Linux Virtual Desktop

Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Version 1.0

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Table of Contents

Glossary ..................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1

System Requirements ............................................................................................... 1

Linux Distributions ........................................................................................................................... 1

XenDesktop ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Citrix Receiver ................................................................................................................................. 2

Hypervisors ...................................................................................................................................... 2

Active Directory Integration Packages ............................................................................................ 2

Configure Delivery Controllers ................................................................................... 2

Update Delivery Controller Configuration ........................................................................................ 2

Verify Delivery Controller Configuration ........................................................................................... 3

Prepare Linux Machine for VDA Installation .............................................................. 3

Verify Network Configuration .......................................................................................................... 3

Configure NTP Service .................................................................................................................... 4

Disable Network Proxy Authentication Popup ................................................................................. 4

Install OpenJDK ............................................................................................................................... 5

Install PostgreSQL .......................................................................................................................... 5

Install Other Packages ..................................................................................................................... 6

Prepare Linux VM for Hypervisor ..................................................................................................... 6

Add Linux Machine to Windows Domain ......................................................................................... 7

Quest Authentication Service ........................................................................................................ 11

Add Linux Machine to Machine Catalog ........................................................................................ 13

Add Delivery Group ....................................................................................................................... 13

Install Linux VDA Software ....................................................................................... 14

Uninstall Old Version ..................................................................................................................... 14

Install Linux VDA ........................................................................................................................... 14

Configure Linux VDA ..................................................................................................................... 14

Run VDA Software ................................................................................................... 16

Start Linux VDA ............................................................................................................................. 16

Stop Linux VDA ............................................................................................................................. 16

Restart Linux VDA ......................................................................................................................... 16

Check Linux VDA Status ............................................................................................................... 16

Uninstall Linux VDA Software .................................................................................. 17

Query Linux VDA Installation Status .............................................................................................. 17

Uninstall Linux VDA ....................................................................................................................... 17

Remove Dependent Packages ...................................................................................................... 17

Troubleshooting ....................................................................................................... 17

Check the Linux machine has been prepared correctly ................................................................. 17

Configure logging and tracing ........................................................................................................ 17

What to try if HDX sessions won't start .......................................................................................... 18

Verify ownership and permissions of key directories and files ...................................................... 18

Disclaimer

This document is furnished "AS IS". Citrix Systems, Inc. disclaims all warranties regarding the contents of this document, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose. This document may contain technical or other inaccuracies or typographical errors.

Citrix Systems, Inc. reserves the right to revise the information in this document at any time without notice. This document and the software described in this document constitute confidential information of

Citrix Systems, Inc. and its licensors, and are furnished under a license from Citrix Systems, Inc.

About Citrix

Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS) is leading the transition to software-defining the workplace, uniting virtualization, mobility management, networking and SaaS solutions to enable new ways for businesses and people to work better. Citrix solutions power business mobility through secure, mobile workspaces that provide people with instant access to apps, desktops, data and communications on any device, over any network and cloud. With annual revenue in 2014 of $3.14 billion, Citrix solutions are in use at more than 330,000 organizations and by over 100 million users globally. Learn more at www.citrix.com.

Copyright © 2015 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, Citrix Receiver, and StoreFront are trademarks of

Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. and other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Glossary

•

Broker - XenDesktop component responsible for brokering HDX sessions to the different VDAs within a XenDesktop deployment. Also known as the DDC or XenDesktop Controller.

•

Broker Agent - Component on the Linux VDA machine providing the desktop to be delivered.

The Broker Agent communicates with the Broker to enable the brokering of sessions. It is composed of two key components, the VDA Service and the HDX Service.

•

Citrix Director - Citrix helpdesk/support console for monitoring and controlling XenDesktop

VDAs.

•

Citrix Studio - Citrix administration console used to configure XenDesktop.

•

DDC - XenDesktop Desktop Delivery Controller. Also known as the Broker or Delivery Controller.

•

HDX - High Definition Experience protocol. Formerly known as the Citrix ICA protocol.

•

HDX Service - The Linux daemon that remotes the desktop being delivered. It communicates with the VDA service to enable the brokering of sessions.

•

RHEL - Red Hat Enterprise Linux. A commercial Linux distribution provided by Red Hat.

•

SLED - SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. A commercial Linux distribution provided by Novell.

•

SLES - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. A commercial Linux distribution provided by Novell.

•

VDA - Virtual Desktop Agent. Also referred to as the Broker Agent.

•

VDA Service - The Linux daemon that communicates with the Broker to enable the brokering of sessions. It also communicates with the HDX Service for remote session delivery.

Introduction

This document is a guide for installing the Linux Virtual Desktop Release product on Red Hat Enterprise

Linux. Please follow each section in order to ensure a successful installation.

The Linux shell commands used in this document have been verified to work with the GNU Bash shell.

System Requirements

Linux Distributions

The following Linux distributions are supported by the XenDesktop for Linux product.

•

SUSE Linux Enterprise o Desktop 11 Service Pack 3 o Server 11 Service Pack 3

•

Red Hat Enterprise Linux o Workstation 6.6 o Server 6.6

Note: In all cases, the processor architecture supported is x86-64.

XenDesktop

The following versions of XenDesktop are supported by the Linux VDA.

•

XenDesktop 7.1

•

XenDesktop 7.5

•

XenDesktop 7.6

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

The configuration process for Linux VDAs differs slightly than for Windows VDAs. However, any Delivery

Controller farm is capable of brokering both Windows and Linux desktops.

The Linux VDA is incompatible with XenDesktop version 7.0 or earlier.

Citrix Receiver

The following versions of Citrix Receiver are supported.

•

Windows Receiver version v4.2 or newer (1)

•

Linux Receiver version v13.0 or newer

•

Mac OSX Receiver v12 or newer

•

Android Receiver available from the Google Play store

• iOS Receiver 5.9.4 or newer

•

HTML5 Receiver 1.7 (via NetScaler Gateway)

(1) This equates to v14.0 of wfica32.exe.

Hypervisors

The following hypervisors for hosting Linux VDA guest VMs are supported.

•

XenServer

•

VMware ESX and ESXi

•

Microsoft Hyper-V

Bare metal hosting is also supported.

Active Directory Integration Packages

The following Active Directory integration packages or products are supported by the Linux VDA.

•

Samba Winbind

•

Quest Authentication Services v4.1 or newer

Configure Delivery Controllers

Update Delivery Controller Configuration

A PowerShell script named Update-BrokerServiceConfig.ps1 is provided which will update the Broker service configuration. This is available in the following package:

• citrix-linuxvda-scripts-1.0.0.zip

Repeat the following steps on every Delivery Controller in the farm:

1. Copy the Update-BrokerServiceConfig.ps1 script to the Delivery Controller machine.

2. Open a Windows PowerShell console in the context of the local Administrator.

3. Locate and change to the folder containing the script.

4. Execute the script:

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

.\Update-BrokerServiceConfig.ps1

By default, PowerShell is configured to prevent the execution of PowerShell scripts. If the script fails to run, you may need to change the PowerShell execution policy before trying again:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted  

The Update-BrokerServiceConfig.ps1 script updates the Broker service configuration file with new WCF endpoints required by the Linux VDA and restarts the Broker Service. The script determines the location of the Broker service configuration file automatically. A backup of the original configuration file is created in the same directory with the extension .prelinux.

These changes will have no impact on the brokering of Windows VDA's configured to use the same

Delivery Controller farm. This allows for a single Controller farm to manage and broker sessions to both

Windows and Linux VDAs seamlessly.

Verify Delivery Controller Configuration

To verify whether the required configuration changes have been applied to a Delivery Controller, confirm the string EndpointLinux appears 5 times in the file:

%PROGRAMFILES%\Citrix\Broker\Service\BrokerService.exe.config

From the Windows command prompt, logged on as a local administrator: cd "%PROGRAMFILES%"\Citrix\Broker\Service\ findstr EndpointLinux BrokerService.exe.config

Prepare Linux Machine for VDA Installation

Verify Network Configuration

Citrix recommends that the network is connected and properly configured correctly before proceeding.

Assign Loopback Address to Hostname

To ensure that the DNS domain name and FQDN of the machine are reported back correctly, change the following line of the /etc/hosts file to include the FQDN and hostname as the first two entries:

127.0.0.1 hostname-fqdn hostname localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4

For example:

127.0.0.1        vda01.example.com  vda01  localhost  localhost.localdomain  localhost4   localhost4.localdomain4  

Remove any other references to hostname-fqdn or hostname from other entries in the file.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Check Hostname

Verify that the hostname is set correctly: hostname -f

This should return the machine's fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

Check Name Resolution and Service Reachability

Verify that you can resolve the FQDN and ping the domain controller and XenDesktop Delivery Controller: nslookup domain-controller-fqdn ping domain-controller-fqdn nslookup delivery-controller-fqdn ping delivery-controller-fqdn

Configure NTP Service

Maintaining accurate clock synchronization between the VDAs, XenDesktop Controllers and domain controllers is crucial. Hosting the Linux VDA as a virtual machine can cause clock skew problems. For this reason, maintaining time using a remote NTP service is preferred. Some changes might be required to the default NTP settings.

1. Open System > Administration > Date & Time.

2. In the Date and Time tab, ensure Synchronize date and time over the network is checked.

3. In the NTP Servers list, click Add.

4. Enter the hostname or IP address of a local NTP Server. This is typically the hostname of the AD

Domain Controller. The configuration tool will test for service reachability.

5. Optionally delete the other default NTP servers listed.

6. Click OK. This will restart the NTP daemon.

Disable Network Proxy Authentication Popup

There is a specific RHEL 6 issue that causes users to receive a popup asking for the root password after logging on.

To resolve this issue, as root, create the file /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/30-site.d/20-no-show-proxy-

dialog.pkla in a text editor and add the following content:

[No Show Proxy Dialog]

Identity=unix-user:*

Action=org.freedesktop.packagekit.system-network-proxy-configure

ResultAny=no

ResultInactive=no

ResultActive=no

Note:

For  more  information  on  this  issue,  see  

https://access.redhat.com/solutions/195833#md25

.  The   correct  workaround  is  described  in  the  comments  section

.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Install OpenJDK

The VDA has a dependencies on OpenJDK 1.7.0. The runtime environment should have been installed as part of the operating system installation, confirm this with: sudo yum info java-1.7.0-openjdk

On RHEL 6.6, the pre-packaged OpenJDK is about 10 patch versions out-of-date. Update to the latest version as required: sudo yum -y update java-1.7.0-openjdk

The development environment needs to be installed separately: sudo yum -y install java-1.7.0-openjdk-devel

Install java under /usr/lib/jvm. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable by adding the following line to

~/.bashrc file: export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java

Open a new shell and verify the version of Java: java –version

Note: To  avoid  problems,  do  not  install  Oracle  Java,  IBM  Java  or  multiple  versions  of  OpenJDK.

Install PostgreSQL

The Linux VDA requires PostgreSQL 8.4 or later. On RHEL 6.6, the latest version 8.4.20.

Install the following packages: sudo yum -y install postgresql-server sudo yum -y install postgresql sudo yum -y install postgresql-devel sudo yum -y install postgresql-jdbc

The following post-installation step is required to initialize the database and ensure service starts on boot.

This will create database files under /var/lib/pgsql/data.

PostgreSQL 8.4 (on RHEL 6.6) sudo service postgresql initdb

To ensure the postgresql service starts on boot and to start the service now: sudo chkconfig postgresql on sudo service postgresql start

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Check the version of PostgreSQL using: psql --version

Check the data directory is set using the psql command-line utility: sudo -u postgres psql -c 'show data_directory'

Install Other Packages

Install the other required packages: sudo yum -y install redhat-lsb-core sudo yum -y install ImageMagick

Prepare Linux VM for Hypervisor

Some changes are required when running the Linux VDA as a virtual machine on a supported hypervisor.

Make the following changes according to the hypervisor platform in use. No changes are required if you are running the Linux machine on bare metal hardware.

Citrix XenServer

Fix Time Synchronization

If the XenServer Time Sync feature is enabled, within each paravirtualized Linux VM you will experience issues with NTP and XenServer both trying to manage the system clock. To avoid the clock becoming out of sync with other servers, the system clock within each Linux guest must be synchronized with NTP. This requires disabling host time synchronization. No changes are required in HVM mode.

If running a paravirtualized Linux kernel with XenServer Tools installed, you can check whether the

XenServer Time Sync feature is enabled from within the Linux VM: su - cat /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock

This will return either:

•

0 - The time sync feature is enabled, and needs to be disabled.

•

1 - The time sync feature is disabled, and no further action is required.

If enabled, disable the time sync feature by writing 1 to the file: sudo echo 1 > /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock

To make this change permanent and persist after reboot, edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file and add the line: xen.independent_wallclock = 1

To verify these changes, reboot the system: reboot

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

After reboot, check that this has been set correctly: su - cat /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock

This should return the value 1.

Microsoft Hyper-V

Fix Time Synchronization

Linux VMs with Hyper-V Linux Integration Services installed can leverage the Hyper-V time synchronization feature to use the host operating system's time. To ensure the system clock remains accurate, this feature should be enabled alongside NTP services.

From the management operating system:

1. Open the Hyper-V Manager console.

2. For the settings of a Linux VM, select Integration Services.

3. Ensure Time synchronization is checked.

Note that this approach is different from VMware and XenServer, where host time synchronization is disabled to avoid conflicts with NTP. Hyper-V time synchronization can co-exist and supplement NTP time synchronization.

VMware ESX and ESXi

Fix Time Synchronization

If the VMware Time Synchronization feature is enabled, within each paravirtualized Linux VM you will experience issues with NTP and the hypervisor both trying to synchronize the system clock. To avoid the clock becoming out of sync with other servers, the system clock within each Linux guest must be synchronized with NTP. This requires disabling host time synchronization.

If running a paravirtualized Linux kernel with VMware Tools installed:

1. Open the vSphere Client.

2. Edit settings for the Linux VM.

3. In the Virtual Machine Properties dialog, open the Options tab.

4. Select VMware Tools.

5. In the Advanced box, uncheck Synchronize guest time with host.

Add Linux Machine to Windows Domain

There are currently two methods for adding Linux machines to the Windows domain that are supported by

XenDesktop for Linux:

1. Samba Winbind

2. Quest Authentication Service

Follow the instructions for your chosen method.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Samba Winbind

Install or Update Required Packages

Samba/Winbind

The standard RHEL installation process will install the Samba/Winbind v3.x packages required for the

Linux VDA, and enable the required winbindd service. Install the required packages if not already installed: sudo yum -y install samba-winbind

If the packages are already installed, an update is recommended: sudo yum -y update samba-winbind

The RHEL repositories also provide Samba v4 packages but are not installed by default. These are not required and should not be installed.

Kerberos

The standard RHEL installation process will install the Kerberos v5 packages required for the Linux VDA.

Install the required packages if not already installed: sudo yum -y install krb5-workstation

If the packages are already installed, an update is recommended: sudo yum -y update krb5-workstation

Enable Winbind Daemon to Start on Boot

The Winbind Daemon must be configured to start on boot: sudo chkconfig winbind on

Configure Kerberos for Winbind

By default, Winbind will not create the system keytab file /etc/krb5.keytab when joining the domain, which implies the Kerberos tools and libraries won't be able to authenticate the machine account.

To force Winbind to create and maintain the system keytab file and automatically renew tickets, open

/etc/samba/smb.conf and add the following entries under the [Global] section: kerberos method = secrets and keytab winbind refresh tickets = true

The first setting will create the system keytab when the machine is joined to the domain. If the machine is already domain joined, you can force the creation of the keytab file by changing machine keys: sudo net ads changetrustpw

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Join Windows Domain

This requires that your domain controller is reachable and you have a Windows account with permissions to add machines to the domain:

1. Open System > Administration > Authentication.

2. On Identity & Authentication tab, change User Account Database to Winbind.

3. Set the Security Model to ads.

4. Enter values for each of the following fields:

Winbind Domain - Enter the NetBIOS name of the AD domain, which may be different from the Windows ADS Realm name.

Winbind ADS Realm - Enter the Kerberos realm name for the domain. This must be specified in uppercase.

Windows Domain Controllers - Enter the FQDN of the AD domain controller.

5. Change Template Shell to /bin/bash.

6. Click Join Domain....

7. Save configuration when prompted.

8. When prompted, enter the credentials of a domain user with permission to add machines to the domain. If successful, control will return the Authentication Configuration window.

9. Switch to the Advanced Options tab.

10. Under Other Authentication Options, check Create home directories on the first login.

11. Click Apply.

Configure PAM for Winbind

By default, the configuration for the Winbind PAM module (pam_winbind) does not enable Kerberos ticket caching and home directory creation. Open /etc/security/pam_winbind.conf and add or change the following entries under the [Global] section: krb5_auth = yes krb5_ccache_type = FILE mkhomedir = yes

These changes require restarting the Winbind daemon: sudo service winbind restart

Note: The  winbind  process  will  only  continue  to  run  if  the  machine  is  joined  to  a  domain.

Verify Domain Membership

The XenDesktop Controller requires that all VDA machines, whether Windows and Linux, have a computer object in Active Directory.

Verify the machine is joined to a domain using Samba's net ads command: sudo net ads testjoin

Additional domain and computer object information can be verified with:

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux sudo net ads info

Verify Kerberos Configuration

To verify Kerberos is configured correctly for use with the Linux VDA, check that the system keytab file has been created and contains valid keys: sudo klist -ke

This should display the list of keys available for the various combinations of principal names and cipher suites. Run the Kerberos kinit command to authenticate the machine with the domain controller using these keys: sudo kinit -k MACHINE\$@REALM

The machine and realm names must be specified in uppercase, and the dollar sign ($) must be escaped with a backslash (\) to prevent shell substitution. In some environments the DNS domain name is different from the Kerberos realm name; ensure the realm name is used. If this command is successful, no output will be displayed.

Check theTGT ticket for the machine account has been cached using: sudo klist

Examine the machine account details using: net ads status

Verify User Authentication

Use the wbinfo tool to verify that domain users can authenticate with the domain: wbinfo --krb5auth=domain\\username%password

The domain specified here is the AD domain name, not the Kerberos realm name. For the bash shell, the backslash (\) character must be escaped with another backslash. This command will return a message indicating success or failure.

To verify that the Winbind PAM module is configured correctly, logon locally with a domain user account that has not logged onto the machine previously: ssh localhost -l domain\\username id -u

Check that a corresponding Kerberos credential cache file was created for the uid returned by the id -u command: ls /tmp/krb5cc_uid

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Check that the tickets in user’s Kerberos credential cache are valid and not expired: klist

Exit the session: exit

A similar test can be performed by logging on via Gnome Display Manager.

Quest Authentication Service

Configure Quest on Domain Controller

This assumes you have installed and configured the Quest software on the Windows domain controllers, and have been granted administrative privileges to create computer objects in Active Directory.

Enable Domain Users to Logon to Linux VDA Machines

For each domain user that needs to establish HDX sessions on a Linux VDA machine:

1. Open AD user properties for that user account.

2. Select Unix Account tab.

3. Check Unix-enabled.

4. Set the Primary GID Number to the group ID of an actual domain user group.

Note: These  instructions  are  equivalent  for  setting  up  domain  users  for  logon  using  the  console,  RDP,  SSH  or  any   other  remoting  protocol.

Configure Quest on Linux VDA

Workaround SELinux Policy Enforcement (Red Hat only)

The default RHEL environment has SELinux fully enforced. This interferes with the Unix domain sockets

IPC mechanisms used by Quest and prevents domain users from logging on.

There are a few ways to workaround this as outlined here . The easiest is to disable SELinux. As root, edit

/etc/selinux/config and change the SELinux setting:

SELINUX=disabled

This change requires a reboot: reboot

Caution: Take care with this setting. Reenabling SELinux policy enforcement after disabling can cause a complete lockout, even for the root user and other local users.

Configure Auto Ticket Renewal

Auto-renewal of Kerberos tickets needs to be enabled: sudo /opt/quest/bin/vastool configure vas vasd auto-ticket-renewinterval 32400

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

This sets the renewal interval to 9 hours (32400 seconds) which is an hour less than the default 10 hour ticket lifetime. This value will need to be set to a lower value on systems with a shorter ticket lifetime.

Configure PAM and NSS

Quest requires that PAM and NSS be manually configured to enable domain user login via HDX and other services such as su, ssh, and RDP. To configure PAM and NSS: sudo /opt/quest/bin/vastool configure pam sudo /opt/quest/bin/vastool configure nss  

Join Windows Domain

Join the Linux machine to the AD domain using the Quest vastool command: sudo /opt/quest/bin/vastool -u user join domain-name

The user is any domain user with permissions to join machines to the Windows domain. The domain-

name is the DNS name of the domain; for example, example.com.

Verify Domain Membership

The XenDesktop Controller requires that all VDA machines, whether Windows and Linux, have a computer object in Active Directory. To verify that a Quest-joined Linux machine is on the domain: sudo /opt/quest/bin/vastool info domain

If the machine is joined to a domain this will return the domain name. If not joined, you will see the following error:

ERROR: No domain could be found.

ERROR: VAS_ERR_CONFIG: at ctx.c:414 in _ctx_init_default_realm default_realm not configured in vas.conf. Computer may not be joined to domain

Verify User Authentication

To verify that the Quest can authenticate domain users using PAM, logon with a domain user account that has not logged onto the machine previously. ssh localhost -l domain\\username id -u  

Check that a corresponding Kerberos credential cache file was created for the uid returned by the id -u command: ls /tmp/krb5cc_uid

Check that the tickets in user’s Kerberos credential cache are valid and not expired:

/opt/quest/bin/vastool klist

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Exit the session: exit

A similar test can be performed by logging on via Gnome Display Manager.

Add Linux Machine to Machine Catalog

The process for creating machine catalogs and adding Linux VDA machines is very similar to the traditional Windows VDA approach. Refer to the online Citrix Product documentation for a more complete description of how to complete these tasks.

For creating machine catalogs that contain Linux VDA machines, there are a few restrictions that differentiates the process from creating machine catalogs for Windows VDA machines:

•

For operating system, select Window Server OS. Citrix Studio does not yet support the notion of a "Linux OS"; however, selecting Windows Server OS here implies an equivalent shared desktops delivery model. The Windows Desktop OS option implies a single user per machine delivery model, which is not applicable to Linux VDAs. Even for "Desktop" Linux distributions,

Windows Server OS must be selected.

•

Ensure machines are set as not power managed.

•

As PVS and MCS are not supported for Linux VDAs, choose the Another service or

technology (existing images) deployment method.

•

Do not mix Linux and Windows VDA machines in the same machine catalog.

The Citrix documentation for creating machine catalogs is referenced below:

•

XenDesktop 7.1: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-create-newscheme-rho.html

•

XenDesktop 7.5: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-75/cds-create-newscheme-rho.html

•

XenDesktop 7.6: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-mach-catcreate.html

Earlier versions of XenDesktop are not supported.

Note:

If  a  machine  leaves  and  is  rejoined  to  the  Active  Directory  domain,  the  machine  will  need  to  be  added  again   to  the  machine  catalog.

Add Delivery Group

The process for creating a delivery group and adding machine catalogs containing Linux VDA machines is almost identical for Windows VDA machines. Refer to the online Citrix Product documentation for a more complete description of how to complete these tasks.

For creating delivery groups that contain Linux VDA machine catalogs, the following restrictions apply:

•

For delivery type, select Desktops. Linux VDA machines do not support application delivery.

•

Ensure the AD users and groups you select have been properly configured to logon to the Linux

VDA machines.

•

Do not allow logon of unauthenticated (anonymous) users.

•

Do not mix the delivery group with machine catalogs that contain Windows machines.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

The Citrix documentation for creating delivery groups is referenced below:

•

XenDesktop 7.1: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-71/cds-create-desktops-trho.html

•

XenDesktop 7.5: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-75/cds-createdesktops-t-rho.html

•

XenDesktop 7.6: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp-xendesktop-76/xad-dgcreate.html

Earlier versions of XenDesktop are not supported.

Install Linux VDA Software

Uninstall Old Version

If you have previously installed an old version of the Linux VDA, you should uninstall it before installing the new version.

Stop the Linux VDA services: sudo /sbin/service ctxvda stop sudo /sbin/service ctxhdx stop  

Uninstall the package: sudo rpm -e XenDesktopVDA

Install Linux VDA

RHEL

Install the Linux VDA software using the RPM package manager: sudo rpm -i XenDesktopVDA-1.0.0.161-0.x86_64.rpm  

Configure Linux VDA

After installing the package you will need to configure the Linux VDA by running the ctxsetup.sh script.

Before making any changes, this script will verify the environment and ensure all dependencies are installed. If required, this script can be re-run at any time to change settings.

The script can either be run manually with prompting or automatically with pre-configured responses.

Review help about this script before proceeding: sudo /usr/local/sbin/ctxsetup.sh --help

Prompted Configuration

Run a manual configuration with prompted questions: sudo /usr/local/sbin/ctxsetup.sh

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Automated Configuration

For an automated install, the options required by the setup script can be provided with environment variables. If all of the required variables are present then the script will not prompt the user for any information, allowing the installation process to be scripted.

Supported environment variables include:

•

CTX_XDL_SUPPORT_DDC_AS_CNAME = Y | N - Whether or not the Linux VDA should support the specification of DDC names via CNAMEs. This is typically N

•

CTX_XDL_DDC_LIST = list-ddc-fqdns - A space-separated list of FQDNs or CNAME aliases (if using CNAME DDC lookup) of your Delivery Controllers. At least one FQDN or CNAME alias must be specified.

•

CTX_XDL_REGISTER_SERVICE = Y | N - Whether or not the Linux VDA services should start on boot. This is typically Y.

•

CTX_XDL_ADD_FIREWALL_RULES = Y | N - Whether or not the firewall exception rules for the

Linux VDA should be added to the system. This is typically Y.

•

CTX_XDL_AD_INTEGRATION = 1 | 2 - Specifies which Active Directory integration method to use: o 1 - Samba Winbind o 2 - Quest Authentication Service

•

CTX_XDL_USER_FORMAT = 1 | 2 | 3 - Specifies which user name format to use with the PAM modules: o 1 - domain\user o 2 - user@realm o 3 - user

•

CTX_XDL_START_SERVICE = Y | N - Whether or not the Linux VDA services are started when the Linux VDA configuration is complete. This is typically Y.

Set the environment variable and run the configure script: export CTX_XDL_SUPPORT_DDC_AS_CNAME=Y|N export CTX_XDL_DDC_LIST=list-ddc-fqdns export CTX_XDL_REGISTER_SERVICE=Y|N export CTX_XDL_ADD_FIREWALL_RULES=Y|N export CTX_XDL_AD_INTEGRATION=1|2 export CTX_XDL_USER_FORMAT=1|2|3 export CTX_XDL_START_SERVICE=Y|N sudo -E /usr/local/sbin/ctxsetup.sh

You must provide the -E option with sudo to pass the existing environment variables to the new shell it creates. It is recommended that you create a shell script file from the commands above with #!/bin/bash on the first line.

Alternatively, all parameters can be specified with a single command: sudo CTX_XDL_SUPPORT_DDC_AS_CNAME=Y|N \

CTX_XDL_DDC_LIST=list-ddc-fqdns \

CTX_XDL_REGISTER_SERVICE=Y|N \

CTX_XDL_ADD_FIREWALL_RULES=Y|N \

CTX_XDL_AD_INTEGRATION=1|2 \

CTX_XDL_USER_FORMAT=1|2|3 \

CTX_XDL_START_SERVICE=Y|N \

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

/usr/local/sbin/ctxsetup.sh  

Remove Configuration Changes

In some scenarios it may be necessary to remove the configuration changes made by the ctxsetup.sh script without uninstalling the Linux VDA package.

Review help about this script before proceeding: sudo /usr/local/sbin/ctxcleanup.sh --help

To remove configuration changes: sudo /usr/local/sbin/ctxcleanup.sh

This script will delete all configuration data from the database and will make the Linux VDA inoperable.

Configuration Logs

The ctxsetup.sh and ctxcleanup.sh scripts will display errors on the console, with additional information dumped to a configuration log file:

/tmp/xdl.configure.log

Run VDA Software

Start Linux VDA

To start the Linux VDA services: sudo /sbin/service ctxhdx start sudo /sbin/service ctxvda start

Stop Linux VDA

To stop the Linux VDA services: sudo /sbin/service ctxvda stop sudo /sbin/service ctxhdx stop  

Restart Linux VDA

To restart the Linux VDA services: sudo /sbin/service ctxvda stop sudo /sbin/service ctxhdx restart sudo /sbin/service ctxvda start  

Check Linux VDA Status

To check the running state of the Linux VDA services:

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux sudo /sbin/service ctxvda status sudo /sbin/service ctxhdx status  

Uninstall Linux VDA Software

Query Linux VDA Installation Status

To check whether the Linux VDA is installed and to view the version of the package installed: rpm -q XenDesktopVDA

To view more detailed information: rpm –qi XenDesktopVDA

Uninstall Linux VDA

To uninstall the Linux VDA package: sudo rpm -e XenDesktopVDA

Uninstalling the Linux VDA software will delete the associated PostgreSQL and other configuration data.

However, the PostgreSQL package and other dependent packages that were setup prior to the installation of the Linux VDA will not be removed.

Remove Dependent Packages

This guide does not cover the removal of dependent packages including PostgreSQL.

Troubleshooting

Check the Linux machine has been prepared correctly

The most common issues are a direct result of Linux machine misconfiguration, mainly around networking, NTP time server configuration or Windows domain membership. Fixing the Linux machine’s configuration will often resolve issues with the VDA software.

Configure logging and tracing

The Broker Agent and the HDX Service log to syslog. Citrix support provides a set of tools that can enable additional tracing during a support call.

HDX Service Logging

The HDX Service is configured to log to syslog out-of-the-box and no further configuration is needed.

Broker Agent logging

The Broker Agent (also known as the ctxvda service) writes log data to syslog via network sockets. This may not be configured out-of-the-box. To enable the Broker Agent logging to syslog logging, the following configuration is required.

Linux Virtual Desktop Installation Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Install the syslog-ng package: sudo yum install syslog-ng

Edit the syslog-ng.conf file and add the following line: udp(ip(127.0.0.1) port(514));

Save and close the syslog-ng.conf file. Restart the syslog-ng service to have the change take affect: sudo service syslog-ng restart

What to try if HDX sessions won't start

Ensure you have no orphaned processes which might be preventing new sessions from starting: sudo pkill -9 ctxfm sudo pkill -9 ctxgfx sudo pkill -9 ctxlogin sudo pkill -9 ctxvfb  

Restart the Linux VDA services and retry connection.

Verify ownership and permissions of key directories and files

Check the file ownership and permission of the following directories and files:

•

/var - Owner: root, Group: root, Permissions: 0755

•

/var/xdl - Owner: ctxsrvr, Group: ctxadm, Permissions: 0755

•

/var/xdl/.isacagent - Owner: root, Group: root, Permissions: 0666

•

/var/xdl/.winsta - Owner: ctxsrvr, Group: ctxadm, Permissions: 0777

•

/var/xdl/vda - Owner: root, Group: root, Permissions: 0755