VMware virtualization environments
Follow this guidance if you use VMware to provide virtual machines.
Install vCenter Server and the appropriate management tools. (No support is provided for vSphere vCenter Linked Mode operation.)
If you plan to use MCS, do not disable the Datastore Browser feature in vCenter Server (described in https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2101567). When you disable this feature, MCS does not work correctly.
You can use Citrix Provisioning (formerly Provisioning Services) and Machine Creation Services to provision:
- legacy BIOS for supported Desktop or Server OS VMs.
- UEFI for supported Desktop or Server OS VMs, including Secure Boot.
Required privileges
Create a VMware user account and one or more VMware roles. Base the creation of these roles on the level of granularity at which you need to assign users permissions. Define the privileges for each role, using the list of vCenter permissions that Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops needs to perform the operations.
To grant permissions to a user, associate the user with the role at the data center level. For more about setting permissions in vCenter, see the VMware documentation.
The following tables show the mappings between Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops operations and the minimum required VMware privileges.
Note:
The permissions list display name, specifically the User Interface, is different for some vSphere versions. For example, in vSphere 6.7 the User Interface permission is Change Memory and Change Settings, rather than Settings and Memory as described in the required privileges noted on this page.
Add connections and resources
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| System.Anonymous, System.Read, and System.View | Added automatically. Can use the built-in read-only role. |
Power management
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| 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 |
Provision machines (Machine Creation Services)
To provision machines using MCS, the following permissions are mandatory:
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Add existing disk |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Add new disk |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig | Virtual machine > Configuration > Advanced |
| VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk |
| VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount | Virtual machine > Configuration > Change CPU count |
| VirtualMachine.Config.Memory | Virtual machine > Configuration > Change memory |
| VirtualMachine.Config.Settings | Virtual machine > Configuration > Change settings |
| 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.CreateFromExisting | Virtual machine > Inventory > Create from existing |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create | Virtual machine > Inventory > Create new |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete | Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove |
| VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone | Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone virtual machine |
| VirtualMachine.State.CreateSnapshot | vSphere 5.0, Update 2, vSphere 5.1, Update 1, and vSphere 6.x, Update 1: Virtual machine > State > Create snapshot; vSphere 5.5: Virtual machine > Snapshot management > Create snapshot |
Image update and rollback
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Add existing disk |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Add new disk |
| VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig | Virtual machine > Configuration > Advanced |
| VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk |
| VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff | Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off |
| VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn | Virtual machine > Interaction > Power On |
| VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset | Virtual machine > Interaction > Reset |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.CreateFromExisting | Virtual machine > Inventory > Create from existing |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create | Virtual machine > Inventory > Create new |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete | Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove |
| VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone | Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone virtual machine |
Delete provisioned machines
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| Datastore.Browse | Datastore > Browse datastore |
| Datastore.FileManagement | Datastore > Low level file operations |
| VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk | Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk |
| VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff | Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off |
| VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete | Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove |
Storage Profile (vSAN)
To view, create, or delete storage policies during catalog creations on a vSAN datastore, the following permissions are mandatory:
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| storage.Profile-driven storage update | PROFILE-DRIVEN STORAGE > Profile-driven storage update |
| storage.Profile-driven storage view | PROFILE-DRIVEN STORAGE > Profile-driven storage view |
Tags and Custom Attributes
Tags and custom attributes allow you to attach metadata to the VMs created in vSphere inventory and make it easier to search and filter these objects. To create, edit, assign, and delete tags or categories, the following permissions are mandatory:
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| Tagging.Create | vSphere Tagging > Create vSphere Tag |
| Tagging.Create | vSphere Tagging > Create vSphere Tag Category |
| Tagging.Edit | vSphere Tagging > Edit vSphere Tag |
| Tagging.Edit | vSphere Tagging > Edit vSphere Tag Category |
| Tagging.Delete | vSphere Tagging > Delete vSphere Tag |
| Tagging.Delete | vSphere Tagging > Delete vSphere Tag Category |
| Tagging.Assign | vSphere Tagging > Assign or Unassign vSphere Tag |
| Tagging.Assign | vSphere Tagging > Assign or Unassign vSphere Tag on Object |
| Global.ManageCustomFields | Global > Manage custom attributes |
| Global.SetCustomField | Global > Set custom attribute |
Note:
When MCS creates a machine catalog, it tags the target VMs with special name tags. These tags differentiate the master image from MCS created VMs and prevent using MCS created VMs for image preparation. You can identify the difference by the value of
XdProvisionedattribute in vCenter. The attribute is set to True if MCS creates VMs.
Cryptographic operations
Cryptographic operations privileges control who can perform which type of cryptographic operation on which type of object. vSphere Native Key Provider uses the Cryptographer.* privileges. The following minimum permissions are required for cryptographic operations:
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| Cryptographic operations.Direct Access | Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Direct Access |
| Cryptographic operations.Add disk | Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Add disk |
| Cryptographic operations.Clone | Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Clone |
| Cryptographic operations.Encrypt | Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Encrypt |
| Cryptographic operations.Encrypt new | Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Encrypt new |
Provision machines (Citrix Provisioning)
All privileges from Provision machines (Machine Creation Services) and the following.
| SDK | User interface |
|---|---|
| VirtualMachine.Config.AddRemoveDevice | Virtual machine > Configuration > Add or remove device |
| VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount | Virtual machine > Configuration > Change CPU Count |
| VirtualMachine.Config.Memory | Virtual machine > Configuration > Memory |
| VirtualMachine.Config.Settings | Virtual machine > Configuration > Settings |
| VirtualMachine.Provisioning.CloneTemplate | Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone template |
| VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DeployTemplate | Virtual machine > Provisioning > Deploy template |
Note:
The permissions to clone and deploy a template are required to provision VMs using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Setup Wizard and Export Devices Wizard through Citrix Provisioning console.
Obtain and import a certificate
To protect vSphere communications, Citrix recommends that you use HTTPS rather than HTTP.
HTTPS requires digital certificates. Use a digital certificate issued from a certificate authority that meets your organization’s security policy.
If you are unable to use a digital certificate issued from a certificate authority, you can use the VMware-installed self-signed certificate. Only use this method if your organization’s security policy permits it. Add the VMware vCenter certificate to each Delivery Controller.
-
Add the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the computer running vCenter Server to the hosts file on that server, at
%SystemRoot%/WINDOWS/system32/Drivers/etc/. This step is required only if the FQDN of the computer running vCenter Server is not already present in the domain name system. -
Obtain the vCenter certificate using any of the following three methods:
From the vCenter server.
- Copy the file rui.crt from the vCenter server to a location accessible on your Delivery Controllers.
- On the Controller, navigate to the location of the exported certificate and open the rui.crt file.
Download the certificate using a web browser. If you are using Internet Explorer, right-click on Internet Explorer and choose Run as Administrator to download or install the certificate.
- Open your web browser and make a secure web connection to the vCenter server (for example https://server1.domain1.com).
- Accept the security warnings.
- Click the address bar displaying the certificate error.
- View the certificate and click the Details tab.
- Select Copy to file and export in .CER format, providing a name when prompted to do so.
- Save the exported certificate.
- Navigate to the location of the exported certificate and open the .CER file.
Import directly from Internet Explorer running as an administrator.
- Open your web browser and make a secure web connection to the vCenter server (for example https://server1.domain1.com).
- Accept the security warnings.
- Click the address bar displaying the certificate error.
- View the certificate.
-
Import the certificate into the certificate store on each of your Controllers.
- Click the Install certificate option, select Local Machine, and then click Next.
- Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then click Browse. Select Trusted People and then click OK. Click Next and then click Finish.
If you change the name of the vSphere server after installation, you must generate a new self-signed certificate on that server before importing the new certificate.
Configuration considerations
Create a master VM:
Use a master VM to provide user desktops and applications in a machine catalog. On your hypervisor:
- Install a VDA on the master VM, selecting the option to optimize the desktop, which improves performance.
- Take a snapshot of the master VM to use as a back-up.
Create a connection:
In the connection creation wizard:
- Select the VMware connection type.
- Specify the address of the access point for the vCenter SDK.
- Specify the credentials for a VMware user account you set up earlier that has permissions to create VMs. Specify the user name in the form domain/username.
VMware SSL thumbprint
The VMware SSL thumbprint feature eliminates the need to manually create a host connection to a VMware vSphere hypervisor. It is no longer required to manually create a trust relationship between the Delivery Controllers in the Site and the hypervisor’s certificate before creating a connection.
The VMware SSL thumbprint feature stores the untrusted certificate’s thumbprint on the Site database. This configuration ensures that the hypervisor can be continuously identified as trusted by Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, even if not by the Controllers.
When creating a vSphere host connection in Studio, a dialog box allows you to view the certificate of the machine you are connecting to. You can then choose whether to trust it.