Administrators may encounter an issue where they are unable to edit Application Layers within Citrix Elastic Layer Management (ELM) version 2409 after applying the February 2025 patches to their Windows 11 24H2 packaging machines. This inability to edit App Layers is accompanied by a boot error code 0xc000000f. Notably, editing OS Layers and Platform Layers functions correctly without this error. This problem is specifically observed in the packaging machines used to create and modify application layers.

The resolution depends on the current patch level of your Citrix ELM 2409 environment:

• If your ELM 2409 packaging machines are already running the latest available patch: You should ensure that this latest patch is applied to your packaging machines. This patch specifically includes the necessary updates to handle the new Windows 11 boot file introduced in the February 2025 updates. Applying this latest patch will resolve the 0xc000000f boot error and restore the ability to edit App Layers.

• If your ELM 2409 packaging machines are NOT running the latest available patch: You need to upgrade your packaging machines to the latest patch level of ELM 2409. This is the recommended and permanent solution to address the incompatibility with the new Windows 11 boot file.

• Workaround for Older ELM Versions (Non-2409 or Unpatched 2409): If you are not yet running ELM 2409 or cannot immediately apply the latest patch to your 2409 environment, a temporary workaround exists for packaging machines:

  • Turn off caching: Disabling caching on the packaging machines can allow you to continue working with App Layers until you can upgrade to the latest 2409 patch. However, be aware that disabling caching might impact performance during the layering process.

Important Considerations for ELM 2403:

Citrix ELM version 2403 is nearing its end-of-life and will become obsolete soon. Citrix has not introduced a specific patch for this issue in version 2403. Therefore, the recommended course of action for environments still running ELM 2403 is to upgrade to version 2409 and then apply the latest patch to resolve this incompatibility with the February 2025 Windows 11 24H2 updates. Relying on the caching workaround in 2403 is only a temporary measure until a full upgrade can be performed.

Problem Cause

This behavior is not a bug within Citrix ELM. Instead, Microsoft introduced a new boot file as part of the February 2025 updates for Windows 11 24H2. Citrix ELM version 2409 requires a specific patch to properly handle this new boot file during the App Layer editing process. Without this patch, the packaging machine encounters an error during the boot sequence required for layer editing, resulting in the 0xc000000f error.