mattlesak

Using EdgeSight for XenApp in a streamed (PVS) environment?

During a recent customer engagement, I made the mistake of installing the EdgeSight agent for XenApp on the Master Target Device (PVS golden image) without reading the details of the EdgeSight 5.2 Install Guide:

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX122392.

Take a look at page 44 and read through the steps.  If you don’t, the agent will not function correctly and the data reported to the EdgeSight server will be duplicated each time the server is rebooted.  If you’ve already installed the agent, there are steps to correct the install.

Page 46:

If the agent is inadvertently started on the device, perform the following steps:

1. Stop the Citrix System Monitoring Agent service.

2. Uninstall the EdgeSight Agent.

3. Ensure that the HKLM\Software\Citrix\System Monitoring registry hive has been deleted.

4. Ensure that the data folder has been deleted. The default location is

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Citrix\System Monitoring\Data.

5. Install the EdgeSight Agent again using the same settings as the original installation.

6. Set the startup type of the Citrix System Monitoring Agent service to manual.

Important Before rebooting the master target device, set the startup type of the Citrix System Monitoring Agent service to manual. Starting the agent service on the master target device may result in the generation of registry settings that apply only to the master target but are then pushed out to all targets.

Installing and linking a Intermediate Certificate for Access Gateway Enterprise

A common issue that I run into with customers is when they install a certificate to use on the Access Gateway Enterprise (AGEE), most CAs use intermediate certificates that are chained to the server certificate.  If the clients that are connecting aren’t updating their root certificates from their OS vendor, this can be a challenge since the client won’t be aware of the intermediate certificate therefor it won’t trust the it.  Since it won’t trust it, the connection will fail and prevent the user from connecting to the AGEE.

I clipped this right out of the Access Gateway Enterprise Admin Guide which can be downloaded here: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX121640

To install an intermediate certificate

1.     In the configuration utility, in the navigation pane, expand SSL and click Certificates.

2.     In the details pane, click Add.

3.     In Certificate-Key Pair Name, type the name of the certificate.

4.     Under Details, select either Local Computer or Appliance.

5.     Next to Certificate File Name, click Browse to navigate to the certificate on your computer or on the Access Gateway.

6.     In Certificate Format, select PEM.

7.     Click Install and click Close.

When you install an intermediate certificate on the Access Gateway, you do not need to specify the private key or a password.

After the certificate is installed on the appliance, the certificate needs to be linked to the server certificate.

To link an intermediate certificate to a server certificate

1.     In the configuration utility, in the navigation pane, expand SSL and click Certificates.

2.     In the details pane, select the intermediate certificate and click Link.

3.     Next to CA Certificate Name, select the certificate from the list and click OK.

How to migrate a XenServer 5.5 guest to a Microsoft Hyper-V R2 guest

I wrote this quick (3 page) guide based on notes I took during a customer engagements and from my personal lab.

It can be download at the follow here:  http://tinyurl.com/XenServer2HVR2

Enjoy!

Links for downloading trial software to setup Windows 7 Enterprise for XenDesktop running on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V R2

One of the challenges of setting up a proof of concept for customers is obtaining the correct software and licenses required for the evaluation.  Microsoft has recently released trail downloads for Windows Server 2008 R2, System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, and Windows 7 Enterprise.  Now all of the necessary components to setup XenDesktop on Hyper-V R2 with Windows 7 Enterprise can be obtained without having the customer risk any license violations.

Here are the links for each component - These are the RTM/Gold code software, not beta software:

Windows Server 2008 R2 Trial

http://tinyurl.com/kjeu5j

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Trial

http://tinyurl.com/mbrclm

Windows 7 Enterprise Trial

http://tinyurl.com/m8z28y

XenDesktop 3.0 Trial + Documentation

http://tinyurl.com/lnna6m

HOWTO: Installing SQL 2008 Express x64 on Windows 2008 x64 for use with Provisioning Server 5.1

Not wanting to install SQL 2005 Express x32 on my Windows 2008 x64 server, I documented the steps I took to get everything up and running.  Hope you find them useful :)

SQL 2008 Express Install

1. Download and install Windows Installer 4.5: http://tinyurl.com/4z4uvt.  A reboot will be required.
2. Download and install ‘Microsoft® SQL Server 2008 Express Edition with Service Pack 1’ x64: http://tinyurl.com/r2xhxl
3. Once the install launches, run the System Configuration Checker.  Ensure there are no errors.
4. Click on the ‘Installation’ link in the left column.
5. Select “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”
6. Following the default support files installation, the ‘Feature Selection’ portion of the install will appear.  Check the “Database Engine Services” under the “Instance Features”.
7. Within the Server Configuration, select the “Use the same account for all SQL Server services”, select the Local System account.
8. Set the SQL Server Browser service startup type to ‘Automatic’
9. Within the Database Engine Configuration, use Windows Authentication, add whatever users/groups you want to be SQL admins
10. If you run into any issues, make sure you check the configuration checkers that occur during the install for any warnings or error messages.
11. Reboot the server when installation completes.
12. Run the SQL Server Configuration Manager
13. Under the ‘SQL Server Network Configuration’ Node, expand the tree and double click on the ‘Protocols for SQLEXPRESS’
14. Enable the TCP/IP protocol
15. *If you are going to connect to this SQL server from different server, double click on the TCP/IP protocol to view the properties.  Under the ‘IP Addresses’ folder tab, enable each IP you want to allow a connection from on the network.
16. Under the ‘SQL Server Services’ node, restart the SQL Server and SQL Server Browser service.

PVS 5.1 x64 Install

1. From a command prompt that has Administrator privileges, enter: servermanagercmd -install NET-Framework
2. Run the PVS_Server_x64 install program and select custom install
3. Select the components that are required.  Keep in mind that if a component is installed, doesn’t mean it’s set to run as a service (DHCP, TFTP, PXE, etc.).  I usually install all components and configure what I need during the configuration process.
4. Once the install in complete, the Configuration Wizard will launch

Updates for your Office 2008 for the Mac not working out? Here’s what I did to get it to work:

1. Uninstalled Office 2008

2. Reinstalled Office 2008

3. Installed Update 12.0.1

4. Installed Update 12.1.0 (SP1)

5. Installed 12.1.1

6. Installed 12.1.2

From what I’ve read on several sites, the installer is very picky on which files it sees/doesn’t see. I’ve also read that if you update Messenger outside of the Office updates, it can cause problems as well.  Hope this helps anyone having issues with Office 2008 updates!