Windows - How to easily deploy XenApp multiple farm config for a user
October 22, 2016, 2:54 amYou got a network with a remote desktop's farm, you use the citrix receiver with SSO to connect to another's farm and you need a third receiver configuration ?
It seem an overkill setup, but I seen it often as usually when like two enterprise merge, you can have the internal resource, and one another in another domain/forest.
I talk about simple stuff, the .ica, but be advised it's info hard to find in citrix, so kinda why I wrote it.
The limitation of the receiver can be hit pretty fast as :
- Only one farm/pn agent's site can be used at the same time.
- In the citrix web interface you can't add citrix server from another realm.
- Only one type of authentication used when the receiver is loaded.
In that scenario, you can imagine that if you need to connect to a third farm, you can hit the limitation pretty fast.
With those limitation in head, you can easily deploy a .ica file with GPP, and place the icon on the user desktop to open the connection.
A simple .ICA to connect to MS Word :
Word.ica
[Encoding]
InputEncoding = ISO8859_1
[WFClient]
Version=2
ProxyType=Auto
HttpBrowserAddress=X.X.X.X:80
ConnectionBar=0[ApplicationServers]
Word 2013=[Word 2013]
Address=X.X.X.X
InitialProgram=#Word 2013
CGPAddress=*:2598
ClientAudio=Off
DesiredColor=8
TWIMode = True
KeyboardTimer = 0
MouseTimer = 0
ConnectionBar=0
Username=
Domain=
TransportDriver=TCP/IP
WinStationDriver=ICA 3.0
BrowserProtocol=HTTPonTCP
Compress=On
EncryptionLevelSession=Encrypt
[Encrypt]
DriverNameWin32=PDCRYPTN.DLL
DriverNameWin16=PDCRYPTW.DLL
[Compress]
DriverName=PDCOMP.DLL
DriverNameWin16=PDCOMPW.DLL
DriverNameWin32=PDCOMPN.DLL
There is a ICA to connect to a bigger farm in balancing.
[Encoding]
InputEncoding = ISO8859_1
[WFClient]
Version=2
HttpBrowserAddress=X.X.X.X:80
HttpBrowserAddress2=X.X.X.X:80
ConnectionBar=0
CDMAllowed=Off[ApplicationServers]
Excel=[Excel]
Address=excel
InitialProgram=#Excel
ClientAudio=Off
DesiredColor=8
TWIMode = True
KeyboardTimer = 0
MouseTimer = 0
ConnectionBar=0
UseLocalUserAndPassword=Off
TransportDriver=TCP/IP
WinStationDriver=ICA 3.0
BrowserProtocol=HTTPonTCP
EncryptionLevelSession=Encrypt
[Encrypt]
DriverNameWin32=PDCRYPTN.DLL
DriverNameWin16=PDCRYPTW.DLL
You could add the line username, clearpassword and domain if you need to make it automatic and that you can't use SSO.
Username=
clearpassword=
Domain=
ps, you can use that tip to connect to a old metaframe/presentation server's farm with the newer receiver without the program neighborhood
Windows Server 2012 R2 KB3185279 & KB3185331 seem to break Google tip to block Youtube with DNS
October 21, 2016, 8:14 pmIn enterprise Google offered a tip to block youtube with the DNS;
Some users posted that nslookup started not working after KB3185331
If we dig in the KB's text, we find that itselft that KB include nothing that can touch the DNS server, but digging farther show that;
The update 3185279 include that fix :
Addressed issue that causes Wildcard CNAME queries with Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) enabled to not return Next Secure (NSEC) records.
Be sure to test out correctly if you need to make such tip after the update, as you may need to create a *.youtube.com's zone to bypass the problem (or remove the update)
Microsoft Offer some Virtual Machine for testing purpose
October 21, 2016, 7:37 pmI wanted to share that Microsoft share some VM for testing purpose, it's something I didnt seen much link too, and was surprised to see, thus why I share it there.
The site tag them for testing IE, but they are not stripped down, thus it's a good platform to test on.
In Windows Server 2012 R2, and error copying file name too long ?
October 21, 2016, 7:09 pmFile name too long to be copied ? still in 2016 with Windows Server 2012R2 ?
Yes, it can still happen !
Be sure Windows Update work good !, as it got patched in : Windows Server 2012 R2 Update (KB2919355)
The KB include that specific KB : 2891362 - A file copy operation fails when files or folders have long paths in Windows Explorer
Symptoms
Consider the following scenario:You have a computer that is running Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1).
You use Windows Explorer to try to copy files or folders in order to paste them into some other folder.
The files or folders that you copy have paths that exceed the maximum allowable path length.
In this scenario, the behavior of the copy operation is unreliable and fails because of the length of the file or folder path. Additionally, you may experience one of the following symptoms:The copy operation fails and generates a message that states that the path (file name) is too long. The message also suggests that you shorten the file name and try to copy again.
The copy operation does not start. In this case, no message is generated.
The copy operation starts, copies a few files or folders, and then fails without generating a message.
This problem may prevent some files or folders from being copied. You may not realize the the problem occurred if you do not receive an error message. Different symptoms may occur, depending on how the files are selected for copying.Note This problem can also occur when you try to copy files or folders from Volume Shadow Copy Service snapshots if the file or folder length in the snapshot exceeds the maximum path length.
Apply the KB to fix the problem for good ! and if you can't, shorten the path to make the copy.
Windows Server - Stress that spooler ! - The terminal Server session will love you after
October 21, 2016, 6:55 pmToday I will share a tip that is useful to stress test the windows spooler.
Any TS admin will know how much this can become frustrating to debug the print spooler, as often the spooler service will stop or will hang at 100% CPU usage.
The problem does not arise much when a customer use the Terminal Server Easy Print's driver, but a lot of older TS's does not use it, or they still need old driver for special's printer.
To stress test the driver I found a useful Citrix's tool.. wait, citrix ? yes as everyone know that xenapp is built over terminal server's service, thus their tool can be used without problem to test a TS.
The tool is StressPrinter (https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX109374)
I will quote the tool info;
Many printer driver problems in Terminal Services/Remote Desktop Services environments revolve around poor multi-threaded performance, which in turn can cause print spooler instability. Problematic multi-threaded performance is usually exposed when multiple users connect to a Terminal Server simultaneously using the same printer driver. Symptoms include the failure to autocreate client printers, increased thread count of the printer spooler and/or Citrix Print Manager services, and possibly the unresponsiveness and/or unexpected termination of these services (stop responding).
This tool can be used to simulate multiple sessions auto-creating printers using the same printer driver.
It can also be used to compare the following among various drivers:
- CPU load incurred while creating a printer using a particular driver- Time required to successfully create a printer using a particular driverNote: The current version of the tool does not test concurrent printer capabilities, settings, or actual printing calls, which are also possible causes of failing to print. Therefore, good/passing stress results do not always mean that printers are actually working or certified.
Now with that tool we can stress a bit more the driver to find some culprit before it crash live. A tool in our toolbox :)