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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 1808
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.

Display adapter priority and monitor creation in Citrix sessions

Citrix have created this very important knowledge article CTX237608 about GPUs in Citrix from release 7.16 and forward.

This article is valid for following Citrix products:

Citrix XenDesktop 7.16 using Microsoft Windows 10
Citrix XenDesktop 7.17 using Microsoft Windows 10
Citrix XenDesktop 7.18 using Microsoft Windows 10

(IDD) Indirect Display Driver model was introduced in Microsoft Windows 10 and Citrix is now using this technology.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/indirect-display-driver-model-overview

I experienced myself an issue with an AMD Radeon WX4100 GPU having a black screen or desktop “freezes” at login and by adding CitrixIDD registry key I got it working. Other GPUs may be impacted so please test. Please be aware that with implementing Citrix IDD you loose vendor specific (control panel) settings, because Citrix bypass the GPU vendor capture APIs and you will have less performance resulting in less FPS. But I have experience myself that performance works amazing with enabling CitrixIDD and it solved my issue with a black screen/desktop that froze.

Update 29 August 2018
Its recommended getting a native driver from the GPU vendor instead of using Citrix IDD to get the best performance the GPU vendors provide via their APi.

Below is relevant for Citrix customers

Connecting with HDX to machines provisioned manually or MCS or PVS to a virtual Microsoft Windows 10 with Citrix Client OS VDA 7.16 and above.
Connecting with HDX using Citrix RemotePC to a physically PC with Microsoft Windows 10 and Citrix Client OS VDA 7.16 and above.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) now supports the NVIDIA GRID on Tesla P4 and P100

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) now supports the NVIDIA GRID on Tesla P4 and P100 for use with NVIDIA GRID (Virtual Workstation). The P4 and P100 is still BETA which means, this feature is not covered by any SLA or deprecation policy and might be subject to backward-incompatible changes from Google.

This is great for Service Providers, Partners, Customers that would like to use EUC vendor such as Microsoft, Citrix, VMware, Nutanix (Fra.me), Parallels, Mechdyne, PCoIP, and virtualize workloads that requires a GPU, which can be from a browser, office, CAD, CAM, CAE or video codec. Google Cloud Platform now have NVIDIA GRID available in their cloud offerings.

NVIDIA GRID 6.2

Hi All

Its time to update your NVIDIA TESLA M6, M10, M60, P4, P6, P40, P100, V100 with GRID 6.2

NVIDIA have released new drivers for NVIDIA GRID 6.2 for July 2018.

This release is great as NVIDIA released a 4GB framebuffer for vPC licenses, so customers before couldn only run a framebuffer up to 2GB (in GRID 6.1) before GRID 6.0 max FB was 1GB. This is now this is increased to 4GB with the new -2B4 vGPU type that is available for all licenses. Another great thing for cutomers is support for latest Windows 10 1803 and support for VMware Horizon 7.5 and Citrix XenDesktop/XenApp 7.18 + Citrix XenServer 7.5

Important:

If you are a customer using XenServer 7.2 or XenServer 7.3 its no longer supported with NVIDIA GRID 6.2 and should plan upgrading to XenServer 7.4 or 7.5.
Customers using Citrix XenServer 7.0 or 7.1 is supported with NVIDIA GRID 6.0
NVIDIA GRID 6.2 is only supported with Citrix XenDesktop 7.15, 7.17, 7.18 in HDX 3D Pro mode

This release includes the following software:

NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager version 390.72 for the Citrix XenServer, VMware vSphere, Huawei UVP
NVIDIA Windows driver version 391.81
NVIDIA Linux driver version 390.75

NVIDIA GRID 6.0 released

Hi All

Its time to update your NVIDIA TESLA M6, M10, M60 environment or start using the new TESLA P4, P6, P40, P100, V100 with GRID 6.0

NVIDIA have released new drivers for NVIDIA GRID 6.0 for March 2018.

This release is great as NVIDIA released a 2GB framebuffer for vPC licenses, so customers before couldn only run a framebuffer up to 1GB and now this is increased to 2GB with the new -2B vGPU type that is available for all licenses. Another great thing for cutomers is support for latest Windows 10 fall creators upsdate 1709.

This release includes the following software:

NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager version 390.42 for the Citrix XenServer, VMware vSphere, Huawei UVP
NVIDIA Windows driver version 391.09
NVIDIA Linux driver version 390.42