３月になり各種シトリックスのクライアントモジュールがアップデートされました。

シトリックスのクライントモジュールは現在Citrix Receiverという総称になっています。Receiverに対してplug-inという形で各種機能が提供されます。過去シトリックスのクライアントといえばICAクライアントといわれていましたが、こちらは現在online plug-inという名前になりました。そのほかにアプリケーションストリーミングのためのoffline plug-inやSSL VPN(Access Gateway)plug-inなどがあります。plug-inに関してはReceiverを使わなくても単独でのインストールも可能です。ただReceiverを使えば、Marchandising Serverという仮想アプライアンスを利用してplug-inのサーバーでの集中管理を行うことができます。

またReceiverに関しては、Windowsだけでなく各種プラットフォーム向けにも提供されておりWindows/Mac版以外はReceiverに各機能がセットになって提供されます。そして今回のリリースでReceiver for Windowsが日本語環境で正式サポートされるようになりました。またMac版に対しても新しくReceiver for Macが提供されWindows版と同様にMarchandising Serverによるplug-inの集中管理が可能になりました。ただし、Receiver for Mac自体はまだ日本語環境ではサポートされていません。

Mac版のonline plug-inは11.1にアップデートされ、Mac OS 10.6(snow leopard)にも正式対応しました。こちらは過去の平田さんのblogにあるように日本語環境でもサポートされます。（設定メニューは英語です）

http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=94437446

なお、Mac版にて日本語入力を行う場合は今回のバージョンより、ローカルのMacの日本語入力プログラム（ことえりなど）からのみのサポートになりました。リモートのIMEによる入力はサポートされません。日本語入力する場合は一回Macの別の横の長方形のWindowsに表示されて確定後にリモートのデスクトップ・アプリケーションに送信されます。

ちなみにReceiver for MacはIntel Macのみサポートですが、

http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/receiver-mac-12/rec-mac-12-sys-reqs.html

Mac用online plug-inはPowerPC Macもサポートされています。

http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/plugin-mac/mac-sys-reqs.html

以下ダウンロードリンクです。

Citrix Receiver for Windows - Version 1.2

http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862706

Citrix Merchandising Server - Version 1.2

http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862705&productId=1689163

Citrix Online Plug-in for Mac - Version 11.1

http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862769&productId=186&c1=sot2755

Citrix Receiver for Mac - Version 1.2

http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862707&productId=1689163

Dazzleもアップデートされ日本語環境サポートになりました。Dazzleは自分でXenApp/XenDesktopの公開アプリケーションやデスクトップを管理する（セルフサービス）ためのフロントエンドGUIです。Dazzleを利用するために既存のXenApp/XenDesktopのシステムの変更や追加のサーバーは必要ありません。

Dazzle 1.1.1
http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862768

Check out our Pod at Mobile World Congress. We are guests of RIM. The booth is pretty cool... all of the pods look like Storm devices. Their conference booth is located at STAND 8B192, STAND 7B26, STAND 8B178. At our booth, the local Citrix team in Spain is demonstrating Citrix Receiver for mobile devices.

Thanks to our friends at RIM for providing their space and support.

Or Windows on Mac, Thin Client, WinMo, iPhone...

The list grows as Citrix Receiver continues to make the end computing device ambigous. In a previous post I showed how Windows applications or desktops can be delivered to an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad.

Right after the post, the guys in engineering called me up and said, "Hey, we're not finished yet...". In addition to iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, Citrix Receiver also runs on Android, WinMo, Thin Clients, Mac and PC platforms.

The small feat of magic is that all of this can also be run from a web browser.

I can see it now, you are roaming somewhere, and think, ok let me login to work for a couple of seconds to check something. You launch the browser on your mobile device, Mac, PC or Thin Client and your Desktop is streamed to you. While checking a few things in your work desktop, you navigate away to take a call or use a local app, then navigate back to your work desktop ... the way you just left it.

Mobility and the way we live, play and work has just been turned on it's ear. Bring your own computer (BYOC), an industry momentum started by Citrix, is now a reality for companies that don't mind providing the desktops and applications for employees to get their work done, but would rather do without the time and expense of maintaining specialized hardware out in the field, or even on employees desks.

Citrix runs Windows applications and Desktops from a central server, called XenDesktop, and pipes it out to your mobile device through the NetScaler AGEE so the data is secure on both the Client and Server side. So, just in case you are not fanatical about the iPhone or iPad, you can still take advantage of the most awesome technology to hit the computing model for the average person. Citrix Receiver along with XenApp and XenDesktop becomes an incredible deal for organizations with a number of different Clients ... after all the personal computing device is personal, and you can't always choose the device the end user will show up with.

Having seen a Windows 7 Desktop running on an iPhone, a PC and a Mac, I wasn't all that surprised when engineering showed me Windows 7 Desktop running on Android. If you don't think you need the entire Desktop, you can pipe one or two applications to these devices using XenApp and Citrix Receiver.

We used the previous infrastructure for this Proof Of Concept, because it was already setup with XenApp and XenDesktop. The only new pieces were the end devices. Once again, we used the Citrix Web Interface in XenApp for authentication to keep it simple, however, we have done POC's with the same setup using LDAP and two factor authentication from the NetScaler AGEE.

Guides

You can have this setup, by following the guides we wrote up as a result of this testing.

Download the Deployment Guide - ICA Proxy for Citrix Receiver.
Download the Deployment Guide - ICA Proxy for Citrix Web Interface.

Citrix Products used in this POC

XenServer
XenApp
XenDesktop
NetScaler AGEE
Citrix Receiver v2.1

Client devices

iPhone
iPod touch
iPad
Mac
PC
Android
WinMo
Thin Client

Watch it live

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This is popular advice: don't wait until you have to change, do it while you can choose how and when. I believe it's time to apply that to the front end architecture for XenApp and XenDesktop.

Has It Been 10 Years Already?

Well, nearly ten. Ten years since Web Interface was conceived, nearly ten since it was launched as NFuse 1.0 in March 2000. Back then it was pretty basic: a few Java objects handling communication with MetaFrame 1.8 using an XML protocol, and offering a simple template language for constructing web pages and ICA files dynamically. Oh, and some example web pages to illustrate how they could be used. Sort of an early Lego MindStorms, but without the Lego ...or the robotics ...or - okay, okay, not really Lego MindStorms at all: it was just a construction kit.
 
Seeing as perhaps it didn't have quite the same level of fun as Lego Mindstorms, I guess it's not surprising that people started to ask, politely, if there could be a working example with, let's say, a standard login page and list of apps you could launch. Point taken: NFuse 1.5 shipped in March 2001 as the first turnkey release.

So it started; the idea of accessing apps and desktops via the web caught on. It made sense, but it needed a little more: a way to give users the ICA client would be useful. A way to tell if they had an old version and should upgrade would be good. How about supporting stronger authentication for the Internet, like one time passwords - you can? Great! Credit for a lot of rapid innovation goes to a group of people, pretty much all in customer facing roles, who seized the opportunity to forge ahead. Jay Tomlin is still revered for Project Columbia; a rich collection of features rivalling what Web Interface offers today. It was still 2001.

How Old is 10 in Web Years?

Web Interface has changed a lot since then, even if it isn't always obvious. Web security became a big deal, thanks to hundreds of penetration tests and audits. The demise of Microsoft's Java VM resulted in a switch to J# and ASP.NET (WI3). The Java objects eventually gave way to a completely new SDK (WI4). A major UI redesign (WI5) finally swapped tables for stylesheets - and white for black (sorry about that). Versions for SharePoint, WebSphere and other portals appeared along the way, along with more features than I can remember. Over the years Web Interface became essential, used by nearly 90% of XenApp customers and 100% of XenDesktop customers. For 50% of customers, it is the only access method.

That's all deeply fascinating, I hear you say, but what's my point - is ten a magic number?

Well, perhaps it is. You see, I believe it's time for a change - no, more than a change, a regeneration. A Doctor Who moment of sorts. The feedback I get is that Web Interface is serving customers well, and yet increasingly I hear how you want more. People are moving well beyond simple app and desktop access via the web; your environments are more complex, there are more access scenarios, more types of devices, greater diversity of users - indeed, greater diversity of most things - and now user expectations are going through the roof as the digital generation goes to work. As architect, I see how much Web Interface is being stretched trying to satisfy more and more requirements, and I see the cracks getting wider.

We all want to take things to a higher level. My message is that we need a new foundation to do that. After all, how old is ten in web years?

Enter Delivery Web Services, Dazzle, Receiver, Merchandising Server, and more. Delivery Web Services is the new bedrock designed to support native clients and web apps alike. Receiver and Dazzle signify a componentized approach to clients, as well as an invigorated focus on user experience and design. Merchandising Server is the start of a tool set for holistic delivery of IT services (whether in-house or out-sourced) to disparate end points.

My focus is on the web services, client components, and other infrastructure behind the scenes in this picture; that's primarily what I'll be blogging about in the coming months.

How Fast Does the Future Get Here?

A new foundation is all well and good, but it raises some thorny questions. How do we minimize disruption and confusion as 200,000 customers migrate to a new platform, and how long will it take? The only way I can see to do it is scenario by scenario, with a clear roadmap of the steps along the way. Even that will be a challenge because 200,000 customers cover a lot of scenarios, no matter how you group them, and the adage applies to us as much as to Microsoft that everyone uses a different 20% of the product.

Often, with a new platform, there are some signficant changes in approach, and a rethinking of assumptions. That is certainly true here, and I and others will be blogging about these over the coming months, to test whether our assumptions are valid and if our design choices will hold up. Our aim is to be open about what we are planning to do and why, so you can point out where we are getting it wrong. I think it is clear by now that you can change what we do, but I also believe you'll like where we're heading.

 
So don't panic! It's clear that Web Interface is going to be in use for years to come, and I'm sure we'll be supporting it for a long time (though hopefully not another 10 years!). I expect it will be updated to cope with updates to the OS, browsers, clients etc; probably a few more features will sneak in too. But increasingly our development focus will be (I would argue, needs to be) on building out capabilities in the Delivery Web Services bedrock, extending Dazzle to more scenarios, and building a web version of Dazzle+Receiver - maybe even more than one.  That's the beauty of the new platform: we can afford to build more UIs, each a better fit for its intended use, rather than always packing yet more features into the sardine tin that is Web Interface.  But beauty aside, I believe, quite simply, that now is a good time to build a new foundation, while we can still discuss the details and adjust the roadmap. I hope you will understand, and guide us on the best way to proceed.

Andrew Innes
Citrix Architect for Web Interface, Dazzle, Delivery Web Services, and assorted clients

Deliver any application to Citrix Receiver for iPhone, securely through the Access Gateway Enterprise Edition - AGEE.

Citrix Delivery Center is a dynamic virtualization system that transforms applications and desktops into on-demand services that enable users to securely and productively work and play from anywhere.

Citrix Delivery Center, composed of XenDesktop, XenApp, XenServer and NetScaler, virtualizes servers, desktops and applications, centralizes them in the datacenter and broadcasts them as an on-demand service.

When combined with the Citrix Receiver for iPhone, Citrix Delivery Center enables users to open documents, update reports, approve expenses, join a webinar, and make use of so many applications - from your iPhone. It is safe, simple and high definition using Citrix HDX technology.

This solution was built using the components of Citrix Delivery Center - namely XenServer to host the Windows 2008 Server running XenApp, which then published the applications, such as Microsoft Office. The applications were proxied through a NetScaler AGEE with SSL encryption for the ICA Protocol, to the end user on the iPhone running Citrix Receiver.

Download the Deployment Guide here.

Citrix Receiver is available on the Apple iPhone App Store.

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The long waited XenApp Plugin and Dazzle for Mac OS X has been released to the general public!

Mac users can access their hosted applications from their desktop or a web interface with the new XenApp Plugin for Mac.

You will find new in this release, Citrix Dazzle - an easy way to choose exactly which applications you need, when you need it - apps, your desktop, or any IT delivered service. Simply browse or search for the app or IT service you need. Users decide the folders that appear in their Applications folder. Simply click to create, then drag and drop any app or IT service.

Here's a list of new features:

• Dazzle - is provided to enable users to browse, select and launch applications from a native Mac UI.
• Improved Multi-monitor support.
• Browser plug-in - enables Web Interface to determine the plug-in installed in the system and offer to upgrade if appropriate. Also, no more .ica files in the downloads folder!
• System preferences - plug-in preferences are now set via a system preferences pane.
• Cleartype remoting.

Install instructions:

If you are currently running version 10 of the Mac ICA Client, you can upgrade to the latest build by just running the new installer.

Downloads:

XenApp Plugin 11.0

Admin Guide