XenDesktop Archives

Reset Windows Rearm count

Posted on 17/03/201418/05/2021

When working with Machine Creation Services we discovered that the Clients all have the same CMID. A different CMID is needed to activate using KMS services. We searched for a solution and everyone mentioned rearming the machine, but then we received the message that we can’t rearm. We then searched for a solution but everyone was pointing out to set the Skiprearm to 1. When testing this we discovered that the CMID keeps the same after rearming the Windows machine.

We discovered that the “Remaining Windows Rearm Count” was 0. which means that when you set SkipRearm then you don’t rearm the machine. Knowing this we searched how to reset the Rearm count and found an article that explained how we could reset the rearm count. http://www.daniel-mitchell.com/blog/reset-windows-7-rearm-count/

To do this follow the below instructions:

Create reset.bat on C:\
add the following code:
reg load HKLM\MY_SYSTEM “%~dp0Windows\System32\config\system”
reg delete HKLM\MY_SYSTEM\WPA /f
reg unload HKLM\MY_SYSTEM
Restart your machine to repair mode using the F8 key.
In the System Recovery Options menu, select Command Prompt.
Now type in D:\reset.bat. The C-drive is used as a recovery partition.
If the script is executed successfully, you should get the message “The operation completed successfully”.
Reboot your machine.

Now the rearm count is reset to 5. You can check this using slmgr /dlv.

Now set make sure the Skiprearm is set to 0 at the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform

Now the Image is ready to deploy and the KMS server will receive different CMID’s from the servers.

XenDesktop Security permissions SQL server

Posted on 01/05/201314/08/2013

When you install XenDesktop and need to configure the Desktop Delivery Controller to create the Database then this might result in security errors. When the DDC needs to create the Database then set the security as shown below.

First add the Desktop Delivery Controller as security login to the SQL server and give the server Sysadmin permissions.

Continue reading “XenDesktop Security permissions SQL server” →

Using VMWare with XenDesktop

Posted on 23/04/201315/10/2013

When you are using VMWare ESX as Hypervisor you need to configure some setting on the Desktop Delivery Controller and on the VCenter server before you can add the VMWare vCenter host to the XenDesktop environment. First you need to create a user or a role where you can add multiple users in the vCenter environment. In the following steps I explain how to create a Role with all the necessary right.

Create Security Role vCenter

Based on the following Article: Using VMware with XenDesktop provided by Citrix, I create a new role which I will name XenDesktop. Then I added the appropriate settings as described in the following table:

Datastore.AllocateSpace	Datastore > Allocate space
Datastore.Browse	Datastore > Browse datastore
Datastore.FileManagement	Datastore > Low level file operations
Network.Assign	Network > Assign network
Resource.AssignVMToPool	Resource > Assign virtual machine to resource pool
System.Anonymous	Added automatically.
System.Read	Added automatically.
System.View	Added automatically.
Task.Create	Tasks > Create task
VirtualMachine.Config.AddRemoveDevice	Virtual machine > Configuration > Add or remove device
VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk	Virtual machine > Configuration > Add existing disk
VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk	Virtual machine > Configuration > Add new disk
VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount	Virtual machine > Configuration > Change CPU Count
VirtualMachine.Config.Memory	Virtual machine > Configuration > Memory
VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk	Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk
VirtualMachine.Config.Resource	Virtual machine > Configuration > Change resource
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff	Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn	Virtual machine > Interaction > Power On
VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset	Virtual machine > Interaction > Reset
VirtualMachine.Interact.Suspend	Virtual machine > Interaction > Suspend
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create	Virtual machine > Inventory > Create new
VirtualMachine.Inventory.CreateFromExisting	Virtual machine > Inventory > Create from existing
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete	Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Register	Virtual machine > Inventory > Register
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone virtual machine
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DiskRandomAccess	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Allow disk access
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.GetVmFiles	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Allow virtual machine download
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.PutVmFiles	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Allow virtual machine files upload
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DeployTemplate	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Deploy template
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.MarkAsVM	Virtual machine > Provisioning > Mark as virtual machine
VirtualMachine.State.CreateSnapshot	Virtual machine > State > Create snapshot
VirtualMachine.State.RemoveSnapshot	Virtual machine > State > Remove snapshot
VirtualMachine.State.RevertToSnapshot	Virtual machine > State > Revert to snapshot

All the above settings are applied in the “Add New Role” screen as you can see below. Continue reading “Using VMWare with XenDesktop” →

XenDesktop: Database could not be contacted

Posted on 22/04/201314/08/2013

After installing Hotfix Update 4 for XenDesktop 5.6 I noticed errors in my eventviewer that the connection to the database was lost. I discovered the errors because I couldn’t create Desktop Groups, I keep getting the error: “Database could not be contacted“.

After some searching I found that the database needs to be updated because of a minor version. The hotfix update 4 descriptions mentions the update of the datastore but normally you receive an update button whit in the Desktop Studio, but this one I didn’t receive. Continue reading “XenDesktop: Database could not be contacted” →

Citrix Auto Support

Posted on 24/01/201314/08/2013

When working with Citrix products you want to be sure your configuration is correct, or want to troubleshoot why you have a problem. Citrix developed the Citrix Auto Support formerly known as Citrix Tools as a Services (TaaS). You can can make a health check for XenServer, XenApp, XenDesktop and Netscaler and citrix will add other products later.

When you need to troubleshoot or perform a health check for XenApp or XenDesktop you need the Citrix Scout tool to create the log files. http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX130147 You have to enable WinRM before you can create the CDF trace of remote servers, look at : http://www.vdnieuwenhof.nl/knowledge-base/enable-winrm-for-windows-remote-shell/

When you need to troubleshoot your XenServer environment you need to create a Server Status Report using the XenCenter console.

After you created the reports you need to upload them to the Citrix Auto Support site (http://taas.citrix.com), you will need to have a MyCitrix account for this which you can create at the Citrix site.

The upload process is a peace of cake, just login to the Auto Support site

After you loged in you will see your Workspace, here you can see your latest uploads and there results, which you can move to the Archive when you don’t need them anymore. Continue reading “Citrix Auto Support” →