Citrix XenDesktop 5 Support Statement for Microsoft KMS and MAK Activation with Machine Creation Services (MCS)

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard on. Posted in Citrix, Provisioning, Windows 7, XenApp, XenDesktop

Summary

This article contains information about Citrix XenDesktop 5 Support Statement for Microsoft KMS and MAK activation with Machine Creation Services (MCS).

Background

XenDesktop 5 introduced a new technology for creating virtual desktops simply and easily for the VDI use case. This is referred to as Machine Creation Services (MCS).

KMS Activation Support

KMS-based Windows 7 activation does not work with MCS by default, but the following workaround has been tested and is fully supported by Citrix.

Creating a Master Image

  • Create a master image virtual machine and install Windows, Virtual Desktop Agent, and all software required.
  • Make a snapshot of this master image.
  • Rearm this virtual machine using slmgr /rearm, and then shut down the virtual machine.
  • Make another snapshot of the virtual machine. Add a note that this is the rearmed image.
  • Use the second rearmed snapshot as the master image for creating a catalogue.
  • When the MCS-created Virtual Machines start, they will request activation from the KMS server using a unique identity. After 25 total Virtual Machines have been started, the KMS server is activated because it has reached its minimum machine activation count.

Updating a Master Image

  • Create a Virtual Machine from the first unarmed master image snapshot (from Step 2 above).
  • Make the required changes (drivers, software, etc).
  • Take a snapshot of this updated master image.
  • Rearm the new master image (slmgr /rearm).
  • Take a snapshot of the newly rearmed master image.
  • Update the catalogue to use the new rearmed master image.

Note: Every time you make updates, you must go back to the master image that has not been armed, because there is a limit of three rearms per machine. Do not restart the master images that have been rearmed, as this completes the rearm process.

MAK Activation Support

Currently MAK-based Windows 7 activation is not supported with any version of MCS. Also, Personal vDisk (PVD) at the moment does not support MAK activation, whether using MCS or Provisioning Services.

More Information

XenDesktop 5 with Provisioning Services 5.6 Service Pack 1 or higher fully supports the use of Windows 7 KMS and MAK activation.

KMS Activation

Microsoft article on how to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes

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Comments (2)

  • ylzjyu

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    Hi:
    Blog background is not comfortable

    Like the old style

    Reply

  • Thomas Poppelgaard

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    Hi i have changed the colors. Is this better ?

    I have also optimized the load of the articles (text, photo) compression it should be must faster now.

    Let me hear your thoughts, thank you for using my site.
    /Poppelgaard

    Reply

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Recent Comments

Dan

|

Hi Thomas,
Some features in your screenshots (eg create appointments and contacts) seem to be missing from the iOS version of @WorkMail that got released in April, do you know if these features are still coming in a future release? The Android client is far more functional by comparison.
Regards
Dan

Christian Eilskov

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You can see the DHCP options here:

http://www.wyse.com/kb and search for 21501

You can transfer a image using Wyse Device Manager(WDM), the same goes for smaller updates like new ICA client and so.

Thomas Poppelgaard

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Thank you Barry =)
The deep compression codec for Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro will be intergrated for Citrix XenApp in Excalibur so there is a big difference with bandwidth consumption. This means that XenApp in Excalibur will be the best platform for user density and works great over WAN with high latency as HDX 3D Pro have been known to deliver for several years. Yes i know of cases with WAN optimization, I will gather these and share them.

Best regards
Thomas

Barry Schiffer

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Hi Thomas,

Nice work! Awesome to see these results on XenApp! Is there any noticable difference between XA 6.5 and Excalibur that you are aware of? Do you have experience with WAN Optimization and how this helps to reduce bandwidth further?

Kind regards,

Barry

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