Entra hybrid joined deployments

Additional requirements must be addressed for HDX Plus for Windows 365 to work correctly with Entra hybrid joined Cloud PCs. These requirements are:

• The Entra ID directory must be synchronized from the AD domain the Cloud PCs belong to.
• Your deployment must include Cloud Connectors.

Cloud Connectors

When using Entra hybrid joined Cloud PCs, your deployment must include Cloud Connectors. The number, type, and configuration required depend on whether you plan to leverage the default connector-less VDA registration model or want the VDAs in your Cloud PCs to register through Cloud Connectors.

Connector-less VDA registration

By default, VDAs are configured in connector-less mode in HDX Plus for Windows 365. This means the VDA communicates directly with the Citrix Cloud control plane without needing a Cloud Connector to proxy this communication.

In this scenario, the Cloud Connectors are only needed for Citrix Cloud to connect to your Active Directory domain to be able to look up machine and user identities.

If you are using HDX Plus for Windows 365 in an existing Citrix DaaS environment with Cloud Connectors already deployed, you don’t need to add any additional Cloud Connectors.

When planning a new deployment, you must register a Cloud Connector with the default Resource Location. Citrix recommends you deploy at least two Cloud Connectors for high availability.

Note:

You can use either the Windows-based Cloud Connector or the Connector Appliance for this case. For more information on configuring the connectors, see Citrix Cloud Connector and Connector Appliance for Cloud Services.

Cloud Connector VDA registration

The VDA in the Cloud PCs can be configured to register with your DaaS site through Cloud Connectors if needed.

Things to know:

• You must use the Windows-based Cloud Connector.
• Resource Locations will be created for every Azure region where you deploy Cloud PCs.
• You will need Cloud Connectors for every Resource Location.
• Refer to Size and scale considerations for Cloud Connectors for guidance on determining sizing and number of Cloud Connectors.

Important

The following settings must be present in the Cloud PCs before they are onboarded via HDX Plus for Windows 365 (that is, before the Citrix entitlement is assigned to the corresponding user):

• Key: HKLM\Software\Citrix\WebSocketVdaRegistrationTool
• Value type: DWORD
• Value name: VdaRegistrationViaConnectorEnabled

• Data: 1

• Key: HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent
• Value type: String (REG_SZ)
• Value name: ListOfDDCs
• Data: Space-separated list of Cloud Connector FQDNs

The following are two possible options to achieve this:

• Configure the registry values in a GPO that will be applied to the Cloud PCs when joined to the AD domain.
• Provision Cloud PCs using a custom image with the VDA already installed and these settings configured.

If you plan on using a custom image, consider using the same installation command used for the automatic VDA installation in HDX Plus for Windows 365:

<installer.exe> /quiet /remotepc /virtualmachine /enable_hdx_ports /enable_hdx_udp_ports /enablerestorecleanup /noreboot /noresume /includeadditional "Citrix Profile Management","Citrix Profile Management WMI Plug-in","Citrix VDA Upgrade Agent"

Following are the step-by-step instructions for onboarding Entra hybrid joined Cloud PCs with VDA registration through Cloud Connectors for new and existing deployments.

Onboarding Entra hybrid joined Cloud PCs to a new Citrix DaaS site

If you are configuring HDX Plus for Windows 365 in a new Citrix DaaS deployment, follow these steps for the initial configuration:

1. Create your Cloud Connector machines but do not install the Cloud Connector software.
2. Install the Cloud Connector software on one of the machines created and register it with the default resource location (My Resource Location).
3. Ensure that you have a GPO or a custom image with the settings mentioned above configured and that the ListOfDDCs includes the FQDN of the Cloud Connector from Step 2 (in addition to other Cloud Connectors created for the Cloud PCs’ Resource Location). This will ensure these settings are present before the VDA is configured so it can register with your site successfully.
4. Proceed to Assign Citrix Licenses to Users. At this point, we recommend assigning a license to a single user and waiting to assign licenses to the rest of the users or groups once the initial configuration is complete (step 9).
5. When the first Cloud PC in the region registers with Citrix DaaS, a Resource Location for that region will be created automatically in your Citrix Cloud tenant.
6. Once the Resource Location has been created, install the Cloud Connector software on your Cloud Connector machines and register them with the appropriate Resource Location.
7. Uninstall the Cloud Connector software from the machine from Step 2.
8. Re-install the Cloud Connector software on the machine and register it with the appropriate Resource Location.
9. Proceed to Assign Citrix Licenses to the remainder of your users or groups.
10. Repeat step 9 to onboard new Cloud PCs on the Resource Location. If you are using a group to assign the Citrix entitlement, you only need to add the users to the group.
11. If you want to onboard Cloud PCs hosted in regions that do not already have a corresponding Resource Location in Citrix Cloud, repeat steps 1 - 9.

Onboarding Entra hybrid joined Cloud PCs to an existing Citrix DaaS site

If you are configuring HDX Plus for Windows 365 in an existing Citrix DaaS deployment, follow these steps for the initial configuration:

1. Create your Cloud Connector machines but do not install the Cloud Connector software.
2. Create a new Resource Location in Citrix Cloud. This will be temporary to facilitate the initial configuration. Alternatively, you may use any existing Resource Location that is not currently in use.
3. Install the Cloud Connector software on one of the machines created and register it with the temporary resource location from step 2.
4. Ensure that you have a GPO or a custom image with the settings mentioned above configured and that the ListOfDDCs includes the FQDN of the Cloud Connector from Step 3 (in addition to other Cloud Connectors created for the Cloud PCs’ Resource Location). This will ensure these settings are present before the VDA is configured so it can register with your site successfully.
5. Proceed to Assign Citrix Licenses to Users. At this point, we recommend assigning a license to a single user and waiting to assign licenses to the rest of the users or groups once the initial configuration is complete (step 10).
6. When the first Cloud PC in the region registers with Citrix DaaS, a Resource Location for that region will be created automatically in your Citrix Cloud tenant.
7. Once the Resource Location has been created, install the Cloud Connector software on your Cloud Connector machines and register them with the appropriate Resource Location.
8. Uninstall the Cloud Connector software from the machine from Step 3.
9. Re-install the Cloud Connector software on the machine and register it with the appropriate Resource Location.
10. Proceed to Assign Citrix Licenses to the remainder of your users or groups.
11. If you want, you can delete the temporary Resource Location from step 2.
12. Repeat step 10 to onboard new Cloud PCs on the Resource Location. If you are using a group to assign the Citrix entitlement, you only need to add the users to the group.
13. If you want to onboard Cloud PCs hosted in regions that do not already have a corresponding Resource Location in Citrix Cloud, repeat steps 1 - 10.