System requirements
Introduction
The system requirements in this document were valid when this product version released. Updates are made periodically. System requirements for components not covered here (such as host systems, Citrix Workspace app, and Citrix Provisioning) are described in their respective documentation.
Review Prepare to install before beginning an installation.
Except where noted, the component installer deploys software prerequisites automatically (such as .NET and C++ packages) if the required versions are not detected on the machine. The Citrix installation media also contains some of this prerequisite software.
The installation media contains several third-party components. Before using the Citrix software, check for security updates from the third party, and install them.
For globalization information, see Knowledge Center article CTX119253.
For components and features that can be installed on Windows Servers, Nano Server installations are not supported, unless noted. Server Core is supported only for Delivery Controllers and Director.
Hardware requirements
RAM and disk space values are in addition to requirements for the product image, operating system, and other software on the machine. Your performance varies, depending on your configuration. Your configuration includes the features you use, plus the number of users, and other factors. Using only the minimum can result in slow performance.
The following table lists the minimum requirements for core components.
| Component | Minimum |
|---|---|
| All core components and StoreFront on one server, for an evaluation only, not a production deployment | 5 GB RAM |
| All core components and StoreFront on one server, for a test deployment or a small production environment | 12 GB RAM |
| Delivery Controller (more disk space required for Local Host Cache) | 5 GB RAM, 800 MB hard disk, database: see Sizing guidance |
| Studio | 1 GB RAM, 100 MB hard disk |
| Director | 2 GB RAM, 200 MB hard disk |
| StoreFront | 2 GB RAM, see the StoreFront documentation for disk recommendations |
| License Server | 8 GB RAM; see the Licensing documentation for disk recommendations |
Sizing of VMs that deliver desktops and applications
Specific recommendations cannot be provided because of the complex and dynamic nature of hardware offerings, and every deployment has unique needs. Generally, sizing a Citrix Virtual Apps VM is based on the hardware and not the user workloads. The exception is RAM. You need more RAM for applications that consume more.
For more information:
- Citrix VDI Handbook and Best Practices contains guidance on sizing.
- Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Single Server Scalability discusses how many users or VMs can be supported on a single physical host.
Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime
Installing Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime on a machine that has Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Runtime installed can result in automatic removal of the Visual C++ 2015 Runtime. This action is as designed.
If you’ve already installed Citrix components that automatically install the Visual C++ 2015 Runtime, those components continue to operate correctly with the Visual C++ 2017 version.
For more information, see the Microsoft article https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/content/problem/332815/visual-c-redistributable-2017-install-removes-visu.html.
Delivery Controller
Supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option
- Windows Server 2016, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option
Requirements:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
- Windows PowerShell 3.0 or later.
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime, 32-bit and 64-bit.
Databases
Supported Microsoft SQL Server versions for the site configuration, configuration logging, and monitoring databases:
- SQL Server 2019, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
- SQL Server 2017, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
- For new installations: By default, SQL Server Express 2017 with Cumulative Update 16 is installed when installing the Controller, if an existing supported SQL Server installation is not detected.
- For upgrades, any existing SQL Server Express version is not upgraded.
- SQL Server 2016 SP2, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
The following database high availability solutions are supported (except for SQL Server Express, which supports only standalone mode):
- SQL Server AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances
- SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups (including Basic Availability Groups)
- SQL Server Database Mirroring
Windows authentication is required for connections between the Controller and the SQL Server site database.
Local Host Cache considerations: Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB is a feature of SQL Server Express that Local Host Cache uses on a standalone basis. Local Host Cache does not require any components of SQL Server Express other than SQL Server Express LocalDB.
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When installing a Controller, Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB 2017 with Cumulative Update 16 is installed for use with the Local Host Cache feature. (This installation is separate from the default SQL Server Express installation for the site database.)
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When upgrading a Controller, the existing Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB version is not automatically upgraded. For replacement requirements and procedures, see Replace SQL Server Express LocalDB.
More database information:
- Databases
- CTX114501 lists the most current supported databases
- Database sizing guidance
- Local Host Cache
Citrix Studio
Supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions
- Windows Server 2016, Standard and Datacenter Editions
- Windows 11
- Windows 10 (64-bit only)
Requirements:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
- Microsoft Management Console 3.0 (included with all supported operating systems).
- Windows PowerShell 3.0 or later.
Citrix Director
Supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option
- Windows Server 2016, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option
Requirements:
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Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
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Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and ASP.NET 2.0. Ensure that the IIS server role has the Static Content role service installed. If this software is not already installed, you are prompted for the Windows Server installation media. Then, that software is installed for you.
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To view the event logs on machines where Citrix Director is installed, you must install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
Citrix Profile Management:
- Ensure that the Citrix Profile Management and Citrix Profile Management WMI Plug-in are installed on the VDA (Additional Components page in the installation wizard) and that the Citrix Profile Management Service is running to view the user profile details in Director.
System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) integration requirements:
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager
Supported browsers for viewing Director:
- Internet Explorer 11. Compatibility mode is not supported for Internet Explorer. Use the recommended browser settings to access Director. When you install Internet Explorer, accept the default to use the recommended security and compatibility settings. If you already installed the browser and chose not to use the recommended settings, go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Reset and follow the instructions.
- Microsoft Edge.
- Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release).
- Chrome.
The recommended optimal screen resolution for viewing Director is 1366 x 1024.
Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for single-session OS
Supported operating systems:
- Windows 11
- Windows 10 (x64 only), minimum version 1607.
Requirements:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime, 32-bit and 64-bit.
Remote PC Access uses this VDA, which you install on physical office PCs. This VDA supports Secure Boot for Citrix Virtual Desktops Remote PC Access on Windows 11 and Windows 10.
Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine on which you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features are not installed and do not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software. Otherwise, users cannot log on to the machine. On most supported Windows single-session OS editions, Media Foundation support is already installed and cannot be removed. However, N editions do not include certain media-related technologies; you can obtain that software from Microsoft or a third party. For more information, see Prepare to install.
For Linux VDA information, see the Linux Virtual Delivery Agent articles.
To use the Server VDI feature, you can use the command line interface to install a VDA for Windows single-session OS on a supported Windows Server machine. See Server VDI for guidance.
For information about installing a VDA on a Windows 7 machine, see Earlier operating systems.
Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for multi-session OS
Supported operating systems:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions
- Windows Server 2016, Standard and Datacenter Editions
The installer automatically deploys the following requirements, which are also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support folders:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime, 32-bit and 64-bit.
The installer automatically installs and enables Remote Desktop Services role services, if they are not already installed and enabled.
Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that the Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine on which you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features are not installed and do not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software; otherwise, users will not be able to log on to the machine. On most Windows Server versions, the Media Foundation feature is installed through the Server Manager. For more information, see Prepare to install.
If Media Foundation is not present on the VDA, these multimedia features do not work:
- Windows Media Redirection
- HTML5 Video Redirection
- HDX RealTime Webcam Redirection
For Linux VDA information, see the Linux Virtual Delivery Agent articles.
For information about installing a VDA on a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine, see Earlier operating systems.
Hosts / virtualization resources
Important:
If you’re upgrading, and your current version uses Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), or Citrix CloudPlatform connections, see the requirements in Remove unsupported host items.
The following host/virtualization resources (listed alphabetically) are supported. Where applicable, the major.minor versions are supported, including updates to those versions. Knowledge Center article CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.
Some features might not be supported on all host platforms or all platform versions. See the feature documentation for details.
The Remote PC Access Wake on LAN feature requires Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager minimum 2012.
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Citrix Hypervisor (formerly XenServer)
CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.
For more information, see Citrix Hypervisor virtualization environments.
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Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
Includes any version of Hyper-V that can register with the supported System Center Virtual Machine Manager versions.
CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.
For more information, see Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager virtualization environments.
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Nutanix Acropolis
CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.
For more information, see Nutanix virtualization environments.
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VMware vSphere (vCenter + ESXi)
No support is provided for vSphere vCenter Linked Mode operation.
CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.
For more information, see VMware virtualization environments.
Active Directory functional levels
The following functional levels for the Active Directory forest and domain are supported:
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008
HDX
Audio
UDP audio for Multi-Stream ICA is supported on Citrix Workspace app for Windows and Citrix Workspace app for Linux 13.
Echo cancellation is supported on Citrix Workspace app for Windows.
See the specific HDX feature support and requirements. For more information on HDX features and Citrix Workspace apps, see the Feature matrix.
HDX Windows Media delivery
The following clients are supported for Windows Media client-side content fetching, Windows Media redirection, and real-time Windows Media multimedia transcoding: Citrix Workspace app for Windows, Citrix Workspace app for iOS, and Citrix Workspace app for Linux.
To use Windows Media client-side content fetching on Windows 8 devices, set the Citrix Multimedia Redirector as a default program: in Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs > Set your default programs, select Citrix Multimedia Redirector and click either Set this program as default or Choose defaults for this program. GPU transcoding requires an NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU with Compute Capability 1.1 or higher; see https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-gpus.
HDX 3D Pro
The VDA for Windows single-session OS detects the presence of GPU hardware at runtime.
The physical or virtual machine hosting the application can use GPU Passthrough or Virtual GPU (vGPU):
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GPU Passthrough is available with:
- Citrix XenServer
- Nutanix AHV
- VMware vSphere and VMware ESX, where it is referred to as virtual Direct Graphics Acceleration (vDGA)
- Microsoft Hyper-V in Windows Server 2016 where it is referred to as Discrete Device Assignment (DDA).
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vGPU is available with:
- Citrix Hypervisor
- Nutanix AHV
- VMware vSphere
See https://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp-xendesktop/hdx-3d-pro.html.
Citrix recommends that the host computer has at least 4 GB of RAM and four virtual CPUs with a clock speed of 2.3 GHz or higher.
Graphical Processing Unit (GPU):
- For CPU-based compression (including lossless compression), HDX 3D Pro supports any display adapter on the host computer that is compatible with the application being delivered.
- For virtualized graphics acceleration using the NVIDIA GRID API, you can use HDX 3D Pro with all the NVIDIA GRID GPUs supported by the GRID 10 driver (see NVIDIA GRID). The NVIDIA GRID delivers a high frame rate, resulting in a highly interactive user experience.
- Virtualized graphics acceleration is supported on the Intel Xeon Processor E3 Family of data center graphics platform. For more information, see https://www.citrix.com/intel and https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/servers/data-center-graphics.html.
- Virtualized graphics acceleration is supported with AMD RapidFire on the AMD FirePro S-series server cards. See AMD Virtualization Solution).
User device:
- HDX 3D Pro supports all monitor resolutions that are supported by the GPU on the host computer. For optimum performance with the minimum recommended user device and GPU specifications, Citrix recommends a maximum monitor resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels for LAN connections, and 1280 x 1024 pixels for WAN connections.
- Citrix recommends that user devices have at least 1 GB of RAM and a CPU with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz or higher. Use of the default deep compression codec, which is required on low-bandwidth connections, requires a more powerful CPU unless the decoding is done in hardware. For optimum performance, Citrix recommends that user devices have at least 2 GB of RAM and a dual-core CPU with a clock speed of 3 GHz or higher.
- For multi-monitor access, Citrix recommends user devices with quad-core CPUs.
- User devices do not need a GPU to access desktops or applications delivered with HDX 3D Pro.
- Citrix Workspace app must be installed.
For more information, see the HDX 3D Pro articles and www.citrix.com/xenapp/3d.
Universal Print Server
The Universal Print Server comprises client and server components. The UpsClient component is included in the VDA installation. You install the UpsServer component on each print server where shared printers reside that you want to provision with the Citrix Universal Print Driver in user sessions.
The UpsServer component is supported on:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016
Requirements:
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtimes, x86 and x64
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 (minimum)
For VDAs for Multi-session OS, user authentication during printing operations requires the Universal Print Server to be joined to the same domain as the VDA.
Standalone client and server component packages are also available for download.
For more information, see Provision printers.
Other
Only Citrix License Server 11.16 and later are supported. For more information, see Licensing.
When using Citrix Provisioning (formerly Provisioning Services) with this release, version 7.x is covered by the XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x lifecycle and the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops lifecycle. See the Product Matrix for more information about version compatibility.
For supported StoreFront versions, see the StoreFront system requirements.
The Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is required if you store Citrix policy information in Active Directory rather than the site configuration database. If you install CitrixGroupPolicyManagement_x64.msi separately (for example, on a machine that does not have a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops core component installed), that machine must have Visual Studio 2015 runtime installed. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation.
If you want to edit domain GPOs using GPMC, enable the Group Policy Management feature (in the Windows Server Manager) on all machines containing Delivery Controllers.
Multiple NICs are supported.
By default, the Citrix Workspace app for Windows is not installed when you install a current VDA. For more information, see the Citrix Workspace app for Windows documentation.
See App-V for supported versions of Microsoft App-V.
See Local App Access for supported browser information for that feature.
This version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops requires a minimum of HDX RealTime Connector 2.9 LTSR. For more information, see the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack documentation.
This product supports PowerShell versions 3 through 5.
In this article
- Introduction
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Runtime
- Delivery Controller
- Databases
- Citrix Studio
- Citrix Director
- Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for single-session OS
- Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for multi-session OS
- Hosts / virtualization resources
- Active Directory functional levels
- HDX
- Universal Print Server
- Other