Preparing and Provisioning Desktops

Preparing and Provisioning Desktops

Overview

This section is intended for administrators who are delivering desktops through virtual machines (VMs). It describes how to use XenServer and Provisioning Server to build a base desktop VM, a vDisk, and a template, which can then be used by the XenDesktop Setup Wizard to create and populate pooled desktop groups.

This section assumes that you are using XenServer as your hosting infrastructure. XenServer is provided on the XenDesktop installation media. XenDesktop also supports Microsoft SCVMM 2008 and VMware Infrastructure 3. You can download documents describing how to use third-party hosting infrastructures with XenDesktop from When you use a third-party hosting infrastructure, Provisioning Server, Desktop Delivery Controller, and the virtual desktops you create all work in the same way as they would on XenServer. Certain features, such as XenMotion (dynamic swapping of VMs between servers), are not available without XenServer.

To use Provisioning Server, you must have licenses for the Advanced, Enterprise, or Platinum editions of XenDesktop.

This section is not intended to replace the core documentation provided with XenServer and Provisioning Server. You should have this documentation available while you are carrying out the tasks described in this section. 

To enable you to use the XenDesktop Setup Wizard to create desktop groups and populate them with desktops, as described in “To create a VM-based pooled desktop group using the XenDesktop Setup Wizard” on page 76, carry out the following tasks in the order shown below. Details of the tasks are provided in the subsequent topics.

1. Create the base desktop image, using XenCenter. To simplify and reduce the number of unique desktops, the base image should contain only a minimal set of options.

2. Set up the infrastructure to provision the base desktop image, by creating a vDisk on Provisioning Server.

3. Add the VM containing the base desktop image to the Provisioning Server database.

4. Install a Provisioning Server target device on the base desktop VM.

5. Image the base desktop VM to the vDisk.

6. Set the vDisk access mode to Standard. When you create desktop groups using the XenDesktop Setup Wizard, only Standard vDisks are listed in the wizard, so you must ensure that this access mode is selected.

7. Create a template using XenCenter. This template is a diskless VM template that you associate with a Provisioning Server vDisk when creating multiple desktops. It provides a guide to how the VMs should be allocated; for example RAM, CPU, and optimization settings.

If you encounter any issues when using Provisioning Server, refer to the following logs that are on the machine running Provisioning Server:

• %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Citrix\Provisioning Server\mcli.log

• %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Citrix\Provisioning Server\soapserver.log

To create a base desktop VM

1. In XenCenter, use the New VM wizard to create a VM in the relevant resource pool, ensuring that Start VM automatically is selected on the final page of the wizard.

2. When the VM starts, use your operating system installation media to install either Windows XP or Vista.

3. When prompted, configure a dynamic IP address so that the base desktop VM receives its IP address from the DHCP server running on the domain controller.

4. Install XenServer Tools into the image to provide optimal performance and functionality. To install XenServer Tools, select VM > Install XenServer Tools.

5. Restart the VM.

6. Apply any recommended operating system updates to the VM.

7. Log on to the VM and add it to the Active Directory domain. For more information about this procedure, see the relevant Microsoft documentation.

8. Add the DNS suffix to the VM:

A. On the VM, open the Windows Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Advanced, and select the DNS tab in the Advanced TCP/IP Settings dialog box.

B. Type the DNS suffix for the domain and click OK.

C. Restart the VM and ensure that it is running.

9. Install the Virtual Desktop Agent on the VM as described in “To install the Virtual Desktop Agent” on page 59.

10. Restart the VM.

11. Customize the VM to meet your users’ requirements. For example, if you have the Enterprise or Platinum editions of XenDesktop, you can install the XenApp plugins to the base desktop VM to allow users to log on to XenApp for Virtual Desktops automatically and access virtual applications. For more information, see “Installing the XenApp Plugins” on page 115. You can also pre-cache streamed applications at logon from XenApp to optimize performance; see “Pre-caching Streamed Applications” on page 116 for more information.

To create a vDisk

1. In the Provisioning Server Console, right-click the Stores folder and select Create store.

2. Select the General tab and specify a name and, optionally, a description for the new store.

3. Select the Paths tab and specify the path for the new store. This can be a local drive on the machine running Provisioning Server or a network share.

4. Click the Servers tab and select a site from the list. Select the relevant server under Servers that provide this store and click OK.

5. In the left pane of the console, right-click the new store you just created and select Create vDisk.

6. In the Create vDisk dialog box, specify the requested values and click Create vDisk.

If you intend to use the XenDesktop Setup Wizard, your vDisk name and description must contain only standard, printable ANSI characters.

The Vdisk size should match the VM disk size.

7. Enable Active Directory machine account password management by editing the properties of the vDisk you have just created.

8. Enable automatic password management on the server.

9. In the details pane of the console, right-click the new disk you created and select Mount vDisk.

A. On the Provisioning Server machine, open the My Computer folder (the Computer folder on Windows Vista).

B. Under Devices with Removable Storage, right-click the entry for removable disk and select Format.

C. Format the vDisk as an NTFS disk.

10. In the details pane of the Provisioning Server Console, right-click your new vDisk and select Unmount vDisk.

To add the base desktop VM to the Provisioning Server database

1. In XenCenter, right-click the base desktop VM and select Edit.

2. Select the Startup Options tab, move Network to the top of the Boot Order list, and click OK.

3. Select the Network tab and make a note of the MAC address for the base desktop VM.

4. In Provisioning Server, navigate to the Device Collections folder for the site, right-click the collection, and select Create Device.

5. Specify the device name and a description.

6. Type the MAC address of the base desktop VM and click Add device.

7. In the left pane of the console, right-click the new device and select Properties.

8. Select Hard Disk from the Boot from list.

9. Select the vDisk tab, click Add, and select the vDisk you created. Click OK and then click OK again.

To install a target device for the x86 Platform on the base desktop VM

1. In XenCenter, restart the base desktop VM.

2. Insert the Provisioning Server installation media into the optical drive. If the installation window does not appear, run PVSSRV_Device.exe.

3. On the product installation window, click Install Target Device for 32 bit Platform, and follow the instructions provided in the wizard. When you have completed the wizard, the vDisk is mapped to the base desktop VM and a vDisk icon appears in the Windows notification area

4. Double-click the vDisk icon and confirm that the vDisk status is Active.

5. In My Computer, check the label assigned to the new drive (typically, this is E) and make a note of it.

To image the base desktop VM to the Provisioning Server vDisk

1. On the base desktop VM, click Start > All Programs > Citrix > Provisioning Server > Provisioning Server Image Builder.

2. In the Device Image Builder dialog box, click Optimize.

3. In the Provisioning Server Device Optimization Tool dialog box, ensure that all the options are selected and click OK.

4. In the Device Image Builder dialog box, ensure that the destination drive is set to the letter denoting the new drive (typically E:) and click OK. The destination drive maps to the vDisk you created.

5. Ensure that the Delete all files and folders in destination path before building image check box is selected and click Build.

6. On the Confirm Build details page, click Yes.

7. When the client image build is complete, click OK.

8. Click Close.

9. Shut down the base desktop VM.

To set the vDisk access mode

1. In the Provisioning Server Console, navigate to the vDisk, select Properties, and click Edit device properties.

2. In the vDisk File Properties dialog box, select the Mode tab and, under Access Mode, select Standard Image. Click OK and then click OK again.

To create a Provisioning Server VM template

1. In XenCenter, select New VM.

2. In the New VM wizard, specify appropriate values for your deployment. On the Virtual Disks page, do not assign a vDisk to this VM.

3. On the Finish page, clear the Start VM automatically check box and click Finish.

4. In XenCenter, right-click PvS VM Template, select Convert to Template, and click OK.