Archive for January, 2014

Solution: The King is dead… Long life the King or Citrix XenApp strikes back

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Hi Folks,

did you already noticed a small change at the Citrix Website? http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/overview.html

XenApp is back! If you look here: http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/whats-new.html it more sounds like a XenDesktop 7 derivate (if you are looking for the old IMA stuff, it’s gone forever and also XenApp 7.5 is using FMA like XenDesktop) but really intresting is the last part on the mentioned site.

Extended Web Interface support

Web Interface support is extended for XenDesktop 7.5 allowing IT to maintain their existing Web Interface investment throughout the migration to the new FlexCast management architecture. (Comment: Funny… The Lack of XenApp 7.5 in this announcement on a XenApp 7.5 related Site means for me: XenApp and XenDesktop 7.5 is nearly the same. (..or someone from the marketing forgot to rework this part of the article. 🙂 ) )

So it’s not only XenApp who is back, it’s also the Citrix Webinterface (against all other Citrix announcements from the past). Iam really intrested to see how this will finaly work but maybe the Citrix Productmanagement has notified that it’s not a good idea for larger Company’s to replace the well proved Webinterface with Storefront regarding the lack of missing features/functions (incl. using an Webinterface Server outside from an Active Directory Domain). Also for XenApp, are XenApp 6.5 features like Worker Groups back? A lot of open questions here…

I did not found much information’s regarding Licensing, Courses or possible Certifications, so there are still also some missing Information’s here (…and enough room for speculations). I hope that Citrix will clearify this soon…

Have fun

Michael

Videos: Latest IGEL Videos on YouTube January 2014

Sunday, January 26th, 2014

Hi Folks,

here are some nice IGEL related Videos on YouTube from January 2014:

Commercial:

IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) (funny):  [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsqE-2f9FFk]

IGEL Zero Clients (English with dutch subtitles): [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkeQT0bb_Mg]

IGEL Commercial from CForwardIT (Reseller): [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEqektnHGYM]

 

None commercial:

Demonstrating IGEL Linux with Remote Desktop Services and RemoteFX: [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiIvJEfkxIQ]

Demonstrating IGEL Linux with Remote Desktop Servern without RemoteFX: [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q_Zwax53YY]

 

Have Fun

Michael

Important: Issue with folder based views in the UMS 4.06.100 and the administrative Task “Delete Thin Clients”

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

Hello Folks,

if you are using folder based views together with the Administrative Task “Delete Thin Clients” you should be aware that there is an issue with a folder based view if it points to two or more directories combined with the “or” operator in the view.

As soon you have combined two or more folders with the “or” Operator all Thin Client’s in your environment are “shown in the view”, this is not critical by default but if this view is assigned to the Administrative Task “Delete Thin Clients” it will wipe out all Thin Clients out of the UMS Environment after you have updated the UMS to 4.06.100 and the task is executed.

So if your using the Administrative Task “Delete Thin Clients” have a Eye on this before upgrading to 4.06.100!

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: This issue with the “or” criteria might also have an impact on other views, so please check it if you are use the “Delete Thin Client” Task and disable it before you upgrade to be on the save side.

Release: IGEL Universal Management Suite 4.06.100

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

====================
IGEL Universal Management Suite
====================
Version 4.06.100
Release date: 20.01.2014
====================
Notes:
====================

NOTE: If the windows installer does not start on Windows Server 2003 hosts,
contace IGEL support to get an unsigned setup executable. This will solve
the issue.

The linux installer is tested with
– Ubuntu 12.04 (32bit)
– RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 (32bit)

For further compatibility information check the Universal Management Suite
Data Sheet at www.igel.com.
====================
New features
====================

– UMS Console search
* Improved search history in management tree:
– entries are now user specific
– entries can be edited
– UMS Console views
* Added filtering option “device serial number”.
* Added ‘unlike’ as a valid compare operator.
– UMS Console usability
* Improved Thin client context menu to have less entries in each context
menu level.
* Added multi selection support for right mouse button clicks in
management tree.
– UMS Console performance enhancements
* Improved user logon speed in UMS console.
* Improved configuration dialog start time.
– UMS common
* Added user specific UMS SSL certificate support to replace autgenerated
ones. Availabl at UMS administration tree ‘UMS Network’ node.
* Added Microsoft SQL Server 2012 support.
– Universal Customization Builder usability enhancements
* Added default UCB project path setting.
* Improved useability while working on a project.
– UMS Setup/Update
* Improved UMS update process to automatically consider existing
components.

====================
Fixed bugs
====================

– UMS Server webdav
* Fixed access to permission settings in customer defined webdav folders.
– UMS Console WebStart
* Fixed logon failures of UMS console started by Java WebStart with error
“String index out of range -1”.
* Fixed licenses creation with smart card in a UMS console started by Java
WebStart.
– UMS Console views
* Fixed missing copy/cut support in view content table.
* Fixed editing of existing views.
– UMS Console common
* Fixed deleting folders. Now also the content of the folder is deleted.
* Fixed editing of ‘public holiday’ list to work with every permitted user
account.
– UMS Console administration tree
* Fixed UMS Server statistics display issue.
* Fixed sizing of the initial window size of the UMS Administrator
appliction to fit into display size.
– UMS Console licensing
* Fixed assignment of a addon Multimedia Codec Pack from IGEL token to a
Universal Desktop Linux Thin Client (v5 only).
* Fixed create license from IGEL token with empty error message box.
IMPORTANT: No license got lost, only the process failed!

Solution: From dusk till dawn.. The dawn of Sun Ray and Oracles Virtualization solution

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014

Hi Folks,

maybe you already noticed that not only Windows XP is going EOL this year… Oracle´s Virtualization solution and there Thin Client “Sun Ray” do the same this year (see also http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/sunrayproducts/overview/sun-ray-hw-lod-2028854.pdf or here: http://portrix-systems.de/blog/brost/oracle-ends-development-on-sun-ray-and-vdi-technology/)

EOL this year: Sun Ray Thin Clients

EOL this year: Sun Ray Thin Clients

So what can you do if you are a Sun customer? Igel has no official solution which is available “public” but one tip: Ask an IGEL Sales Rep if they can offer you an alternative incl. the Smart Card support to still maintain and run your current environment and have a Thin Client in place which is also ready to work with other VDI Environments like Citrix XenDesktop, VMWare View or Microsofts Remote Desktop Services.

Cheers

Michael

 

 

Tip: Changing Windows Server 2012 R2 Workfolder Port from SSL (443) to an other Port and still keep SSL encryption

Friday, January 17th, 2014

Hello Folks,

currently iam very Microsoft minded because i set up a new “private” Environment at home.

With Windows Server 2012 R2 Microsoft has introduced the Workfolder feature which is a “private” hosted SkyDrive alternative for Windows 8.1, benefit: All files are hosted in your private cloud and not on a NSA Share (or similar 🙂 ).

By default workfolders are using the SSL Port 443 and are not embedded in the IIS Server, this means if you run a secure website thru SSL on your IIS you will not be able to use the workfolder feature at all.

The workfolder management GUI is currently not very useful and it’s not possible to change the port from there, so you have to do it in the manual way.

Important: After this is done you need to manual setup the workfolder configuration on the client devices or thru domain policies, the auto detection feature by email will not work anymore!

1) Change the Workfolder configuration by open the file c:\windows\system32\SyncShareSvc.config with a text editor and search for the entry: :443: . If you found this there should be a “bindingInformation” in front of the “:443″. Change 443 to the port you want to use and save the file, you might be required to get the file ownership in advance to have sufficient rights to save the modified files.

2) Now open the commandline (not powershell!) with administrator permissions and enter: Netsh http add urlacl url=https://*:*yourporthere*/ user=”NT Authority\LOCAL SERVICE”

Replace *yourporthere* with the in 1) configured port number.

3) Open the powershell with administrative permissions and enter: netsh http add sslcert ipport=0.0.0.0:*yourporthere* certhash=*certificatethumbprint* appid={CE66697B-3AA0-49D1-BDBD-A25C8359FD5D} certstorename=MY

Replace *yourporthere* with the in 1) configured port number and the *certificatethumbprint* with the certificate thumprint (without spaces like 0e78323321Ac3….) and make sure the certificate is available in the computer thrusted store.

4) Restart the SyncShare Service

5) Logon into a Windows 8.1 and go to Systemcontrol->Workfolders and select the setup workfolders options, now don’t use the email account and select that you enter the URL by your own, type in: https://yourserver:yourport and continue with the setup. Workfolders should now sync by using the new port number. For domain computers you can also setup a Policy to force the workfolder setup to the correct URL without user interaction.

Cheers

Michael

P.S.: For Terminal Services running on a windows server, you can create a workfolder SMB share and create a mapping for smb:\\*yourserver*\*workfoldershare*\%USERNAME% to a static drive letter, this will also make the workfolder available in a  terminal server session for the user quite simple.

 

Tip: Fix Windows Server 2012 R2 can’t add RemoteFX GFX Card to a VM

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Hi Folks,

Windows Server 2012R2 seams to have an issue with the RemoteFX Graphic Card, if you have an RemoteFX supporting GFX-Card inside of your server (GFX Card is shown in the Hyper-V settings) you might be not able to add this card to a VM with an error “Error appliying RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter changes”.

This is mostly not related to the GFX Card, the VM or whatever… It’s related to an issue in the Hyper-V Management console, in all my cases i was able to fix it thru the powershell.

1) Open the Powershell with Admin rights

2) Make sure the VM where you want to apply the RemoteFX Video Adapter is not running!

3) Enter and execute “Add-VMRemoteFx3dVideoAdapter -VMName *your vm name*” and execute the command (replace *your vm name* with your VM Name shown in the Hyper-V console).

4) That’s it, start the VM now.

Cheers

Michael

Tip: Must have Microsoft Surface add-on’s

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

Hi Folks,

here are some “must” have add-on’s for the Microsoft Surface RT / Surface Pro Tablet, the none Microsoft component’s shown here are used by my own together with the Surface RT/Pro Tablet’s but i can not guarantee that similar none Microsoft components will work; you have to test this by your own.

 

tyüecover

1) Type or Touch Cover Keyboard, must have… Touch Cover is good for “smaller” Keyboard work but i do prefer the Type Cover for longer work.

carcharger

 

2) Car charger, several Versions for the Surface RT (2A) /Pro (3,6A) are available at EBay starting at 17€ incl. Package.

 

mouse

3) A Bluetooth Mouse

64gbsd

 

4) A SDXC extension memory card (up to 64GB)

miniusb30hub

5) A small USB 3.0 Hub for the Surface Pro or a USB 2.0 Hub for the Surface RT

 

microhdmi

6) A Micro HDMI to VGA converter to connect a projector, available at EBay for less than 20€; look out for an Adapter incl. Audio (see picture). Surface RT only!

MiniDisplayPortAdapter

7) A Mini Display Port to VGA and HDMI converter, available at EBay for less than 20€, i recommend this one because it offers two connectors in one Adapter. Surface Pro only!

8) Optional: For the Surface Pro a USB 3.0 to Ethernet Adapter, around 20€ at EBay.

Projector

9) Optional: A (battery powered) Mini LED Projector like the Philips Pico Pix 2480 which is a really cool add-on for Presentations or Multimedia, starting at 270€ (Swiss prize).

Cheers

Michael

 

 

Experience: Why Microsoft Surface (RT/Pro) devices are the best tablets available…

Monday, January 6th, 2014

Hi Folks,

first post of the year and none IGEL related. 🙂

Like promised some time ago in my Samsung/Android article (Article) iam currently kicking out all android devices and this includes also my tablets.

I’ve decided to go with the Microsoft Surface RT and Pro (not Surface 2) running Windows 8.1 for a simple reason, there where sold in Switzerland for a very very good prize (for example less than 250 € for the Surface RT 64 GB incl. Touch Cover Keyboard and a 50CHF Windows Store Voucher) and Apple is not realy an alternative for me.

So what are the reason why i’ve taken the Surface?

1) First of all Windows RT / 8.1 (Pro) is for me the best Tablet GUI ever been done, from my point of view no other OS can compare to it. Of course some people blaming that Office is not really Touch optimized but on the other side… Did these guys always tried to work with an large Excel sheet with Android or IOS? I don’t thing so because it’s mostly crap compared to Microsoft Office and i’ve tested a lot  (Polar Office, Quick Office and other). I also recommend to get an Bluetooth Mouse, it’s really a good add-on for work.

2) The quality of the Surface RT / Pro tablets is very high and can be compared to other high end devices.

3) Very important for me: A native Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Client.. Android and also IOS can not compare with it, sorry but this is the truth. I can deal with all available RDP Features incl. USB device redirection.

4) The optional Keyboards (Touch / Type Cover, i got both) is a must have and both Keyboards are working great for me.. Using a OnScreen Keyboard for Emails or articles like this… No competition.

5) USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 Port (RT/Pro)… Connecting a external HDD/SDD or whatever is working like a charm but you should consider to get an external USB 3.0 Hub (Small one available @ Ebay for less than 25€) or a cheap USB 2.0 hub for the RT. For RT get a look on a RT compatible  logo, x86/64 Bit Drivers will not work and a RT compatible Version must be available. For the Pro Version any Windows 8 compatible Device will work without any issue.

6) Internal SDXC Reader (iam using this to extend the devices with 64GB cards, primary iam having documents/presentations on it) and if you are using real SDXC cards i will promise you that this will beat the read/write times compared to other tablets. For example on the Pro iam running games like Elder Scrolls Skyrim, Civilization and Movies from it and the read time is very good. You can also use SD/SDHC cards but the performance is not so high like a fast SDXC card (Starting at 104MB/s up to 300MB/s which is faster than any other SD card standard (SDHC somewhere around 10MB/s), for example the latest CF Card generation with 600x speed=90MB/s=Slower than the slowest SDXC standard with 104MB/s)

7)  Mini Display Port (Pro) and Micro HDMI Port (RT) Ports to connect a projector or second Monitor, this is a great option and you can get adapters to VGA or HDMI very cheap on ebay (less then 20€). I never got issues with an “none” Microsoft adapter and they are much cheaper as the original ones but you should be aware that a 3rd Party Adapter might not work for you.

8) Very long use time for the Surface RT, in my tests i got more than 8 hours; the Surface Pro could be better but this will also work mostly 3-4 Hours for me; iam not sure what other people are doing with there device but i can’t blame the Surface for a short battery use time.

9) I can run all my Windows applications on the Pro tablet incl. the Hyper-V role, this is very important for me. No app store or similar nonsense… For RT a couple of “features” are missing for me but the most important ones (Archiver, Citrix Receiver and other Tools are available in the Windows Store for free or not much money). One con here is that the Windows Store do not contain a lot of Apps… To be honest, i don’t need 1000 times the same type of app; one good one is enough for me and the App amount is still growing. One Tip… Look out for Project Siena (Beta) from Microsoft, this will allow you to create simple business apps very fast for your company or your demands (http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/projectsiena/default.aspx); nothing similar for Android or IOS is available.

10) No “3rd Party” Vendor Update mess, i don’t have to deal with Samsung or Apple and i got the same patch Level on all my devices incl. Office at the same Time “Hurray!”. No feature difference, no “Mobile Providers” which have to “agree” to an update and this is really the important feature for me.

11) Printer support, for the Surface Pro no deal and also for the RT currently all my printers are working fine thru network and USB port. Try to print from an Android to IOS device… Funny thing right? …and if you got it to work (somehow), try to print out a larger document or presentation; do it look like the orginal Document?

12) Features for Office are similar to my Laptops/Desktop/Server System’s, Windows Store Apps are similar between Desktop/Laptops and Tablets (incl. one License/paid App for multiple Devices). Why getting (buying) the same type of  app several times for different Operating System’s? Did you already thing about this?

13) Windows RT based devices are coming with a Windows Companion Subscription License (CSL), this is a clear advantage compared to our Tablet Operating Systems. For example if your User are using a “none” Windows private device to connect to your environment you have to buy a extra License (VDA or CSL). Read more in the Microsoft Blog here: Link

Of course they’re more Pro and also Cons for the Surface Tablets but currently for my mobile use this was the best descission ever done, i write this because some people are blaming the Surface devices (RT and also Pro) but iam not sure if these people have ever really compared it to an other Tablet PC during daily “mobile” work and not only in a Lab (a full blown PC, Laptop or Thin Client is not the competition). For my daily mobile work there is no better tablet available and Android or IOS devices are nice just for fun toys for me now and nothing more. Cons like repairing a tablet are nonsense, did you try to repair a IPAD or Galaxy Tab? Why this is a disadvantage for a Microsoft device? Weight.. Yes, it’s not a cheap plastic device and the weight is still ok. These cons often mentioned are not really serious and i only can recommend: Compare it by your own! For me the descission is quite clear now… 🙂

Cheers

Michael