sachathomet.ch

The stony road of a VDI migration from Windows 7 to Windows 10

E2EVCRome

sachathomet.ch About me

@sacha81

sachathomet.ch

sachathomet.ch Content

• The Story “our stony road”• Stumbling blocks• Do’s and Don’ts• Conclusion

sachathomet.ch Twitter Poll

• 07/2016

sachathomet.ch The Story

• 2014 decision we migrate to Windows 8

• 4/2015 decision revised, we take Windows 10

• 10/2015 first physical desktops ready (W10 RTM)

• 12/2015 Change from RTM to Version 1511

• 04/2016 Users are working on Win10 with

dedicated and pooled desktops!

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The Story - Initial Situation

Desktops on Windows 7 (x64)• 4500 physical Desktops• 150 pooled VDI (PVS)• 200 dedicated VDI (classic installed)

• Authentication with Smart Card (internal)• Authentication with SMS (external)• 3 different Network Zones with Citrix

components (for security paranoia ...)

sachathomet.ch The Story - Target

Desktops on Windows 10 - Goals• New Hardware Fat Clients but less of those• Much more pooled VDI‘s on Win10 (still on

PVS)• Some dedicated VDI on W10• BYOD for all external Partners• Authentication with virtual Smart Cards• External Authentication Network Zones unchanged• Hypervisor (ESX) and Hw in datacenter

unchanged

sachathomet.ch The Story - My findings based on

- We are doing Microsoft Current Branch and Citrix Current Release ...

- We started with 1507 (RTM),as soon we was almost ready changed to 1511 and now we are changing to 1607

- We started with 7.6 and are now on 7.11

- We don’t use modern apps, no business need.

sachathomet.ch The Story - What we have now

Desktops on Windows 10 • 200 pooled VDI (PVS)• 350 dedicated VDI (classic installed)• 11 VDIs still on Win7

sachathomet.ch

What exists?When we started there was not much ... • Daniel Feller‘s Blog ...

Stumbling blocks -Theory …

sachathomet.ch Stumbling blocks

Missing Support & Features

• Citrix PVS not ready when Win10 was released

sachathomet.ch Stumbling blocks

Missing Support & Features

• Roaming Profile with Win 10 – a Nightmare!

• With UPM: Exclude usrclass.dat and !ctx_localappdata!\TileDataLayer(See http://www.carlstalhood.com/citrix-profile-management )

• Be aware, Win10 1511 has v5 profiles and Win10 1607 has v6 profiles!

• Want know more about Profiles? Read this Article from James Rankin : http://www.htguk.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about_26

sachathomet.ch Stumbling blocks

Missing Support & Features

• Windows 10 Black Screen after Logon– https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX205179

– Btw for XenApp https://helgeklein.com/blog/2015/04/citrix-xenapp-7-6-logon-slow-long-black-screen-phase

– Add vCPUs

sachathomet.ch Stumbling blocks

Missing Support & FeaturesToday still not here

• Disconnect option in a Win10 VDI in Citrix

sachathomet.ch

Bug’s we found …• Clipboard Bug for months

Stumbling blocks

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Bug’s we found …• Microsoft updates make VDA 7.6 unusable

How to fix it:• Start in save mode• uninstall WSUS Patch• Install CTX Patch• install WSUS Patch

Stumbling blocks

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Bug’s we found …

• A number of issues with Smart Cards

Stumbling blocks

sachathomet.ch

PVS streamed same virtual Hw

Stumbling blocks – Login Time

152 sec,2,5 min !

sachathomet.ch

Login Time - PVS streamed Stumbling blocks

+ 2 vCPU+ 4 GB Memory+ neue Citrix Version+ Registry Hacks

sachathomet.ch

sachathomet.ch

Uber Agent vs Director according Login Time

Stumbling blocks

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Uber Agent vs Director according Login Time

How director workshttps://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/08/19/interactive-session-of-logon-duration-in-citrix-director-explained

Stumbling blocks

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Login Time - PVS streamed effect of adding vCPUs

Stumbling blocks

02.05.2023Virtuelle Desktops auf Windows 10

sachathomet.ch

CB / CR vs LTSB / LTSR?

• When changing from 1507 to 1511 some of the things stopped working proper (Smart Card)

• Some parts of the VDI are improved with newer version – some this are no more working!(Citrix CR is easy and VDAs can technical be mixed)

Stumbling blocks

sachathomet.ch Do’s

• Do a proper Performance testing on your environment

• Do choose the right branch for you, if you choose CB/CR you start a hunt to every version!

• Ensure Users have a current Citrix Receiver

sachathomet.ch Don’t’s

• Don‘t disable the Windows Search!

• Don‘t use Smart Cards if you have the choice!

sachathomet.ch

Stumbling blocks -Theory …

What exists today?Blogs:- James Rankin (@AppSenseBigot)

http://appsensebigot.blogspot.com - Daniel Feller‘s Win10 Series

https://virtualfeller.com/blogs/ Presentation:- #VDILIKEAPRO: testing and tuning VDI like a Pro

from Jeroen van de Kamp (@TheJeroen) (Webinar, E2E in Vegas & Dublin)

- Known Issues with XenDesktop and Win10 1607https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX216312 - THIS REAL WORLD EXAMPLE

sachathomet.ch Conclusion…

• If you have physical Computers or dedicated desktops Windows 10 is not so different in exception that if you running CR you make a fresh install every 6 months

• If you have pooled virtual desktop it‘s a challenge! But you have the benefit that a Release change is easier to handle!