Skip to main content

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop 7 1808 released

Citrix have released a new version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop 7 1808 is now available for download.

Citrix Virtual Apps (former name: XenApp) Citrix Virtual Desktop (former name: XenDesktop)

Citrix have also changed their release cycle to follow built version + YYMM (Year, Month) and is following Microsoft how they name their release built for Windows OS/Server, which I really like..

This release is the first release that officially supports the upcoming Microsoft Windows Server 2019, so you can test if your applications works. Citrix have always done a great job of having 0day support of next generation Windows Server OS.

Sharefile SSO support in Virtual Delivery Agent for ServerOS and Client OS, this is a HUGE step in SIMPLICITY and something customers are going to love. The ShareFile integration also gives you the open-in option in the workspace service UI.

Another great thing is that now “infrastructure components for Citrix” can be installed on Microsoft Windows ServerCore, which means a minimum OS and only install what is required, no GUI just raw performance, something which a lot of service providers, customers are going to like. This is important for scalability and automation and having best TCO running a Citrix infrastructure. Citrix director & delivery controller now works and is supported on ServerCore (WS2012r2/WS2016/WS2019).

Another huge benefit for Citrix “XenApp” or “Virtual Apps” Customers is that Server OS VDA now supports NVIDIA NVENC video encoding. This technology is awesome and means that the CPU is no longer used for encoding HDX but Citrix can use NVENC to increase the UX and lower CPU usage and deliver higher FPS. Citrix Virtual Apps 7 1808 requires NVIDIA GRID version, which isn’t released yet to support NVENC.

Citrix raises the bar of for user experience and new product release of following technologies:

  • New Product names
  • New Product versions
  • New Product editions
  • Director 1808
  • Virtual Delivery Agents 1808 for ServerOS and ClientOS
  • Virtual Delivery Agents 1808 for Desktop OS Core Services
  • Virtual Delivery Agent 1808 for Linux
  • Profile Management 1808
  • Provisioning 1808
  • Storefront 3.16
  • Session Recording 1808
  • Self-service Password Reset 1.1.20
  • App Layering 4.13
  • Citrix Hypervisor 7.6
  • Licensing 11.15.0.0 Build 25000
  • Workspace App 1808
  • Smart tools

Deprecation

  • Citrix SmartScale is now deprecated for current release.
  • Support for browser content redirection in Internet Explorer 11.
    Citrix continues to maintain current support levels as described in XenApp and XenDesktop Servicing Options.

Continue reading

Citrix XenDesktop 7.17 and XenApp 7.17 released

Citrix have released a new version of Citrix XenDesktop 7.17 and XenApp 7.17 and is now available for download.

I am pretty excited about this release because HDX 3D pro have also been improved with h265 it’s handled selectively for appropriate regions of a session for the best possible combination of quality and performance with Selective H.265 Encoding with NVIDIA Hardware. Another great news is that XenServer 7.4 finally supports vGPU Xenmotion with NVIDIA Pascal GPU’s and also now supports AMD MxGPU.

Customers that are using Linux can now use Citrix Linux VDA 3D Pro with NVIDIA pascal GPUs such as P4, P40, P6, P100. The Citrix Linux VDA 3D Pro works now with NVIDIA vGPU for NVIDIA pascal GPUs and also supports vGPU hardware encoding, which means more hardware encoding is done on GPU with HDX and not on CPU, this new feature will resolve more CPU ressource available, which application can benefit from and also means better user experience.

Citrix raises the bar of for user experience and new product release of following technologies:

  • Virtual Delivery Agents 7.17 for ServerOS and ClientOS
  • Virtual Delivery Agent 7.17 for Linux
  • Self-Service Password Reset 1.1.10
  • Director 7.17
  • Profile Management 7.17
  • Storefront 3.14
  • Provisioning Services 7.17
  • Session Recording 7.17
  • App Layering 4.9
  • XenMobile Server 10.8
  • XenServer 7.4
  • Licensing 11.14.0.1
  • Receiver 4.11 for Windows

Deprecation

Continue reading

Citrix XenApp Essentials – Microsoft Azure

Citrix XenApp Essentials is now available on Microsoft Azure.

Citrix XenApp Essentials is replacing Microsoft Azure RemoteApp and customers can now benefit the technology from Citrix in a simplified portal on Azure to deliver published apps to any device from any Azure datacenter.

Continue reading

Citrix XenDesktop 7.11 and XenApp 7.11

7-11-logo

Citrix have released a new version of Citrix XenDesktop 7.11 and XenApp 7.11 and is now available for download.

Citrix raises the bar of for user experience and new product release of following technologies

  • Virtual Delivery Agents 7.11 for ServerOS and ClientOS
  • AppDNA 7.11
  • Storefront 3.7
  • Provisioning Services 7.11
  • Profile Management 5.5
  • License Server 11.14
  • Citrix Receiver 15.0 for Windows
  • HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.1.1 for Microsoft Skype® for Busines
  • Citrix SCOM Management Bundle for XenApp and XenDesktop (2016_08_24)
  • Linux Virtual Delivery Agent 1.4
  • Tech preview for HTML5 redirection

This release is an important release no matter if you are working daily with Office application such as Excel, Word or Browsers and even highend applications such as CAD. The features in 7.11 have important improved user experience from the VDA to the Receiver that improves dramtically the user experience. NVIDIA NVENC technology is now part of VDA and supports even multiple monitors. The admin can now monitor RTT within Director this feature have been something I have asked for very long time and now finally its in the product, customer will love this new feature so its fast to see where the issue is in a infrastructure with which users that have latency issues. Version 7.11 is the release that fully supports Microsoft Windows Server 2016 that is soon GA, this means you can install Delivery components on Windows Server 2016, VDA on Server 2016, use Azure N-series with support for Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V Discrete Device Assignment (DDA) or you can use it onpremises with Hyper-V. Support for UWP is HUGE and I am very excited about this technology and this also used in Microsoft Hololens so cant wait to a Receiver for hololens so you can publish UWP apps to Hololens 😉 Imagine that. I can keep going on with all these new features lets dig in below and learn whats new, its incredible that Citrix raises the bar and comes with huge improvements and they this each 3 months 🙂 yes each 3months, you read it correct. If you dont have a plan for this in your company I highly recommend you build a strategy on how you upgrade you Citrix environment frequently to get these awesome new features.

Continue reading