Citrix XenApp 6

Citrix XenApp 6 is the latest version of the XenApp product line, delivering seamless 'thin client' type application access (also known as Server Based Computing and Presentation Virtualization) as well as streamed application access using 'application virtualization'. Both approaches ensure that applications themselves can be centrally managed thereby improving application security and manageability.

XenApp 6 improves on XenApp 5 and is the latest incarnation of the Citrix Presentation Server family, which included Citrix MetaFrame and Citrix WinFrame.

XenApp 6 Requirements

XenApp 6 is only available for Windows 2008 R2, which uses a 64-bit architecture, therefore previous versions of XenApp will not work with Windows 2008 R2. Likewise XenApp 6 will not work with Windows 2008 or Windows 2003 including 64-bit versions of these operating systems.

XenApp 6 Applications

The biggest challenges will come in the application delivery front, where supporting 32-bit applications and the lack of native 64-bit applications will need effective management.

32-bit applications may also cause issues, by failing at the installation stage, as the installers they use to install them may be actually 16-bit and therefore won't work on 64-bit architecture.

Internet Explorer 6 is not supported on Windows 2008 R2, therefore web applications which will only work with this version of Internet Explorer will need to be migrated to Internet Explorer 7 or some other way used to deliver these applications without voiding Microsoft's End User License Agreement (EULA) on Internet Explorer 6.

As with all application migrations, it is vitally important that thorough testing is undertaken to ensure compatibility with the latest version of the Windows Server platform. There are several third party tools which can aid in speeding up the testing process including determining compatibility from a technical perspective to helping in ascertaining the usability of applications.

XenApp 6 Improvements

Like any newer version of XenApp, improvements in scalability and the user experience are always touted and XenApp 6 is no exception. Improvements in user density, that is, the number of users being handled by the XenApp server are said to have increased. Other features include:

 • Single Management Console: No more having to juggle between the MMC based console and the old Java based Presentation Server console, with the new MMC console consolidating all functionality. The new console does not work with previous versions and the Advanced Configuration does not work with this version either.

 • Role based installation: XenApp 6 includes a new role based installation, whereby during the installation, the role of the server such as License Server, Web Interface Server to just plain old XenApp server can be specified.

 • Group Policy templates and integration: With the introduction of Group Policy templates and integration with Microsoft's Active Directory Group Policy based management, additional configuration can be enabled.

 • Worker Groups: Allow the Farm server settings to be applied to new servers depending on where they are located in the Active Directory.

 • App-V integration: Improvements in the integration with Microsoft's App-V, allow for a better user experience and make the management process easier.

XenApp 6 Design

There has been no real significant change to the overall design of XenApp in version 6, with the same principles of design still applying. There's still the License Server, Data Collectors, DataStore, Web Interface to contend with and ensuring placement of these is critical for availability of service.

XenApp 6 Datastore

The structure of the datastore has been changed therefore communication from previous versions of XenApp is not possible, so mixed farms can not be implemented, as they could cause datastore corruption.

IBM DB2 and Microsoft Access databases are now not supported by XenApp 6.0.