NetScaler VPX Firmware Update 8015 series or 10 Series Procedure

VPX appliance upgrade Procedure:

Backup Procedure:

1. Backup the NetScaler VPX before upgrade as follows:

      i. Log into NetScaler VPX command line interface through Putty Session by entering username and password

      ii. Save the NetScaler configurations by running the command  

            >save nsconfig

      iii. Create the backup file by running the command

            >create system backup NS01_02_10_2018 -level full 

      iv Now, type "Shell" in order to login to the root of NS VPX

      v  Navigate as follows

          > cd /var

          > ls (notice that you will see a folder created as "ns_sys_backup" )

          > cd ns_sys_backup

          > ls (notice that the backup file will be created with .tgz extension Ex:  NS01_02_10_2018.tgz)

Note: You can perform above steps through GUI as follows:

1. Login to NetScaler VPX through GUI 

2. Click on Configuration Tab and Expand System

3. Click on Backup and Restore

4. Select Backup on the right side

5. Enter file name:  NS01_02_10_2018

6. Type: Full

7. Select Backup and it will create the backup file.

Upgrade Procedure:

1. Download firmware update from mycitrix.com

2. Extract the zip file to a folder: Command: tar –zxvf build-12.0-56.20_nc_32.tgz

3. Upload the firmware update entire folder to the netscaler VPX appliance using WinSCP at the following location /var/nsinstall/build-12.0-56.20_nc_32

4. Log into Net Scaler VPX through Putty session, after entering username and password, type as follows

> Shell

> cd /var/nsinstall

> cd build-12.0-56.20_nc_32

> ./installns

Note: That sometimes permissions are denied error. Change the permissions of the file

> chmod +x ./installns

Verify  whether permissions are applied or not by typing the following command

> ls -l

> ./installns ( this command will begin the installation)

Message appear that to reboot the applicance [Y / N] - Y

If you miss that message. then, go back to the main page and type the command as follows to reboot the appliance. 

> reboot [-warm]

After some time verify by logging into the appliance through browser and check whether update is successful or not.

Note: You can perform above steps through GUI as follows:  

1. Download Netscaler Gateway Firmware update 12.0 Build 56.20 to local workstation downloads

2. Log into Netscaler VPX portal through browser

3. Click on Configuration Tab

4. Under System Information, Click on System Upgrade

5.  Under Select Firmware Option > Choose File > Make sure Local is selected

6. Select the file from downloads

7. Uncheck "Enable Call Home" and Select " Reboot after successful installation"

8. Click on Upgrade

End of Procedure

Unable to launch Published Application through Citrix_Error: Failed to Start

Today, i have encountered an issue with one of the critical application. I have installed all dependencies related to application on citrix server, installed actual application and published all application icons (total of 39) through citrix app center. When i logged into citrix URL and tried to launch any of the 39 published applications, i was getting the following error.



Went through Citrix blogs and found the following solution. - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX132243

As per Citrix Article, Logged into each citrix server and changed the environment variable PATH and made %systemroot% frist and the third party software last.

Thanks alot Citrix for helping us solution this problem.
Kesava

(P.S: if the link is not working, copied the contents in that citrix article below)

Application Launch Error: "The Citrix server is unable to process your request to start this published application at this time."

• CTX132243
• Created onMar 26, 2014
• Updated onSep 10, 2014
• 20 found this helpful

Article

Topic

:

Performance

See Applicable Products

Symptoms or Error

When a user tries to launch any published application hosted on their XenApp or XenDesktop 7 App Edition server, the following error occurs:
“The Citrix server is unable to process your request to start this published application at this time. Please try again later. If the problem persists, contact your administrator.”

Background Information

CtxHide.exe is responsible for hiding the DOS window in which UsrLogon.cmd is running. Cmstart.exe is the initial process that is run when an ICA session is launched, it is called by winlogon. Cmstart.exe is responsible for starting Wfshell.exe which loads the virtual channels and Cltmgr.exe which is the client manager. It is also associated with Icast.exe. If CMSTART is missing from the AppSetup Registry key, then Wfshell.exe is not launched and Icast.exe times.

Solution

Following are the possible solutions to troubleshoot the error:

Solution 1

Move the variable of the location of the third party software after the XenApp variables. After the change, XenApp locates the correct version of cmstart.exe.

“%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32
\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32\;C:\Program Files (x86)
\Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA\Subsystems;
%SystemRoot%\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32;C:\Program Files (x86)
\Common Files\Citrix\System32\;C:\Program Files (x86)\ThirdParty\Bin\;C:\Program Files (x86)
\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;”

Solution 2

Complete the following steps to add values to the AppSetup String Value and resolve the issue:
Caution! Refer to the Disclaimer at the end of this article before using Registry Editor.

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
2. Double-click the AppSetup value.
3. Add the data value cmstart.exe after Cmd separated by a comma.
4. Add the data value CtxHide.exe before the data value UsrLogon.Cmd. There are no commas placed between CtxHide.exe and UsrLogon.Cmd.
   Note: In a XenDesktop 7 App Edition scenario on Windows Server 2012, CtxHide.exe will not be present on the system, and does not need to be included in this registry update.

Following is an example of the AppSetup Value Data: CtxHide.exe UsrLogon.Cmd,cmstart.exe.

Problem Cause

Following are two causes for this error to occur:

Cause 1

One of the possible causes for this issue is that the third party software installation utilizes an executable file named cmstart.exe and modifies the environment variables to point to that executable. Because XenApp uses an executable named cmstart.exe for the launch of published applications, it might confuse and locate the cmstart.exe of the third party software instead. By using the wrong version of cmstart.exe the launch process breaks. One common reason for XenApp to locate the wrong cmstart.exe is because the third party software might have modified the environment path variables to point to its own cmstart.exe. XenApp does the same to locate cmstart.exe for published application launch process. So the variables provided by the third party software get the priority.

Example

This is the default environment path variable before the third party software installation on a XenApp 6.0 server. The location of cmstart.exe of XenApp 6.0 is “C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32\cmstart.exe”.

“%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\
WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32\;C:\Program Files (x86)\
Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA\Subsystems;
%SystemRoot%\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32;C:\Program Files 
(x86)\Common Files\Citrix\System32\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\
Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;”

This is the modified environment path variable after the third party software installation on a XenApp 6.0 server. The location of cmstart.exe of the third party software is “C:\Program Files (x86)\ThirdParty\Bin\cmstart.exe”.

C:\Program Files (x86)\ThirdParty\Bin\;“%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\
System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program Files (x86)\
Citrix\system32\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\Program Files (x86)\
Citrix\System32\Citrix\IMA\Subsystems;%SystemRoot%\System32\Citrix\IMA;C:\
Program Files (x86)\Citrix\system32;C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Citrix\System32\;C:\
Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\;C:\Program Files (x86)\
Microsoft SQL Server\100\DTS\Binn\;”

Cause 2

The Cmstart.exe and/or Ctxhide.exe are not listed under the AppSetup registry key on the XenApp Server:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AppSetup

Unable to launch the published application

Working on an issue today. When user tries to launch published citrix application, they are getting the error - requested resource can not be launched.' Troubleshooting should be as follows.

1. Checked the published application path/ Location in the citrix app center - see whether there are any comma's, spaces missing in the published application path. Like for example, I was trying to publish Remote Desktop Tool to general users. You need to make sure the command line and working directory are published correctly.

Command Line: C:\Windows\System32\mstsc.exe "C:\RDP\rmstools1.svr.us.jpmchase.net.RDP"

Working Directory: C:\Windows\System32\

2. Login to Citrix server where this icons are published and run qfarm/load,  If you see the server name and the load as 10,000, even though there are no actual users connected to the server, then please implement the following method to resolve the issue.

3.

The specific issue with this server was because the Windows performance counter was corrupt / damaged.

The below message was displayed when I launched PerfMon.

 Performance Monitor Control - Unable to add these counters

I took the following steps to resolve the issue:

-       Run the command lodctr.exe /r at a command prompt

-       Restarted the IMA service

 While this fixed the problem and the server now reports the correct load.

Citrix Ports and Port Numbers

Most Command Port for Citrix Environment:

Citrix License Server
Component                           Type     Port     Details
License Manager Daemon     TCP     27000  Handles initial point of contact for license requests (Lmadmin.exe)
Citrix Vendor Daemon          TCP    7279   Check-in/check-out of Citrix licenses (Citrix.exe)
License Management Console  TCP  8082   Web-based administration console (Lmadmin.exe)

Citrix Provisioning Services:

Provisioning Server - UDP - 6890-6909
Microsoft SQL Server - TCP 1433
Domain Controller - TCP - 389
Broadcast/ PXE Service - UDP - 67/4011 ( Obtaining Network Boot Infromation in case DHCP Options 66 - TFTP Server Name (Bootstrap Protocol Server) and 67 - Bootfile Name (Bootstrap Protocol Client) are not configured or boot from ISO / local disk not user.
TFTP Server UDP - 69 Trivial File Transfer (TFTP) for Bootstrap delivery
Provisioning Server UDP 6910 Target Device logon at provisioning services
                              UDP 6910-6930 vDisk Streaming (streaming service) (Configurable)
                              UDP 6969 Two Stage Boot. Used in boot from ISO or USB
Provisioning Server TCP 54321 SOAP Service
                               TCP 54322 SOAP Service

Using Citrix Provisioning Services

Citrix Provisioning Services enables you to stream a single desktop image to create multiple virtual desktops on one or more servers in a data center. This facility greatly reduces the amount of storage required compared to other methods of creating virtual desktops.

If you are installing Provisioning Services in your environment, you can configure pooled virtual desktops to revert to a clean state after users log off. To do this, complete the following tasks:

• Create the virtual machine to use as your base image and install the following software on that virtual machine:
  

  • Citrix Virtual Desktop Agent
  • Integration Services
  • Citrix Provisioning Services Target Device for x86 Platform
• Create a Provisioning Services virtual disk (vDisk) based on the virtual machine image, using the Provisioning Services Virtual Image Builder.
• Set the access mode for the vDisk to Standard Image (multi-client, write cache enabled).
• Assign the vDisk to the virtual machines you will use as pooled virtual desktops.
• On the Logoff Behavior page of the Create Desktop Group wizard, select Restart the virtual desktop.