Build an App Factory

Eric @ericlieven and I presented, "Build an App Factory" at the Colorado CUGC in December 2017.

A few years ago, Eric and I built a couple of XenApp farms to support an SAP rollout.  That part is fairly straightforward but the aspect of the project I am proud of is the way we helped change the culture of an organization.

Our big challenge is that we inherited a bad Citrix environment.  It was really, really bad.  The entire farm crashed almost daily.  Logons were two and a half minutes.  The previous Citrix administrator was considered the app owner of all 80+ applications.  Citrix was a four-letter word throughout the company.

With the support of upper management, we set out to build something better.  The old culture reminds me of the most interesting man in the world meme.

It really was not their fault. There was no good way to test.  There definitely was not a process to follow.

When I look back at the project, it feels like we built an application factory.  At a very high level, you put some bits in one side and a perfect app comes out the other side.  The actual process in between is what is important.  Eric and I discussed the process we used to build and run the app factory.  The end result is apps that are now continuously available from anywhere on any device, are smoking fast, and quite secure.

We knew that we were on to something when the application owners that once hated us became our best friends.  By the end of the project, they begged us to host more and more of their applications on the Citrix environment.  This is even how they evaluate new applications before they purchase them.

We made some design decisions that resulted in more work for us, the administrators--especially in the beginning.  But it allowed for an update process that works better for everyone.  Like any good-sized project, we made some missteps along the way, but in the end, it was all worth it.

Here is the link to the slides hosted on Citrix ShareFile

I often think about how I would build an even better App Factory in 2018.  More on that in a future blog post.

Brian Olsen @sagelikebrian

Okta SSO - Error "Non-HTTPS url redirect is not supported in webview"

Purpose:
This post explains how to address the error "Non-HTTPS url redirect is not supported in webview" when using Okta SSO with Azure AD or other Azure SSO

Symptom:
When users try to log into their applications when Okta is implemented they get an error that states "Non-HTTPS url redirect is not supported in webview" This error may only occur on certain application but not all of them. Below is an example for SSO for MS Visual Studio.



Resolution:

Within your Okta administrative console navigate to Security>Authentication and scroll down to the Desktop Single Sign-On portion. Within there navigate to the Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA) Web applications. Within this configuration area review what you have setup and most likely this configuration is setup for http://oktaserver.domainname.com/iwa.

Cause:

The redirect from the Okta cloud to your on-prem SSO servers is not encrypted. 

SageLike Post ID: SL0019

Applies to:

Okta SSO and Azure AD

Citrix Summit 2017

Citrix Summit 

is a conference for employees and partners to hear about the newest updates on products and solutions.  It is the better part of a week dedicated to a health mix of learning and networking culminating with a big party on the last night.

I have been going to these conferences for so long that one of the best parts is catching up with old friends.  This Summit was no exception.

Before I even left Denver I saw this ad

Current State

Before we talk about announcements, let me set the stage a bit.  XenApp and XenDesktop 7.12 had just been release around Christmas time along with Receiver 4.6, and it was the one year anniversary of the initial LTSR announcement.  XenServer 7.0 had been released the prior March and NetScaler was at firmware 11.0.  Citrix Cloud had been up and running for a little over a year.

The Anaheim Convention Center

Company Announcements

• A new partnership with Red Bull Racing
• New Citrix Ready HCI Workspace Appliance Program
• New XenApp on Azure Cost Calculator
• CEO @KirillTatarinov first anniversary at the helm

Product Announcements

• New XenDesktop Essentials
• New XenApp Essentials
• New XenMobile Service (as in Citrix Cloud hosted)
• Announced XenServer 7.1 which is the first ever LTSR for XenServer
• SD-WAN 9.2 announced (see Tweet below)
• Citrix Lifecycle Management rebranded as Smart Tools
• By far the biggest announcement, Citrix acquires Unidesk for their app layering technology!

.@achauhan "This is what it looks like when NetScalers fly off the shelf." #CitrixSummit pic.twitter.com/Sozy813up1

— Joe Vaccaro (@joevaccaro) January 10, 2017

Maybe one of the more interesting things was the lack of major announcements related to XenApp and XenDesktop.  In part, this is because the products are being updated every quarter if you are traditional on-prem, more frequent if you are using Citrix Cloud.  The speed of innovation was a big part of @cloudappcal keynote presentation.  In years past, I used to list off all the new features coming in the next release.  The number of features that were released in 2016 is shocking and it would be too much work to just list them here.

If you noticed the date of this post and are wondering, "who posts about Summit on the eve of Synergy"?  I guess the answer is me.  Months later I still think that we are going to look back at Summit 2017 and think that it was a major conference and interesting point in time for Citrix.

Windows 10 Store Apps Missing

Purpose:
This post explains how to reinstall the Windows 10 Calculator app after it has been uninstalled

Symptom:
Windows 10 Calculator App missing

Resolution:

Issues reinstalling Win10 Store apps after removing them. This is specific to the Windows Calculator app.

Requirement is to have Base Filtering Engine and Windows Firewall service turned on.
*Note* - This is also a requirement for Windows 10 Updates to function correctly.

If the folders in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps directory have been deleted or are missing find another machine that does have these folders and copy them into your machines directory. I also had to copy the VCLibs directories (highlighted below - You'll see why in a minute why these are needed.)



After you have these directories open up an elevated powershell window and register the apps using this command (specific to Calculator)

Add-AppxPackage -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_10.1703.601.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode




However when I ran this command I got an error about the VCLibs missing. So  I registered these VCLibs first with these command:

Add-AppxPackage -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00_14.0.24123.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode

Add-AppxPackage -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00_14.0.24123.0_x86__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode



And then re-ran the command to register the Calculator app.

Add-AppxPackage -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_10.1703.601.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode

Cause:

The uninstall of Windows 10 Apps by various means

SageLike Post ID: SL0018

Applies to:

Windows 10

References:
http://www.intowindows.com/reset-and-reinstall-calculator-in-windows-10/
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-reinstall-default-apps-in-windows-10/