Archive for the ‘IGEL Universal Desktop ES / ES W7’ Category

Tip: Troubleshoot Citrix HDX Flash redirection issues

Friday, September 12th, 2014

Hi Folks,

you have issues with the HDX Flash redirection? Just try the following steps:

 

1) Make sure the Flash Player plugin is installed on the Server and the Client site, it’s not available for ARM based devices like the IZ1(!).

 

2) Disable the Flash Player Auto Update at the Server site!

 

3) Flash redirection in general is not 100% compatible and never could be it.

 

4) Make sure that all Citrix Server Policies for HDX Flash redirection are enabled and configured in the right way.

 

5) Make sure that the Flash Redirection feature is enabled at the client site.

 

6) Make sure content fetching is enabled if the client can not access the Internet directly, this needs to be enabled at the Server and the Client.

 

7) Follow http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX134786, perform the registry settings to disable the Version check:

You can disable the version check by modifying Windows Registry Key on VDA, named “FlashPlayerVersionComparisonMask” which is a dword that should be set to zero.

This needs to be set on each and every VDA you need the checking disabled on.

32-bit OS HKLM\\Software\\Citrix\\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\\Server\\PseudoServer

64-bit OS HKLM\\Software\\Wow6432Node\\Citrix\\HdxMediaStreamForFlash\\Server\\PseudoServer

 

8) Ask user where they have to upload or download data thru websites and verify that these sites will not be redirected. Why? If the content is redirected the user will only see the file system coming from the Thin Client! It’s running redirected local at the client right… 🙂

 

9) For XenApp 6.5 make sure CTX140236 Hotfix is installed, http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX140236

 

10) For XenDesktop 5.x/XenApp 7.x or higher make sure the latest VDA Version incl. Hotfixes are installed.

 

11) If it is still not working add the following Registry Keys to the PseudoServer Registry Part (see 7).

UserEnabledFlashV2 as REG DWORD = 1
IEBrowserMaximumMajorVersion as REG DWORD = Installed IE Version in decimal, for example IE 9 = 9

 

Cheers

Michael

IGEL offers W7+ devices

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2014

Hello Folks,

IGEL brings up a a new  device/firmware type called Universal Desktop W7+, the Universal Desktop W7+ is similar to the regular W7 but it comes with an 8GB SSD and not like the regular W7 devices with a 4GB SSD.

Main benefit for the W7+ is the fact that you have much more space available to install applications or drivers to the device, for example to install the Lync 2013 VDI Plug-In from Microsoft.

Import: If you are running a mixed environment (W7 and W7+) you have to handle two seperate firmware’s. The Images are not compatible.

W7+ is available for the current UD3, UD5, UD9 and UD10.

Cheers

Michael

Tip: Disable the Last Logon User shown in the Windows ES W7 Logon screen

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

Hello Folks,

sometimes you don’t need the Auto Logon feature coming with the Windows based IGEL Thin Clients, for example if the device is joined in a domain and you don’t want to see the local Administrator and User account in the Windows Logon Page to make the handling simple for the user.

You can download a new Partial Update for Windows based IGEL Thin Clients here: Download

This Partial Update will disable the Last User Logon Informations in the Windows Logon Screen, the result will look like the screenshot below.

withdisabledlastusername

You can also use this as sample how to deal with a Partial Update for a Windows based IGEL Thin Client. The archive contains the package, a manual as PDF, the required UMS Profile and the project file to edit the Partial Update together with our DATI tool.

Cheers

Michael

Tip: What are the differences in the Citrix Receiver by OS?

Friday, April 4th, 2014

Hello Folks,

you want to know what is the difference in the Citrix Receiver Versions for MacOSX, Android, Windows 8 or Linux, have a look in the new Citrix Receiver Feature Matrix which is available here: Citrix Receiver Feature Matrix

Cheers
Michael

Update: Deployment Assistant Tool for IGEL Thin Clients 1.06

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Hello Folks,

here is the final Version 1.06, i fixed some issues and also some new features are available. It’s not recommended to use any of the 1.05 Version anymore, iam sorry that i did not note all issues during testing and thanks for your comments pointing out some “issues” and help fixing it.

– Version 1.06
Important: Please delete the dati.ini after update!
Added Option to configure automatic Update check for DATI during the application starts.
Improved Update Check feature.
ILISE added Linux Library clean up, see in this ReadMe.txt for more information’s.
ILISE “Create .tar.bz2” button will now also create the .inf file in one step, you still have seperate options for archive/.inf files in the ILISE Menu if required.
Fixed issue with the “Show Warnings” Option, the setting was ignored sometimes.
Fixed ILISE issue that protects an automatic generated script to be overwritten by the generator if no MyScript Area exists.
Fixed wrong commandline in the ILISE “write custom session” snipplet
Fixed ILISE issue that a .tar.bz2/.tbz archive was created successfull message shows up but the file wasn’t created.
Added check to verify that all files are added by ILISE to a generated script (Only if the “Dynamic file integration folder based” option is not used)
Fixed ILISE issue if a folder contains one or more subfolders and some files are not identified/added correctly to the script.
Fixed ILISE .tar.bz2 / .tbz switch.

The download is available here: Download

Cheers

Michael

Solution: Deployment Assistant Tool for IGEL Thin Clients Version 1.05

Thursday, September 19th, 2013

Hello Folks,

here is a new release for the Deployment Assistant Tool for IGEL Thin Client Version 1.05.

You want to customize your IGEL Thin Clients, then you should try it… 🙂

DATI: Windows Partial Update Front End

DATI: Windows Partial Update Front End

DATI: IGEL Linux Integration Script Engine (ILISE)

DATI: IGEL Linux Integration Script Engine (ILISE)

Changelog:

– Version 1.05
ILISE has now a drop down menu that contains several features/options.
ILISE allows to edit the generated integration shell script now.
ILISE can now add a protected MyScript Area for your own extensions, this area will not be overwritten by the script engine.
ILISE can now load already created shell scripts (ilise.sh) if available in the content folder for the custom partition package.
ILISE now supports up to 15 custom code snipplets to be added to the ILISE MyScript Area.
Added find and replace function to ILISE, find and replace will modify all lines generated by ILISE and the MyScript Area by default.
Added “Reset Settings Option” to ILISE.
Fixed a small display issue with the ILISE Tooltip’s.
Added Cloud-Client.info Website URL’s to Info Menu.
Updated URL to IGEL’s LUNA Script Language Manual for Windows Embedded Partial Updates, URL can be modified in the dati.ini if changed again.
Added Cloud-Client.info Whitepaper related to Linux custom partition basics as Helpfile (optional download).
New Feature: Help Download Tool, DATI will now offer the download and include of missing Helpfiles / Whitepapers.
Added change path option to ILISE for the 7za.exe if required or 7za.exe is located in an other folder
ILISE can now create .tar.bz2 or .tbz files (configured thru ILISE options), .tbz format/extension is used by IGEL Technology.
ILISE will now check that 7za.exe is available in the configured/default folder before creating a .tar.bz2/.tbz archive.
Custom Partition Package .inf file creator can now select .tar.bz2 and .tbz files to create the required .inf file.
Added Print Script feature to ILISE for the purpose of documentation, this will print the generated script incl. the MyScript Area.
Added DATI .ini file, the .ini file will be created if not exists and contains configuration settings for DATI.
Optimized code and graphics, dati.exe size reduced from 364KB to less then 220KB without loosing any features.

 

Download here: Download

 

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: There is Version 1.05.1 available fixing an issue with the .tbz/.tar.bz2 switch in the options, thanks for the report!

Using Citrix GoToMeeting with Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

Hi Folks,

maybe this information is useful: If you want to use Citrix GoToMeeting you should be aware that you can not use GoToMeeting  together with an Audio Headset and XenApp.

If you are using XenDesktop together with a Desktop OS (not Server OS!) then it will work and you can use the Headset.

This is not related to IGEL, it’s a general behavior for GoToMeeting together with XenDesktop/XenApp and the Client OS (Windows/Linux) is not important!

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: Future versions of GoToMeeting maybe will not show this behavior… 🙂

Solution: Deployment Assistant Tool for IGEL Thin Clients Version 1.04

Sunday, September 15th, 2013

Hello Folks,

here is a new DATI release, Version 1.04 contains a couple of changes:

DATI: IGEL Linux Integration Script Engine (ILISE)

DATI: IGEL Linux Integration Script Engine (ILISE)

ILISE is nearly final (RC)
ILISE can now also write the Linux integration script as Linux executable shell script (ilise.sh) in the custom partition content folder.
Fixed issue with the Partial Update->Deploy several files from one folder function (always one file was not copied).
Fixed issue for ILISE if the content folder has no subdirectorys to prevent a not valid // script entry.
ILISE can now create a .tar.bz2 archive based on the set content folder for the custom partition.
Added some options to the ILISE script engine.
Added helper folder for add-on tools (currently 7-Zip command line tool is added to create the .tar.bz2 file).
Optimized ILISE Engine to provide a better user experience incl. a status Windows and User messages/warnings.
Added Tooltip’s to all features in ILISE.
Updated cloud-client.info logo for the info window.
Reworked ReadMe.txt (The file you are reading at the moment…)

The Download is available here: Download

 

Cheers

Michael

Software: Deployment Assistant Toolkit for IGEL Thin Clients Version 1.03

Monday, September 9th, 2013

Hi Folks,

here is a new Version of DATI, Version 1.03 comes with an Beta Version for the IGEL Linux custom partition script engine.

dati2

There are a lot of features not visible at the moment but if you deal with Linux scripting for the IGEL Linux custom partition feature it might be already a big help.

The download is available here: Download

Changelog:
– Version 1.03
Included IGEL Linux custom partition integration script engine (Beta/Early Release)
Fixed display issue in the delete registry entry sub window for Windows Partial Updates
Reworked sub window handling for better user experience
Changed cloud-client.info icon and gfx to new 2013 design

Please report issues to blog@cloud-client.info
 

Cheers
Michael

Tip: Citrix session drops if you open a second ICA connection in a XenApp/XenDesktop session

Tuesday, July 9th, 2013

Hi Folks,

i just got an issue where the user opens a session from an IGEL Linux / Windows PC to a XenApp / XenDesktop environment. This works fine until the user starts a second session in the first session to an other XenDesktop/XenApp environment.

The connection are done thru a Storefront server.

If this issue happens also to you, try the following registry setting in the Server / Desktop the user connects first.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle]

“WSCReconnectMode”=”0”

Please note: Test in advance, i do not provide any warranty that this will fix the issue at all or for a data loss in case of a wrong impementation. You are fully responsible if you apply this setting!

Cheers
Michael

Bootime for Windows Embedded device explained (short version)

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

Hi Folks,

very often i’ve been asked why IGEL´s Windows based OS is taken a little bit longer for the boot time then Thin Clients from other Vendors.

First of all a few specs…

The new UD5 Windows 7 Dual Core provide’s: A faster CPU, faster Storage (WD SSD), faster Memory and a faster Chipset but still it takes (only for the Boottime!) a little bit longer then (much) slower Devices from other Vendors. See also my UD5 Performance Whitepaper.

The Myths:

– IGEL is running a virtualized Windows Embedded OS = Nonsense… IGEL has a Linux Partition to pevent the use of PXE crap and provide a secure and high available firmware deployment solution. There is no “Thin Client” Hypervisor or something funny at all (like the Citrix XenClient).
– IGEL devices are slower= Nonsense… Compare the overall UD5 Dual Core performance with any other current high end client and you will see which device is slower in general. Tip: It´s not the IGEL. Of course you should try devices on the same level… Comparing a UD5 with a 3rd Party entry Thin Client or a IGEL UD2 with a 3rd Party High End Thin Client doesn’t make sense at all.

The reallity:

– IGEL comes with a lot of services compared to other vendors, most of these services are enabled by default and not disabled or better: Not available.
– IGEL’s Management is very stong but these management tasks are not for free… They do require a little bit time. If a device with no really or only basic management is offered: Of course it will boot faster! If you have nothing do to at work… Of course you can make a break earlier; It’s very similar.
– IGEL Boot Loader takes a few seconds to time out.

How can it be optimized:

– Disable not used services
– Make sure the UMS is available, the Clients will always try to talk to the UMS and it takes a few seconds for a Time Out.
– Use the Standby Mode if possible, no device will boot faster if an standby mode and the new devices only requires a little bit more power compared to switched off client.
– Some vendors are using a Standby Mode by default (without mention this in the documentation), plug off the power cable to check this or enable the Standby Mode for the IGEl too.

Things to consider:
– If you’re only looking at the boot time you should figure out how often your Users are “booting” there device and compare this to other performance figures.
– People complaining about the boot time for a thin client… Compare it to your Active Directory Profile Management (if in place), how long is your logon time?
– Use the IGEL Universal Management to wake up the clients for the user’s, the new devices require less power then ever and every User is happy (or not 😉 ) if his client is ready to use.

I hope this helps a little bit…

Cheers
Michael

Tip: Fix for network issues after a Windows ES W7 based IGEL Client has joined a domain

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Hello Folks,

yesterday i got a strange issue during a customer Thin Client Setup for Windows ES W7 based IGEL Clients.

The issue: After the ES W7 based Thin Client has joined a Domain the Network did not work at all (Firewall Policy for private Networks). This is not a recurrent issue, it can happen sometimes or not… So really strange to trouble shoot.

Now it looks that we fixed the issue by installing two Microsoft Hotfixes, the issue is also mentioned here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2524478/en-us.

Cheers
Michael

Tip: Windows ES/ES W7 loosing login script mapped user drives if a domain is joined

Monday, January 21st, 2013

Hello,

if you’re using a Windows based IGEL Client in a Domain it happens that mapped User Drives are lost after a few seconds, to prevent this disable in the IGEL Setup / Profile->System->Registry network.usesmbmountconfig

After this setting is disabled the mapped user drives will be not removed anymore.

Cheers
Michael

Tip: Building a roaming WiFi solution with Thin Clients

Monday, December 17th, 2012

Hi Folks,

sometimes user try to setup a roaming solution together with Thin Clients and discover different connection issues and the roaming in general works bad.

Reasons for roaming issues:

– The WiFi Adapter is not designed for a roaming enterprise solution – This happens very often and mostly WiFi devices are designed for a stationary or home/office use where roaming is not required by default. This includes also the WiFi Adapter used in the IGEL extension food and nearly every WiFi Adapter sold at retail market’s.

– To small Antenna’s, a USB WiFi dongle comes with a 2 up to 5 cm (1 or 2 inch) antenna and this is in general no deal for a roaming WiFi connection. If you compare this to a Laptop antenna, which is very often 15cm or more included into the display part of an “enterprise” Laptop, it has no Chance to provide a good result. Retail home use Laptop’s do also mostly not provide a large antenna, this can be compared quite easy… Use a 600$ home and a 1300$ enterprise Laptop and compare the WiFi signal quality, in 80% of all test scenario’s you will see a big difference here and the enterprise Laptop provide a much better signal quality.

– Antenna is covered by parts of the device case and/or the signal is blocked in the direction to the Access Point.

How to solve this?

Simple: Forget WiFi network card’s or USB Adapter’s and take a new approach to setup a roaming solution: Use an Ethernet to WiFi bridge. This way is more expensive then a funny USB WiFi gimmick solution, but it will work and you have a lot of different solutions available depending on the scenario.

Benefit: The thin client/end device don’t has to deal with the WiFi connection at all, these device also do have more seperate antenna’s and very often more then one connection interface/circuit to provide permanent connection stability. It’s driver independent and it will work with Windows CE, Linux and Windows based end user devices out of the box thru the ethernet port.

Usage: Industrial WiFi requirements, Thin Client and WiFi device are mounted on a cart, truck, construction vehicle or similar. This solutions is not or only limited useable for regular Office walk thru designs.

Devices:

Netgear WiFi Bridge N900

From the lower price segment these devices will work good for small/medium environment’s: Netgear WiFi Bridge N900, Price ~100 US$, two antennas (picture) or Cisco Small Business – WET200 Bridge, Price ~130 US$ with two antennas. For outdoor solutions and high end requirements (large range/two or more connection circuits) the price range can go up to 1000 US$ or more. In any way: All devices that can be used as a WiFi Bridge (mostly all Access Points/Routers) can be used for this trick and they provide much better results then any WiFi USB dongle will do.

Update: I’ve been asked for an high end outdoor solution device, look @ Funkwerk/Bintec (www.teldat.de) for Bridge devices, the biggest devices can handle up to a 5km (4 Miles) distance and they always come with multiple circuits and antennas like the W1002n (up to 1000m range). But please: These devices are mostly not designed for indoor use and are very expensive (between 400 and 3000 US$)! So for industrial use in construction areas, mines or similar it might be ok but for the use in a habitation or indoor: Forget it please!!!

Cheers
Michael

P.S.: Like everytime no guarantee from my side and you need to test this! This article is also only for mobile clients moving around in a building or area a lot!

P.S.2: This will only provide a little help against radio interference, check this out too if the issue is not solved by an Ethernet to WiFi bridge! I’ve got an old  USB Bluetooth dongle that kills any WiFi (B/G/N=2.4 GHz) connection in a 5m (15 feet) area as example…. 🙂

Tip: Building a multi Monitor solution (three or more displays) with Microsoft Windows Embedded based Thin Clients

Sunday, December 16th, 2012

Hi Folks,

IGEL offers a multimonitor solution 2 (supported by default)+x displays for the IGEL LX (Linux)  but sometimes user ask for a Windows ES based solution to get three or four monitors running with Windows ES. IGEL do not provide a solution for this but it can be done… The disadvantage: It can not be configured thru the local setup or the UMS and you need to install some drivers; also you should use at min. a IGEL UD5 to get enough performance for this.

The solution is quite simple and can be really cheap…

 USB 2 DVI Full HD

Just get some devices like the Mad Catz SEE2 XD300 (VGA; 1600×1200 max.+add on ethernet+3 usb 2.0 ports+Audio in/out) or Mad Catz SEE2 Xtreme UV250 (DVI, Full HD), these devices provide a add on VGA or DVI Port thru USB and can be already been bought for less then 20€ (i’ve paid 14.90€ for a XD300 @ www.pearl.de and the UV250 was offered for 19,90€). Install the driver and enable that the display settings are not managed thru the IGEL Setup in the IGEL configuration (local Setup or UMS profile). Here you go… There are a lot of similar devices out there so get a look also for other offers.

Of course you need to test this in advance and i don’t provide any guarantee! 😉 This will also work only with Microsoft Windows based devices, there is no support in the IGEL LX or OS Linux.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: One other benefit: these devices will not heat up the thin client like an add-on inbuild GFX card….

P.S.2: I’ve tested this only with three Displays (and ICA/RDP sessions), by theory also more should work… But there will be a limit by resources and also it could be possible that the drivers will not work right if too much devices are connected. So if you got a 10 screen solution running send me a report please (…i don’t believe that more then four displays=2 add on SEE2 devices will work). 🙂

Tip: Enabling/Disabling Windows Services for IGEL Universal Desktop ES / ES W7 (Sample VMWare View USB Redirection)

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012

Hello,

sometimes IGEL do some changes to the default Firmware configuration, for this example i point to the VMWare USB redirection service which is now disabled by default. (Why is simple… Running to much different USB redirection services at the same time is a bad idea and can produce conflicts depending on the USB device, like funny blue screens.).

If you now want to enable the service thru the local IGEL Setup, this is simple to do and you can find the configuration in the Accessoires->Windows Services Tab. If you want to perform this task  thru an UMS Profile it’s sometimes more tricky, if the new firmware setting is not available in the UMS Console GUI as example.

So first upgrade your profile to the latest firmware version; select your profile and then change “Optimized for”.

Now open the profile and select System->Registry-> System->winservices, try to find the service you want to enable; in our sample “start_view_usb_redirection” and save the profile after you have enabled the service. Assign the profile to your Clients (if not already done) and after a reboot: Tatata, the service is running.

If you require more references regarding the IGEL Registry try out our Whitepaper which is available here: http://www.cloud-client.info/whitepaper/WhitepaperBasicGuidetotheIGELThinClientRegistry.pdf

Cheers

Michael

Creating more then one Internet Explorer (or other) session(s) with IGEL Windows based Thin Clients

Friday, June 15th, 2012

Sometimes customers/users ask to have more then one Internet Explorer Session on the Desktop, by default this can’t be configured with the Internet Explorer configuration in the IGEL Setup / IGEL Universal Management Suite but there is a simple way to do this… With the Internet Explorer or any other session where the client do support command line parameters.

1) Just open the IGEL Setup or the Profile in the IGEL Universal Management Suite.
2) Go to System -> Firmware Customization-> Custom Application
3) Create a new custom application
4) Type in the Name and where the session should appear
5) In settings set (sample for Internet Explorer)
– Icon Name= c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe
– Application= c:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe
– Parameter= https://blog.cloud-client.info (the site to open or other parameters)

You can do this for several sites and session types, the global settings for the session are still working in this sample but you are flexible to provide the user several direct start links on the desktop like in Linux.

Have Fun

Michael