I recently downloaded the Windows 7 Beta and these were some quick notes from working on it. The following tests were performed with the 32-bit version as 32-bit seems to be the corporate choice at this time for client Operating Systems.

For a nice run down of features, check out http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/windows_7.asp

Hypervisors
Citrix XenServer - It didn't work initially until I found this article (http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=240476)

• Select the Vista 32-bit or 64-bit templates when you create the VM.
• Do not power on the VM at the end. If you did, no big deal... just shut it down because Windows 7 Beta will fail to install.
• Click on the host server in XenCenter and click the console tab.
• Run "xe-list vm" to obtain the UUID of the VM.
• Then run "xe vm-param-set uuid=<vmuuid> platform:viridian=false"
• Then boot the VM and perform the install.
• Once it has been completed, reboot but DO NOT INSTALL THE XENSERVER TOOLS OR BE PREPARED FOR A BLUE SCREEN ON REBOOT AND A REINSTALL.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V - Worked with no issues. Integration Services looked like they were installed already but I wasn't able to reinstall or upgrade it.

VMware ESX 3.5u3 - Worked with no issues. Installed VMware Tools with no issues.

Virtual Desktop Brokers
Since it is a client OS, I decided to see if the Virtual Desktop brokers I currently work with Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View worked.

Citrix XenDesktop 2.1 - Couldn't install the XenDesktop Agent (either the XP or the Vista installers). It states it isn't the correct OS. So I'm stuck until this gets resolved or someone finds a workaround.

VMware View 3.0 - Installed, but some features were broken. Single Sign-on did not work so I had to log in twice (not a big deal for testing and using Beta OS code). USB Redirection worked perfectly for my USB Flash Drives but it didn't test anything else. Audio redirection also worked fine.
Lastly, as I have to do in Vista on ESX, I had to change the Power Settings to never let the machine sleep or it would automatically pause itself (XenServer or Hyper-V only use paravirtualziation so the OS knows it is being virtulized and it automatically disables sleep when Vista or Windows 7 are on these hypervisors.)

I recently had to setup VMware View Manger 3.0 (formely Virtual Desktop Manager 2.0) in our demo environment for showing to our clients and showing the benefits of Virtual Desktop solutions. When I setup the our first demo environment on VMware Virtual Desktop Manager 2.0 (now called View Manager 3.0) I was very impressed with the simplicity of the solution (if you already had VMware ESX and Virtual Center deployed). It was missing certain features that other Virtual Desktop solutions had but you knew VMware was going to be working on them (and you know the other Virtual Desktops are adding new features and trying to catch up in other areas). So here are some of the lessons learned from the VMware View Manager 3.0 demo environment I built.

First we will start with the basics of the solution:

• View Standard Connection Server - Server that manages and controls the desktop environment (desktop pools, persistent vs non-persistent, storage location, provisioning, entitlements). This is the 1st server you have to setup.
• View Replica Connection Server - A copy of the Connection Server for redundancy. Not required but recommended for any production rollout.
• View Security Server - The remote access portion of the View solution. Not required but recommended for any environment that requires remote access to the virtual desktop infrastructure.
• ESX server - Hypervisor to virtualize the desktop images. (Read New Features section for more information)
• vCenter Server (formely Virtual Center) - Manages and control templates, snapshots, folders, resource pools, and virtual machines.  
• Desktops - Virtual desktops, physical desktops and terminal servers are now supported for deployement (Read New Features section for more information)
• View Composer - Support for Linked Clones in the storage of the Virtual Desktop on ESX. Linked Clones save on storage, provide faster provisioning and support persistent desktops (users who need to change the desktop environment) while keeping disk space requirements low.

New Features in View 3.0

• View Composer - Enables Linked Clones of Virtual Disk Files. This is pretty interesting. It saves on disk space first of all by using a single base snapshot and then each desktop gets its own differential file. I haven't tested it yet but supposedly you could update the base VM with a Windows Update, then have the base snapshot apply to the VMs without messing up the apps or anything else the user may have installed. Very cool.
• Offline Desktops - This feature allows you to download a copy of the VM to your local PC. Now I know there are some use cases for this but I think Application Virtualization/Streaming is more compelling. The download of 8-16 images and then uploading them when they are done is pretty crazy. I know users want offline apps, but mostly users want Outlook offline and that can be accomplished in so many other ways. Still a very cool feature.
• Unified Access - support for multiple sources of desktops not provided via Virtual Desktops on VMware ESX.
• Hypervisor - No longer does VMware require you to use their hypervisor for the virtual desktops. HOWEVER the features they support on other hypervisors is very different and my affect how you deploy desktops on other hypervisors. An example, VMware can't power on or power off Virtual Machines on other hypervisors.
• Physical or Virtual - Virtual machines running on ESX are fully supported. Virtual Machines on other hypervisors are treated as unmanaged desktops. Physical Desktops are also treated as unmanaged desktops also. Unmanaged desktops doesn't support power on or power off capabilities.
• Terminal Server Support - Terminal Servers are supported as unmanaged desktops. Terminal Server sessions can also be accessed externally via the View Security Server
• Enhanced Policies for offline policies, Single Sign On, authentication, USBredirection, multimedia redirection,etc.
• Usage Console (Configuration Tab) - Look at the current and highest user count of Virtual Desktops for licensing and planning.

Lessons learned from the installation and configuration

• Virtual Center 2.5 (now going to be called vCenter Server) needs to be at 2.5 Update 3.
• ESX 3.5 must also be at 3.5 update 3 if you plan on taking advantage of View Composer.
• Vista on ESX
• Vista by default will put itself into Sleep mode after 1 hr. Not fun for virtual desktops.So make sure to set your templates, snapshots and any Vista VM running on ESX to not sleep after 1 hr.
• Open the Control Panel -> (enable Classic Mode if not done already) -> Power Options -> Change when the computer sleeps -> Never -> Save.
  Note: Vista on Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer do not require this.
• View Composer
• Must be installed on the vCenter Server (AKA VirtualCenter Server)
• Requres a seperate database to enable.
• The account used to configure View Composer during the install, must have permissions to join users to the domain and must have permissions into vCenter Server (see admin guide). Also during the install, check in the event logs if you have errors connecting the database since it could require you to give DOMAIN\vCenterServerNAME$ to the database as a DB_Owner.
• The necessary license is also required to be installed in the View Manager Web Administration tool to enable View Composer.
• The vCenter Server defined in the View Manager Web Administration must have View Composer enabled with the account has rights to join workstations to the domain.
• Requires a desktop with the following requirements
• Virtual Machine should be on DHCP.
• Ipconfig /release should be run in the VM.
• The Virtual Machine must then be shutdown. (A powered-on snapshot won't work)
• A snapshot must then be run on the Virtual Machine. (the snapshot must be of a powered-down VM or you will not be able to see the Snapshot in the View Manager)
  A Desktop Pool without a linked clone requires a template and a specification which is different then the snapshot requirement of a linked clone virtual machine.
• Group Policy Preferences should be used to add Users to the Remote Desktop Users group (much easier than a script and starts getting you used to GPPs)
• Desktop Pools that are created from a template need to have a group or user added to the Remote Desktop Users group of the VM. When there are issues with this, you will see Access Denied or session access is denied.
• Using a Vista or Windows 2008 Server in the domain, edit the GPO that applies to the desktops OU.
• Computer Configuration -> Preferences -> Control Panel Settings -> Local users and Groups.
• Create a Preference.
• Select the Action as Update.
• Select the Group Name "Remote Desktop Users (built-in)"
• Click the Add button and add the groups or users you wish to have in the group.
• If necessary, click on the Common tab and click on the Item-Level Targeting option. Then click the Targeting button to create the rules to the machines you want this policy to apply.
• Apply the preference and click Ok.
• Install the Group Policy Preferences via Windows Update -> Optional Updates.
  Note: Very critical that you ensure the Group Policy Preferences Extensions are updated on all XP, and Vista workstations. Run Windows Update and then click on Optional Updates. Then enable the update of Group Policy Preference Extensions. Without this the policy will not apply.
• GPPs can also be used to build the desktop with shortcuts or files for VMware ThinApp.
• Security Server Configuration
• Once the Security Server has been installed and the necessary external NATing, DNS and Firewall rules have been configured, you need to add the Security Server Configuration.
• In the Configuration Tab, click on Add under Security Servers
• Add the actual FQDN of the Security Server (may require Hosts file or DNS modification since it will more then likely be in the DMZ)
• Enter the external URL and port used by the users outside the company and click OK.
• Select on Create Configuration File and save the file to the C:\
• Copy the file you just saved to C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\sslgateway\conf on the Security Server.
• Restart the Security Server to enable this feature.
  Without this, connections from the outside will look they are going to work but then error out with error messages concerning the internal FQDN of the Standard Server
• Virtual Desktop Basic Setup
• Install OS
• License/Activate the OS
• Install VMware Tools
• Name the workstation accordingly
• Set the VMs for DHCP (Static is possible but might be more to manage).
• Join the domain
• Run Windows Update a few times to make sure the VM is all the way up to date
• Install the View Agent
• Install the Group Policy Extensions (Optional Update in Windows Update)
• Reboot (take a snapshot for backup purposes and copy to Template) or Shutdown (if using linked clones)
• Virtual Desktop Advanced Setup (some of these are from VMworld 2008 VDI Presentations)
• Give enough RAM to the desktops so they don't have to swap that much.
• Use the LSI Logic cards for XP and Vista
• For Linked Clones, Add a D:\ Drive (move pagefiles and temp files here)
• Disable AV Updates (might not work for all)
• Disable System Restore (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310405)
• Disable Boot Optimization (http://www.theeldergeek.com/automatic_boot_disk_optimization_%5Bdefrag%5D.htm)
• DRS Pool for different desktop levels (Execs may get one DRS Pool, while task workers get access to less resources)
• Don't mix servers and desktops on the same hosts (unless this is a very small environment)
• Load Balance Security Servers and Connection Servers (Standard and Replicas)

Overall, I am impressed with the new features and the admin interfaces. The user inferface is very clean which is great but doesn't have a WOW factor. It is very easy to setup but documentation isn't all the way up to speed (which is why I wrote this article).

Some suggestions for later revisions of View Manager for the time being are mostly cosmetic for now until I get some more use out of the solution. Overall, a good product. Good job guys and girls at VMware.

 The goal of this blog is to give some multi-language information concering Citrix Web Interface and Citrix XenApp (Presentation Server). Also some findings I had while deploying Office, the desktop and IE for multi-language users.

Hope this helps since I didn't find any articles that covered this in Citrix when I started googling for it.

IME, MUI, and Regional Settings - What are the differences?

Input Method Editor, Multilingual User Interfaces and Regional Settings affect different areas of the Operating System and have been separated so that users have the flexibility desired for the requirements. You will see references to each of these in this document and on other web sites.

• Input Method Editor (IME) is the language you wish to type in. So when you open Word or Excel, this is the language you will be typing into that application. You can switch between multiple languages if necessary.
• Multilingual User Interface Packs affect the OS and/or Office so that dialogs, menus and help documents are in the correct language.
• Regional Settings which consist of Time/Display settings, and Keyboard Layout.

An example of why Microsoft would separate these settings would be, an English-Chinese speaking user who prefers English, but needs date/time formats in Chinese and also needs to edit Chinese Simplified and Chinese Traditional documents.

Citrix Presentation Server Specific Information

Web Interface

Lets start from the top. Citrix Web Interface will grab the language of Internet Explorer -> Tools -> Options. On the General Tab, click on the Language button on the bottom. Check the language preference of IE. If the web site is able to identify the language and can display that language.



Note: When testing this function. Make sure to close IE, and clear the IE cache and cookies before testing a connection to Web Interface.

Keyboard Layouts

• Description: Each country will have a standard keyboard layout for all their PCs. Keys for common tasks will be moved.
  
  Microsoft Website to show Keyboard Layout in html
  http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/keyboards.mspx
  
• Location: Regional and Language Options Control Panel -> Language Tab -> Details button.
  
  
  
• How is it Set on Citrix Presentation Server: Per user setting. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout
  
• Modify:
• Automated: The Citrix ICA Client should pass this from the client PC to the server. The Citrix ICA Client will only push the default option selected prior to the session being launched.
• Manual: Give the user access to a published application the Regional and Language Options Control Panel to set their settings. Only works if using a Roaming Profile otherwise the change will be lost.
  
  
• How does it get set:
• By default, the default keyboard layout is passed from the client workstation to the server. Only the default is passed to the server. To switch languages, you need to logoff of Citrix, change the setting on the local workstation and then log back in.
  If Roaming Profiles are used, additional languages can be added to the users profile via the Regional and Language Control panel, but the default will always attempt to be the default settings on the local workstation.
• The Program Neighborhood Client can be set to a different keyboard mapping than the workstation's local keyboard mapping.  The Program Neighborhood Client can also be set to use the (Server Default) which always take what the server has as its default. It is in the Tools -> ICA Settings are of the Program Neighborhood Client.
  
  
  
• The Citrix ICA Web client always assumes the user is using the (User Profile) setting. This grabs the default Keyboard Layout and uses that in the Citrix Session.
  Note: If you see the IME display, make sure it is the IME for the Citrix Session you see since it may be the IME from the local workstation also.
  
• Troubleshooting: If you have multiple keyboard layouts on the workstation, the Citrix Presentation Server will only receive the default layout.
  
• Troubleshooting: If the user is always given the wrong keyboard layout, the user's workstation probably has the full Program Neighborhood Client installed and probably has (Server Default) or a specific language selected in the Tools -> ICA Settings area or multiple keyboard layouts are setup on the local workstation.

Regional Settings

• Description: These settings are for common displays such date format, default currency, time format, etc. This will also be the display language for Internet Explorer.
  
• Location: Regional and Language Options Control Panel.
  
• How is it Set on Citrix Presentation Server: Per user setting. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International
  
• Modify:
• Automated: It can be modified via a GPO (Loginconsultants.nl - All in One ADM) or scripted to import individual settings. Both would be based on Group Membership.
• Manual: Give the user access to a published application the Regional and Language Options Control Panel to set their settings. Only works if using a Roaming Profile.

Language Settings

• Description: These settings are for common displays such date format, default currency, time format, etc.
  
• Location: Regional and Language Options Control Panel.
  
• How is it Set on Citrix Presentation Server: Per user setting. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International
  
• Modify:
• Automated: It can be modified via a GPO (Loginconsultants.nl - All in One ADM) or scripted to import individual settings. Both would be based on Group Membership.
• Manual: Give the user access to a published application the Regional and Language Options Control Panel to set their settings. Only works if using a Roaming Profile.
   

Forcing the Menu and Dialog Language (AKA Using a GPO to Restrict Language)

Reference: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/win2k/setup/restrict.mspx

1. Create a GPO for each language you wish to support.
2. Create a AD Group for each language you users will be using.
3. Add the necessary users to each group.
4. Assign the correct AD Group to the correct GPO.
5. Enable the "Restrict selection of Windows menus and dialogs language" in the GPO -> User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options
   
   
   
6. Select the appropriate language in the Settings tab.
   
   
   
7. Click OK and close the GPO.
   
8. Perform a "GPupdate" on the appropriate servers that the GPO will affect.
   
9. Test the GPOs using test accounts in each Language Group.
   
   

Web Interface Multi-Language Support

Web Interface supports multiple languages and currently supports English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese and Russion (new with Web Interface 4.6.

The language files are located in C:\Program Files\Citrix\Web Interface\4.6.0\languages. The two most used files are common_strings.properties and metaframe_strings.properties for English. Each language has the same files but has _LANGUAGE-ABBREVIATION in the name of the file.

Additionally, the help content for Web Interface 4.6 can also be modified via the C:\Program Files\Citrix\Web Interface\4.6.0\localizedContent folder and then going into the language you wish to modify.

It is common practice for these files to be modified for specific text appropriate to the client.  If the English files have been modified (adding Contact Info, company info, support desk hours, etc), and the client is requiring multiple languages, it is highly recommended that the text be localized for each language and then configured in the correct language file.

What does the user see

Citrix Web Interface will determine the language based on the language IE is set to use on their local system (see picture below). Open IE, Tools -> Internet Options. In the General tab, click on the Languages button at the bottom.

Once connected, the setting is stored in a cookie for later use. When testing this option, make sure to clear the IE Cache and Cookie Cache on the local workstation before connecting to Web Interface.

Additionally, the user can launch to the URL for Web Interface and then click on the Advanced Options link and then select their appropriate language and click Apply if their language is not determined correctly (See below).

Adding additional languages to Web Interface

http://www.brianmadden.com/content/content.asp?ID=463

Removing Languages for Web Interface

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX107038&searchID=19907332

LoginConsultants.nl All-in-One ADM (AKA True Control Template)
http://www.loginconsultants.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=127&Itemid=107

Supporting Multi-Language Display in Windows 2003

Windows 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) must be installed

Reference: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/muifaq.mspx

Windows 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) is purchased as an add-on for Windows 2003 and can be acquired via Open/Select/VLP licensing.  These MUIs modify the Start Menu and interface that Explorer is using.

Instructions to install the languages

1. Launch the MUIsetup.exe
2. Accept the license agreement.
3. Select the correct languages and click OK.
4. The MUISetup.exe will need to be performed for all the CDs to gather all of the necessary languages.
5. After this has been performed, you can go to the Regional and Language Options control panel, click on the Languages tab and see the new languages you can set. It will require a logoff and then back on to receive the new setting until the GPOs have been applied.   
    

Supporting Multi-Language Display in Office 2003/2007

Office 2003/2007 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) + Service Packs must be installed.  If you perform the MUI for Office, Office menus and help information will be the language selected.  The languages you select for Office should match the languages installed in the Operating System in the prior section.

Reference: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402101033.aspx

Reference: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/lipfaq.mspx (Made for Office XP, but still mostly valid).

Office 2003/2007 Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI) is purchased as an add-on for Office 2003/2007 and can be acquired via Open/Select/VLP licensing.

1. Install Microsoft Office as usual.
2. After the install, launch the MUIsetup.exe from the MUI CD.
3. Accept the license agreement.
4. Select the correct languages and click OK.
   
   

1. Select Complete Install
   
2. Perform the above step for all versions.
   
3. Then visit http://office.microsoft.com and click on Downloads -> Check for Updates for any hotfixes
   
   
   
   
   
4. This may need to be performed multiple times to get all the updates since each Language has Service Packs and then there are Hotfixes to the Service Packs that must be installed.
   
5. After this has been performed, you can go to the Regional and Language Options control panel, click on the Languages tab and select the language.

Office 2007

The same procedures and updates can be followed for Office 2007.

How to Install Office 2007 With a Multilanguage User Interface Pack Into an Application Isolation Environment - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112984

Reference Site : Microsoft's Dr. International Site

http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/default.mspx

That is the question. Do you start building all servers as 64-bit (AKA x64) or do you stick with the standard 32-bit servers you have been doing for years? Tough question as there is no right answer for everyone. In this article, I will dissect some of implications of choosing 64-bit over 32-bit. We will also be concentrating on the server platform of the Operating Systems. (Note: while 64-bit desktop Operating Systems exist, the support is horrible. Drivers, Printers, WebCams, etc have to researched thoroughly to verify 64-bit support. Frankly, I have better things to do with my time as it is hard enough finding Vista 32-bit support for my home PCs). Then I will address how 64-bit will affect a Citrix Presentation Server Infrastructure (You read that right... Citrix PRESENTATION SERVER. If you don't get the joke, you need to read more Citrix related blogs). Please note that Citrix Presentation Server must be 4.5 or above to fully support 64-bit. 4.0 for 64-bit is no longer supported.

Overview
One major benefit of x64 will be the ability to address more memory space which has been a limiting factor for some time in server sizing. Of course, this will eventually to the next bottleneck (CPU, disk speed or possibly I/O). Its inevitable. Much like a city or start will add another lane for 25 miles and just cause another "parking lot" (this is what we call freeways in Los Angeles) 25 miles down the road. It may not happen immediately, but it will happen eventually.

Anyway, now that more memory can be addressed, applications that are more memory intensive can now address more memory. This benefits database driven servers (Exchange, SQL, Oracle, etc) and high density Terminal Servers/Citrix Presentation Servers. For clients that wish to scale up (fewer, bigger boxes) rather than out (more, smaller boxes), this is a huge benefit. 64-bit may also benefit application servers, web servers, and more, but not to the same extent it will benefit say a Microsoft SQL Server or Citrix Presentation Server. You can also expect 20%-40% more RAM utilization by applications and users due to how memory is handled in 64-bit (I had a AMD/Microsoft reference on this, but can't find it right now). There are other services where 64-bit makes no difference. What would a 64-bit Domain Controller or DHCP Server or DNS Server really get you? Something to think about. But what is really is driving 64-bit

Also 64-bit supports 32-bit applications via WOW64. This is very similar to how Windows 32-bit Operating Systems can run 16-bit apps via WOW (Windows on Windows). In WOW64, the emulation does come with an overhead (though much less than the original implementations of 64-bit). Due to the overhead of emulating 32-bit applications and services, it is recommended to run 64-bit versions of application (if available) on a 64-bit Operating System. However that is not always the case as we will see later. 

A big deal to watch out for is no 16-bit support for applications. A fun little problem that we have run into, is when the application is 32-bit, but the installer is 16-bit. Though Windows 64-bit has some workarounds (See the MSDN Article - Understanding 64-bit Windows Programming) for 16-bit installers, there is no guarantee.  To workaround this, we've repackaged the installer or sometimes just copied over regkeys and files/folders to get the application to work. Both are not easy, but it can get the job done.

Lastly, you can expect Windows Server 2008 to be the latest 32-bit and 64-bit release of a Windows Server OS. So you better start getting used to 64-bit.

Technical Brief on Important Differences in 64-bit Windows 

You will see there is basically a 32-bit registry (HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node) and a 64-bit registry (HKLM\Software\). There are also different folders for some of the system files and program files (example: 32-bit system files are in C:\windows\syswow64 and 64-bit is in C:\Windows\system32; Program Files in 32-bit is C:\Program Files (x86) and 64-bit is in C:\Program Files\).

Whenever a 32-bit application attempts to access %windir%\System32, the access is redirected to a new directory, %windir%\SysWOW64.  The registry redirector intercepts 32-bit registry calls to each logical registry view and maps them to the corresponding physical registry location. The reflection process is transparent to the application. Therefore, a 32-bit application can access registry data as if it were running on 32-bit Windows even if the data is stored in a different location on 64-bit Windows.

32-bit and 64-bit versions of Applications
Common applications like Internet Explorer, the command prompt and the ODBC Control Panel have two different versions (a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version) on the same server. So launching the 32-bit version may return different results than the 64-bit version of the same application. So instead of running "iexplore.exe" you may wish to use the full path to access the 32-bit or the 64-bit version you require. I will discuss this later also.

64-bit Caveats

• Support
  This is probably the biggest factor in deciding whether you will be going 64-bit or sticking with 32-bit. If you call all your application vendor's support line (and I highly recommend you do before proceeding) and:
• Ask if they support a 64-bit Operating System with their application?
• Are all products used as pre-requisites also 64-bit capable (Examples: Crystal Reports, Custom Print Tool, etc)
• Do they have a supported 64-bit version to run on a 64-bit OS?
• If not, when will it be available?
• Are any portions of the application or installer 16-bit?
• Are there any reference documents or knowledge base articles that can be referenced? (Always good to get this in writing or a referencable format)
• If the application has more than 1 tier (Example: the application sits on a web server and accesses a database tier and application tier), what components/tiers are supported on 64-bit support?
• How many clients are running 64-bit support? (This helps understand their knowledge of 64-bit and if only 1 client out of 20,000 are running it... maybe you should hold off. Don't want to be the guinea pig.)

You never want to be in a situation where you did something that was not going to be supported when you call in for support. You also want to understand your options for a backup plan. Maybe you can't get 100% of the environment in 64-bit, but maybe the database tier can be.

• Application Installation and Runtime
  All applications and installers must be 32-bit or 64-bit. While there is some support for 16-bit installers as mentioned earlier, there is no workaround for 16-bit portions of the applications. If the application has some out-dated mail merge function with 16-bit code that gets used once a year but is very critical, you will not be a happy camper. So make sure the installer and the application are fully 32-bit. The only way to guarantee this is to TEST, TEST and then TEST again. No way around it. Seen too many companies tell me, their app is 100% 32-bit... that is until I call them and ask about this one part of the application that doesn't work, but only gets used once a year to generate tax forms or something. The most common answer is "Oh yeah, forgot about that one".
  
  Remember Application Compatibility Flags? Well they might be needed again. Applications may not be expecting 32GB of RAM on a server, so the application may fail to launch. Applications may need to be fooled into thinking the server only has X amount of memory so the application can launch. Here is an example registry file to get a 32 bit app to limit the physical memory the application sees:
  
  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Compatibility\Applications\APPNAME]
  "Flags"=dword:00000808
  "PhysicalMemoryLimit"=dword:64000000
  
  Note: Notice the path is in the WoW6432Node folder since it is a 32 bit application.
  See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/186499/EN-US/ for more information on the flags.
  
  Lastly, an important WOW64 limitation is that 32-bit applications cannot load 64-bit DLLs and 64-bit applications cannot load 32-bit DLLs. This can result in Context Menus not functioning for some applications. An example would be how Winzip integrates with the right click to allow for unzips. If you are using the 32-bit Winzip, you won't see the context menu for Winzip. If you are using the 64-bit version, the context menus will appear.
  
• System Components/Drivers
  System components like backup agents, monitoring tools, anti-virus, etc that uses device drivers or creates services must be the 64-bit version of that system component. Unlike 32-bit applications that run in WOW64 emulation environment on a 64-bit server, device, kernel or services cannot be run this way. Contact the vendor for these products to determine if they have a 64-bit version that is supported.  If they don't your options are to not use 64-bit, not use that product on 64-bit servers, or to switch to another product that has 64-bit support.
  
  This can be a budget buster or time killer depending on how critical the product is to your organization (like Anti-virus on all Servers in the datacenter) or if the vendor states the 64-bit version is an additional cost.  
  
• Project Timeline and Risk
  If reducing risk and meet a very strict timeline, then 64-bit may not be for you. Any bump or hiccup in the project (like finding out the most critical application uses 16-bit code for reporting) can put some major hurt on the timeline. As you can see there is some time and effort to verify vendor support, test, troubleshoot and test some more. If there is no time for testing or the project needs to be very risk averse (tight budget or compliance/governance requirements), you should probably stick with 32-bit for a majority of the infrastructure. You may be able to put portions of the environment on 64-bit (database server for example), but it would be recommended in this case to stick with 32-bit for most of the servers (especially Citrix Presentation Servers in this case).
  
• Application Compatability (Citrix Presentation Server)
  I seperated this out from "runtime and install" because I think it deserves its own section. Common applications (Iexplore.exe, CMD.exe, ODBC Control Panel) have a 64-bit version and a 32-bit version.  This is very critical in a Citrix Presentation Server environment as it can affect how applications work, are published or existing scripts.
• Internet Explorer (64-bit) does not currently support common plug-ins like some ActiveX controls, Flash or Shockwave. Internet Explorer (32-bit) does still support the applications on the same server. If you publish or use IE in a desktop on a Citrix Presentation Server, you may wish to use the 32-bit version (C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\Iexplore.exe) to decrease support calls and eliminate any troubleshooting due to a ActiveX or plug-in requirement.
• CMD.exe also has two different versions. Each has its own environment variable. So watch out for any scripts that may be running to set variables and checking to see which CMD.exe is being run. If its running in the wrong environment, your applications may not work.
• ODBC Control Panel. This one was fun. So you have a 32-bit application, that wants an ODBC to be manually created. So you create it. Application doesn't work due to a missing ODBC entry. You double check. Its there. App still doesn't run. Check to see which ODBCAD32.exe you are running from. If you are running the 64-bit version (C:\Windows\System32), your 32-bit application won't see it. Make sure to run the ODBCAD32.exe from C:\Windows\SysWoW64
• Registry Editor. If a 32-bit application tells you to modify a registry key, make sure to modify HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node - otherwise your 32-bit application won't see the change. HKLM\Software\ changes are for 64-bit applications.
• Any call from a 32-bit application that creates reg keys or ODBC entries will be put in the correct 32-bit sections, you should be fine, but understanding this process of WOW64 helps a ton. So does Filemon.exe and Regmon.exe from www.Sysinternals.com. These tools are requried for a Citrix Consultant of any worth.
  

Citrix Presentation Server Specific Recommendations

• If you run Citrix Presentation Server now, you must get to Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 now. 4.0 for 64-bit is no longer supported as it was a different code base than 4.0 for 32-bit, which resulted in different hotfixes and major support issues for Citrix. Now the code bases for 64-bit and 32-bit are the same, and the feature sets are a lot closer than they were in 4.0.
• Test. Only way to guarantee a product is 100% 32-bit or 100% 64-bit capable. This may delay the project or slow down the testing phase, but it is better than running into the problem when you are in production.
• A recommend risk mitigation strategy will be to also build 32-bit Windows Servers for Citrix Presentation Server. The 32-bit servers can hold any applications that are not 64-bit compatible. Depending on the number of applications and users of the application, they can be Virtual Machines on VMware ESX or Citrix XenServer (or your favorite server virtualization platform).
  OR
  Approach 64-bit Citrix Presentation Servers as a Phase II of the project. Meaning you build all the servers in 32-bit at first, then build a single 64-bit server to test applications and procedures. Then you can be in production, but still have some testing be performed by a select group of users. If tesing goes smoothly, you can decide to rebuild all servers as 64-bit or add 64-bit servers as the environment expands.
• Try to force Universal Print Driver (UPD) for all applications. This simplifies trying to find 64-bit drivers for all of the printers. This will require some testing with applications but would make you life a whole lot easier. This also means getting your clients to the latest version of the ICA Client to ensure the latest features are available.  
• The User Profile Hive Cleanup Tool 2.0 for 64-bit is in Beta currently. It has been since 2005. Don't know why it isn't public yet, but if you open a Microsoft Support Case with issues pertaining to user profiles not cleaning up at logoff, you should be able to obtain it. The 1.6d that is out does not support 64-bit OSes.
• Publish the 32-bit Internet Explorer. Saves headaches and support calls related to sites with plugins and what site doesn't use some sort of plugin for something these days.
• Test. Only way to guarantee a product is 100% 32-bit or 100% 64-bit capable. This may delay the project or slow down the testing phase, but it is better than running into the problem when you are in production.
• 64-bit is supported for most Citrix products. Please read the admin guide for the latest support info on 64-bit.
• Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 and above are supported on 64-bit.
• The DataStore, Resource Manager Database, and Configuration Logging are supprored on SQL Server 2005 64-bit.
• Citrix EdgeSight Agents are supported on 64-bit. (I think Citrix EdgeSight Server for 64-bit is coming soon).
• Password Manager Agents are supported on 64-bit.
• Web Interface 4.5 is supported on 64-bit, however it will may break other web sites that are 64-bit on the same server so procedure with caution (and a good backup).
  
  To enable IIS 6.0 to run 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows
  1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts directory.
  2. Type the following command:
  cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 “true”
  3. Press ENTER.
  
  To enable IIS 6.0 to run 64-bit applications on 64-bit Windows
  1. Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemdrive%\Inetpub\AdminScripts directory.
  2. cscript c:\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET /w3svc/AppPools/Enable32BitAppOnWin64 False
  3. Press ENTER.

In Summary 

There is no right answer for everyone and each person/organization must weigh the pros and cons of 64-bit. The days of 64-bit only Operating Systems is fast approaching and we won't have a choice very soon. I'd recommend at least getting your feet wet and to start building your server infrastructure for the backend (SQL, Oracle, Exchange, etc) as 64-bit. Or add 1 64-bit Citrix Presentation Server to the mix to start testing your build documents/procedures and to test application with a small subset of users. If you are prepared (doing the steps above) and with a little training (or troubleshooting), you can go fully 64-bit and start reaping the benefits of increased memory capacity and higher density of services.

Here are some articles on 64-bit that I have referenced or read in the writing of the article:
List of limitations in 64-Bit Windows - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282423
Understanding 64-bit Windows Programming - http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/win64/win64/running_32_bit_applications.asp

So I've been running Vista from 1 laptop for 1 year and a desktop for the last 4 months or so. I mostly use the desktop for work related stuff. One day I needed to work form the laptop about 6 months, and all of my Citrix connections were slow. I'd open Outlook and I could see it paint the toolbars, the e-mail pane view would come 1 line at a time. I tried tweaking a few things on the laptop. Tried updating and tweaking the Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 servers. Nothing. Still slow. I googled all over the place (or so I thought) and found similar complaints but no solutions. I just gave up and went back to my Win XP box (what my desktop was at the time).

Fast forward a few months, and I'm forced to replace my Win XP with a new workstation running Vista. Same exact slowness. But now I notice that it depends on what environment I'm connecting to. All of my clients environments (Mix of Citrix Access Gateway (CAG), Secure Gateway (CSG), Altaddr, IPsec VPN, SSL VPN etc) work just fine. Just not our companies Citrix infrastructure. So I build a new CSG and a new PS 4.5 server. Same slowness. Now I'm banging my head against the wall.

I call Citrix and give them the facts above. The answer was to try and perform a direct ICA via VPN or Altaddr to eliminate CSG. Well I don't have control of the firewall and I know it will take awhile to get done. I get real busy. My wife has our 3rd kid. And I just forget about it. Until now...

 So I start googling again. Then I finally hit the right search words "RDP slow vista". I tried "terminal server slow vista", "citrix slow vista", "citrix performance vista", and tons more. But never tired RDP (AKA Remote Display Protocol). (PS hopefuly that teaches people writing articles to put acronyms, full spellings, and nicknames for technologies so that they can indexed/searched with as many common terms as possible).

Anyway not to make this story any longer, I finally ran into this command that has saved me from the pits of slowness hell.

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

It must be run from the command line as an Administrator and may require you to Allow its execution (thanks to  User Account Control feature of Vista). It should return OK if it completes correctly.

Props to Tom Keating @ http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/microsoft/remote-desktop-slow-problem-solved.asp for getting it solved. Don't know what AutoTuning really enables for most home users, but I haven't noticed any illl effects otherwise. Some more googles on that command have shown slowness with Outlook 2007, File Transfer, and more. Hopefully this saves people some time.

Updated on January 6th, 2009. Updates in red. 

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is not a product. You can't call up a company and ask for 5 licenses of VDI.  It is concept comprised of multiple solutions or products to achieve a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (though recent announcements have Citrix XenDesktop as a single product that comes very close). The concept of VDI virtualizes desktops operating systems (Vista, XP, Linux, etc) and deliver the remote view of the desktop via a display protocol. In addition, there will be management and control systems to manage the provisioning/deprovisioning of virtual machines and applications.

By bringing the desktop from under the client desk into your data center, your administrative costs can decrease for desktop support. Now that the desktop is in the data center, you can backup the desktop and provide increased performance for users even though they are remote and on slow connections. You can share the same desktop amongst multiple users. It can be remotely accessible from anywhere. 

So Virtual Desktop Infrastructure consists of a few major parts:

• Remote Display - A device to display the connection
• Application Delivery System - Technology to deploy and update applications within the desktop
• Connection Broker - A broker that provides the remote display protocol, possibly provides remote access, possibly access to local devices.
• Virtual Machine Management - Manages the provisioning/deprovisioning of private or shared virtual machines.
• Operating System Virtualization - Virtualized operating system layer to provide multiple virtual machines on the same physical hardware.
  

There are a lot of desktops in this world of ours. Imagine if every desktop became a virtual machine. You organization may average 20-100 employees for every 1 server, but your probably average 1 employee to 1-2 desktops. How many licenses of "Operating System Virtualization" solution would need to be purchased? That is why you have so much push for this. But there are costs associated with implementing VDI that are not readily discussed and are sometimes downright misleading.

There are costs that must reviewed to determine it really is going to save money.

• Conceptually VDI takes low cost PCs ($500-$1000) on local cheap desk storage under cheap office space (sitting under a desk). Now you will be taking that, and putting it on high end hardware with high end storage in what is the most costly space, your data center.
• Also you still need a desktop to connect to the environment, whether this is an existing desktop or replacing the existing desktops with Windows/Linux Based Terminals.
• Licensing of Anti-Virus software, Monitoring software, Backup software, etc will still need to be purchased for each desktop OS.
• If you currently don't have any SAN solution or are low on capacity, there will be costs associated to implement or expand.
• Proper sizing of the environment (How much disk, memory and CPU is required to support a single user?). Example: Microsoft Vista requires 15GB of disk, and 1GB of RAM, but highly suggests 40GB of disk and 2GB of RAM.

Here are some quick

• Is it economical to buy a high end server with maxed out memory to get 15-50 virtual desktops?
• What other solutions must be acquired to deliver and manage the desktop?
• How do you push applications and upgrades?
• How do you control who has access to what applications?
• How do you give administrator and control access to other devices and peripherals (USB drives, CD-ROMs, webcams, digital cameras, blackberry/cell phone synchronizers, scanners, printers, etc).
• Will you backup desktops and do you have enough disk/tape to perform this action?

Since there is no single solution at this time (though companies will tell you otherwise right now), it is a concept in flux.  Companies are coming out with solutions or have solutions on their roadmaps to deliver each of the major components. Since Jan. 07, Citrix and VMware (leaders in this space) have made acquisitions to provide the end-to-end solution for VDI.

Though there are other companies trying to vie for a piece of the VDI pie, these two companies have proven themselves to be the leaders in this space, albeit from slightly different angles.

Citrix has been delivering applications and desktops via a Server Based Computing model since 1989. Their ICA protocol and Presentation Server (Formely MetaFrame) product line have powered much of the Fortune 500 down to small 2 person companies.  By delivering applications over low bandwidths and simplifying the maintenance (one install of an application can support 100s of users), they are the leader in application delivery/virtualization. 

VMware, founded in 1998, has emerged as the leader in the server and desktop virtualization market. Their enterprise class solution provides a robust and stable solution to support multiple operating systems on the same physical hardware. These "virtual machines" are hardware independent and self contained systems that can be easily migrated to new hardware, or for disaster recovery.

So these two companies started at different ends of the spectrum. Citrix virtualizing applications. VMware virtualizing operating systems. Each doing their own thing and doing it the best.

In the Beginning

At first, these two companies played well with each other. Citrix was working hard to optimize itself with VMware and VMware was hard at work to deliver best practices around virtualizing Citrix.  They were not really competing in the same space and both had great client loyalty. 

The First Blow

In my opinion, the first real blow came when VMware tried to push VMware ACE as a remote access solution.  It really made no sense. Sure you no longer had to support the laptop/desktop running ACE, but suddenly you had a full OS with applications to deal with. It's hard enough patching operating systems and applications internally, but now you have to do it on a PC that only connects once per month and now the "updates" are GBs of data (not just MBs of data). Citrix was slighted since they were the "access company" (marketing slogan at the time).

They Play Nice

Then in 2006, VMware really started pushing clients to implement VDI. They didn't really tell them it wasn't a product, but they started pushing.  The VMworld 2006 Exhibit Hall was full of connection broker companies claiming to manage the connection. Some provided new remote display protocols, some had VPN-like access, and some integrated with VMware VirtualCenter. VMware had stated they would not get into the connection broker market since they had great partners to develop this technology.  We've heard that from Microsoft (and others) right before they bought a company. Citrix was there (all the way in the back). But it made sense, best of breed remote display (Citrix) with best of breed (VMware).  (Note: Let's be honest Microsoft RDP is decent, but not enough support for local devices and is pain to manage since most of the management is controlled by the client side.)

Citrix Goes on the Offensive

In early 2007, Citrix acquired Ardence to stream the entire operating system to a machine with out using any disk space (recently renamed to Citrix Provisioning Server). So you could use 0 disk space on the client PC and still deploy Windows XP or even Windows 2003 Servers. While this was not a direct competitor to virtualization, it was discussed as an alternative to virtualization since you received some of the benefits (dynamically add/remove capacity, OS is no longer locally managed, static OS configuration like a non-persistent disk), but still had the full capacity of a physical server.  Interesting technology and was very slick, but as a real world application, only made sense for a select type of organizations that could also deal with Provisioning Server's downfalls (Provisioning Server's best ROI was in read-only disks, so no changes could be maintained).

VMware Strikes Back

Then it happened in May of 2007, VMware bought a connection broker (Propero) and put Virtual Desktop Manager on its roadmap (currently in Beta). This was the exact opposite of what the stated months earlier.

Citrix Counters

Even though Citrix's Desktop Broker (free) and Desktop Server 1.0 (gotta buy it) were average at best, everyone thinks the ICA protocol (Used by Citrix products to perform the remote display of an application or desktop) to the desktop is the holy grail. All the features Citrix has been doing for years on a server (client redirection, bidirectional audio, local device support, universal print driver) would give Citrix a huge advantage along with their current integration of Presentation Server in most organizations. Connect the user to the best method of application delivery. Put the user on Citrix Presentation Server for large corporate applications with security and administrative control, but deliver them a virtual desktop when they need a customizable environment that the user controls. When VMware announced they were not going to be in the connection broker market, and then bought Propero, the gloves came off.

Citrix buys XenSource to deliver virtualized desktops (and servers).  That was a pretty big shock since the channel was still able to say they didn't compete up to that point. But with this purchase, Citrix let it be known that they want a part of the OS Virtualization market.

The future is not certain

There may be other factors also driving this, but since I don't work for either company... this is just an external view of what seems to be occurring. Will VMware buy an application delivery company to push apps into their VMs? Will Citrix buy another company to improve XenSource high-availability and make it more enterprise class? Will any of the Connection Brokers be able to fully deliver a rich desktop equivalent environment with audio and video (Citrix has been doing it for years, and they are not perfect)? What your organization really save money on delivering desktops like this? When will the solution be fully baked by each company? Will RDP (even if improved) provide the performance required? Will VMware buy an Application Delivery/Deployment solution?

VMware acquires Thinstall
In January 2008, VMware acquired Thinstall to package an application into a single executable for distribution. This now gives VMware a method to deploy an application into their Virtual Desktops (or even for non-virtualized desktops). There are some questions as to how this method of application delivery will work for applications that must communicate (think how outlook.exe calls winword.exe to compose an e-mail or open a word document. Does that mean Winword.exe has to be packages with Outlook? What about Adobe Acrobat Reader, Excel, Powerpoint, etc? Of course, the virtualized application will be able to interact with locally installed applications, but can it communicate with other Virtualized applications? It would have made a lot of sense for VMware to buy Provison Networks, but Quest software snagged them up.  Interesting acquisition, but as I've already stated... The picture is not done being painted.

VMware Release VMware View Manager
In December of 2008, VMware released its latest version of the product and has renamed it from Virtual Desktop Manager to View Manager. It has a lot fo new features like offline support (experimental), View Composer for Linked Clones, and the ability to support unmanaged desktops (a VM on another hyper-visor, a terminal server session or a physical PC). Check out this article on Lessons Learned: VMware View Manager 3.0

• Remote Display - Citrix has wide acceptance in its remote display protocol (Windows based terminals, Linux, All Windows OS including CE, Mac client, Java client etc).
• Application Delivery System - Citrix can deliver an application in multiple methods. Streamed to the desktop (whether the desktop is physical or virtual) or virtualized via Presentation Server. This flexibility allows administrative control as to how business applications are delivered. (more complex applications may be virtualized and simpler applications or offline applications can be streamed to the user).
• Connection Broker - Although the marketing machine of Citrix has a good message, "Deliver the application in the most appropriate method for the user", the technology isn't baked yet. As of today, you have to RDP to the desktops so you do not get the full capabilities of the ICA protocol. Change is immanent here. Desktop Connector will be able to deliver ICA directly to the desktop. In addition, integration with Citrix's existing VPN solution and the ability to deliver best fit desktops for users make Citrix a formidable presence in the market.
• Virtual Machine Management - Citrix has Desktop Connector on the roadmap to manage the virtual infrastructure. Also, Citrix is developing this solution and promoting Citrix Provisioning Server (formely Ardence) as its management component. Citrix Provisioning Server streams the entire OS into the desktop. Citrix Provisioning Server has two methods to stream an operating system: shared or private. Private is probably the best ROI, but shared is probably what most users will demand.
• Operating System Virtualization - Citrix's acquisition of XenSource allows them to now virtualize servers and desktops. Though this solution is not as robust as VMware, its lower price point may be enticing to clients. XenDesktop solution will not force you to use XenServer as the OS Virtualization platform. You can use Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix XenServer or VMware ESX.

Citrix has two types of deployment.

* These products are not required, but they do provide a more efficient full featured environment for end users and administrators.

Citrix Pros and Cons

• Remote Display - VMware is using the Microsoft RDP protocol (Used in Terminal Services implementations) to deliver its remote display. Clients exist and can be used must operating systems, but it is not as optimized as the Citrix ICA protocol when it comes to a rich display (IE, video, audio, flash, etc). VMware may provide and enhanced RDP or create their own, but then they will need to get the client portion of the display protocol on devices. And that can take some time.
• Application Delivery System - Prior to VMware's recent Thinstall acquisition, they didn't have a solution in this space and were relying on 3rd party companies to deliver the application the desktop. Now with the Thinstall technology, applications can be packaged and simplied copied as one executable to the desktop. Other 3rd party technologies(e.g. Citrix Presentation Server (virtualize or stream), Microsoft SMS or SoftGrid) can still be used and VMware is not forcing anyone to use Thinstall (unlike what Citrix is doing with forcing everyone to XenServer to use XenDesktop).
• Connection Broker - VMware acquired Propero earlier in 2007 and has released Virtual Desktop Manager in 2008 (which is now renamed to VMware View)
• Virtual Machine Management - VMware View is used to manage the Virtual Machines provisioning/deprovisioning capabilities.
• Operating System Virtualization - VMware is the market leader in OS virtualization and provides enterprise class solutions for high availability and performance. You can now use virtual machines on other hypervisors or phsyical machines as target desktops. Additionaly, you can provide Terminal Server desktops via VMware View. They are considered unmanaged desktops and VMware View cannot perform every function on them (example: power on or power off)

A typical VMware deployment has the following.

There is no right answer for everyone. It comes down to requirements gathering and a full fledged proof of concept. There is no other way to do this. Each company will say they can solve everything, but they can't right now. As you can see from the rest of this article, there are a lot of information that need to be gathered about your environment and how your users use VDI.  Based on that information a proper gamelan can be laid out for short term and long terms goals. Some clients may chose to use all Citrix or all VMware or a combination, based on the requirements. Some may use all of one company's solution now, and then switch in 1 year as more advances are made in this concept.

VMware Virtual Desktop Manager
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/datasheet_vdm.pdf/pdf/datasheet_vdm.pdf 

VMware VDI Overview
http://vmware.com/products/vdi/

Citrix Application Delivery Infrastructure
http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/ps2/technology/index.asp

Citrix XenDesktop
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=163057&ntref=hp_nav_US  

Citrix XenServer (Marketing & Training Material)

VMware Virtual Infrastructure (Marketing & Training Material)

Configuration Maximums for VMware Infrastructure 3
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_301_201_config_max.pdf

SmartAuditor

Note: Feature Pack 1 is not like the old Feature Releases (think MetaFrame 1.8 and XP). Feature Pack 1 is only for Platinum Edition. So if you have Advanced, or Enterprise of Citrix Presentation Server, you do NOT have access Feature Pack features. You have to upgrade to Platinum Edition to get acccess to things like SmartAuditor. Also note the FP1 download from Citrix has Rollup 1 included.

What is SmartAuditor?
At the very basic level, it is a recording of an ICA session for playback later. This could be used for troubleshooting (record a user that has intermittent issues for platback later when the issue arises) or compliance (record all users of the HR application to have proof of what session did what). This is 1st rev some of the things you may wish for are not included (Record session on the fly after session has started, searchable files, or the fact you have to disable session sharing to get the thing to work...).

Setting Up SmartAuditor 

Admin Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX113599

Single Server Deployment

Note: For this deployment scenario, ensure that you install SQL Server 2005

locally.
SmartAuditor Player is installed on a separate workstation.

Multi-Server Deployment

Installation

1. Pre-reqs
1. Session sharing is disabled. Hugely important or some sessions may not be recorded.
   http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX101644
   Note: this may result in some longer log in times and additional license requirements to perform this.
2. SQL Server 2005 with IIS installed.
3. .NET 2.0
4. Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ)
   During MSMQ installation or after installation (Message Queuing from Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components > Application Server > Details > Message Queuing > Details) clear the check box for Active Directory Integration. This feature is not required for SmartAuditor. At the same time (if you plan to use HTTPS as the communication protocol), ensure that the MSMQ HTTP Support check box is selected.
5. Certificate for the FQDN of the server running the SmartAuditor Service.
6. Rollup 1 and post R01 hotfixes must be installed

• i. Hotfix PSE450R01W2K3011 for Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 on Windows 2003 Server or Hotfix PSE450R01W2K3X64006 for Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 on Windows 2003 Server x64 Edition
  
  

1. Run SmartAuditorSetup.exe from the Components CD.
   Note: Installer must run from local drive or CD. It cannot be run from network share.
   
   

2. Click on SmartAuditor Administration.
   
   
3. Click on Determine SmartAuditor Administration Prerequisites
   
   
   

4. If all pre-requisites are met, then you will see the following screen. Click on "Install Citrix SmartAuditor Administration"
   
   

5. Click Next to the Welcome Screen.
6. Read through the license agreement, select "I agree" and then click Next.
7. Select the components to install and click Next.
   Note: If you are going to change the path for where to install, you will need to change each product separately in this menu.
8. For the SQL Server/SQL Express information, follow the instructions to enter the necessary credentials and click Next.
   For SQL Server, it is recommended to use
   DOMAIN\MACHINENAME$
   MACHINENAME
   for the two entries.
   
   
9. Click Next to perform the installation.
    
10.  After it has finished, a CitrixSmartAuditor database will appear in the SQL Server 2005 Management Studio and can be added to backup and maintenance plans.
    
    
11. Restart the server.
    
    
12. Shortcuts will be installed into the Start Menu and a "Citrix SmartAuditor Storage Manager" Service.

Citrix Presentation Server

1. Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) must be installed on all Citrix Presentation Servers.
2. Run SmartAuditorSetup.exe from the Components CD.
   Note: Installer must run from local drive or CD. It cannot be run from network share.
   
   
3. Click on SmartAuditor Agent for Citrix Presentation Server.
   
   
4. If all the prerequisites are met, then click on Install the Citrix Smart
   
   
   

5. Click Next to the Welcome Screen.
6. Read through the license agreement, select "I agree" and then click Next.
7. Enter the name of the SmartAuditor Server previously setup and click Next.
8. Select the location to install the agent and click Next.
9. Click Next to perform the installation.
10. The following will be installed in the Start Menu.
    Start Menu -> Programs -> Citrix -> SmartAuditor -> SmartAuditor Agent Properties
    
    And a "Citrix SmartAuditor Agent" service.

The Agent Properties have the following configurable properties
 

Citrix SmartAuditor Player

Note: No need for documentation as it is a simple installer. It is not recommended to be installed on a Citrix Presentation Server due to resource requirements.

Citrix SmartAuditor Tools

SmartAuditor Server Configuration

1. Change the default location for where files are recorded and stored during playback.
2. Enable or Disable live playback of currently active sessions.
3. Notification message to notify the user that their session is being recorded.
4. Any changes to configuration requires the service to restart.

SmartAuditor Authorization Tool - By default, administrators of the server where the SmartAuditor service is installed have all the roles assigned to them.

SmartAuditor Policy Console - Sets the policy rules for recording. By default no sessions are recorded.

SmartAuditor Policy Console

1. Launch it from the Start Menu.
2. Enter the FQDN of the Server running the SmartAuditor Service.
   Note: If you receive an error
1. Make that IIS IS listening on 443 with a cert that matches the FQDN you are entering. Unlike Password Manager, SmartAuditor relies on IIS running on 443 for it to work.
3. Right click on the Policy you wish to activate and select Activate Policy
   
   Note: The Notification message can be configured in the Citrix SmartAuditor Configuration tool.
   
   The 3 default policies are "Do Not Record" (Enabled by default), "Record everyone with notification" and "Record everyone without notification". They cannot be modified and they apply to all users where the SmartAuditor Agent is installed. To apply to only a certain user, group, published application or server., you must create a new policy and activate it.
   
   Only 1 policy can be activate at any time.

Creating Additional Policies

To create a new policy

1. In the SmartAuditor Policy Console, select the Recording Policies folder in the left pane.

2. From the menu bar, choose Action > Add New Policy. A policy called New Policy appears in the left pane.

3. Select the new policy and choose Action > Rename from the menu bar.

4. Type a name for the policy you are about to create and press Enter or click anywhere outside the new name.

5. With the policy selected, choose Action > Add New Rule from the menu bar to launch the Rules wizard.
The rules look very similar to when you create an e-mail filter rule in Outlook.

6. Follow the instructions to create the rules for this policy.

7. Then Activate the policy.

Playback via SmartAuditor Player

1. Launch the SmartAuditor Player from the Start Menu.

2. In the SmartAuditor Player, choose Tools > Options > Connections.

3. Click Add and complete the information required in the Add Server Connection pop-up window.
In the Hostname field, you can type either the server name or its Internet protocol (IP) address.

4. Click OK to return to the Options window.
Note: If you access more than one server for recordings, you can repeat this procedure to add multiple servers to the list. However, you can select only one server at a time.

5. Click on the "Quick Search Button" to find all the available videos on that SmartAuditor Server (Recommended method) or perform "File -> Open" to browse to the UNC path or network drive letter where the videos are stored.

6. Then via the search results, select which video to playback by double clicking on the recording.
Note: If Live playback is not allowed, you will only be able to watch videos of sessions that have been logged out off by the user.

7. During the playback, notes or bookmarks can be made by right click on the video.

8. Open the properties of the file via the above menu and then clicking on properties.

Tips & Tricks

Downloading Recordings Quickly
Each time you open a recorded session file, SmartAuditor downloads the file from the location where the recordings are stored. Depending upon the size of the file and your network connection, it may take some time before the file is fully downloaded. If you download the same files frequently, you may want to cache the files on your workstation. When you cache the file, SmartAuditor saves the file on your workstation and loads the file from the cache instead of the network. This allows the file to download much quicker.
To ensure that your hard drive does not become full with recordings, you can specify how much disk space should be used for the cache. When the recordings fill the specified disk space, SmartAuditor deletes the oldest, least used recordings to make room for new recordings. You can empty the cache at any time to free up disk space.

To enable the caching of files

1. In the SmartAuditor Player, choose Tools > Options > Cache.
2. Select the Cache downloaded files on local machine check box.
3. If you want to limit the amount of disk space used for caching, select the Limit amount of disk space to use check box and drag the slider or type the amount of megabytes to be used to specify the amount.
4. Click OK.

To empty the cache

1. In the SmartAuditor Player, choose Tools > Options > Cache.
2. Click Purge Cache, then OK to confirm the action.

Creating Favorites

The SmartAuditor Player provides you with a favorites capability to quickly access recordings that you view frequently. These shortcut folders reference recording files that are stored either on your workstation or on a network share.
They are saved as *.icf files on your workstation; however, you can import and export these files to other workstations and share these folders with other reviewers.

Note: Only reviewers with access rights to the SmartAuditor Player can download the recording files associated with favorites folders. See your system
administrator for access rights.

To create a new favorites subfolder

1. In the SmartAuditor Player, select the Favorites folder in your Workspace pane.
2. From the menu bar, choose File > Folder > New Folder. A new folder appears under the Favorites folder.
3. Type the folder name, then press Enter or click anywhere to accept the new name.
You can use the other options that appear in the File > Folder menu to delete, rename, move, copy, import, and export the folders.