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Getting Started with XenDesktop 7.x
Getting Started with XenDesktop 7.x

Getting Started with XenDesktop 7.x: Deliver desktops and applications to your end users, anywhere, anytime, with XenDesktop 7.x.

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Profile Icon Craig Thomas Ellrod
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Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5 (8 Ratings)
Paperback Apr 2014 422 pages Edition
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Profile Icon Craig Thomas Ellrod
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Paperback Apr 2014 422 pages Edition
eBook
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Getting Started with XenDesktop 7.x

Chapter 2. Installing XenDesktop®

The move to Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) will be dominant for many reasons. Once you have built the foundation with a network diagram that contains the components and you understand the terminology and concepts, it will be easier to move forward. Understanding the details of the implementation takes time as any experienced person will tell you. That is why we started with building the foundation in the first chapter. When you are done with this chapter, you will have a complete XenDesktop Site installed and running. In this chapter, we will walk you through the following topics:

  • Planning the XenDesktop installation

  • Installing the controller (XD1)

  • Installing StoreFront (XD2)

  • Installing Director (XD3)

  • Creating the virtual desktop and application delivery master images

  • Installing the Virtual Delivery Agent on the master images

  • Configuring the StoreFront server

  • Creating the machine catalogs

  • Creating the delivery groups

  • Installing the Citrix Receiver on the client...

Planning the XenDesktop® installation


There are some specific tasks that should be performed during the installation process. They are outlined in the following task list, which you can use as a guide to check off as you go along:

The installation task list

Step

Description

Completed

1

Install the Delivery Controller, Studio, license server, and SQL database. Configure a Site.

 

2

Install StoreFront.

 

3

Install Director.

 

4

Create the master images.

 

5

Install the Delivery Agent on the master images.

 

6

Configure StoreFront.

 

7

Create the machine catalogs.

 

8

Create the delivery groups.

 
 

The installation checkpoint

 

9

Install and configure the Citrix Receiver on the client device.

 

10

Test the connection.

 

Before you get started, the following is a checklist of the items you will need to have on hand in order to start building and installing your XenDesktop Site. For our example, we have downloaded the .iso files of the installation DVDs from the Microsoft and...

Step 1 – installing the controller (XD1)


The first machine you will install is the XenDesktop controller. If you refer back to our network diagram in Chapter 1, Designing a XenDesktop® Site, this is labeled as xd1.xenpipe.com or XD1 for short.

Installing the components on XD1

We are ready to begin our installation of the first XenDesktop server in the XenDesktop Site. You need to work from your laptop or desktop, typically the machine that is running XenCenter to perform this work. Perform the following steps to install the components on XD1:

Tip

You can use the console screen of the Windows Server in XenCenter; however, it will be much easier for you to connect directly to the machine using RDP. From a command-line prompt, type c:\> mstsc /admin. Enter the IP address and log in to the server.

  1. Mount the XenDesktop .iso installation media in XenCenter as shown in the following screenshot:

  2. Log in to the server using a domain administrator account. Your account must have local administrator privileges...

Step 2 – installing StoreFront (XD2)


The second server that we will install is StoreFront. If you refer back to the network diagram in Chapter 1, Designing a XenDesktop® Site, this is the server labeled as xd2.xenpipe.com, or XD2.

Installing the components on XD2

We will need a server certificate signed by the domain certificate authority to install StoreFront.

If you don't have a domain certificate authority, see Appendix A, Creating a Domain Certificate Authority, for tips on creating one for your domain.

Note

Make sure that the Internet Information Services (IIS) role is installed on the StoreFront server XD2.

Creating a server certificate and adding a Site binding

The first step for creating the StoreFront server is to create a server certificate and add a Site. The steps can be summarized as follows:

  1. Log in to the second XenDesktop server, or XD2 in our example, using a domain administrator account.

  2. Navigate to Start | Administrative Tools | Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

  3. In the...

Step 3 – installing Director (XD3)


In this step, we will install the XenDesktop Director. Referring back to the network diagram, this is server xd3.xenpipe.com or XD3.

Installing the components on XD3

We will create and use the XD3 server to host the XenDesktop Director using the following steps:

  1. Mount the XenDesktop installation media on the XD3 server in the same way as you did for XD2 in the previous example.

  2. Log in to the third XenDesktop server, or XD3 in our example, using a domain administrator account.

  3. Launch the XenDesktop installation CD. Click on Start, and under the installation options, select Delivery Controller.

  4. Accept the license agreement; only select Director and click on Next.

  5. Enter the FQDN of server 1 or XD1, where the Delivery Controller is located. In our example, xd1.xenpipe.com. Then, test the connection.

  6. Automatically enable the remote assistance and firewall rules. Click on Next, Install, and then Finish.

Step 4 – creating the virtual desktop and application delivery master images


In this task, you will install a master image of the virtual machine that will be delivered as a desktop to Windows 8 users. You will also create a master image for the application server. At the end of this task, you should have two master images as listed in the following table:

Master images

No.

Master image

Use case

1

Windows 8 master

Delivering Windows 8 desktops

2

Windows Server 2012 master

Delivering applications

Tip

Make sure that these machines are configured to use DHCP from the domain controller and join them to the domain using a domain administrator account.

In this example, we have used Windows 8 and Windows 7 for desktop master images, but this can also be done easily with Windows XP using the following steps:

  1. From XenCenter, navigate to New VM | Windows 8 64 bit.

  2. Mount the Windows 8 installation media in the DVD drive and click on Create.

  3. Repeat the preceding two steps for Windows Server 2012...

Step 5 – installing the Virtual Delivery Agent on the master images


Now that you have built a master image of the desktop, you may want to serve it to your users. For this, you need to install the XenDesktop Delivery Agent and Receiver onto that image.

Creating the desktop master images

In this task, we will install the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) and Citrix Receiver on the master image for desktops. VDA is the piece of software that allows the desktop VM to communicate with the XenDesktop servers. The Citrix Receiver allows applications to launch seamlessly from the application servers. The following are the steps to create the desktop master images:

  1. Mount the XenDesktop installation media in the DVD drive in XenCenter, then log in to the master image, and launch the install media. Select Virtual Delivery Agent for Windows Desktop OS as shown in the following screenshot:

  2. Select Create a Master Image as shown in the following screenshot:

  3. Install the standard VDA.

  4. Install the Citrix Receiver so...

Step 6 – configuring the StoreFront server


Now that the StoreFront server, Delivery Controller, and database have been installed, we need to configure the StoreFront server to communicate with the Delivery Controller and database. The following are the steps to perform this action:

  1. Log in to the second server, or xd2.xenpipe.com in our example, using a domain administrator account.

  2. If the Citrix StoreFront management console is not already running, navigate to Start | Apps | Citrix | StoreFront.

  3. Select Create a new deployment as shown in the following screenshot:

  4. On the Create a new deployment page, select the default URL and click on Next. In our example, it is https://xd2.xenpipe.com.

    Tip

    You can change the base URL that users connect to with the Receiver later by navigating to StoreFront | Server Group | Change Base URL. For example, you may want your users to use https://sf.xenpipe.com in order to resemble a StoreFront vanity URL.

  5. On the Create Store page, enter your store's name. In our example...

Step 7 – creating the machine catalogs


Collections of desktops or physical computers are managed as a single entity called a machine catalog. To deliver desktops and applications to users, the machine administrator creates a catalog of machines, and the assignment administrator allocates the machines from the machine catalog to the users by creating delivery groups.

Creating desktops

For this deployment example, note the following conventions:

  • Machines are based on the Windows operating system.

  • Desktops are delivered from virtual machines.

  • Use the account naming scheme XenUser###. The ### (hash) marks are placeholders for the sequential numbering of your virtual desktop machines. Using this format, your virtual machines will be named XenUser001 through XenUserXXX and so on.

Until now, we have been creating the foundation of a VDI deployment that delivers virtual desktops and applications. Now, we will go about the task of creating the virtual desktops that will be delivered to the end users. The...

Step 8 – creating the delivery groups


Now that you have configured StoreFront and created a machine catalog, you can create the delivery groups.

Creating desktop delivery groups

In this task, we will assign users to a delivery group so that they can receive their desktop. The following steps are used to create the desktop delivery groups:

  1. Log in to the Delivery Controller, or xd1.xenpipe.com in our example, using a domain administrator account.

  2. Launch Studio and navigate to Delivery Groups in the left-hand side navigation pane. Select Create Delivery Group.

  3. On the Machines page, select the catalog that we created earlier for Windows 8 desktops. We enter five machines to be assigned, as shown in the following screenshot.

    Tip

    The add machines value is the number of machines that the delivery group consumes. This value should be less than or equal to the number of available machines. For example, we created 10 virtual desktops in Machine Creation Services, but we only assigned five to this delivery...

Installation checkpoint


All of the server-side stuff is done. This is a good time for an installation checkpoint. The following steps will help:

  1. You should now have two machine catalogs—one for desktops and one for applications—as shown in the following screenshot:

  2. You should have two delivery groups—one for desktops and one for applications—as shown in the following screenshot:

  3. You should see the applications listed under the Applications tab as shown in the following screenshot:

  4. In the XenCenter (Hypervisor) management console, you should see the following machines:

    Installation checkpoint

    No.

    Virtual machine

    Use case

    1

    dc

    Domain controller, AD, DHCP, and DNS

    2

    XD1

    XenDesktop controller

    3

    XD2

    XenDesktop StoreFront

    4

    XD3

    XenDesktop Director

    5

    AppServer001

    The application's server

    6

    XenUser 001 to 00X

    Windows desktops

    7

    Win2012-AppsMaster

    Office 2013 application server master

    8

    Win8-Master

    Windows 8 desktop master

    The virtual machines present in the XenCenter (Hypervisor...

Step 9 – installing Citrix ReceiverTM on the client devices


Now that the virtual desktop and application's infrastructure have been built, you need to access these from the StoreFront server using the Citrix Receiver on the client. This can be done using the following steps:

  1. Log in to the client device with administrator privileges.

    Note

    This is the end user device, such as a laptop, workstation, thin client, or even a mobile device. This is not the virtual desktop or master images we created in the previous steps.

  2. Mount the XenDesktop installation media.

    Tip

    You can use XenDesktop .iso to burn a DVD to mount in the client drive; however, I find it is easier to mount the .iso image on the machine using Virtual CloneDrive, http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html. It is also a common practice to configure client deployment from the StoreFront console and not the installation media—something you may want to try after this chapter.

  3. Navigate to the Citrix Receiver and plugins directory.

  4. Select...

Step 10 – testing the connection


You can test the environment by connecting to the StoreFront server with a web browser or by logging in to the client device and launching the Receiver.

Testing the desktops

Connect to the StoreFront server using a web browser and log in. You should see a list of desktops that are available to you in the Desktops section as shown in the following screenshot:

Testing the applications

Connect to the StoreFront server using a web browser and log in. You should see a list of the applications available to you in the Apps section. Click on the + sign on the left-hand side of the window, and add the applications that you want to use to your dashboard.

Click on the Application icon; it is automatically launched and run from the server and is delivered to your device over the ICA protocol using the Citrix Receiver, as shown in the following screenshot:

If you launch the Receiver and log in but still don't see your desktop, there is a little trick that you can do. In the...

Summary


I hope that you found this chapter useful as a roadmap in order to get your first XenDesktop deployment installed and running. I'm sure that by following this chapter, you were able to install XenDesktop in a much faster timeframe than if you did not have the guidance.

Now that you have gone through the steps to create a basic desktop and application delivery Site, you need to understand how to manage them. You are now familiar with the machine catalog and desktop delivery group wizards. In the next chapter, we will expand on the options available in these tools.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

What you will learn

  • Create a completely functioning VDI implementation
  • Manage XenDesktop® using Studio, including machine catalogs, delivery groups, and Personal vDisks
  • Customize user sessions using policies
  • Learn how printing and USB redirection work and how to configure them
  • Explore High Definition User Experience (HDX) and how it affects usability
  • Deliver virtual applications with VM hosted apps
  • Plug in to the different XenDesktop® services using the XenDesktop® SDK
  • Use the Citrix® Receiver® to receive and run the virtual desktop on the client device
  • Manage and monitor XenDesktop® using Studio and Director
  • Secure the XenDesktop® Site using the NetScaler Gateway
  • Build and deliver VDI from the cloud

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Apr 22, 2014
Length: 422 pages
Edition :
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849689762

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Length: 422 pages
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Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849689762

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Table of Contents

15 Chapters
Designing a XenDesktop Site Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Installing XenDesktop Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Machine Catalogs, Hosts, and Personal vDisks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Delivery Groups Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Policies Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Printing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Virtualizing USB Support Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Virtualizing Storage and Backup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
High Definition Experience (HDX) Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Application Delivery Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with the XenDesktop SDK Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Working with Citrix ReceiverTM and Plugins Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Securing XenDesktop Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing and Monitoring XenDesktop Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
VDI in the Cloud Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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Admir Jan 16, 2015
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I am very fascinated with Citrix and have read many articles regarding the virtual technology. I wanted to get my hands on practice with it since I was done studying the back bone of how it works. I wanted a book that showed me step by step that included photos here and there. This book does an excellent job teaching you, whether you've never done it before or have. Hence you need to understand the terminology of how servers and hosting works, which shouldn't be too hard with the amount of books that are out there.This implementation guy covers the necessities of running a Citrix based infrastructure that will get you up and running as an administrator. it is not pricey and does the job. I highly recommend this print.
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MikeD Mar 26, 2015
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My tech's love the book, I would recommend buying it
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N. Mohammed May 02, 2015
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Great
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Stephan Hölzel Jun 11, 2014
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Hi!I wish, i had this eBook 12 months earlier!Our project at a customer started up on May 2013 with vSphere 5.5, XenDesktop 7.x and Windows 8.1 and i had to look for every information, estimate the consumption and calculate the required hardware- and storage ressources without having information in detail.This eBook gives you a great overview about XenDesktop 7.x on XenServer.It shows you, how you have to size your environment, what you have to think about and where you should keep on an eye.You get a helping hand with this ebook to configure the XenDesktop 7.x environment and a lot of explaination, how to configure what (policies, printer, USB device, etc.).What i missed, is the Citrix Provisioning part. The whole book describes the MCS way of deploying virtual desktops. Till now, Citrix does not support provisioning service for Windows 8.x and it does not work (black screen). - Too bad!Never the less, it is too much content in this ebook to describe every chapter, so let me summarize it:A very good eBook of Citrix XenDesktop 7.x!But not for beginners, you need some experience with Citrix XenDesktop to understand everything.When will be published an eBook about XenDesktop 7.x AppEdition/XenApp 7.5 in that quality?I would buy it asap! =)Best regards from Germany!Stephan
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Ryan Mahon Jun 07, 2014
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The author’s knowledge of XenDesktop 7.x is excellently portrayed in a well organized and written guide. Using this guide any one from a seasoned Citrix Administrator to a novice first time setting up a farm Administrator can understand and apply the instructions with ease. The breakdown of each concept from Farm creation to securing your environment with netscalers allows us all to walk away feeling like our environment is ready to rock and roll. Only additional information I would have like to see is a more in depth troubleshooting section that goes through some of the tools besides Director. I would still recommend this book for all.
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