Documentation made easy

I want to start this year and the first post to explain the use and need of NetBox!

Netbox is a free and amazing tool to help you with control and documentation of your system. Netbox can help you with IPAM(IP address management), DCIM(Data Center Infrastructure Management)

To get your infrastructure and network automated, one of the most important things is to have single SOT (source of truth). How is the infrastructure looks like right now? To have some of the network documented in excel and other just in vCenter, it will be hard or not possible to automate it. This works good for your home network of for big enterprise companies. Netbox comes from the network engineering team at DigitalOcean.

Netbox is easy to install and use. I don’t explain the process of install here since it’s a lot of good documentations and videos on the web. But I want to just spread the word of this tool. Its has helped me a lot in different project to get control of the network and to start automate the inventory. Netbox come with REST API that you can use with other tool or create your own scripts. Also, NAPALM is 100% integrated that help you with automate the network automation. (Network as Code). NAPLAM stands for “Network Automation and Programmability Abstraction Layer with Multivendor support”. The name is far too long, but the functions give Netbox a flying start that’s absolutely worth to try.

I have tried with successes integrated Netbox with following:

  • Cisco IOS Switches and Routers
  • Cisco Nexus Switches
  • Vmware vCenter

Hope this short information give interest to install Netbox and explore all the possibility it gives.


Read more of the documents for Netbox and NAPALM on the links here:

Finally CCU in Citrix Cloud

Today Citrix announced that Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service in Citrix Cloud is now available for purchase under a Concurrent licensing model.

https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2020/04/08/concurrent-licensing-is-here-for-citrix-virtual-apps-and-desktops-service/

Almost all installation i have done on-prem use CCU license model. Citrix Cloud only had pr. user/device license in cloud was a big drawback. With CCU in place many more customer can go over to Citrix cloud. With same license model and with new feature from the Cloud, I think this can be a point where Citrix Cloud could take over the share for on-prem and maybe be the biggest product for Citrix in 2020?

With this change, license and all feature are in place and its now time to take a deeper look into the Citrix Cloud. Not sure how Citrix will handle convert from On-prem CCU to Cloud CCU, since this was released today but I think it will come more info within the next weeks.

Enable 2FA for O365 users

Use of 2FA is something everyone should use on all services in 2019. 2FA will stops a lot of the mayor attack that has happened the last month. Example from Norway is attack on Visma, Maersk, Hydro. I don’t say that 2FA will solve everything, but helps a lot with the work. Everyone that has O365 license has free 2FA, admin just need to enable it.

App Password is default allowed; this give no extra security when users can create static password for apps like Outlook, OneDrive etc. When App Password is disabled, you need to activate modern authentication to get apps to work.

Default is modern authentication not enabled in Exchange Online. Modern authentication cannot be enabled in O365 portal, just possible to do with PowerShell. Has created an example how you can do this under:

  1. Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell.
  2. Run the following: Set-OrganizationConfig -OAuth2ClientProfileEnabled $true
  3. Run the following to verify that modern authentication is enabled: Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-Table Name,OAuth* -Auto

Entire code together here:

# Setup PSSession to O365 (Step 1)
$UserCredential = Get-Credential
$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection
Import-PSSession $Session -DisableNameChecking

# Enable modern authentication (OAuth)(Step 2)
Set-OrganizationConfig -OAuth2ClientProfileEnabled $true

# Verify value for for modern authentication (OAuth)(Step 3)
Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-Table Name,OAuth* -Auto 

# Close PSSession
Remove-PSSession $Session

Citrix change name again of products

Synergy 2018, Citrix announced that the change all products name. This is not first time we have heard that. It has taken over 6 months to change all documentation and installation ISO.  If you plan to upgrade some of your Citrix product you need to know the new names. 

For those of you that has not heard about the change, I have created a list of the most common used products:

Old ProductName
New ProductName
XenApp
Citrix Virtual Apps
XenDesktop
Citrix Virtual Desktops
XenServer
Citrix Hypervisor
Receiver
Citrix Workspace App
XenMobile
Citrix Endpoint Management
NetScaler
Citrix ADC
Citrix Unified GatewayCitrix Gateway

Its two name change I want to highlight, XenServer and NetScaler. WHY? XenServer is now Citrix Hypervisor and NetScaler is Citrix ADC. 

First, Citrix Hypervisor, isn’t this a bit to obelus? Boeing does not call the newest flight model for Boeing Airplane. XenServer is well known name and have good reputation. 

Citrix. ADC. I understand. Less, NetScaler is something EVERYONE associate with something good and a product that work well. The Name has been with Citrix since 2005 when Citrix bought NetScaler. NetScaler has been the begin of Citrix Network product and has over all this year been one of the most known Gateway, Load balancing and ADC in the marked. I hope the name will get a comeback in the next 1-2 year as XenApp did 🙂

Workspace App dont work with Safari 12

After upgraded to Safari 12, Citrix Workspace App and Citrix Receiver do not start *.ica files any more.

To correct this problem, you need to change the web.config on all Storefront servers.

Solution:

For StoreFront deployments, modify web.config under the Receiver for Web (RfWeb) site (typically C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb) to activate the Citrix Receiver Launcher / Citrix Workspace App Launcher for Safari 12 and later.

1. Open web.config using your preferred text editor and locate the line : <protocolHandler enabled=”true” platforms=”(Macintosh|Windows NT).*((Firefox/((5[2-9]|[6789][0-9])|\d\d\d))|(Chrome/((4[2-9]|[56789][0-9])|\d\d\d)))” skipDoubleHopCheckWhenDisabled=”false” />

2. The value of the platforms attribute is a regular expression specifying the browsers that Citrix Receiver Launcher is used for client detection and HDX launches. Change the regular expression to:

“(Macintosh|Windows NT).*((Firefox/((5[2-9]|[6789][0-9])|\d\d\d))|(Chrome/((4[2-9]|[56789][0-9])|\d\d\d)))|Macintosh.*Version/(1[2-9]|[2-9][0-9]).*Safari/

3. This will add Safari 12 and later to the list of browsers that Citrix Receiver Launcher will be used.

 

Source: CTX238286

CUGtech Spring Norway has started


Today CUGtech Spring by Citrix User Group Norway has started with Masterclass session.

Tomorrow the main program starts and all other session. I going to have 2 session this CUG seminar. Hope you will enjoy them. Last work on presentation is soon done:

I’m in place in strömstad and hope to see you tonight or tomorrow.

Get price for Citrix in Azure

A lot of company talks about what to do with Cloud, go or not?

I will divide this into tree possible setup:

  1. Extend / Hybrid
    Only workers(VDA) in cloud
  2. All in 100 %
    All servers in Cloud
  3. Citrix Cloud
    Workers(VDA) in cloud and control plane in Citrix Cloud

To deploy any solution to Cloud is not free, it actually can cost you a lot of money. To get better understand of the cost, Citrix has created a nice tool to calculate your cost before you start.

URL: https://now.citrix.com/azure/calculator 

This tool will give you a summary (In NOK here, but you can change this)

Citrix Synergy – Keynote

Finally is Citrix Synergy here. Keynotes are finished and it time to summarize the highlights.

  • New XenApp & XenDesktop 7.14

Release Date: May 23, 2017

One of the biggest news it Multi-type licensing. Finally can you mix XenApp and XenDesktop license in same controller. After upgrade, you only need 2 DDC to host all your terminal-servers and VDIs.

Citrix Smart Tools formerly known as Citrix Lifecycle Management and Session Recording is now part of VDA installation.

For full list of new feature and fixes.

  • NetScaler Gateway Service from Citrix Cloud
  • Workspace IoT and SmartSpace, let your meeting room be intelligent.
  • Citrix App Layering – Formally known as Unidesk. Still not branded as Citrix, but now available to Citrix Customer.
  • Citrix Analytics is new function that do deep analytics of XenApp, XenDesktop. Big news that will help you to troubleshoot and find the security break

Citrix blog with all updates from both vision and technology keynotes.