With the recently released Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2209 and Citrix Linux VDA 2209, we are excited to announce the Citrix Linux VDA now supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux/Rocky Linux 8.6 and Ubuntu 22.04 distributions.

This is the first release to support Rocky Linux, which is an open-source enterprise operating system designed to be 100 percent bug-for-bug compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). CentOS reached end of life at the end of 2021, so customers can now move to Rocky Linux as a CentOS 8 replacement.

The diagram below shows the latest operating system versions that the Citrix Linux VDA supports at the time of this writing. Learn more about supported distributions for every release in our system requirement documentation.

Planning Your OS Upgrade

It is important to stay current with your OS upgrades because using an unsupported OS can create security risks and challenges around support from Citrix and OS vendors. However, we understand that it can be overwhelming and confusing to figure out which OS version you should move to. Different organizations might adopt different policies on how they upgrade to the latest Linux OS. Some organizations are flexible enough to follow every minor release, while others might opt to skip releases to have months — or years — to plan and validate the next Linux platform.

Sometimes, customers need to run multiple vendors’ software with Citrix virtual desktops, so it’s important to consider all vendors’ system requirements when IT admins make system upgrade plans. Let’s take a closer look at which Citrix Linux VDAs are supported to align with different OS vendor releases so you can accurately plan your upgrades. It is important to note that release plans are subject to change.

Ubuntu Support

Citrix’s support plan for Ubuntu releases is simple: Citrix only supports Ubuntu LTS releases. Ubuntu 22.04 is recently supported, and in the future, Citrix intends to support the next LTS release according to the Ubuntu lifecycle and release cadence.

When Ubuntu has reached the end of hardware and maintenance updates support, Citrix will deprecate the support in future releases, as well. This means the deprecated OS won’t be verified over future Linux VDA releases. Refer to the deprecation page for more information.

RHEL, CentOS and Rocky Linux Support

Citrix’s Linux VDA-RHEL packages are applicable for CentOS and Rocky Linux, as well. The OS support planning is based primarily on the RHEL lifecycle.

RHEL/CentOS 7.9 is the last minor release of version 7, according to the RHEL lifecycle page, REHL’s Maintenance Support 2 ends on June 24, 2024, so Citrix plans to support RHEL/CentOS 7.9 until that point. Similarly, RHEL/Rocky 8.10 and 9.10 are the last minor releases of versions 8 and 9. Citrix plans to support them throughout their lifecycles, as well.

There are specifics to how Citrix supports RHEL. First, Let’s take a closer look at RHEL8 minor releases to understand REHL’s support. Review this lifecycle diagram on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Life Cycle page.

You can see the Extended Update Support (EUS) is applied to all even-numbered releases, which means that customers who are eligible for EUS can stay with the particular release for up to 24 months. This is critical for customers who prefer a stable workload environment.

The Citrix Linux VDA team uses the RHEL8 lifecycle as a primary reference resource. We plan to support the minor releases until they reach end of EUS, if applicable. We will do a quick verification/deprecation over non-EUS available releases within their six-month lifecycle only.

With this said, Citrix strongly suggests that all organizations target the use of the even numbered minor releases (ex. 8.4, 8.6) to ensure the best Citrix support. You will then have the option to stay on RHEL 8.10, which has a very long lifecycle, or upgrade to a higher major release.

This rule is also applicable for RHEL/Rocky version 9, which is targeted to be supported by the Linux VDA soon.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Support

According to the SUSE Linux lifecycle, a new SP version will be released around every 12 months, and there are six-month overlaps between two releases’ general end dates. Citrix Linux VDA will support every new release and deprecate the previous release at the right time.

Keeping Your Environments Up to Date

For other platforms, the Citrix Linux VDA team will continue to refresh its roadmap to ensure alignment with business requirements and platform releases. We want to best support you, so please contact your sales representative for more information, if necessary.

As you can see, there are a number of Linux distributions to choose from to best fit your needs, and making sure your environments are up to date and on fully supported versions is imperative. Citrix is here to help and is excited to have organizations get the most out of the Linux VDA. Stay in the loop by following the What’s New page, and keep an eye on the System Requirement page for more information on the latest Linux distributions.

Disclaimer: The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion and are subject to change without notice or consultation. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.