Filename: XD560_Controller_X64_HFs_11.zip
For: Citrix XenDesktop Controller Version 5.6 (64-bit). For operating system requirements, see Citrix Product Documentation.
Replaces: All previous versions
Date: June, 2015
Languages supported: English (US), Japanese (JA)
Readme version: 1.00

Readme Revision History

Important Note(s)

• Caution: This section does not apply to customers who are upgrading from Hotfixes Update 9*; it does apply to all other customers: By design, the Broker hotfix (XD560BrokerSvc) included in this release modifies the DbSchema of your data store database (the "data store"). This modification is permanent and irreversible. Should you decide, for any reason, to uninstall the Broker hotfix at a later time, these modifications will not automatically be reverted. As a matter of precaution, Citrix recommends strongly that you back up your data store before installing this hotfix. Doing so allows you to manually restore your data store to the backed up version. Even so, any changes you make to the data store between backing up and restoring it will be lost. For information about backing up and restoring your data store, see Knowledge Center article CTX135207.
  * If you installed Hotfixes Update 9, the DbSchema of your data store database was updated on occasion of that installation. No further updates to the data store database will occur when you install Hotfixes Update 11.
  The DbSchema update succeeds only on configured sites - sites to which you have added at least one desktop group. If you have not yet configured your site, add at least one desktop group to it before installing this update package. Otherwise, the install will fail to update the existing DBSchema and you will need to rebuild your XenDesktop site.
• Important: All hotfixes included in this release must be installed; otherwise, your Controller might be left in an unstable state. If you are upgrading from the base (RTM) version of the 5.6 Controller, install all hotfixes included in this package. If you are upgrading from an earlier release of Controller Hotfixes, install only the hotfixes that are new in this package compared to the earlier release you already installed. There is no need to install the individual hotfixes in a specific order.
• For known issues with Citrix XenDesktop 5.0 SP1 and later in combination with VMware vSphere 5.x hypervisor, see Knowledge Center article CTX131239.

Where to Find Documentation

• This document describes the issue(s) resolved by this release and includes installation instructions. For additional product information, including supported operating systems and system requirements, see Citrix Product Documentation.
• For information about XenDesktop upgrade best practices, see Knowledge Center article CTX128748.

Known Issues in This Release

1. If you create a dedicated machine catalog with vSphere 4.1 Update 3, you cannot delete VMs from the catalog if at least one VM is powered on. To prevent this from happening, power off all VMs in the machine catalog and enable maintenance mode before deleting the selected VMs.

   [#560172]

New Fixes in This Release

1. If you delete a VM from a dedicated catalog while at least one other VM is running, the diff disk for the removed VM is deleted as expected but then recreated with the highest available ID + 1 and the left orphaned.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64011, XD560HostSvcWX64011, XD560MCSvcWX64011, XD560MISvcWX64011][#LA5898]

2. When users attempt to deleted the pooled catalog created on XenServer and then run the catalog update, the base disks are not removed from storage and the number of base disks might increase.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64011, XD560HostSvcWX64011, XD560MCSvcWX64011, XD560MISvcWX64011][#LC0577]

3. Session reliability cannot be disabled by using either Active Directory Group Policy Object (GPO) or through Desktop Studio on VDA 7.x sessions that start by using XenDesktop 5.6 Desktop Delivery Controller (DDCs).

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64011][#LC0878]

4. When creating a new pooled machine by using the Machine Creation Services from a master image with custom VMX and nvram settings, the settings are not copied to the new virtual machines.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64011, XD560HostSvcWX64011, XD560MCSvcWX64011, XD560MISvcWX64011][#LC0967]

Fixes from Previously Released Hotfixes

Installing, Uninstalling, Upgrading

1. Installing Hotfix XD560MISvcWX64003 on Desktop Delivery Controllers in a site with failed provisioning workflows can prevent the Machine Identity Service from starting.

   [From XD560ADIDSvcWX64004, XD560ConfSvcWX64004, XD560HostSvcWX64004, XD560MISvcWX64004][#LA3556]

Licensing

1. When using Concurrent User (CCU) licensing, the licenses might fail to check-in, eventually resulting in a shortage of licenses. The administrator is required to restart the Desktop Delivery Controller or the license server to return it to the original state. The issue occurs when there is a mismatch in the search result while using the case-sensitive string comparator. As a result, the record of the licenses might not be found while releasing the license.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64002][#LA0971]

Security Issues

1. This update is intended to be applied only by customers who require Federal Information Processing Standards compliant encryption. This update supports end-to-end TLS encryption of HDX communications in a XenDesktop 5.6 environment.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64005][#LA3873]

Server/Farm Administration

1. Desktop groups cannot be created or deleted if their names exceed 63 characters in length or contain underscores ("_").

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64003][#LA0978]

2. With VMware vSphere 5, when deleting a dedicated virtual machine (VM) from Desktop Studio, the delta disk of the dedicated VM might be left behind.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64003, XD560HostSvcWX64003, XD560MCSvcWX64003, XD560MISvcWX64003][#LA1116]

3. Note: This is a feature enhancement that requires you to install both a Broker Service and a Broker Service PowerShell Snap-in hotfix that contains Fix #LA1371.

   By design, existing catalogs provide only partial power management for assigned desktops. As a result, assigned desktops do not power back on during configured peak hours if they were shut down by the Broker at logoff/disconnect. This feature enhancement introduces a new desktop group setting, "AutomaticPowerOnForAssignedDuringPeak" that lets you force assigned desktops to power back on when logged off or disconnected during peak hours. With the "AutomaticPowerOnForAssignedDuringPeak" setting set to "false" (default), XenDesktop behaves entirely as in earlier releases. To force assigned desktops to power back on during peak hours, use the following PowerShell command:

   "Set-BrokerDesktopGroup <DesktopGroup> -AutomaticPowerOnForAssignedDuringPeak $True"

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64003, XD560BrokerPSSIWX64003][#LA1371]

4. Enabling maintenance mode on an assigned desktop powers on all other desktops in the same desktop group.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64003][#LA1462]

5. Administrators with "Machine administrator" privileges cannot view or create personal vDisk resources ("Pooled with personal vDisk" and "Streamed with personal vDisk") in Desktop Studio.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64002][#LA1722]

6. This fix addresses an issue that prevents the new preferred controller from getting data from the host connection when the preferred controller is changed.

   [From XD560ADIDSvcWX64003, XD560HostSvcWX64003][#LA1837]

7. This fix corrects an issue that prevents the proper execution of the following XenDesktop 5 SDK command:

   Remove-BrokerUser -Name * -Machine DOMAIN\MACHINE_NAME -Verbose -Debug

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64007][#LA2064]

8. Deleting a provisioned Virtual Desktop Agent on Version 5.1 of VMware ESX from Version 5.6 of the Delivery Controller might fail.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64004, XD560HostSvcWX64004, XD560MCSvcWX64004, XD560MISvcWX64004][#LA3335]

9. Desktop Studio can take a long time to launch for delegated administrators that are members of many Active Directory groups.

   [From XD560ADIDSvcWX64007, XD560ConfSvcWX64007, XD560HostSvcWX64007, XD560MCSvcWX64007, XD560MISvcWX64007][#LA3478]

10. Attempts to delete a Dedicated Machine Catalog on Version 5.1 of VMware ESX from Desktop Studio might fail.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64004, XD560HostSvcWX64004, XD560MCSvcWX64004, XD560MISvcWX64004][#LA3624]

11. Attempts to delete a dedicated catalog from Desktop Studio with the option "Remove from XenDesktop and delete from Active Directory" fail on VMware vSphere 5 Update 2.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64007, XD560HostSvcWX64007, XD560MCSvcWX64007, XD560MISvcWX64007][#LA3798]

12. Attempts to reset or restart a Hyper-V based VM from Desktop Director or Desktop Studio might fail with the following error message:

    "The Specified Method Is Not Supported."

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64008][#LA4105]

13. Attempts to create new machine to an existing dedicated catalog might fail with the following error message:

    "The object has already been deleted or has not been completely created."

    This fix adds additional tracing to the CreateTargetVM function to help facilitate debugging this issue.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64008, XD560HostSvcWX64008, XD560MCSvcWX64008, XD560MISvcWX64008][#LA4361]

14. Off-peak turn-off delays specified for permanently allocated machines are not properly honored.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64009][#LA4950]

15. When creating VMs on XenServer 6.2 with using the Machine Creation Service, an invalid default generation ID is set.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64010, XD560HostSvcWX64010, XD560MCSvcWX64010, XD560MISvcWX64010][#LC0254]

16. Depending on the size of the SQL database, searches in Desktop Director or using PowerShell scripts can time out before the query finishes. This fix introduces support for the following registry key that, when set, allows you to increase the SQL timeout value from 30 seconds (default) to up to two minutes:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\DesktopServer\DataStore\Connections\Controller
    Name:SdkSqlQueryTimeoutSecs
    Type:REG_DWORD
    Data: :<timeout in seconds; default: 30; minimum 1; maximum 120>

    Important: After modifying this registry key, you must restart the Broker Service for the change to take effect.

    [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64010][#LC0337]

Session/Connection

1. Note: This is a feature enhancement that requires you to install both a Broker Service and a Broker Service PowerShell Snap-in hotfix that contains Fix #LA0754.

   Description: Failure of a hypervisor or a loss of connectivity between the hypervisor and the Broker renders an active session inaccessible, and attempts to reconnect to the session fail. For shared desktops, and in the common case where a user is entitled only to a single desktop from a group, the user effectively loses all access to that desktop group, even if other machines in the same group (but on a different hypervisor) are available for use. For large hypervisors in a data center, such loss of a hypervisor can cause a large scale reduction of availability of XenDesktop that requires significant operator intervention to remedy.

   With this feature enhancement:

   • a new session can be brokered from the existing infrastructure
   • sessions orphaned as a result of hypervisor failure or of a loss of connectivity can be enumerated and terminated from the console

   Background: This feature enhancement adds a new "hidden" attribute to every session. With the "hidden" attribute set to "false" (default), XenDesktop behaves entirely as in earlier releases. To avoid a loss of desktop availability in the event of hypervisor failure, the Broker automatically marks a session as hidden ("hidden" = "true") the moment a user attempts to reconnect to that session. With the session marked hidden this way, the Broker continues with the session launch as if no session was found to which to reconnect. Provided sufficient desktops are available, a new session is created on a different desktop - even if the user's entitlement to that resource would ordinarily be exhausted.

   • To enumerate orphaned sessions, use the PowerShell command "Get-BrokerSession -Hidden $true"
   • To revert all hidden sessions to their visible state, use the PowerShell command "Get-BrokerSession -Hidden $true | Set-BrokerSession -Hidden $false"

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64001][#LA0754]

2. When using the Quick Deploy or the Desktop Deployment features, the Set-ConfigDBConnection PowerShell command times out, causing the deployment process to fail with the following error messages:

   Error message displayed for Desktop Deployment feature:
   "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation."

   Error message displayed for Quick Deployment feature:
   "An unhandled error was thrown by the service."

   [From XD560MCSvcWX64004][#LA1997]

3. Clicking a published desktop icon multiple times in rapid succession on the Web Interface site can eventually cause the launch of the desktop to fail.

   To enable this fix in its entirety, you must install both a Broker hotfix and a VDA hotfix (XD560VDAWX64300; XD560VDAWX86300, or their replacements) that contains Fix #LA2255.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64007][#LA2255]

4. A deadlock can cause the Desktop Delivery Controller to become unresponsive.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64008, XD560HostSvcWX64008, XD560MCSvcWX64008, XD560MISvcWX64008][#LA4863]

5. In multiple site configurations, attempts by users to reconnect to a disconnected session can fail. A new session is created instead.

   Note: This fix updates the capabilities of the Broker Service. As a result, you must also restart StoreFront after installing this fix.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64010][#LC0263]

System Exceptions

1. Existing difference disks might not be deleted, which can eventually result in storage overflow.

   [From XD560ADIDSvcWX64003, XD560ConfSvcWX64003, XD560HostSvcWX64003, XD560MCSvcWX64003, XD560MISvcWX64003][#LA0793]

Miscellaneous

1. Users' attempts to restart a dedicated Virtual Desktop Agent from the Web Interface fail if a session record for the agent exists in the Broker database but is missing user information.

   [From XD560BrokerSvcWX64003][#LA2849]

Component Versions

Installing This Release

Notes:

• This release is packaged as a .zip file containing the replacement .msi files for the various components of Version 5.6 of the XenDesktop Controller. For more information about deploying msi files, see Microsoft article 884016 or visit the Microsoft Web site and search on keyword msiexec.
• Caution: This section does not apply to customers who are upgrading from Hotfixes Update 9*; it does apply to all other customers: By design, the Broker hotfix (XD560BrokerSvc) included in this release modifies the DbSchema of your data store database (the "data store"). This modification is permanent and irreversible. Should you decide, for any reason, to uninstall the Broker hotfix at a later time, these modifications will not automatically be reverted. As a matter of precaution, Citrix recommends strongly that you back up your data store before installing this hotfix. Doing so allows you to manually restore your data store to the backed up version. Even so, any changes you make to the data store between backing up and restoring it will be lost. For information about backing up and restoring your data store, see Knowledge Center article CTX135207.
  * If you installed Hotfixes Update 9, the DbSchema of your data store database was updated on occasion of that installation. No further updates to the data store database will occur when you install Hotfixes Update 11.
  The DbSchema update succeeds only on configured sites - sites to which you have added at least one desktop group. If you have not yet configured your site, add at least one desktop group to it before installing this update package. Otherwise, the install will fail to update the existing DBSchema and you will need to rebuild your XenDesktop site.
• Caution: Downgrades, also known as rollbacks, from individual component hotfixes in this release are not supported and might leave your systems in an unstable state. The component hotfixes in this release do not patch the existing installations of the components - each fully replaces the original component with a new installation. As a result, uninstalling a component hotfix removes the entire component from the Controller. If the need arises to revert to an earlier version of the product, you must uninstall each component hotfix of this release and then reinstall the earlier versions of each component. Reverting to an earlier version of a component might result in the loss of settings you configure while this upgrade is installed.
• Important: All hotfixes included in this release must be installed; otherwise, your Controller might be left in an unstable state. If you are upgrading from the base (RTM) version of the 5.6 Controller, install all hotfixes included in this package. If you are upgrading from an earlier release of Controller Hotfixes, install only the hotfixes that are new in this package compared to the earlier release you already installed. There is no need to install the individual hotfixes in a specific order.
• To install the component hotfixes in the release successfully, servers must not have registry modification restrictions in place.

To install the component hotfixes in this release:

1. Copy the compressed hotfix package to a shared folder on the network.
2. Extract the compressed hotfix package and save the component msi files on the Controller you want to update.
3. Run each .msi file.
4. Restart the Controller even if not prompted to do so.
5. To upgrade to the latest DbSchema installed by this release, go to the Desktop Studio Dashboard and click Upgrade. If the Upgrade button is not available, see Knowledge Center article CTX133067.

To uninstall this hotfix and revert to an earlier level of the component and the data store:

1. Uninstall the component from ARP/Programs and Features.
2. Restore the data store as described in Knowledge Center article CTX135207.
3. Install the desired level of the component (base or other hotfix).
4. Restart the Controller even if not prompted to do so.