Some people have been treating this Lockdown from Coronavirus like a time to slow down. Not us! My small little team and I have been doing all sorts of things – and we aren't even close to slowing down! Here's some updates of what is going on with us, with Citrix and our Citrix Hero community!

The Citrix Hero Community continues to grow, especially after I published “Be A Citrix Hero“. We are now just under 400 members strong. The community is currently free to join. Powered by Mighty Networks, this fits three primary criteria you have asked for:

  1. A Mobile App – Download Mighty Networks and find “Citrix Heroes” to join. You can opt to get updates right to the app instead of via email – something I like a great deal. I belong to five Mighty Networks right now and being able to have mobile notifications saves a lot of headache!
  2. Not On Facebook – No Gaslighting, fighting or distractions – our community is JUST our community – yet operates as a social network! This includes the ability to chat! Many of you have taken advantage of chatting with each other and myself. It works great!
  3. Real Life Talk, Not Just Tech Support – Of course, this is a hard one for many tech folks to break free from but this is a forum that allows for a more private and exclusive community where we can be real with each other.

So I wanted to share some recent wins from our community, brag a little bit and invite you to join us!

By the way – I'm hosting a few Ask Me Anything sessions this month. The only way you will get access is if you're part of the community.

  • Mike shared how as the sole IT person for 7 health centers, he was able to upgrade a XenApp 6.5 farm to a more modern CVAD environment.
  • Ken started a discussion about PVS Boot Device Manager among some others.
  • I asked people to share some WINS last week and got some very cool notes
    • Keegan made some Citrix Hypervisor updates to better support nVidia GRID
    • Ahmed fixed a user workaround and showed a user how to print to a local printer from her Citrix Desktop (little things matter!)
    • Shack rocked some App Layering that reduced 50 images down to 2!
    • Mike rolled out FSLogix and WEM to reduce logon times from over a minute to under 20 seconds! He's loving PVS, by the way!
    • Benjamin put in some smooth operating remote access for employees that scaled from 20 to 700 users!
    • Venkatesh rolled out RemotePC to eliminate RDP hassles.
    • Ken finished a 6.5 to 7 1912 migration
    • Kitaab used Machine Creation Services on 7.15 to go from 100 WFH users to 1200!

Needless to say- I'm really proud of my community and hope you'll join us soon!

Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7 1912 LTSR
Cumulative Update 1

Citrix just released Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 1912 LTSR Cumulative Update 1.

There are a few key things here – one being that StoreFront is no longer part of the “Core Components” install page which hopefully will stop people from installing it on the same server as the Delivery components. It may work for a POC but it really isn't great for production. Trust me.

A few things to remember before you update any components:

  • To maintain LTSR support, all components must be at the SAME REVISION LEVEL for each Cumulative Update. That means, for example – if you have controllers at 1912.0.1000 you need to have Browser Content Redirection 15.19.1000.
  • Your FIRST step should always be checking the SA date of your licenses. They must all expire later than April 15, 2020. If the CSS/SA date is before that, download new licenses before your upgrade or you may not be able to start machines.
  • Note that if you use the same licensing server for multiple legacy components, 11.16.3.0 does NOT support XenApp 6.5 concurrent unless you update to build 29000

Learning Opportunities During Lockdown

I pointed out in a presentation recently that a high number of us that were commuting previously now have extra time on their hands! What better way to use that time than to learn new skillsets, expand on what you know, or work on building your next career move?

So during the month of May I am launching THREE new areas to help you do just that!

New Webinar Series

For all of May (and we'll see about next month) DJ will be giving a webinar (expanded from one given at two CUGC events) with updated tips and leading practices for supporting people working from home while using the same hardware you already have – a challenge a lot of you are facing right now!

Stick around to the end of the webinar where you'll learn DJ's personal tips on how to not just survive working from home but how to thrive during this challenging time.

To find a time that works for you (or, register and attend a replay if you like but there is an added bonus for attending live!) head to https://ctxpro.com/webinar

Note – this same link will work for the next webinar series so we encourage you to share it!

Here's the times for May:

11th at 6 PM CST

12th at 10 AM CST

19th at 11 AM CST

26th at 5:30 PM CST

THRIVE-IT THRIVEcasts

As you may know, I'm expanding my focus to a wider audience than just Citrix – my goal is to equip and inspire the next generation of Architects, Consultants, and other leaders in Information Technology. We aren't going to get there by being in ‘survival mode' – so I'm calling on people to THRIVE during this time and beyond.

It begins with our new YouTube Live series. Jeff Pitsch and I (DJ Eshelman) will go live each week and talk thru LIFE in IT. Tech tips? No. But discussions on how our guests careers' evolved and how they created the careers they wanted? Count on it.

(also- after I finish a few more “Citrix Coach In a Car Getting Coffee” videos I will be transitioning that series here to Thrive-IT!)

Make sure to subscribe!

Get Reminded of Our Next Live Broadcast

First off – subscribe and click the bell for getting updates on our YouTube channel. Doing so helps YouTube put the videos in front of more people!

But we are also introducing a rotating link system where each week we'll update the live broadcast link with a reminder service. It will give you the option to put the next THRIVEcast on your calendar! 

Ask DJ ANYTHING

Finally, a special invitation to those part of the Citrix Hero community. DJ will be hosting weekly “Ask Me Anything” sessions for as long as possible during lockdown! All you have to do is join the Citrix Hero community and check the Events tab to get a reminder of the next session.

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