Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2006

June 26, 2020 Contributed by: C

About this release

This Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops release includes new versions of the Windows Virtual Delivery Agents (VDAs) and new versions of several core components. You can:

Install or upgrade a site Use the ISO for this release to install or upgrade core components and VDAs. Installing or upgrading to the latest version allows you to use the latest features.

Install or upgrade VDAs in an existing site If you already have a deployment, and aren’t ready to upgrade your core components, you can still use several of the latest HDX features by installing (or upgrading to) a new VDA. Upgrading only the VDAs can be helpful when you want to test enhancements in a non-production environment. After upgrading your VDAs to this version (from version 7.9 or later), you do not need to update the machine catalog’s functional level. The 7.9 (or later) value remains the default functional level, and is valid for this release. For more information, see VDA versions and functional levels.

For installation and upgrade instructions:

If you are building a new site, follow the sequence in Install and configure.

If you are upgrading a site, see Upgrade a deployment.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2006

Upgrade: Removing unsupported items

As of version 2003, the following technologies and host types are not supported in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 Current Release deployments:

Personal vDisks (PvD) for storing data next to users’ VMs. The user personalization layer feature now handles user persistence.

for storing data next to users’ VMs. The user personalization layer feature now handles user persistence. AppDisks for managing applications used in delivery groups.

for managing applications used in delivery groups. Host types for connections: Azure Classic, Azure Resource Manager (ARM), Amazon Web Services (AWS), CloudPlatform (the original Citrix product). For information about alternative ways you can continue using ARM and AWS, see CTX270373. For host types supported in this release, see System requirements.



As of version 2006, if your current deployment uses PvDs or AppDisks, or has connections to unsupported host types, you can upgrade your deployment to version 2006 (or later supported versions) only after removing items that use those technologies.

For VDAs, the installation or earlier upgrades might have included PvD and AppDisks components, even if you never used it. You can upgrade VDAs to version 2006 (or later supported versions), only after removing that software. When using the graphical interface, that removal can be done automatically. Or, you can include options when using the CLI.

For details, see Remove PvD, AppDisks, and unsupported hosts.

Install and upgrade: Self-Service Password Reset no longer in full-product installer or on media

As of version 2003, the Self-Service Password component is deprecated. As of version 2006, You cannot use the full-product installer to install or upgrade the component. The component’s installer is not available on the installation media.

You can get the component software from the download page for your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops version.

EnhancedDesktopExperience MSI removed

The EnhancedDesktopExperience MSI has been removed from the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops current release layout.

This feature was valid when installing VDAs on Windows Server 2012 R2 and earlier versions. The feature is not valid on Windows OS versions that are currently supported for multi-session VDAs.

If a VDA installation command contains the /nodesktopexperience option, that option is ignored. The Enhanced Desktop Experience policy setting is also ignored, if specified.

Citrix Scout: Usage data collection

When you use Scout, Citrix uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous usage data to be used for future product features and improvements. For details on configuring data collection, see Usage data collection.

Updates have been made to running health checks on Scout. For more information, see Run health checks.

Delivery groups: Machine restart schedules

You can now indicate whether a restart schedule affects machines that are in maintenance mode. This feature is available only in PowerShell. For details, see Scheduled restarts for machines in maintenance mode.

Virtual Delivery Agents (VDAs) 2006

Version 2006 of the Windows single-session OS and multi-session OS VDAs includes the following enhancements. These items are in addition to the VDA installation and upgrade items listed earlier in this article.

Group policy to enable and disable keyboard synchronization and Input Method Editor (IME)

A Studio policy is included to replace registry configurations that enable or disable dynamic keyboard layout synchronization, Input Method Editor (IME), Unicode keyboard layout mapping, and hide or show the keyboard layout switch notification dialog message. For more information, see Keyboard and Input Method Editor (IME).

Seamless window enhancement

When you lock a seamless session, its log-on screen is now no longer full-screen. The endpoint’s desktop or other applications are accessible.

Virtual channel allow list

This feature enables the use of an allow list that specifies which virtual channels are allowed to be opened in an ICA session. For more information, see Virtual channel allow list policy settings.

Citrix Licensing 11.16.6

Citrix Licensing 11.16.6 contains new features and fixed and known issues.

Citrix Federated Authentication Service 2006

Citrix Federated Authentication Service (FAS) 2006 contains new features.

Support for Active Directory-Based Activation

This release adds support for Active Directory-Based Activation (ADBA). ADBA enables you to activate machines through their domain connections. Machines are immediately activated when they join the domain. These machines remain activated as long as they remain joined to the domain and in contact with it. This functionality is only supported on Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2 and later versions. For more information, see Active Directory-based activation.

Related components

For documentation about related components, see:

More information