs and templates
vm-operator: The VM Operator role can use VMs and interact with VM consoles
read-only: The Read-Only role can log in with basic read-only access
pool-operator: The Pool Operator role manages host- and pool-wide resources, including setting up storage, creating resource pools and managing patches, high availability (HA) and workload balancing (WLB)
pool-admin: The Pool Administrator role has full access to all features and settings, including accessing Dom0 and managing subjects, roles and external authentication

When you have a Hyper-V virtualization infrastructure you will need to connect to your SCVMM (System Center Virtual Machine Manager) server. For vSphere you will connect to your vCenter server. This is what controls the machine state of the virtual machines. How they will power on and off etc. The mechanisms for power on and off are important because of Provisioning Services. Getting the virtual disk out to machines and overall initiating the boot process for PXE or TFTP to get the machine up and running. The other benefit is to make sure you can conserve hypervisor resources when virtual desktops are not needed. This opens up the ability to step processor power, shut down cores, sockets and servers to conserve energy.

Back to the proxy.xml, this file is responsible for configuring how the vCenter server will respond to SDK requests. By default it is configured to HTTPS only. Hey who doesn’t like secure? The problem is that when you are connecting to an ssh server via a terminal connection you can just accept the ID of the server and log in and hack away. When you are connecting to the vCenter SDK, by default you have to make a secure connection. And a secure connection means you have to be able to identify the target by hostname resolution, not just ipaddress. You don’t want me to drop a copy of my vCenter vm called vCenter.phxdemo.tokeshi.com in the middle of your environment and collect all of your vCenter passwords do you? Especially just because we both happen to call our vCenter servers “vcenter”, now your vCenter.contoso.com is getting it’s traffic intercepted by my vCenter server. Bad, bad, bad.

The funny part is that it is a bit of a hassle to get a certificate, it used to cost hundreds of dollars to get a publicly verified certificate, now it still costs hundreds of pennies to get a certificate. (As much as a 15 minute phone call according to some commercials.) So some people leave the default certificate on the vCenter server and this certificate is referenced as the host “vmware”. So all you have to do is put a reference in your XenDesktop infrastructure for “vmware” and the vCenter ipaddress, or better yet you can add vmware to your DNS, and now all you have to do is trust the private cert on the vCenter server. If you think this is a secure idea, I can “secure” your credit card information for you if you mail me your credit cards, ID, social security card, and your birth certificate. (No, please don’t I’m kidding. Really. Put down the envelope. Just PayPal me a few bucks and we’ll call it even.)

It’s not all that bad to do the vmware host name/ built in certificate workaround in a lab or something just do us all a favor and let’s not do it in production. Not even in POC. (Mainly because POC ends up standing for Production On Completion, not Proof Of Concept).

Hopefully this has given you a little insight as to why all of this hoopla about the proxy.xml.

Thanks for hanging out here for a while,
rat

Create Large VHD's in seconds Wow!

RATokeshi — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 17:50:47 +0000

Simul-post http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/royt

The vhd Tool at MSDN by Chris Eck can crete large VHD's via command line in seconds. Wow! this is better than chocolate ice cream and just short of Spumoni. (And when the fat guy rates something in the range of ice cream you know it's a good tool.)
http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/vhdtool
Here is what he says about it...

EdgeSight 5.3 SQL Requirements

RATokeshi — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:10:37 +0000

SQL Server 2008 (Standard or better) or SQL Server 2005 SP2 or later (Standard or better). Note that SQL Server 2008 R2 is not supported,
Important: Note the following configuration requirements:
In SQL Server 2008, the Reporting Services Role called Manage Shared Schedules no longer exists as a stand-alone role; it is now part of the System Administrator Role. For more information, see Configuring Reporting Services for Citrix EdgeSight.
SQL Server must be configured for case-insensitive collation. Case-sensitive collation is not currently supported for this release.
SQL Server should be configured to use Windows Authentication or Mixed-Mode Authentication.
Reporting Services is included with SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2005. Reporting Services can be installed on a separate machine from the data source.
SQL Agent Service running and set to start automatically (if Reporting Services is installed on the machine)

Rat's Travel tips at PHX Sky Harbor Dec 2010

RATokeshi — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 16:19:51 +0000

If you are traveling into, out of or through PHX this holiday here are a few tips.

If you need convenience the short term parking at each terminal is on sale
40% off for $15 a day, pricey but better than the usual $25 per day
Dec 12 2010 – Jan 4 2011
Must use coupon http://skyharbor.com/survey_Parksurvey.aspx
Fill out 3 multiple choice questions get a coupon…

The last time I checked…
The economy lots have good bus service at $8 a day.
Closest to terminal 4 SouthWest, U.S. Airways
http://www.preflightparking.com/PHX.aspx
Online coupons and reservations, friendly helpful van service to airport.

Use Powershell to add the Host to SCVMM from your XenDesktop DDC

RATokeshi — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:48:21 +0000

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. A case of pneumonia and Kylie had bronchitis so I'm a bit behind.

Here is an interesting bit:
I grabbed some code from bsonposh.com and added it to some code scraped out of SCVMM to get something to automate adding a host to SCVMM.

I used bsonposh.com Set-myCredential.ps1 to save a credential file:

#Set-myCredential.ps1 $user = "xendesktop\administrator" $file = "c:\scripts\credentials.enc.xml" $Credential = Get-Credential $credential.Password | ConvertFrom-SecureString | Set-Content $File

I use the reverse to get the credential and add the host to SCVMM. The idea here is to have an easy way to import a machine running the SCVMM console and add the local host. A renewable or transportable demo or test system or part of an automation script for a cloud based host. You might set up the internal networks to be identical on each physical host and then use the ip address to access the local host.

$user = "xendesktop\administrator" $file = "c:\scripts\credentials.enc.xml" $password = Get-Content $File | ConvertTo-SecureString $credential = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PsCredential($user,$password)

$VMHostGroup = Get-VMHostGroup -VMMServer localhost | where {$_.Path -eq "All Hosts"}

Add-VMHost -VMMServer localhost -ComputerName "192.168.1.2" -Description "" -Credential $Credential -RemoteConnectEnabled $true -VmPaths "" -Reassociate $false -RunAsynchronously -VMHostGroup $VMHostGroup

A cool side effect is that if you do this and the host does not have Hyper-V role it will add it automatically and reboot. Cool or not cool depending on if you expect it.

Thanks for your time, and thanks for hanging out with me here.
Take care,
rat

Free eBooks from Microsoft Press

RATokeshi — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 21:16:45 +0000

From the really cool Microsoft oriented website: Bink.nu

How to Configure Extended Multi-Monitor Support on a Macintosh Client

RATokeshi — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:00:26 +0000

How to Configure Extended Multi-Monitor Support on a Macintosh Client

Document ID: CTX127085 / Created On: Oct 22, 2010 / Updated On: Oct 22, 2010
Average Rating: not yet rated
View products this document applies to

Summary

This article describes how to configure Extended Multi-Monitor Support on a Macintosh client.

Background

Administrators can configure extended multi-monitor support for users either on a per-server or per-client device basis.

Procedure

Use the following procedure to configure extended multi-monitor support on the server.

Open the default.ica file, typically located in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\SiteName\conf\.
Add the following parameters to the Applications section:
DesiredHRES= Width of session, between 120 and 8000 pixels
DesiredVRES= Height of session, between 80 and 6000 pixels
DesiredHPos= Horizontal position of the top-left corner of the desktop session
DesiredVPos= Vertical position of the top-left corner of the desktop session
DesiredWinType=16
Save the file and restart the server.
Use the following procedure to configure extended multi-monitor support on the client device.

Open the Configuration file, located in a user's home folder at Username/Library/Preferences/CitrixICAClient/
Add the following parameters to the Thinwire 3.0 section:
DesiredHRES= Width of session, between 120 and 8000 pixels
DesiredVRES= Height of session, between 80 and 6000 pixels
DesiredHPos= Horizontal position of the top-left corner of the desktop session
DesiredVPos= Vertical position of the top-left corner of the desktop session
DesiredWinType=16
Save the file.
Changes take effect the next time a user connects to a desktop session from the client device.

More Information

Citrix Online Plug-in for Macintosh 11.2 Release Note

“Remember the following when configuring extended multi-monitor support:

The numbers of pixels specified for the DesiredHRES and DesiredVRES parameters must add up to the total resolution of monitors in a user's setup. For example, if users have 2 monitors, each with a resolution of 1024x768, specify 2048 for DesiredHRES and 768 for DesiredVRES.
By default, both the DesiredHPos and DesiredVPos parameters are set to 0, where "0,0" are the coordinates assigned to the top left-hand corner of the top left-hand monitor in a user's setup and specify a desktop sessions' top left-hand position on screen. To position a desktop sessions' top left-hand corner elsewhere on-screen, specify other coordinates for these parameters.
The DesiredWinType parameter must be set to 16.”

This document applies to:

XenDesktop 4 x32