Upgrading Citrix NetScaler VPX from version 10.1 to 10.5

I had to upgrade a Citrix NetScaler VPX 1000 a few months back from 10.1 to the latest release 10.5 and while the process is quite straight forward, I went ahead and captured a few screenshots to show what the process looks like.

Begin by bringing up the upgrade guide for the NetScaler version you’re upgrading to.  For this example, we’ll be using the 10.5 documentation found here: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/ns-rn-main-release-10-5-map/ns-rn-upgrade-ns-sw-10-5-con.html

Download the NetScaler VPX nCore package from the Citrix portal:

The package should be a tgz bundle:

With the package downloaded, log into the VPX appliance’s web interface and click on the Upgrade Wizard… button on the main page:

Click on the Next button on the Introduction page:

In the Upload Software page, check the Local Computer radio button and click on the Browse button:

Select the downloaded nCore package:

Add or remove any licenses necessary for the NetScaler VPX:

Check any of the two options you would like to enable and then click Next:

Click on the Finish button to begin the upgrade:

The upload of the package and upgrade of the appliance will now begin:

Since I selected the automatic reboot option before commencing the upgrade, the appliance will automatically reboot upon completing.  Once the appliance has successfully rebooted, the console should now show the new version:

If there is a secondary node, repeat the same for process.

Note that I was told during my NetScaler training that it is generally recommended to upgrade the secondary node then the primary.

Accessing VMware Horizon HTML Access throws the error: ”You cannot access your applications or desktops from the web client. Pleas install the VMware Horizon Client, version 3.0 or later.”

I’ve received quite a few calls lately from clients who have recently deployed VMware Horizon View version 6.0 and attempted test VMware Horizon HTML Access by clicking the option from the main page as shown here:

… only to receive the error:

You cannot access your applications or desktops from the web client. Pleas install the VMware Horizon Client, version 3.0 or later.

Clicking the OK button brings you back to the following page:

While it may seem obvious to those who’ve configured HTML 5 access before, administrators who haven’t prior to upgrading to version 6 may not be aware that you need to enable HTML access via the Desktop Pool tab as shown here:

It’s also important to note that leaving the configuration settings in the following Edit Connection Server Settings tab unconfigured does not prevent users from accessing their desktop via HTML 5 internally:

How to define a Remote Desktop Services License server for XenApp / XenDesktop 7.x Windows Server 2012 application server

I’ve been asked several times since XenDesktop 7 was released when Windows Server 2012 R1 and R2 were supported operating systems about how can a Remote Desktop Services License server be defined from a application server with a Windows Server 2012 R1 or R2 as the base OS:

Remote Desktop licensing mode is not configured.

Remote Desktop Services will stop working in xx days. On the RD Connection Broker server, use Server Manager to specify the Remote Desktop licensing mode and the license server.

Windows Server 2008 R2 doesn’t have this problem because is a Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration console is included during the install of the RDS services:

… but Windows Server 2012’s Remote Desktop Session Host:

… does not include any graphical consoles:

The only way to get a graphical user interface to configure the licensing server is to actually install the Remote Desktop Connection Broker:

I’ve always been reluctant to install additional components on Citrix servers so get around this issue, I use an Active Directory Group Policy to configure these settings as shown in the following TechNet article:

Specify the Remote Desktop Licensing Mode on an RD Session Host Server
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/cc754487.aspx

The GPO configuration setting is located at the following path:

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Licensing

Configure the settings:

• Use the specified Remote Desktop license servers
• Set the Remote Desktop licensing mode

Once the policy has been applied to the servers, you can confirm that the licensing server has been set by either logging onto another server with the RD Licensing Diagnoser installed to connect over:

Or alternatively navigate to the following registry key on the server:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE –> SOFTWARE –> Policies –> Microsoft –> Windows NT –> Terminal Services:

Note the configuration settings for:

• LicenseServers
• LicensingMode

Attempting to uninstall Citrix StoreFront from Windows Server 2012 server throws the error: “An error occured while trying to uninstall Citrix StoreFront”

Problem

You have Citrix StoreFront 2.1.0.17 installed on a server that does not belong to a server group which you would like to uninstall and reinstall so that you can join it to an existing server group.

You proceed to use Programs and Features to uninstall the Citrix StoreFront:

.. but quickly notice that the following error message is thrown:

An error occured while trying to uninstall Citrix StoreFront

Solution

Through a little bit of searching, I was able to find the following forum post outlining the instructions:

http://discussions.citrix.com/topic/304398-need-manual-uninstall-instructions/

I didn’t have to go through editing the XML files as shown in the instructions but I did run into a small error which threw me off for a bit until I carefully read the error message so I figure I’ll just outline the steps here in case someone encounters the same problem:

Begin by closing your Citrix administration consoles and launch PowerShell as an administrator:

If you haven’t executed Citrix provided PowerShell scripts before, execute the following PowerShell cmdlet to allow them:

Set-ExecutionPolicy remotesigned

Proceed by changing the directory to c:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts with:

cd "c:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts"

Now if you proceed with executing the first cleanup PowerShell script:

ClearUp_1.ps1

… you will receive the following error:

PS C:\Windows\system32> cd "c:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts"

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts> .\ClearUp_1.ps1

Removing feature instances

WARNING: There was a problem removing the features.

WARNING:

Remove-DSFeatureInstance :

At C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts\ClearUp_1.ps1:51 char:1

+ Remove-DSFeatureInstance -All -Confirm:$false

+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (:) [Remove-DSFeatureInstance], CannotGetExclusiveAccessException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Citrix.DeliveryServices.Framework.Utilities.Exceptions.CannotGetExclusiveAccessException

   ,Citrix.DeliveryServices.Framework.Administration.Commands.Feature.RemoveDSFeatureInstance

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts>

What you have to do is load the Citrix PowerShell Snapin first by executing:

Add-PSSnapin Citrix.*

The ClearUp_1.ps1 should now execute and complete successfully:

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts> .\ClearUp_1.ps1

Removing feature instances

Feature instances removed

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts>

If you proceed an execute the second clean up PowerShell script ClearUp_2.ps1 in the same window, you will receive the following error:

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts> .\ClearUp_2.ps1

WARNING: This script should be run in a new PowerShell sessions with no Citrix DeliveryServices PS Snapins loaded.

WARNING: Exiting...

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts>

You will need to close and re-open PowerShell and this time DO NOT EXECUTE:

Add-PSSnapin Citrix.*

Simply change the directory to c:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts with:

cd "c:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts"

… then execute:

ClearUp_2.ps1

Answer Yes to the prompt to confirm the operation:

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts> .\ClearUp_2.ps1

Confirm

Are you sure you want to perform this action?

Performing operation "Uninstall-DSFeatureClass" on Target "30 feature classes".

[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is "Y"): Y

PS C:\program files\Citrix\Receiver Storefront\Scripts>

C:\Program Files\Citrix

The operation should complete within a few minutes:

Proceed to uninstall StoreFront from the Programs and Features window:

The process should complete successfully:

The last step is to navigate to:

C:\Program Files\Citrix

.. then delete the Receiver StoreFront folder.

Attempting to “Get Device Image” from within Dell Wyse Device Manager Version 5.0 errors with: “can’t access tty; job control turned off”

Problem

You attempt to use the Get Device Image feature (non PXE) from within Dell Wyse Device Manager Version 5.0 to pull an image off of a Wyse Thin Client:

The WDM Server is able to restart the Thin Client and begin the process of uploading the server but you notice that the progress never increases from 0% and eventually errors out with:

BusyBox v1.00 (2007.02.08-11:26+0000) Built-in shell (ash)

Enter ‘help’ for a list of built-in commands.

/bin/sh: can’t access tty; job control turned off

/bin #

Nothing happens and you are forced to restart the thin client.

Solution

The Wyse thin client I was working with was an older Z90S7 model and apparently had an older Boot Agent that needed to be updated so from within the Wyse Device Manager console, I navigated to Package Manager –> Other Packages then dragged and dropped the BootAgent item to the Device Manager node:

Continued through the wizard and selected the thin client to be updated:

I was then able to successfully pull the image from the Wyse thin client once the boot agent was updated:

VMware Horizon View 5.3.2 build 1887719 connection servers display the error message: “One or more View Composer backups failed. See the event log for more details.”

Problem

You have 2 VMware Horizon View Connection servers with the version 5.3.2-1887719 in your environment that displays a red exclamation mark under the Last Backup column:

Hovering over the red exclamation mark displays the message:

One or more View Composer backups failed. See the event log for more details.

Solution

This apparently is a bug in version 5.3.2 build 1887719. The message will no longer appear once the connection servers are upgraded to version 6: 

How to send CTRL+ALT+DELETE from Windows 7 Embedded Thin Client to VMware View VDI desktop

Problem

One of the most common questions I get asked from clients setting up thin clients is how to pass key combinations such as CTRL+ALT+DELETE that Windows is designed to intercept for security reasons to a VMware View desktop. For those who have worked with Windows 7 Embedded Thin Clients would know that the default behavior when a user presses CTRL+ALT+DELETE in their VMware View desktop is that the user would get presented with the Thin Client’s CTRL+ALT+DELETE options rather than their VMware View desktop.  This is also the same for other key combinations such as ALT+TAB and CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.

Before I write the solution, note that the following would not work:

How to enable or disable the CTRL+ALT+DELETE sequence for logging on to Windows XP, to Windows Vista, and to Windows 7
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/308226

The above solution doesn’t work because it disables the need to use the CTRL+ALT+DELETE sequence during user logon.

The following policy that exists in the Windows Embedded operating system also would not work:

Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> System –> Keyboard Filter –> Security Keys –> Block Secure Desktop (Ctrl+Alt+Del)

Enabling the policy above only renders the key sequence to not do anything.

It also doesn’t help that trying to Google the words Ctrl+Alt+Del, virtual desktop, thin client, etc. usually yields the 2 results from above.

Solution

The solution to the problem is actually quite simple and that is to load the PCoIP ADM template and enable:

Use Enhanced Keyboard on Windows Client if available

More information about this configuration can be found here:

View PCoIP Session Variables for the Keyboard
http://pubs.vmware.com/view-50/index.jsp?topic=/com.vmware.view.administration.doc/GUID-2FA7564D-FF3E-472B-AD2D-575CCCD82410.html

The requirements for using this feature are as follows:

1. You need to use the VMware View Client with Local Mode
2. You need to run the View Client with Local Mode as an administrator

The following summarizes the problems I immediately had with the requirements above:

1. The View Local Mode capability has been removed from the Windows client in the Horizon View 6.0 release which leads me to believe it will no longer be updated thus requiring a replacment
2. You cannot simply run the the View Client with Local Mode with a service account that is a local administrator on the thin client because doing so would prevent you from using the “Log on as user feature” and even if that feature worked, it would be a security risk putting a password into a batch file

I was unable to find any workarounds to the above concerns but what I did find was the following setup provided by a user on the VMware forums:

https://communities.vmware.com/message/2332945

What the user did was essentially run the VMware View Client with Local mode via a script that would automatically log the user off if the client is closed. When combining this script with disabling the VMware View client bar, a user is essentially locked into their View VDI until they log off and in which case would log them off the client.

While this isn’t a perfect solution, most administrators may have to live with it until new features are released.  I will update this post if I come across something better.