Blogs have moved to http://www.virtualben.co.uk/

I have now moved my blogs to my company portal. Please feel free to continue to follow me and the rest of the guys. http://www.virtualben.co.uk/

I will no longer be posting to this blog.
See you there.
Ben

SYN308 - Whats new and Planned for XenClient

45min synergy video on the new XenClient Tech preview (and XenCLient XT – high-security environments)

http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/4013

Citrix Release Netscaler Cloud Bridge

Comes with Platinum edition + also standalone starting price $5000

http://citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=2311979

Cloud Bridge combines the industry leading core L4-7 traffic management capabilities of NetScaler with the four key network services that make the cloud appear as a native extension of the enterprise datacenter:

• Seamless Network: L2 network bridging makes the cloud network a natural extension of the enterprise's exiting L2 network, making it easy to shift resources to the cloud without having to re-architect the application.
• Secured Tunnel: Encryption capabilities native to NetScaler ensure that data remains secure as it traverses the network links between the enterprise and the cloud
• Optimized Access: Network acceleration capabilities alleviate latency and speed issues by intelligently transferring data between the enterprise datacenter and the cloud datacenter.
• User Transparency: Global server load balancing reduces server appliance costs by intelligently choosing either the enterprise datacenter or the cloud datacenter to host the application, and making that process seamless to people accessing the applications.
• App Flexibility: Cloud Bridge also makes it easy to keep sensitive app components – like directories and data – safely inside the datacenter, while moving the compute parts of the app out into the cloud

Citrix XenClient 2 Tech Preview Available

Try XenClient Express Tech Preview

Citrix XenClient Express is a trial package that lets you experience the benefits of local virtual desktops. Before downloading, please ensure that your laptop meets the technical specifications and hardware compatibility list (HCL) for running XenClient.

http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=2300346

The VDI is not available - XenServer 5.6 FP1

I had a virtual machine crash and it could not be restarted.

It would not shut down through XenCenter. It would not shut down through the command line with "xe vm-shutdown vm=" or "xe vm-shutdown --force vm=".

I tried “xe vm-reset-powerstate uuid=uuid-of-the-virtual-in-question force=true” and that failed.

In order to restart the VDI I had to run the following commands:

“xe task-list”

see if anything is in pending state that might be related to the command failure.

If you do see anything that is likely to be in the way, try removing the task with

“xe task-cancel uuid= TASK-UUID”

then try the shutdown operation again.

I then found that the XenCenter console did not refresh so I needed to close the connection and re-open in order to see my shutdown VDI.

When the VDI was then started I received the error “ the vdi is not available”

The VDI in question had 3 drives:

C:\ System

E:\ Data

F:\ Logs

I tried to attached the various disks to a test VM and restart and found that one of the virtual disks was causing the problem. The E:\ Data drive which is probably the most crucial disk in the VM.

It appeared that the virtual disk was not being accessed on the Storage Repository or it was locked.

In order to resolve this I ran the following commands.

1. Determine the UUID of the Storage Repository and the VDI that's exhibiting the issue
2. Run xe vdi-forget uuid=<vdi_uuid>
3. Run xe vdi-scan sr-uuid=&lt;sr_uuid>;
4. Check in XenCenter (or run xe vdi-list sr-uuid=&lt;sr_uuid>;) and you should see the VDI sitting there. Fill in the info you had before in the Properties.
5. Reattach the VDI to your VM of choice and try starting it up.

XenServer is not as stable as I would hope and hopefully this will assist others in the future.

PLEASE SEE COMMENTS: This may cause issues if any post SP1 hotfixes have been applied. Please test with caution.

Configuring Key Management System (KMS) Licensing for Windows and Office2010 in Different Scenarios

Citrix have released an interesting White Paper on configuring KMS for Office 2010. This is especially of interest if you are using PVS to deliver the XenApp workloads with Office 2010 installed.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX128276

Recommended Citrix and MS hotfixes for XenApp6

Based Citrix Technical Support experience and customer feedback, the following Citrix and Microsoft hotfixes have been found to resolve the most common issues with XenApp 6 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These hotfixes focus on basic functionality and stability. For a complete list of Citrix hotfixes for XenApp 6, please click here.

Note: Please refer to individual readme files for each of the following hotfixes to review complete details of issues addressed. Details listed below only mention the most common issues known to be resolved with each hotfix. Also, check out CTX126711 for our support statement on and a list of known issues with Windows 2008 R2 - SP1.

Citrix
XA600W2K8R2X64002

· Installing hotfixes or performing a repair on the base product for Citrix XenApp 6 for Windows Server 2008 R2 can inadvertently remove the Citrix Licensing component, if present, from the system. This fix prevents the Citrix Licensing component from being removed when installing subsequent hotfixes.

XA600W2K8R2X64010

· This enhancement is a part of the XenApp Printing Optimization Pack. The Printing Optimization Pack improves the user experience and printing speed by reducing the printer bandwidth required. For more information, including system requirements, required components, and known issues, see XenApp Printing Optimization Pack in eDocs, the Citrix Product Documentation Library.

XA600W2K8R2X64012

· 1.This fix addresses a security vulnerability. For more information, see Knowledge Center article CTX123359. NEW

XA600W2K8R2X64017

· This fix addresses session reliability issues that can occur when using multiple, disparate client devices to reconnect to the same session.

XA600W2K8R2X64018

· Servers running XenApp 6 can become unresponsive while shutting down. The issue occurs when when the picadm.sys driver encounters certain error conditions that prevent it from shutting down gracefully. Also. servers might experience a fatal exception, displaying a blue screen on picadm.sys with bugcheck code 0x22 (FILE_SYSTEM)

· If a session is disconnected while it is still reading or writing a CDM file, the resulting deadlock condition can prevent servers from accepting new session requests.

XA600W2K8R2X64019

· Certain applications fail to launch when Admin Approval Mode is enabled in User Account Control

XA600W2K8R2X64021

· This fix addresses a security vulnerability. For more information, see Knowledge Center article CTX128169

XA600W2K8R2X64026

· Attempts to log on to a XenApp 6 server using Version 7 or earlier of the clients can cause svchost.exe to exit unexpectedly. As a result, further connection attempts to the server fail until it is restarted.

· The CPU consumption of the CitrixCseEngine.exe process can spike unexpectedly and cause logon delays.

· Attempts to launch a published application that resides on a mapped network drive rather than on a XenApp server fail

· When connecting to a server running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1, Terminal Services can exit unexpectedly. This causes users to experience a black screen during logon and the logon process fails to complete.

XA600W2K8R2X64029

· Servers might experience a fatal exception, displaying a blue screen, with bugcheck code 0xf4 on IMAAdvanceSrv.exe.

· Attempts to launch Windows Internet Explorer from an http, https, or mms hyperlink embedded in a streamed application fail. The issue occurs because XenApp 6 does not create the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\htmlfile\shell\opennew\command_backup registry key as part of server file type association

Other Citrix
XenApp Server Configuration Tool - Update 1.1.0 for XenApp 6 for Windows Server 2008 R2

· This hotfix contains an updated version of the XenApp Server Configuration Tool, which you use to configure XenApp 6 for Windows Server 2008 R2 server role installations. The XenApp image can be prepared for imaging and provisioning before, during, or after configuring XenApp. NEW

DSCXAGPMx100WX64001

· This enhancement is a part of the XenApp Printing Optimization Pack. The Printing Optimization Pack improves the user experience and printing speed by reducing the printer bandwidth required. For more information, including system requirements and required components, see XenApp Printing Optimization Pack in eDocs, the Citrix Product Documentation Library. NEW

Microsoft
KB979530

· A Windows Server 2008 R2-based Remote Desktop server denies some connection requests randomly under heavy logon or logoff conditions

KB975777

· Delay when you shut down, restart, or log off on a Windows Server 2008 R2

KB980663

· Stop error in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 if a heavy load situation exists or if connectivity issues exist: "STOP: 0x000000B8"

KB2265716

· A computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 stops responding randomly. Note: It has been reported that this hotfix must be applied prior to installing SP1.

KB2465772

· An application or service that uses Winsock API or Winsock Kernel API may randomly stop responding in Windows Server 2008 R2

KB917607

· Installs 32-Bit help System 2008R2 may be required if hosting 32-bit applicaitons

KB2383928

· Remote desktop sessions do not completely exit, and you cannot establish new remote desktop sessions to a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2

KB983460

· Startup takes a long time on a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer that has an Intel Nehalem-EX CPU installed

KB2388142

· A computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 intermittently cannot use a shared network printer to print NEW