Citrix XenApp lab setup notes including iPad configuration

My good friend Steve and I were up till 02:30 Fri night / Sat morning doing further testing with Citrix XenApp 6.5 and the Citrix Receiver app on the iPad.

There were a few teething errors, but we got everything working fine in the end; including configuring an ActiveSync Profile for the iPad that installs a Root Certificate and pre-configures the Mail app to work with Exchange.

We used Hyper-V to setup a base VM of Server 2008 R2, then installed the following VMs using differencing disks which are similar to linked clones using VMware:

  • A Domain Controller with Certificate Services installed
  • SQL Server 2008 R2
  • XenApp and Licensing
  • Citrix Web Interface and Secure Gateway
  • Exchange 2010

After a few short hours sleep, I decided to do exactly the same in my home lab too. Usually I use my ESXi server, but I thought this would be a great time to test out the latest version of VMware Workstation.

I didn’t take screenshots as usual, but here’s the notes I made:

[Read more…]

Deploying Adobe Reader using System Center Essentials (SCE) 2010

Scenario

You’ve installed, configured, and deployed software using System Center Essentials. Now you want to deploy Adobe Reader and fully customise it prior to deployment.

[Read more…]

Deploying software using Microsoft System Center Essentials (SCE) 2010

Scenario

Well done old bean, you’ve successfully installed and configured System Center Essentials (SCE) 2010. You now need to deploy software to your electrical minions (client PCs).

Find out below how to spread software throughout your IT estate, like a spreadable, creamy butter:

[Read more…]

Deploying UltraVNC within an Active Directory environment using Group Policy

Scenario

You’ve tried several different VNC applications and have decided UltraVNC meets your humble Remote Support needs. Now you want to centrally deploy and manage UltraVNC in your domain.

The default installer creates unwanted shortcuts on the user’s desktop, so you need to modify this before rolling out to all client PCs. In addition to this, there are separate installers for 32-bit and 64-bit PCs, so this will have to be accounted for.

Here is how to achieve remote desktop nirvana using UltraVNC:

[Read more…]