Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

• Export and Import Policies
• Intro to Citrix
• Upgrading Client VDA
• Upgrading Components
• Upgrading the Site and Database

Export and Import Policies

Exporting the Policy

Complete the following procedure to export the policy:

1. From the Desktop Delivery Controller as an Administrator role account.

2. Open PowerShell : Add-PSSnapin Citrix*

3. Export-BrokerDesktopPolicy | Out-File -FilePath "C:\Temp\CitrixExportPolicy.txt"

    

The preceding commands exports the policy to a binary file.

Importing the Policy

Complete the following procedure to import the policy:

1. From the Desktop Delivery Controller as an Administrator role account.

2. Open PowerShell : Add-PSSnapin Citrix*

3. Import-BrokerDesktopPolicy (Get-Content "C:\Temp\CitrixExportPolicy.txt")

 

Intro to Citrix

 

Lifecycle

Current Releases will reach End of Maintenance 6 months after the release date. Current Release. Current Releases will reach End of Life 18 months after the release date.

A Long Term Service Release will reach End of Life 5 years after the release date. A Long Term Service Release will reach End of Extended Support 10 years after the release date.

Upgrading Client VDA

To upgrade VDAs installed on machines running Windows 8.x or Window 7 to Windows 10, Citrix recommends reimaging Windows 7 and Windows 8.x machines to Windows 10 and then installing the supported VDA for Windows 10. If reimaging is not an option, uninstall the VDA before upgrading the operating system; otherwise, the VDA will be in an unsupported state.

Upgrading Components

Upgrade procedure

Insert the installation media or mount the ISO drive for the new release. Double-click AutoSelect.

To use the command-line interface, see Install using the command line.

1. Install more than one core component is installed on the same server (for example, the Controller, Studio, and License Server) and several of those components have new versions available, they will all be upgraded when you run the installer on that server.

If any core components are installed on machines other than the Controller, run the installer on each of those machines. The recommended order is: License Server, StoreFront, and then Director.

2. Run the product installer on machines containing VDAs. (See Step 9 for master images and Machine Creation Services.)
3. If Studio is installed on a different machine than one you’ve already upgraded, run the installer on the machine where Studio is installed.
4. From the newly upgraded Studio, upgrade the Site database.
5. From the newly upgraded Studio, select Citrix Studio site-name in the navigation pane. Select the Common Tasks Select Upgrade remaining Delivery Controllers.
6. After completing the upgrade close and then reopen Studio. Studio might prompt for an additional Site upgrade.
7. In the Site Configuration section of the Common Tasks page, select Perform registration. Registering the Controllers makes them available to the Site.
8. After upgrading components, the database, and the Site, test the newly-upgraded Site. From Studio, select Citrix Studio site-name in the navigation pane. Select the Common Tasks tab and then select Test Site. These tests were run automatically after you upgraded the database, but you can run them again at any time.
9. After you upgrade and test the deployment, update the VDA used in the master images (if you haven’t done that already). Update master images that use those VDAs. See Update or create a new master image. Then update machine catalogs that use those master images, and upgrade Delivery Groups that use those catalogs.

Upgrading the Site and Database

Upgrade Steps

After upgrading the core components and VDAs, use the newly upgraded Studio to initiate an automatic or manual database and Site upgrade.

Remember: Check the Preparation section above for permission requirements.

• For an automatic database upgrade, the Studio user’s permissions must include the ability to update the SQL Server database schema.
• For a manual upgrade, the Studio user runs some of the generated scripts from Studio. The database administrator runs other scripts, using either the SQLCMD utility or the SQL Server Management Studio in SQLCMD mode. Otherwise, inaccurate errors can result.

Citrix strongly recommends that you back up the database before upgrading. See CTX135207. During a database upgrade, product services are disabled. During that time, Controllers cannot broker new connections for the site, so plan carefully.

After the database upgrade completes and product services are enabled, Studio tests the environment and configuration, and then generates an HTML report. If problems are identified, you can restore the database backup. After resolving issues, you can upgrade the database again.

Upgrade the database and site automatically:

Launch the newly upgraded Studio. After you choose to start the site upgrade automatically and confirm that you are ready, the database and site upgrade proceeds.