Citrix XenApp – Automate Discovery

I am in the process of building out a new XenApp environment for a customer, and was thinking… “It would be so nice to automate the ‘Configure and run discovery’ settings”. So how do you accomplish this? I know my service desk would appreciate it!

The answer is a custom “MMC”. Below are the steps to accomplish this.

 

Part 1: Create the custom MMC

• Open up a 32bit MMC console (universally will work better and create less stress)
  • On 32 bit OS run “mmc”
  • On 64 bit OS run “mmc /32”

•  Click File > Add/Remove Snap-in…

•  Select the console you are going to push out to your users and add it to the “Selected snap-ins”
  • (In my case it is going to be AppCenter)

•  Right Click on “XenApp”
  • Select “Configure and run discovery”

•  Select the “Skip this screen in the future” box
  • Click Next

•  Click on Add
  • For the server, I am going to pick my two XenApp Controllers
    • Depending on your setup, and where you are publishing this, you will need to pick the correct server(s)… (setting up a load balanced VIP on your NetScaler….  hmmm….)

•  Click Next

•  Check the box next to “Close this wizard when discovery is successful”

•  Change the options of your new custom MMC console
  • Click on File > Options…

•  In my case, I want to restrict access to areas of the tree
  • I am going to select “User mode – limited access, single window”

Below is an explanation of each option:

• Author mode
  • Enables full customization of the snap-in console, including the ability to add or remove snap-ins, create new windows, create Favorites and taskpads, and access all the options of the Customize View and Options dialog boxes. Users creating a custom console file for themselves or others typically use this mode. The resulting snap-in console is usually saved in one of the user modes in this table.

• User mode – full access
  • The same as author mode, except that users cannot add or remove snap-ins, change snap-in console options, create Favorites, or create taskpads.

• User mode—limited access, multiple window
  • Provides access only to those parts of the tree that were visible when the console file was saved. Users can create new windows, but cannot close any existing windows.

• User mode – limited access, single window
  • Provides access only to those parts of the tree that were visible when the console file was saved. Users cannot create new windows.

 

•  Now we want to save our custom MMC
  • Click File > Save As…

•  Save it where ever you would like. I am going to save mine to c:\custom mmc\AppCenter.mmc on each of my terminal servers.

 

 

Part 2: Publish the custom MMC

This section could be done a dozen different ways. I will show you how to publish out the mmc we just created as it being accessed directly from each server.

• Select “Skip this screen in the future”
  • Click Next

•  Enter in a Display name for your application
  • In my case I am using “Citrix AppCenter”

•  Use the defaults
  • Application
    • Accessed from a server
      • Installed application

•  Location to mmc.exe and the location of the custom mmc
  • Command Line:
    • c:\windows\system32\mmc.exe “c:\windows\system32\AppCenter.mmc”
  • Working directory:
    • c:\windows\system32
  • Click Next

•  Click Add
  • Select the Servers or Worker Group that contains the servers you would like to publish out the mmc too.
    • Click Next

•  Click Add
  • Add the users that need access to the mmc
    • Click Next

•  Go to where your Citrix management console is installed (where the console is installed), and right click > properties
  • Then click on “Change Icon…”

•  Copy out the location of the .ico

• Go back to your application you are publishing and click “Chang icon…”

•  Click Next

•  Click Finish

You now have a management console that your admins will not have to configure for discovery!