Ask Aresh

  With the increasing popularity of Google Chrome browser and the capabilities it can bring with the usage of its Extensions I thought why not stream Chrome to the end-user devices using the Citrix Profiler 6.0  and XenApp 6.5. How to Profile the Google Chrome setup? The most important thing to note here is the normal Chrome setup is available in the online mode. Now the challenge is using the online mode you cannot create the profile for Chrome. The purpose of writing this blog is the older process in which flipping the registries and lengthy process was involved can all be avoided now. Google Chrome recently introduced a special enterprise MSI  package in which there are no hassles of tweaking the registry. Simply double click on the installer and you can profile the application. Download Link: http://www.google.com/chrome/eula.html?msi=true . Using Citrix Profiler how to create the profile? I am going to attach a step by step guide at the end of this bl...

Chrome Remote Desktop Extension from Google Chrome Browser is a fantastic solution with which one can access their remote desktop/laptops/servers and also perform user-2-user screen sharing all over the Internet. The best part is the complete package comes for free and the only requirement is Chrome Browser and the extension installed on the PC/MAC/Tablets/Mobile etc. How to install the Chrome Remote Desktop? Go the Chrome Web Store located under your browser and search for “ Chrome Remote Desktop ”. It’s a 21 MB file simply click on “ Add to Chrome ” to install the extension. What are the most important features of Chrome Remote Desktop? There are two important features of this extension as follows. Make sure you have the Google Chrome Browser and Chrome Remote Desktop extension as a pre-requisite. Remote Assistance: This feature provides the ability to perform user-2-user screen sharing just like other screen sharing software available in the market. Click on the “ Sh...

I managed to install and test the Windows Remote Desktop Services (RDS) 2012 and I would like to share my experiences with the community. If you are looking for step by step installation please check RDS TechNet Lab Guides in this blog. I’m only covering new features, functionality and things I learnt. RDS Installation With the new Server Manager, installation of Roles & Features has over simplified. Sitting on one server, we could install all the RDS roles such as Connection Broker (CB), Licensing Server, Web Access (WA) and Session Host from one console to all the servers\VM in the environment. All the pre-requisites (IIS, .Net) are installed by the Role & Features wizard automatically. There are two explicit options under the new RDS Wizard - “Session Virtualization” and “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure”. See more details as below. Session Virtualization After you have installed all the roles such as RDS Licensing, RDS Session Host, RDS Web Access and ...

Imagine yourself in a situation where you have to capture the entire XenApp 6.5 Farm information to understand what the customers have in their environment. The traditional way to understand the environment is  to sit down multiple times with the CTX Architects/Admins to understand the details of infrastructure and even then missing on important details. This script will document whatever you see under the Citrix AppCenter Console and the output can be copied to a txt or word document. My Testing results I ran the script in my environment and generated the output as per the figures mentioned below. I am listing down certain requirements and things I learnt during the execution: Step 1: Download the Citrix XenApp 6.5 PowerShell SDK and simply go through the typical installation Downloaded the Citrix XenApp Group Policies and place the files under two folders C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules, in a new folder named Citrix.GroupPolicy.Commands C:\Windows\S...

With the recent launch of XenDesktop 5.6 Feature Pack (FP) 1 Citrix released a great feature known as the Remote PC . The Remote PC feature allows end-users to access their laptops/desktops on any device (Tablets, Mobile Phones or even other remote laptop and desktop) and anywhere (in the office, home and road). Citrix launched this feature for enterprises that are yet not ready to move into VDI mode and this solution allows end-users to continue using their desktop/laptop devices. The device that will be accessing the office desktop/laptop will require Citrix Receive to be installed beforehand. Architecture for Remote PC to work: Many of you would ask what is the difference between RemotePC VS traditional RDP? RDP Remote PC Works well on Microsoft platform. However, no standard or official applications are available on cross platforms such as iOS, Android and Blackberry You can access your desktop on m...

Recently, I am setting up a poor man’s lab of Citrix XenApp 6.5 (64 bit). The reason to call it a poor man’s lab is because of the equipment in use. Though, I am complaining about the equipment I will tell you “my way” of efficiently setting up XenApp on a desktop class  Dell machine. My configuration is as follows: Desktop Configuration: Preparatory Steps: Install Windows 2008 R2 with Hyper-V as the choice of operating system on the Desktop. Connect the desktop with internet to get all the Windows Updates My next big thing was to create a Windows 2008 R2 EE template to create multiple VM’s and not waste time in creating individual virtual machines Create a new Virtual Machine with Windows 2008 R2 EE SP1 and install all the Windows Updates Install Features such as .Net 4 and Telnet Client from the “Add Features” as its reusable component on all VM’s  Enable the ICMP inbound rule under the Windows Firewall port else you would be clueless during your...

I finished watching the Nokia Lumia/Windows Phone 8 launch event. Two new phones hitting the market Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. My guess is the Lumia 920 will be for US/Europe region like the previous Lumia 900 and the Lumia 820 would be launched for the Asia Pacific region. Let me highlight some of the super-duper new features that Nokia has introduced in the new Lumia phones: Super Sensitive Touch: A nice demo on the super sensitive touch showcasing the phone works with your fingers as well as with skiing gloves. Haven't seen other touch phones that understand anything other than the finger touch or stylus. Wireless Charging: This the coolest thing I have seen in the last couple of years. Simply put your Lumia phone on a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors charging dock and the phone will start charging. Isn't this super KOOL? The important question to be asked is how long does Wireless Charging take VS traditional charging. In-built Near Field Communication (NFC): T...

I recently purchased the Nokia Play 360 wireless/wired (3.5mm jack) Bluetooth speaker which produces enough sound to fill one room. Blue Color Rs. 8300/- from Nokia Concept Store in IndiraNagar, Bangalore, India My Review: Superb quality of sound especially on the low frequencies which is surprising for such a portable device. During my research phase, I saw a lot of videos which compared the Logitech BoomBox (Price Rs. 3900/-), Jambox (NA in India) and Bose SoundLink (Price Rs. 20,000/-). As we all know Bose is a different animal with different pricing all together. I did hear the demo of it at the Bose store but I still feel the Nokia’s low frequency is superb. As far as Battery backup is concern Nokia states 21 hours however, in real-life its 15-16 hours only. I tested the Nokia Play 360 against the following devices Bluetooth devices: Nokia Lumia 800, iPad 2, Funbook Pro, Old Nokia Phone and Sa,sung Galaxy S2 and all devices played beautiful music The Bluetooth range i...

  On a vanilla Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter edition I was installing the Hyper-V role and the installation process went successful without any errors or warnings. Though, I am aware there is a pre-requisite of the Intel-Virtualization Technology (VT) and Data Execution Prevention  (DEP) assuming both were enable in the BIOS. I started creating virtual machine in the Hyper-V Manager snap-in and went through the series of wizard. When I try to start the virtual machine I get the following error Issue: “The virtual machine could not be started because the hypervisor is not running” Resolution: After a lot of troubleshooting figured out that Data Execution Prevention option in the BIOS was not enable. Now I am slightly surprised why did the Hyper-V role installation completed successfully isn’t VT and DEP the pre-requisite of  the hyper-v role??? Anyways issue got resolved the moment DEP was enable in the BIOS. If you like this post please leave your ...

  After a long time I was actually doing some hands-on and damn the first problem that I encounter is a Microsoft  Windows 2008 Server R2 design constraint for DNS Service. Issue: When you try to install Active Directory (AD) with integrated DNS on a high-end server (64 Cores, 500 GB+ RAM etc.). After installing the AD and when you reboot the server the DNS service doesn’t start automatically. You keep on getting the following errors when you try to start the service manually it just wont START Note: Active Directory works like a charm. However, the DNS service doesn’t start and we all know AD without DNS is like a big Disaster! System Event Log: (Event id 7023) Log Name:      System Source:        Service Control Manager Event ID:      7023 Level:         Error Description: The DNS Server service terminated with the following ...

I found this TechNet link that talks about all the latest Improvements in Windows Server 2012 . Link : http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831769 Short Summary of things that I like personally: (Direct Hyperlinks) What's new in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in Windows Server 2012 includes new features that make it simpler and faster to deploy domain controllers (both on-premises and in the cloud), more flexible and easier to both audit and authorize access to files, and easier to perform administrative tasks at scale, either locally or remotely, through consistent graphical and scripted management experiences. What's New in Failover Clustering Failover clusters provide high availability and scalability to many server workloads. These include file share storage for server applications such as Hyper-V and Microsoft SQL Server, and server applications that run on physical servers or virtual machines. What’...

Microsoft & BangaloreITPro jointly have come up with this initiative where group leader veterans would be delivering sessions on Microsoft Hyper-V which will help the community members to prepare themselves to take up the Microsoft Virtualization exam 70-659. 15 members would be selected during the session and will be given free examination vouchers for 70-659 Windows 2008 R2 Server Virtualization Date: 2 nd June 2012 Time: 9.30AM to 6.00PM Venue: Microsoft MTC, Signature Building, Bangalore Agenda Time Speaker Topics 9.30AM – 10.00AM Registrations 10.00AM – 11.45AM Aresh Sarkari, Technical Architect at Unisys. Windows Server 2008 Virtualization - Part 1 (Hyper-V Fundamentals, Planning, Configurations & Management) 11.45AM – 12.00PM Tea Break 12.00PM - 01.30PM Gaurav Anand, Microsoft...

Recently, I attended a Citrix Executive Briefing at ITC Gardenia, Bangalore on 12 th April 2012 and learnt a couple of new things over and above our normal XenApp & XenDesktop which I would like to share as follows: XenApp Mobility Pack: This piece of software when installed on the XenApp server enhances the desktop or icons which are easy to touch and maneuver within the Windows 7 desktop. Like the traditional Windows Icons and menus it can really get difficult to click/touch on your tablet like devices that are 7” or 10” inches. See the below mentioned screenshot for the before and after experience. Before: (Screenshot of a Shared Desktop) After1: (With Mobility Pack) After2: (With Mobility Pack) Video: Demo of XenApp 6.5 Mobility Pack This mobility pack works in general for the Windows 7 OS and Office, Adobe applications etc. out of the box. It would be advisable to check, if it works on custom applications or/else developers would require to use the XenA...

Did you every imagine!! what if you could get the best of both the worlds Windows 7 Desktop and Android Apps & Games ?? Yes guys its possible!! I know it’s a late discovery however, I got excited the moment I installed the app on my Windows 7 PC and the very first app I downloaded was “Angry Birds Space” works like a charm. Big thanks to BlueStack App : www.bluestacks.com Simply Download the package and it will install the bits onto your computer. You need to enter the following details: - Language - Cloud Connect Sync option if you have a Android based phone – (I don’t have one ) - Enter your email address for all the correspondence Screen Shot: (Downloading Angry Bird on my desktop ) Beauty of the App: Suppose if you have a Android based phone you can download the applications onto your desktop under the BlueStacks App Player for Windows (Beta-1). The Cloud Connect Sync options will automatically sync all the Apps & Games with your phone. Memory Usag...

The last time I spent Rs. 64,000/- on a laptop HP DV9830us was back in 2007 (Fry’s Store, in Texas) on which my original plan was to run virtual machine and utilize it for personal use (Gaming, movies, surfing etc.). Back in 2007, I got a very decent configuration of  Intel Duo Core 1.8 Ghz, 4 GB RAM, 512 NVidia Dedicated Graphics, Blue-ray player and hi-definition 17” screen. The whole purpose of the laptop got defeated when I returned back to India and figured out that BIOS is locked down by HP and doesn’t have the feature of Intel-VT and Intel-XD and cannot utilize the potential of this machine. (It is definitely me to blame as I got carried away in the store and made the purchase without doing research) Recently, I started getting this feeling of building a home machine, so that I can test all the latest products from Microsoft, Citrix and Quest and learn all the new stuff along with creating a lot of useful material for myself and other techies. Though our companies would...

I wanted to publish few of my all time favorite innovation videos into a single blog post. I am sure you all will love these mind blowing innovations!!! Corning A Day made of glass 1: Corning Future on Glass based touch technologies (Original) Corning A Day made of glass 2: Corning Future on Glass based touch technologies (Latest Includes more of Mobile & Tablet Devices) Future of you Car Glass Windows: Future of Car Glass Window by General Motors Future of Microsoft Office: How the complete Business Productivity Suite will look like in the future Future of Electricity Bloom Box 1: (Alternate Energy) Future of Alternative Energy 1 Future of Electricity Bloom Box 2: (Alternate Energy) Future of Alternative Energy 2 Best Regards, Aresh Sarkari Leave your Comments if you like them