Fixes in This Release

1. Servers running XenApp 6 can become unresponsive while shutting down. The issue occurs when the picadm.sys driver encounters certain error conditions that prevent it from shutting down gracefully.

   download here

Modify the Template.ica file or default.ica with the following information

In Web Interface 5.3

Edit the default.ica file located \Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\XenApp\conf

In the [Application] section, add:

ZLKeyboardMode=1
ZLMouseMode=1

Now, when you open ICA Connection Center, you see SpeedScreen Latency Reduction = ON.

Make Sure that Speedscreen Latency Reduction is enabled on the Server side, as well.

Citrix have released a new version of Reciever for Windows CE 6.x (typical this device is for thin clients, handheld device)

Key Features

•  Support for WinCE 6.x Operating System
•  Support for Multi Monitor functionality
•  Support for Branch Repeater ICA Universal Cache handles
•  Capability for a user whose password has expired to change the password.

Download here

Symptoms

A published application is running from a network share as a mapped drive. In this example, the path to the executable is W:\windows\system32\notepad.exe. Launching the published application from a XenApp 6 2008 R2 servers and gives the following error(s).

“Citrix online plug-in could not contact the server. Please check your network connection.”

“The remote server failed to execute the application launch request. Please contact your administrator for further details.

The online plug-in does an application refresh. The server event viewer show an error similar the one below:

“Application XYZ is published to the server X, but the command line “w:\windows\system32\notepad.exe” is not valid on X. Verify the correct servers and/or work groups are assigned to XYZ and ensure that the application is installed on X.

Where XYZ is the application name and X is the server name.

For the application to launch, the drive must first be mapped for the user launching the session. There is no problem launching the application in a published desktop, but a published application fails.

Cause

XenApp 6 adds a new check called the Application Installation Check during load balancing to ensure that the published application exists on the server being returned by load balancing. The Citrix Services Manager service now ensures that the file specified in the application’s command line exists on the server selected by load balancing. If this check fails, you will see the error message listed above in the event log of the server.

Note: Because the application installation check is performed before the user’s session is created, user environment variables can no longer be used in an application’s command line. Only system environment variables are supported in XenApp 6.

The application installation check will retry load balancing up to five times to return a valid server to the user. This check is intended to prevent a few misconfigured servers from creating a black hole condition in the XenApp farm. However, administrators should always make sure that applications are installed at the correct locations on the correct servers, and not rely on this check for day-to-day load balancing.

Resolution

Publish a batch file that maps the network drive and then calls the application. You could also publish the path through UNC, but certain applications require a drive letter and are also run from a network share.

A simple batch file for this example could be something like the following code:

net use w: \\server-name\share-name
w:\windows\system32\notepad.exe

Name this batch file “my-app.cmd” and save it to a local drive such as C:\. In the published application location, point to the batch file rather than the network drive location.

This is by design in XenApp 6.0 because of the new Application Installation Check feature explained above.

for more info check -> http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX125104

• There is a lot of whitepapers on how to size a XenDesktop environment.

I will focus more on HowTo best practise do a PoC/Business case for a successful XenDesktop sizing/implementation.

Get inspired by looking at following whitepapers:

• HP P4000 with Citrix XenDesktop: Optimizing Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
  http://www.enterprisestrategygroup.com/2010/06/hp-p4000-with-citrix-xendesktop-optimizing-virtual-desktop-infrastructure/

• HP reference configuration for Citrix XenDesktop on XenServer: 1,000 Microsoft Windows XP/Office 2007 users on HP BladeSystem and HP P4000 SAN
  http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/getdocument.aspx?docname=4AA1-4581ENW.pdf

• Scalability of XenDesktop 4 on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V
  http://www.citrix.com/site/resources/dynamic/partnerDocs/XD_4_Hyper-V_Scalability_Final_v1.0.pdf

• Desktop Virtualization Top 10 Mistakes Made
  http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX126190

• XenDesktop Design Handbook
  https://community.citrix.com/kits/#/kit/1067009

• XenDesktop Planning Guide: User Bandwidth Requirements
  http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX126191