Citrix Connector 7.5 for Configuration Manager Using Provisioning Services with Citrix Connector 7.5 for Configuration Manager Prepared by: Subbareddy Dega and Kathy Paxton Commissioning Editor: Kathy Paxton Version: 1.0 Last Updated: June 18, 2014
Table of Contents Summary... 3 Requirements... 3 PVS setup and configuration... 4 Create and prepare a master image... 5 Create and configure the base vdisk image and a template device... 6 Create a machine catalog...18 PVS image maintenance...19 Create a new vdisk version and boot the maintenance VM with it...20 Promote the new vdisk version to production...20 Page 2
Summary This article is intended for administrators responsible for creating and maintaining Provisioning Services vdisks used with Citrix Connector 7.5 for System Center Configuration Manager 2012. Citrix Connector 7.5 (the Connector) enables you to use Configuration Manager to target applications to Provisioning Services (PVS) based Machine Catalogs that have a single master image, known as a vdisk, and many machine clones based on the vdisk. To use Provisioning Services with the Connector, you perform tasks in: A hypervisor The Provisioning Services console XenApp or XenDesktop 7.5 Configuration Manager This article describes the end-to-end workflow and focuses on the tasks performed in a hypervisor and the Provisioning Services console. The steps in this article supplement and refer to information in edocs under the Citrix Connector 7.5, XenApp 7.5 and XenDesktop 7.5, and Provisioning Services 7.x sections. Requirements This article assumes that the following components are deployed in your environment: Provisioning Services 7.1 or 7.0 XenApp 7.5, XenDesktop 7.5, or XenDesktop 7.1 Citrix Connector 7.5 for System Center Configuration Manager 2012 Page 3
PVS setup and configuration The following diagram shows the manual and automated processes related to setup and configuration when you use Provisioning Services with the Connector. The topics in this section describe the tasks related to creating a master image, maintenance VM, clone VM template, and vdisk. Page 4
Create and prepare a master image 1. To create a master image, follow the steps in Prepare a master image through joining the image to the domain. Do not take a snapshot yet. 2. Install the following components on the master image: Configuration Manager client From the Configuration Manager console, go to Assets and Compliance > Devices, right-click the VM, and choose Install Client. This operation can take a while. The Configuration Manager client that you install registers the master image in the Configuration Manager database. Configuration Manager then collects VDA data for the master image and includes that data in its hardware inventory. To view the data, use the Configuration Manager Resource Explorer. Citrix Connector agent The installer is located where you extracted the Citrix Connector package, in: Citrix VDA extensions\citrixconnectoragent_x64[86].msi Citrix deployment type handler (optional) The Citrix deployment type handler is required only to deploy Citrix published applications to the Configuration Manager Application Catalog or Software Center on devices managed by Configuration Manager. It is not needed to publish applications to Receiver on user devices. The installer is located where you extracted the Citrix Connector package, in: Citrix Receiver extensions\citrixdthandler_x64[86].msi 3. Citrix recommends that you create a snapshot of your master image and name the snapshot so that you can identify the master image in the future. 4. From your VM management tool (in this example, Citrix XenCenter) configure the VM to boot from the Network only. Page 5
Do not reboot yet. 5. To install the PVS Target Device: In the PVS console, click Target Device Installation, complete the Installation Wizard for Citrix Provisioning Services Target Device x64, and then reboot. Create and configure the base vdisk image and a template device The following steps describe how to use the PVS console to: Create the vdisk file and image the master target device Create a maintenance VM Create and configure a new vdisk version Add the hypervisor host to PVS 1 Create the vdisk file and image the master target device 1. To start the Imaging Wizard from the Windows Start menu, navigate to Citrix > Provisioning Services > Imaging Wizard. Page 6
2. In the Provisioning Services Imaging Wizard, enter the PVS server farm information. 3. Select Create new vdisk. 4. Enter the vdisk name and select Dynamic for VHD type. PVS calculates the vdisk size in the Store. Page 7
5. On the Microsoft Volume Licensing page, choose your licensing preference. 6. Keep the default image sizes. Page 8
7. Enter a Target device name. Important: You must enter a temporary name for your device that is not the same as the name of the VM. 8. From MAC, select the NIC. From Collection, select the target collection for this device. Page 9
9. Verify all changes and click Optimize for Provisioning Services. 10. Click OK and then click Finish. When the confirmation message appears, click Yes to reboot and start the imaging process. This will create a vdisk. 11. Log on to the target device. Citrix XenConvert starts and completes the imaging process. 12. When the imaging completes, click Finish. 13. In the Provisioning Services console: Expand Device Collections, select the collection, right-click the target device, and then choose Set Device as Template. Page 10
14. Reboot the target device. The target device will boot from vdisk. The device now appears in the PVS store. Page 11
2 Create a maintenance VM 15. In your hypervisor (XenServer in this example), create a new VM. 16. As you work through the wizard, configure the VM to: Boot from network. Create a diskless VM that boots from the network for the VM storage. Page 12
Clear the Start new VM automatically check box. Page 13
17. After the maintenance VM is created, do not start it. 18. In your hypervisor, copy the secondary network interface MAC address for PVS. 19. In the PVS console: a. Right-click the device collection containing the maintenance device and choose Create Device. b. In the Target Device Properties, specify the same Name that you used for the maintenance VM. From Type, choose Maintenance. From Boot from, choose vdisk. Paste the copied MAC address in MAC. c. Click Get Template Properties and then click Yes. d. Use the default settings for the rest of the Target Device Properties pages and click OK. Page 14
e. From the Active Directory menu, choose Create Machine Account. 3 Create and configure a new vdisk version 1. In the PVS console under the Stores node, select the store you are using for PVS. 2. Right-click the maintenance vdisk and select Versions. 3. In the vdisk Versions dialog box, click New. A new vdisk version is marked as Maintenance. Page 15
4. In your hypervisor, start the maintenance VM. During the boot process you will see two vdisk versions. 5. Select the Boot Menu item labeled [maint]. After the maintenance VM starts, this screen appears. 6. Install the Configuration Manager client and the Connector agent on the maintenance VM. 7. Shut down the maintenance VM. 8. Configure the vdisk: In the PVS console, navigate to the store and open the Properties of the newly created vdisk. Tip: You cannot edit the properties unless all machines using this disk are powered off. 9. On the General tab: Page 16
a. Change the Access mode to Standard Image. b. Change Cache type to Cache on server. c. Select the check boxes for Enable Active Directory machine account password management and Enable streaming of this vdisk. 4 Add the hypervisor host to PVS 1. In the PVS console, expand the vdisk Update Management node, right-click Hosts, and then choose Add host. 2. Follow the instructions in the Virtual Host Connection Wizard to add a hypervisor connection to PVS. Page 17
Create a machine catalog In these steps you create a clone VM template and then use the XenDesktop Setup Wizard to create a machine catalog for the master image (which the Connector represents as an update device in Configuration Manager), maintenance VM, and clone VMs. 1. In XenServer, create the template that XenApp or XenDesktop will use to create the clones. You will specify this template when you create a machine catalog. 2. In the PVS console, expand Sites, right-click Site, and choose XenDesktop Setup Wizard. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the wizard. For Boot mode, you must choose PXE boot. For more information, refer to Deploy virtual desktops to VMs using the XenDesktop Setup Wizard. 4. After you finish the wizard, verify that the machine catalog appears in the Studio console. After the XenDesktop Setup Wizard completes, use Studio to create a Delivery Group for the machine catalog. You can then use Configuration Manager to designate an update device and deploy applications to a device collection that contains the update device. After that, use the PVS console to create a new vdisk version, as detailed in the next section. Page 18
PVS image maintenance The following diagram shows the manual and automated processes related to image maintenance when you use Provisioning Services with the Connector. The topics in this section describe the tasks related to creating a new vdisk version and promoting it to production. Page 19
Create a new vdisk version and boot the maintenance VM with it After targeting applications to device collections, you create a new vdisk version and use it to boot the maintenance VM. The Connector then orchestrates the installation of applications and updates on the update device for Server OS and Desktop OS machine catalogs. 1. In the PVS console, create a new vdisk version. 2. In your hypervisor, boot the PVS maintenance VM with the new vdisk version. 3. In Configuration Manager, monitor the maintenance VM. Do not proceed until the maintenance VM shows 100% compliance. Promote the new vdisk version to production After the maintenance VM reports 100% compliance, you can promote the new vdisk version to production. 1. In the PVS console, expand Stores, select the store, right-click the vdisk, and choose Versions. 2. Select the version that is in maintenance mode and then click Promote. 3. In the Promote dialog box, click Production and then click OK. Page 20
After the vdisk is promoted to production, the Connector orchestrates the reboot of PVS Server OS clones. To complete the clone update: 1. Use the Provisioning Services console to reboot Desktop OS clones. 2. After the reboots, verify that all clones in the machine catalog are updated: In the Configuration Manager console, click Monitoring > Deployments, right-click the application, and then choose View Status. 3. After deployment completes, you can publish the application. Page 21