Citrix Master Class: Prepare for the upcoming Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops LTSR Q&A

As we approach the End of Life date for the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 1912 LTSR  on December 18, 2024 now is the time to prepare for what’s next. Planning and executing upgrade plans can be challenging, especially in large environments. This Master Class will prepare you for the move to our upcoming LTSR.

[Related: Download the Citrix LTSR Upgrade Checklist here]

For those of you who were able to join us live, thank you for your time and attention. We received many good questions during our live Q&A session, but time constraints allowed us to answer only a few.

You can find all the responses to the questions we answered live in this blog and answers to the questions we didn’t have time to respond to. We’ve split the questions into sections in line with our webinar topics to help you find any answers you may be looking for:

• What’s new in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops LTSR
• Supportability requirements
• Migration paths for on-premises deployments

What’s new in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops LTSR

Will Browser Content Redirection (BCR) be supported with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR?

Yes, Browser Content Redirection will be a compatible component on the Citrix Workspace app 2402 LTSR and needs to be enabled. Please see the browser content redirection documentation for more.

Is Autoscale available in a previous version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops so we can test before the 2402 LTSR release?

Autoscale has been available since Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2305. The best way to start preparing for the upcoming LTSR is to test the latest CR. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2311 are available now and are great starting points for deployment into your pre-production environments.

Does Autoscale in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops work with cloud providers, or is that functionality still only for Citrix DaaS?

Autoscale supports all the platforms that Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops support. This includes various infrastructure platforms, including Citrix Hypervisor, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure Resource Manager, VMware vSphere, and many more. For a complete list of supported platforms, see System Requirements for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

Note: When adding public cloud host connections to your deployment, you need a Hybrid Rights License or Universal licensing.

Are there any other monitoring innovations on Citrix Director?

Some of the latest enhancements to Citrix Director are:

• User interface improvements – The Citrix Director user interface is now refreshed with a modern look and feel. The new and improved user interface provides easier navigation and better data representation. The enhanced experience is intuitive and designed to easily comprehend the data required to monitor and troubleshoot a Citrix session.

• Playback live and recorded sessions – Citrix Director now supports playing back recorded and live user sessions that are recorded using the Session Recording service. 

• End-to-end Network Hop view – The end-to-end network hop view is the next step towards enhancing troubleshooting workflows in Citrix Director. The User Details > Session Performance > Session Topology section visually represents the end-to-end network hop view for connected HDX sessions. For more information, see the End-to-end Network Hop view.

• MS Teams Optimization – Director displays if Microsoft Teams is optimized. This can be viewed in the User Details page > Session Details panel. This information is available for VDA version 2311 and later. Director displays the status of the Microsoft Teams optimization only if Microsoft Teams is running as a published app or inside a published desktop.  

• Probes Overview enhancements – Probe Metrics and the Probe Failure Stages summary are now available on the Probe > Overview page. The Probe Metrics show the count of Scheduled, Failed, Skipped, and Successful runs. For more information, see the Application and Desktop Probing article.

• Revamped Session Logon Duration view – The new Session Logon tab in the User Details page has an enhanced visualization of the logon duration phases. The new representation shows the overlapping of the individual logon phases. Also provided is the description of the individual phases and drill-down into GPO and Profile. For more information, see Diagnose user logon issues.
• Dynamic Session Recording – You can now record the current active session using the Session Recording controls from the User Details screen without re-establishing the session. This feature enables quicker and more effective troubleshooting of session experience-related issues users face. For more information about Dynamic Session Recording, see the Session Recording service article.

Will Citrix support Machine Creation Services (MCS) machines in a vSAN 8 environment in 2402 LTSR?

Beginning with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2308 and newer, Machine Creation Services (MCS) supports provisioning catalogs and machines in a vSAN 8 environment. Support for VMware vSAN 8 in MCS is now available to all the servicing options of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops: 

• Current Release (CR) – 2308 and newer
• Long Term Service Release (LTSR) – VMware vSAN 8 support is available to 2203 LTSR  and 1912 LTSR releases on their cumulative updates (2203 CU4 & 1912 CU8).

For Citrix Provisioning (PVS), VMware vSAN 8 support is available, beginning with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2311. LTSR support will be added in the upcoming 2402 LTSR release, as well as cumulative updates (CUs) for 2203 LTSR and 1912 LTSR. 

Can you provide the support requirements for VDA and Workspace for Microsoft Teams 2.1? 

The classic Teams for VDI will reach the end of availability on June 30th, 2024. The following minimum versions are necessary to support the new Teams client:

Citrix Workspace app:

• Windows 2203 LTSR (and any CU)
• Windows 2302 CR
• Linux 2207
• Mac 2302
• Chrome/HTML5 2301

Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA):

• 1912 CU6
• 2203 LTSR (and any CU)
• 2212 CR

In addition, you must deploy the following registry key on the VDA for the new Teams client to be optimized:

• Location:  HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Citrix\WebSocketService
• Key (REG_Multi_SZ): ProcessWhitelist
• Value: msedgewebview2.exe

See the Microsoft product documentation for more information on the requirements and limitations of using the new Microsoft Teams client in a virtualized environment.

Supportability requirements

Will the next LTSR support Windows Server 2012?

No, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 is not supported with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR. Use of the Microsoft Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 operating systems will require Microsoft extended support.

Supported operating systems for Platform Support:

• Windows Server Core 2022
• Windows Server 2022
• Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option
• Windows Server 2016, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option

See more about system requirements in our product documentation.

Will Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR have Day 1 support for Windows Server 2025?

No, Citrix will provide Day 1 support in a future Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Current Release (CR) that aligns with the GA release of Microsoft Windows Server 2025.

This release will be backward compatible with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR site. However, a Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent CR version that supports Microsoft Windows Server 2025 will be required.

Can the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops databases be migrated to a new SQL server to support the 2402 LTSR requirements?

Yes, If your goal is to migrate your on-premise Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops databases from one SQL server to another, this article provides a comprehensive guide to help you through the process.

Can we continue to use Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop 7 1912 LTSR after the EOL on December 18, 2024?

Long Term Service Release will reach the end of active and security support five years after release. Incremental updates are delivered in the form of Cumulative Updates (CU). Use the Citrix Product Lifecycle page for the latest product lifecycle milestones and dates. 

What versions of App Layering are supported with CVAD 2402 LTSR?

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2402 LTSR is compatible with all the currently supported versions of Citrix App Layering as listed in the Citrix Product Lifecycle Matrix

Is a mix of Citrix Workspace app on end-user devices supported?

Citrix Workspace app is compatible with all the currently supported versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service), and Citrix Gateway as listed in the Citrix Product Lifecycle Matrix. 

Workspace Environment Management is covered by the Current Releases (CR) lifecycle of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. Current Releases will reach End of Maintenance (EOM) 6 months after the release date.  Citrix recommends customers adopt the latest Current Release. Current Releases will reach End of Life (EOL) 18 months after the release date.

Migration paths for on-premises deployments

Is an in-place upgrade from Microsoft Windows Server 2016 to Windows Server 2019 on the VDA machine supported?

You have two options to upgrade the OS in a VDA machine without reimaging. The first option is to install a supported VDA agent for the new OS and then upgrade to that OS in place. The second option would be to uninstall the VDA agent, upgrade the OS, and install a new supported VDA agent. Otherwise, the Citrix software will be in an unsupported state.

For more information, see our article on Reimage or upgrade the machine.

Can I upgrade existing Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 1912 LTSR to 2402 LTSR?

Yes, you can upgrade to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR from:

• Virtual Apps and Desktops 1912 through the latest CU.
• Virtual Apps and Desktops 2203 through the latest CU.
• Currently supported CR versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

The Product Matrix table lists the lifecycle dates announced for Citrix products and product versions that have yet to reach the end of their lifecycle. 

Will LTSR 2402 support multiple site management in Web Studio?

One Web Studio console is mapped to a single Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site by default. You can configure a Web Studio console to manage multiple sites when necessary. This way, you can install only one Web Studio to configure and manage all your sites.

When configuring and deploying the sites, keep the following items in mind:

• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2311 and later.
• The Delivery Controller version must either match the Web Studio version or be earlier than it, with a minimum requirement of 2311 or later.
• This feature is exclusive to Web Studio (web-based) and unavailable with Citrix Studio (Windows-based).

Can you switch to the Next-generation UI in StoreFront? If so, can we revert to the Unified UI?

Yes, you can switch between the Unified and Next-generation experiences in StoreFront by changing the UI Experience setting for the StoreFront Store.

Will the new StoreFront UI experience be customizable?

Yes, the Next-generation experience UI has built-in customizations. See more on those customizations in our product documentation.

The Next-generation experience UI does not support deep customization using the JavaScript and CSS API. 

We currently have StoreFront subscription synchronization enabled for multiple server groups. Do we need to stop the synchronization during an upgrade?

Yes, StoreFront subscription synchronization between the server groups should be disabled during the upgrade process. For more information about subscription synchronization, you can visit the product documentation. 

Are there any recommendations on where to deploy Web Studio? 

You can deploy Web Studio to any Windows Server with Internet Information Service (IIS) installed. For quick deployment, we recommend that you install Web Studio along with a Delivery Controller. In that case, Web Studio is installed as a website on the Delivery Controller. For an enterprise deployment, it is recommended to install Web Studio on a dedicated server that is remote from the Delivery Controller. For more on how to install Web Studio, read our product documentation article. 

Can you have a mix of different VDA versions in a machine catalog? Can I pick a higher functional level to take advantage of new features?

It is generally recommended that all the machines in a given Machine Catalog have the same VDA version for operational management and troubleshooting purposes. You need to choose a functional level that matches your VDA version. Selecting a higher functional level will not grant access to additional features, as that is dependent on the VDA software. Selecting a functional level that is too high for the Machine Catalog may cause registration issues.

Learn More

If you missed the Citrix Master Class webinar, don’t worry. You can view the entire on-demand webinar on our Citrix Master Class hub and access additional resources and product documentation links to help you prepare to move to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR.

Also, visit the new Citrix Community, which will encompass all things Citrix and NetScaler and will bring the global audience together virtually.

How you can leverage & contribute to the Citrix Community:

• Engage in discussions sharing best practices with other Citrix & NetScaler Admins. 
• Contribute your expertise by answering questions.
• Upskill your knowledge with TechZone, technical articles, and education resources.
• Opportunity to contribute community articles.
• Participate in webinars.