Citrix Receiver for HTML5 1.0 Installation, First Impression, and Live Demo Video

Share Button

There has been a lot of hype at recent Synergy conferences regarding the new Citrix Receiver for HTML5 component, which in some cases may eliminate the need for a full Citrix Receiver client.  In this post, I’m going to do a brief review of the initial setup of Receiver for HTML5 1.0 (Released Friday), which integrates with Citrix Receiver Storefront, previously covered here. Receiver for HTML5 has a simple executable that is installed on the Storefront server(s).  The installer can be found at citrix.com under Downloads -> Citrix Receiver -> Receivers by Platform -> Receiver for HTML5 1.0 NEW!

After downloading, simply run the installer from your Storefront server. Accept the license agreement and click Install:

Click Finish:

From the Start Menu, launch Citrix HTML5 HDX Engine Configuration and click Add:

Enter the full URL of the /Citrix/StoreWeb path:

Review the configuration and close the HDX Engine Configuration application:

For XenDesktop, this is the only configuration necessary!  At this point, external and internal users will be able to get to full desktops through the appropriate supported browsers.  For XenApp 6.5, there are a couple more pieces required.  First, Hotfix Rollup Pack 1 must be installed (Included as part of Feature Pack 1 installers).  Here is a link to HRP1 download: http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx132122

Second, the updated Group Policy Management components need to be installed for Feature Pack 1.  These can be found under the “Group Policy Updates” section under Feature Pack 1, here: https://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=2326415&productId=186#

Install Hotfix Rollup Pack 1 and reboot. Install the Group Policy Management components and reboot. After performing this process, a new option is added to the XenApp Computer Policies section in AppCenter called WebSockets Connections.  This option is disabled by default. Simply create a new policy, filtered to your XenApp servers and force a group policy update (gpupdate /force). With these changes, you should now be able to launch sessions against your XenDesktop environment as well as XenApp 6.5 published applications.

I’ve included a video below that shows a live demo using Chrome and a published application as well as a virtual desktop through XenDesktop.  Overall, I’m fairly impressed!  This looks very similar to demos that I’ve seen at Synergy, and it’s great to see that we finally have a 1.0 version available to start playing around with.

I did notice one interesting fact, that once the StoreWeb site is configured for the HDX Engine, it eliminates the user’s traditional application experience. I would have expected that the Client Detection process would still continue to run as it has for years, present HTML5 for devices that have no client, and traditional ICA files to Receiver devices.  This does not seem to be the case.  I’m not sure if this was an anomaly, but never the less it has me curious.

If I remove the HDX Engine component, I receive an ICA File and Client Detection tells my machine without the Receiver that I need to install. If I install and configure the HDX Engine, any site configured will use the HTML5 component, regardless of the presence of Receiver or Receiver Enterprise.  Below is the video demo as promised:

If you have any questions, comments, or just want to leave feedback, please do so below. Thanks for reading!

–youngtech

 

Share Button
  1. FernandoFernando05-11-2013

    HI Dane,
    after I configure the computer policy in Appcenter and assign it to the worker group,
    I rebooted the server but I never see port 8008 come up in listening state when doing a netstat,
    therefore when trying to launch the app, it fails with a “Cannot reach server. Check your network connection or contact your help desk for assistance”.
    Any idea?

    • FernandoFernando05-11-2013

      for some reason XTE service was not running … after starting it , port 8008 came up!

      But now I get a ” Event ID: 131. Message: Failed to perform SOCKS handshake.” on the XA Controller eventviewer.

      I am not using SG or AGEE , this is a direct internal connection.

      “WebSockets trusted origin server” policy needs to be enabled? I set it on Default Value. Just thinking out loud.

  2. Barry SchifferBarry Schiffer09-06-2012

    Very cool stuff! Just got it up and running in my home lab.

    Performance (non video) is very acceptable, can’t wait for a next version!

Leave a Reply to Fernando Click here to cancel reply.