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Creating a XenApp® Computer or User policy

This recipe will show you how to create policies in general to configure Computer and User settings for Citrix XenApp.

Getting ready

Before configuring computer and user policies, you have to decide which tool to use to create and configure Citrix policies. As of Citrix XenApp 6.x, you can use both the Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) as Citrix’s AppCenter to create policies. Policies can be managed from only one of the consoles as policies created with GPMC are not visible in AppCenter and vice versa.

When using GPMC, a public hotfix must be installed on the machine that is running on the management console. The latest version can be found at Citrix’s Knowledge Center: http://support.citrix.com/product/xa/v6.5_2008r2/hotfix/general/public/.

How to do it…

To create a Citrix policy that is applied to the XenApp servers with AppCenter, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Citrix XenApp Management Console AppCenter (Start | Administrative Tools | Citrix | Management Consoles).
  2. Navigate to XenApp | <FarmName> | Policies in the left pane.
  3. Click on the Computer tab in the Policies pane.
  4. Click on New to create a new policy.
  5. Enter values in the Name and Description fields for the policy and click on Next.
  6. Select a category in the left pane.
  7. Add a policy setting by clicking on Add in the right pane for each setting.
  8. Configure the policy setting and click on OK.
  9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 to add more policy settings.
  10. Click on Next when all policy settings are configured.
  11. Configure the filter settings and click on Next.

    The filter options are addressed in the next recipe.

  12. Ensure the Enable this policy option is selected and click on Create.

Computer policies are applied to XenApp servers when the server is started or when policy updates are applied to the XenApp server. To force the policies to be applied immediately to the XenApp server, run the following command on the server:

gpupdate /force

To create a Citrix policy that is applied to the XenApp user session with AppCenter, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Citrix XenApp management console AppCenter (Start | Administrative Tools | Citrix | Management Consoles).
  2. Navigate to XenApp | <FarmName> | Policies in the left pane.
  3. Click on the User tab in the Policies pane.
  4. Click on New to create a new policy.
  5. Enter values in the Name and Description fields for the policy and click on Next.
  6. Select a category in the left pane.
  7. Add a policy setting by clicking on Add in the right pane for each setting.
  8. Configure the policy setting and click on OK.
  9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 to add more policy settings.
  10. Click on Next when all policy settings are configured.
  11. Configure the filter settings and click on Next.

    Filter options are addressed in the next recipe.

  12. Ensure the Enable this policy option is selected and click on Create.

Just like Windows User policies, Citrix User policies are applied when the user session starts.

There’s more…

You can read more on creating Citrix policies at Citrix’s eDocs at http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp65-admin/ps-admin-publishing-policies-create-all.html.

See also

  • The Adding filters to a policy recipe
  • The Comparing XenApp® policies and templates recipe
  • The Simulating connection scenario’s with Citrix® policies recipe
  • The Configuring policy priorities and exceptions recipe

Adding filters to a policy

This recipe will show you how to add filters to a policy to apply the policy to a selective group of XenApp servers or user sessions. Policies that are not configured with a filter apply to all XenApp servers in the farm and to all logged on users for a XenApp session. This will have the same effect as using the default unfiltered computer or user policy that cannot have a filter applied to it.

How to do it…

You can apply different policy filters to computer or user policies. To add filters to a Citrix Computer policy follow these steps:

  1. Create a new policy by following steps 1 to 10 from the previous recipe.
  2. Click on Add to configure the Organizational Unit (OU) or Worker Group filter.

  3. Click on Add to configure a filter element.
  4. Configure the mode (allow or deny) and use Browse to find the correct worker group or OU.
  5. Click on OK to add the filter element.
  6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 to add more filter elements.
  7. Click on OK to add the filter to the policy.
  8. Repeat steps 2 to 7 to configure multiple filters for the policy.
  9. Click on Next.
  10. Ensure the Enable this policy option is selected and click on Create.

To add filters to a Citrix User policy follow these steps:

  1. Create a new policy by following the steps 1 to 10 from the previous recipe.
  2. Click on Add to configure Access Control, Branch Repeater, Client IP Address, Client Name, Organizational Unit (OU), User or Group, or Worker Group filter.

  3. Click on Add to configure a filter element.
  4. Configure the mode (allow or deny) and use Browse to find the correct OU, User or Group, or Worker Group, or enter filter-specific settings for Client IP Address, Name, Access Control, or Branch Repeater.
  5. Click on OK to add the filter element.
  6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 to add more filter elements.
  7. Click on OK to add the filter to the policy.
  8. Repeat steps 2 to 7 to configure multiple filters for the policy.
  9. Click on Next.
  10. Ensure the Enable this policy option is selected and click on Create.

See also

  • The Creating a XenApp® Computer or User policy recipe
  • The Comparing XenApp® policies and templates recipe
  • The Simulating connection scenarios with Citrix® policies recipe
  • The Configuring policy priorities and exceptions recipe

Comparing XenApp® policies and templates

This recipe will show you how to compare policy settings with other policies or policy templates by using Citrix’s management console AppCenter to see if policies contain similar settings, contradicting settings, or have no correlation whatsoever.

How to do it…

To compare policies with templates in AppCenter, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Citrix XenApp management console AppCenter (Start | Administrative Tools | Citrix | Management Consoles).
  2. Navigate to XenApp | <FarmName> | Policies in the left pane.
  3. Click on the Templates tab in the Policies pane.

  4. Click on the Compare View icon on the right-hand side of the menu bar.

  5. Select the policies that you want to compare and click on Compare.

    To check the configured policy settings against default policy settings for the XenApp Farm, select a policy, and select the Compare to setting defaults option.

The policy settings from the selected policies are shown and can easily be compared.

To add additional policies to the comparison or check all available policy settings, click on Configured Settings and select either Add/Remove Columns or Show All Settings.

There’s more…

You can read more about comparing policies and templates at Citrix’s eDocs: http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp65-admin/ps-policies-templates-compare.html.

See also

  • The Creating a XenApp® Computer or User policy recipe
  • The Adding filters to a policy recipe
  • The Simulating connection scenarios with Citrix® policies recipe
  • The Configuring policy priorities and exceptions recipe
Packt

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