XenServer 5.5 Update 1 coming soon (Snapshot storage-consumption problem resolved?)

Many of you have tracked my post about XenServer 5.5 snapshots and storage consumption. An update for XenServer 5.5 with more than 60 bug fixes is availability in mid-December 2009.

Snapshot fixes for iSCSI, FC and local disk storage repositories:

• Reduction in space utilization by snapshots for VMs created from exports or clones
• CLI-based tool to fully reclaim space occupied by snapshot-related virtual disks (aka “base copy” VDIs) after all snapshots have been deleted within XenCenter

I’m looking forward to this hotfix, the whole snapshot thing is really stupid…
But remember: This will NOT eliminate the storage-consumption problem, there will be a CLI tool to get the space back! The next major release of XenServer coming Q2 2010 will address this issue.

Using XenServer and NFS to update PVS device target software

I found a very interesting document from a Citrite (Michael Drummond) about using XenServer and NFS to update PVS device target software. In his document he refers to CTX122985.

You can download the document here.

Vizioncore free products

I think many of you know Vizioncore and some of the products like vRanger pro. But did you know that Vizioncore offers some cool FREE tools like a P2V converter for VMWare, Hyper-V and XenServer. The vControl Multi-Hypervisor Management is a web based management solution for your VM environment and will be available soon. Give it a try!

Citrix XDPing Tool

The XDPing tool is not new, I got it from our Citrix partner advisor a long time ago. Is is a command-line based application which you can use to check for the causes of common configuration issues in a XenDesktop environment.

Depending on how the tool is run, and from where, the following checks and information can be displayed:

• Information and status of Network Interfaces and Network settings. (Console Only)

• Performs DNS lookup and reverse lookup on the IP address of the device.

• Information on Time synchronization and time check for Kerberos Authentication (Console Only)

• User information for login User (Console Only)
- Including User details, Authentication type used, Group Membership.

• Machine information (Console Only)

Source: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123278

Citrix Workflow Studio EVA

Have you ever seen or used the Citrix Workflow Studio? OK, me too

But now there is an easy way to make up for this. The WF Studio EVA (Evaluation Virtual Appliance) is available for download. WF Studio EVA is a pre-configured appliance for XenServer. It consists of a Windows Server 2008 that has WF Studio 2.0 already installed and configured with all activity libraries and the sample workflows from CDN.

Give it a try!

Citrix Receiver 1.1 and Citrix Merchandising Server 1.1

 

Receiver 1.1 and Merchandising Server 1.1 are available for download (mycitrix login required).

 

Key New Features

Targeted deliveries	Enables IT managers to create rules-based deliveries (for contexts such as machine name, IP range, domain membership, operating system identity) to deliver IT Services to individually managed and unmanaged computers
Windows 7	Receiver and many of its components now fully support Windows 7
Reconfiguration	Plug-ins can now be reconfigured from the Merchandising Server
Reporting and auditing	Adds delivery reporting and a full audit trail
Easier user experience	Simplifies the end user download and install experience
Smaller footprint	Only 1 processor and 1 GB of RAM needed for testing and small deployments of Merchandising Server
Capacity	Updates as many as 30,000 computers
Proxy server support	Allows  the Merchandising Server to use a proxy server
Expanded certificate support	Allows IT managers to use their own certificates, including wildcard and chain certificates, with the Merchandising Server

Supported Plug-ins

Windows Compatibility

Acceleration Plug-in 5.5.0.128	XP, Vista – no 64
EasyCall 2.2.1.872	Vista, XP, Win 2k3, Win 2k
EasyCall 3.0.0.0950	XP, Vista, Win7, Win 2k3, Win 2k8
Online plug-in  11.2.0.31560	XP, Vista, Win7, Win 2k3, Win 2k8
Offline plug-in 5.2.0.1227	XP, Vista, Win7, Win 2k3, Win 2k8
Profile Management plug-in 2.0.1.48	XP, Vista, Win 2k3, Win 2k8 – 32 bit
Profile Management plug-in 2.0.1.48	XP, Vista, Win 2k3, Win 2k8 – 64 bit
Secure access plug-in  9.1.97.3	XP, Vista – no 64
Secure access plug-in 4.6.1.27	XP, Vista, Win7 – No XP 64
Service monitoring plug-in 5.2.3012.0	XP Vista Win7– 32 bit
Service monitoring plug-in 5.2.3012.0	XP, Vista, Win7 – 64 bit

Remote Desktop Connection 7.0 available

Microsoft released Remote Desktop Connection 7.0 for Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows Vista SP2. Here you find all the information.

Citrix Access Gateway Standard 4.6.1 available

Today Citrix released the CAG 4.6.1. There is an update available: CTX122710 and the full appliance software after login to mycitrix.com.

New features:

• Windows Vista 64 Bit, Windows 7 32/64 Bit and Mac OS support
  
• Access Gateway Plug-in and Citrix Receiver Integraton
• Secure Ticket Authority redundancy
• Support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 8

Upgrades from 4.x appliances are NOT supported, but you can save the config of your CAG and reinstall it on a 4.6 or 4.6.1 appliance. But be careful with this and read the Known Issues in this release.

More information: Citrix Blog