Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp 6

Installing and Configuring Citrix XenApp 6

With the recent release of Citrix XenApp 6 I’ve begun testing this version as we prepare to upgrade our Windows terminal server environment.  Probably the biggest reason for upgrading is that XenApp 6 offers support for Windows Server 2008 R2.  There are also a number of changes in the tools used to administer your Citrix farm.  In the recent past you had to use multiple tools for administration as Citrix migrated functionality into the MMC.  This seems to now be mostly complete.  The updates to the tools are welcome, but include a bit of relearning to find all the new methods and places to make configuration changes.

If you are evaluating and testing XenApp 6, Citrix has a developer license available that allows you to test with a single user for 1 year.  Search the internet for “citrix developer license” for details.  There is also a 99 user evaluation license available that is valid for 90 days.
Installing XenApp Server

Before starting the installation I disabled the IE Enhanced Security Configuration.  Generally it is a good idea to leave this on, but in this situation we’ll need access to the Licensing Server Web Console and IE ESC make this more difficult.  Start the Server Manager.

Select “Configure IE ESC” on the right side.

Select Off for both Administrators and Users, then click OK.
Insert the XenApp 6 install DVD.  I encountered difficulty running the install from a shared folder on another server so my recommendation would be to run directly from the DVD or extract the files to a local drive on the server.  If the Citrix XenApp install window does not automatically start run autorun.exe from the base directory.

Select Install XenApp Server.

If you have not yet installed .Net 3.5 SP1 it will prompt that it will be installed, click OK.

Now at the Role Manager screen click “Add server roles” on the right.

Select your XenApp edition.

Read the license agreement, select the check box to accept the license agreement, and click Next.

Select the role(s) you would like to install.  I will choose the License Server, XenApp, and Web Interface.  In a production environment you may want to install the License Server on a separate non-XenApp server.  The same goes for your Web Interface servers.  Click Next.

Click Next.

The installation will include a bunch of prerequisites that need to be installed.  The first is the activation of the Remote Desktop Session Host role/Terminal Services application mode which will require the server to reboot mid-install.  One of the nice things about XenApp 6 is that the installation of prerequisites has been simplified.  Click Next.

Last chance to bail.  Click Install.

Click Finish.

Back at the Role Manager window it tells us the XenApp configuration has a reboot pending because of the Remote Desktop Server role installed earlier.  Select Reboot or manually proceed to reboot the server.

Once we’ve logged back on after the reboot the Role Manager screen should pop back up.  Click Resume Install under the XenApp configuration task.

Click Install.

If the install was successful you will see the above.  Click Finish.