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Create a Microsoft Azure catalog

October 18, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

Note:

Since July 2023, Microsoft has renamed Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to Microsoft Entra ID. In this document, any reference to Azure Active Directory, Azure AD, or AAD now refers to Microsoft Entra ID.

Create machine catalogs describes the wizards that create a machine catalog. The following information covers details specific to Microsoft Azure Resource Manager cloud environments.

Note:

Before creating a Microsoft Azure catalog, you need to finish creating a connection to Microsoft Azure. See Connection to Microsoft Azure.

Create a machine catalog

You can create a machine catalog in two ways:

Create a machine catalog using an Azure Resource Manager image in Web Studio

An image can be a disk, snapshot, or an image version of an image definition inside the Azure Compute Gallery that is used to create the VMs in a machine catalog. Before creating the machine catalog, create an image in the Azure Resource Manager. For general information about images, see Create machine catalogs.

Note:

Support for using a master image from a region different from that configured in the host connection is deprecated. Use Azure Compute Gallery to replicate the master image to the desired region.

When creating an MCS machine catalog, a temporary VM is created based on the original VM to perform preparation tasks such as enabling DHCP and license rearm. This temporary VM is called a preparation VM. The name of this preparation VM follows the format Preparati-84x9n, where the last five characters are randomly generated to avoid duplication. The naming convention for this preparation VM is fixed and cannot be customized. After the preparation tasks are completed, the preparation VM is destroyed.

To disconnect the network from the preparation VM, a network security group is created to deny all inbound and outbound traffic. The network security group is created automatically once per catalog. The network security group’s name is Citrix-Deny-All-a3pgu-GUID, where GUID is randomly generated. For example, Citrix-Deny-All-a3pgu-3f161981-28e2-4223-b797-88b04d336dd1.

In the machine catalog creation wizard:

  • The Machine Type and Machine Management pages do not contain Azure-specific information. Follow the guidance in the Create machine catalogs article.

  • On the Image page, choose an image that you want to use as the template for creating machines in this catalog.

    If you select Master image as the image type to use, click Select an image and follow these steps to select a master image as necessary:

    1. (Applicable only to connections configured with shared images within or across tenants) Select a subscription where the image resides.
    2. Select a resource group.
    3. Navigate to the Azure VHD, the Azure Compute Gallery, or the Azure image version. Add a note for the selected image if needed.

    When selecting an image, consider the following:

    • Verify that a Citrix VDA is installed on the image.
    • If you select a VHD attached to a VM, you must shut down the VM before proceeding to the next step.

    Note:

    • The subscription corresponding to the connection (host) that created the machines in the catalog is denoted with a green dot. The other subscriptions are those that have the Azure Compute Gallery shared with that subscription. In those subscriptions, only shared galleries are shown. For information about how to configure shared subscriptions, see Share images within a tenant (across subscriptions) and Share images across tenants.
    • Using a machine profile with trusted launch as Security Type is mandatory when you select an image or snapshot that has trusted launch enabled. You can then enable or disable SecureBoot and vTPM by specifying their values in the machine profile. Trusted Launch is not supported for Shared Image Gallery. For information about Azure trusted launch, see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/trusted-launch.
    • You can create a provisioning scheme using ephemeral OS disk on Windows with trusted launch. When you select an image with trusted launch, then you must select a machine profile with trusted launch that is enabled with vTPM. To create machine catalogs using ephemeral OS disk, see How to create machines using ephemeral OS disks.
    • When image replication is in progress, you can proceed and select the image as the master image and complete the setup. However, catalog creation might take longer to complete while the image is being replicated. MCS requires the replication to complete within an hour starting from catalog creation. If the replication times out, catalog creation fails. You can verify the replication status in Azure. Try again if the replication is still pending or after the replication completes.
    • When you select a master image for machine catalogs in Azure, MCS identifies the OS type based on the master image and machine profile you select. If MCS can’t identify it, select the OS type that matches the master image.
    • You can provision a Gen2 VM catalog by using a Gen2 image to improve boot time performance. However, creating a Gen2 machine catalog using a Gen1 image is not supported. Similarly, creating a Gen1 machine catalog using a Gen2 image is also not supported. Also, any older image that does not have generation information is a Gen1 image.

    If you select Prepared image as the image type to use, click Select an image and select a prepared image as necessary.

    To ensure successful VM creation, verify that the image has Citrix VDA 2311 or later installed and MCSIO is present on the VDA.

    Once you select an image, the Use a machine profile (mandatory for Azure Active Directory) checkbox is automatically selected. Click Select a machine profile to browse to a VM or an ARM template spec from a list of resource groups. VMs in the catalog can inherit configurations from the selected machine profile.

    Validate the ARM template spec to make sure whether it can be used as a machine profile to create a machine catalog. There are two ways to validate the ARM template spec:

    • After you select the ARM template spec from the resource group list, click Next. Error messages appear if the ARM template spec has errors.
    • Run one of the following PowerShell commands:
      • Test-ProvInventoryItem -HostingUnitName <string> -InventoryPath <string>
      • Test-ProvInventoryItem -HostingUnitUid <Guid> -InventoryPath <string>

    Examples of configurations that VMs can inherit from a machine profile include:

    • Accelerated networking
    • Boot diagnostics
    • Host disk caching (relating to OS and MCSIO disks)
    • Machine size (unless otherwise specified)
    • Tags placed on the VM

    After you create the catalog, you can view the configurations that the image inherits from the machine profile. On the Machine Catalogs node, select the catalog to view its details in the lower pane. Then, click the Template Properties tab to view machine profile properties. The Tags section displays up to three tags. To view all tags placed on the VM, click View all.

    If you want MCS to provision VMs on an Azure dedicated host, enable the Use a dedicated host group checkbox and then select a host group from the list. A host group is a resource that represents a collection of dedicated hosts. A dedicated host is a service that provides physical servers that host one or more VMs. Your server is dedicated to your Azure subscription, not shared with other subscribers. When you use a dedicated host, Azure ensures that your VMs are the only machines running on that host. This feature is suitable for scenarios where you must meet regulatory or internal security requirements. To learn more about host groups and considerations for using them, see Azure dedicated hosts.

    Important:

    • Only host groups that have Azure auto-placement enabled are shown.
    • Using a host group changes the Virtual Machines page offered later in the wizard. Only machine sizes that the selected host group contains are shown on that page. Also, Availability Zones are selected automatically and not available for selection.

  • The Storage and License Types page appears only when you use an Azure Resource Manager image.

    Storage and License Types page

    You have the following storage types to use for the machine catalog:

    • Premium SSD. Offers a high-performance, low-latency disk storage option suitable for VMs with I/O-intensive workloads.
    • Standard SSD. Offers a cost-effective storage option that is suitable for workloads that require consistent performance at lower IOPS levels.
    • Standard HDD. Offers a reliable, low-cost disk storage option suitable for VMs that run latency-insensitive workloads.
    • Azure ephemeral OS disk. Offers a cost-effective storage option that reuses the local disk of the VMs to host the operating system disk. Alternatively, you can use PowerShell to create machines that use ephemeral OS disks. For more information, see Azure ephemeral disks. Be aware of the following considerations when using an ephemeral OS disk:
      • Azure ephemeral OS disk and MCS I/O cannot be enabled at the same time.
      • To update machines that use ephemeral OS disks, you must select an image whose size does not exceed the size of the VM’s cache disk or temporary disk.
      • You cannot use the Retain VM and system disk during power cycles option offered later in the wizard.

    Note:

    The identity disk is always created using Standard SSD irrespective of the storage type that you choose.

    The storage type determines which machine sizes are offered on the Virtual Machines page of the wizard. MCS configures premium and standard disks to use Locally Redundant Storage (LRS). LRS makes multiple synchronous copies of your disk data within a single data center. Azure ephemeral OS disks use the local disk of the VMs to store the operating system. For details about Azure storage types and storage replication, see the following:

    Select whether to use existing Windows licenses or Linux licenses.

    • Windows licenses: Using Windows licenses along with Windows images (Azure platform support images or custom images) lets you run Windows VMs in Azure at a reduced cost. There are two types of licenses:

      • Windows Server license. Lets you use your Windows Server or Azure Windows Server licenses, allowing you to use Azure Hybrid Benefits. For details, see https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/hybrid-benefit/. Azure Hybrid Benefit reduces the cost of running VMs in Azure to the base compute rate, waiving the cost of extra Windows Server licenses from the Azure gallery.

      • Windows Client license. Lets you bring your Windows 10 and Windows 11 licenses to Azure, allowing you to run Windows 10 and Windows 11 VMs in Azure without the need for extra licenses. For details, see Client Access Licenses and Management Licenses.

    You can verify that the provisioned VM is using the licensing benefit by running the following PowerShell command: Get-AzVM -ResourceGroup MyResourceGroup -Name MyVM.

    Alternatively, you can use the Get-Provscheme PowerShell SDK to do the verification. For example: Get-Provscheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "My Azure Catalog". For more information about this cmdlet, see https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops-sdk/en/latest/MachineCreation/Get-ProvScheme/.

    • Linux licenses: With bring-your-own-subscription (BYOS) Linux licenses, you do not have to pay for the software. The BYOS charge only includes the compute hardware fee. There are two types of licenses:

      • RHEL_BYOS: To use RHEL_BYOS type successfully, enable Red Hat Cloud Access on your Azure subscription.
      • SLES_BYOS: The BYOS versions of SLES include support from SUSE.

      You can set the LicenseType value to Linux options at New-ProvScheme and Set-ProvScheme.

      Example of setting LicenseType to RHEL_BYOS at New-ProvScheme:

      New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot -ProvisioningSchemeName "azureCatalog" -RunAsynchronously -Scope @() -SecurityGroup @() -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="StandardSSD_LRS" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="hu-dev-mcs" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OsType" Value="Linux" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="RHEL_BYOS" /></CustomProperties>'
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      Example of setting LicenseType to SLES_BYOS at Set-ProvScheme:

      Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "azureCatalog" -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="StandardSSD_LRS" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="hu-dev-mcs" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OsType" Value="Linux" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="SLES_BYOS" /></CustomProperties>'
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      Note:

      If LicenseType value is empty, then the default values are Azure Windows Server License or Azure Linux License, depending on OsType value.

      Example of setting LicenseType to empty:

      Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "azureCatalog" -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="StandardSSD_LRS" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="hu-dev-mcs" /><Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OsType" Value="Linux" /></CustomProperties>'
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    See the following documents to understand License types and their benefits:

    Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Azure Shared Image Gallery) is a repository for managing and sharing images. It lets you make your images available throughout your organization. We recommend that you store an image in SIG when creating large non-persistent machine catalogs because doing that enables faster resets of VDA OS disks. After you select Place prepared image in Azure Compute Gallery, the Azure Compute Gallery settings section appears, letting you specify more Azure Compute Gallery settings:

    • Ratio of virtual machines to image replicas. Lets you specify the ratio of virtual machines to image replicas that you want Azure to keep. By default, Azure keeps a single image replica for every 40 non-persistent machines. For persistent machines, that number defaults to 1,000.

    • Maximum replica count. Lets you specify the maximum number of image replicas that you want Azure to keep. The default is 100.

    Note:

    A gallery is created in ACG to store the image. This gallery is accessible only to MCS for VM creation and doesn’t appear on the Select an image page.

  • On the Virtual Machines page, indicate how many VMs you want to create. You must specify at least one and select a machine size. After catalog creation, you can change the machine size by editing the catalog.

  • The NICs page does not contain Azure-specific information. Follow the guidance in the Create machine catalogs article.

  • On the Disk Settings page, choose whether to enable write-back cache. With the MCS storage optimization feature enabled, you can configure the following settings when creating a catalog. These settings apply to both Azure and GCP environments.

    Machine catalog setup- disk settings

    After enabling write-back cache, you can do the following:

    • Configure the size of the disk and RAM used for caching temporary data. For more information, see Configure cache for temporary data.

    • Select the storage type for the write-back cache disk. The following storage options are available to use for the write-back cache disk:

      • Premium SSD
      • Standard SSD
      • Standard HDD

    • Choose whether you want the write-back cache disk to persist for the provisioned VMs. Select Enable write-back cache to make the options available. By default, Use non-persistent write-back cache disk is selected.

    • Select the type for the write-back cache disk.

      • Use non-persistent write-back cache disk. If selected, the write-back cache disk is deleted during power cycles. Any data redirected to it will be lost. If the VM’s temporary disk has sufficient space, it is used to host the write-back cache disk to reduce your costs. After catalog creation, you can check whether the provisioned machines use the temporary disk. To do so, click the catalog and verify the information on the Template Properties tab. If the temporary disk is used, you see Non-persistent Write-back Cache Disk and its value is Yes (using VM’s temporary disk). If not, you see Non-persistent Write-back Cache Disk and its value is No (not using VM’s temporary disk).
      • Use persistent write-back cache disk. If selected, the write-back cache disk persists for the provisioned VMs. Enabling the option increases your storage costs.

    • Choose whether to retain VMs and system disks for VDAs during power cycles.

      Retain VM and system disk during power cycles. Available when you’ve selected Enable write-back cache. By default, VMs and the system disks are deleted on shutdown and recreated on startup. If you want to reduce VM restart times, select this option. Keep in mind that enabling this option also increases storage costs.

    • Choose whether to enable Storage cost savings. If enabled, save storage costs by downgrading the storage disk to Standard HDD when the VM shuts down. The VM switches to its original settings on restart. The option applies to both storage and write-back cache disks. Alternatively, you can also use PowerShell. See Change the storage type to a lower tier when a VM is shut down.

      Note:

      Microsoft imposes restrictions on changing the storage type during VM shutdown. It’s also possible that Microsoft will block storage type changes in the future. For more information, see this Microsoft article.

    • Choose whether to encrypt data on the machines provisioned in the catalog. Server-side encryption with a customer-managed encryption key lets you manage encryption at a managed disk level and protect data on the machines in the catalog. For more information, see Azure server-side encryption.

  • On the Resource Group page, choose whether to create resource groups or use existing groups.

    • If you choose to create resource groups, select Next.
    • If you choose to use existing resource groups, select groups from the Available Provisioning Resource Groups list. Remember: Select enough groups to accommodate the machines you’re creating in the catalog. A message appears if you choose too few. You might want to select more than the minimum required if you plan to add more VMs to the catalog later. You can’t add more resource groups to a catalog after the catalog is created.

    For more information, see Azure resource groups.

  • On the Machine Identities page, choose an identity type and configure identities for machines in this catalog. If you select the VMs as Azure Active Directory joined, you can add them to an Azure AD security group. Detailed steps are as follows:

    1. From the Identity type field, select Azure Active Directory joined. The Azure AD security group (optional) option appears.
    2. Click Azure AD security group: Create new.
    3. Enter a group name, and then click Create.
    4. Follow the onscreen instructions to sign in to Azure. If the group name doesn’t exist in Azure, a green icon appears. Otherwise, an error message appears requesting you to enter a new name.
    5. Enter the machine account naming scheme for the VMs.

    After catalog creation, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops accesses Azure on your behalf and creates the security group and a dynamic membership rule for the group. Based on the rule, VMs with the naming scheme specified in this catalog are automatically added to the security group.

    Adding VMs with a different naming scheme to this catalog requires you to sign in to Azure. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops can then access Azure and create a dynamic membership rule based on the new naming scheme.

    When deleting this catalog, deleting the security group from Azure also requires signing in to Azure.

  • The Domain Credentials and Summary pages do not contain Azure-specific information. Follow the guidance in the Create machine catalogs article.

Complete the wizard.

Conditions for Azure temporary disk to be eligible for write-back cache disk

You can use the Azure temporary disk as write-back cache disk only if all the following conditions are satisfied:

  • The write-back cache disk must non-persist as the Azure temporary disk is not appropriate for persistent data.

  • The chosen Azure VM size must include a temporary disk.

  • The ephemeral OS disk is not required to be enabled.

  • Accept to place the write-back cache file on Azure temporary disk.

  • The Azure temporary disk size must be greater than the total size of (write-back cache disk size + reserved space for paging file + 1 GB buffer space).

Non-persistent write-back cache disk scenarios

The following table describes three different scenarios when temporary disk is used for write-back cache while creating machine catalog.

Scenario Outcome
All conditions to use temporary disk for write-back cache are satisfied. The WBC file mcsdif.vhdx is placed on the temporary disk.
Temporary disk has insufficient space for write-back cache usage. A VHD disk MCSWCDisk is created and WBC file mcsdif.vhdx is placed on this disk.
Temporary disk has sufficient space for write-back cache usage but UseTempDiskForWBC is set to false. A VHD disk MCSWCDisk is created and WBC file mcsdif.vhdx is placed on this disk.

Create an Azure template spec

You can create an Azure template spec in the Azure portal and use it in Web Studio and PowerShell commands to create or update an MCS machine catalog.

To create an Azure template spec for an existing VM:

  1. Go to the Azure portal. Select a resource group, and then select the VM and network interface. From the … menu on the top, click Export template.
  2. Clear Include parameters checkbox if you want to create a template spec for catalog provisioning.
  3. Click Add to library to modify the template spec later.
  4. On the Importing template page, enter the required information such as Name, Subscription, Resource Group, Location, and Version. Click Next: Edit Template.

  5. You also need a network interface as an independent resource if you want to provision catalogs. Therefore, you must remove any dependsOn specified in the template spec. For example:

    "dependsOn": [
"[resourceId('Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces', 'tnic937')]"
],
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  6. Create Review+Create and create the template spec.
  7. On the Template Specs page, verify the template spec you just created. Click the template spec. On the left panel, click Versions.
  8. You can create a new version by clicking Create new version. Specify a new version number, change to the current template spec, and click Review + Create to create the new version of the template spec.

You can get information about the template spec and template version using the following PowerShell commands:

  • To get information about the template spec, run:

     get-item XDHyp:\HostingUnits\East\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\bggTemplateSpec.templatespec
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  • To get information about the template spec version, run:

     get-item XDHyp:\HostingUnits\East\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\bggTemplateSpec.templatespec\bgg1.0.templatespecversion
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Use template spec in creating or updating a catalog

You can create or update an MCS machine catalog using a template spec as a machine profile input. To do this, you can use the Web Studio or PowerShell commands.

Azure server-side encryption

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops supports customer-managed encryption keys for Azure managed disks through Azure Key Vault. With this support you can manage your organizational and compliance requirements by encrypting the managed disks of your machine catalog using your own encryption key. For more information, see Server-side encryption of Azure Disk Storage.

When using this feature for managed disks:

  • To change the key that the disk is encrypted with, you change the current key in the DiskEncryptionSet. All resources associated with that DiskEncryptionSet change to be encrypted with the new key.

  • When you disable or delete your key, any VMs with disks using that key automatically shut down. After shutting down, the VMs are not usable unless the key is enabled again or you assign a new key. Any catalog using the key cannot be powered on, and you cannot add VMs to it.

Important considerations when using customer-managed encryption keys

Consider the following when using this feature:

  • All resources related to your customer-managed keys (Azure Key Vaults, disk encryption sets, VMs, disks, and snapshots) must reside in the same subscription and region.
  • Disks, snapshots, and images encrypted with customer-managed keys cannot move to another resource group and subscription.
  • Refer to the Microsoft site for limitations on disk encryption sets per region.

Note:

See Quickstart: Create a Key Vault using the Azure portal for information on configuring Azure server-side encryption.

Azure Customer-managed encryption key

When creating a machine catalog, you can choose whether to encrypt data on the machines provisioned in the catalog. Server-side encryption with a customer-managed encryption key lets you manage encryption at a managed disk level and protect data on the machines in the catalog. A Disk Encryption Set (DES) represents a customer-managed key. To use this feature, you must first create your DES in Azure. A DES is in the following format:

  • /subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012/resourceGroups/Sample-RG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/diskEncryptionSets/SampleEncryptionSet

Select a DES from the list. The DES you select must be in the same subscription and region as your resources.

See Creating a machine catalog using customer-managed key.

Azure disk encryption at host

You can create an MCS machine catalog with encryption at host capability. Currently, MCS supports only the machine profile workflow for this feature. You can use a VM or a template spec as an input for a machine profile.

This encryption method does not encrypt the data through the Azure storage. The server hosting the VM encrypts the data and then the encrypted data flows through the Azure storage server. Hence, this method of encryption encrypts data end to end.

Restrictions:

Azure disk encryption at host is:

  • Not supported for all Azure machine sizes
  • Incompatible with Azure disk encryption

To create a machine catalog with encryption at host capability:

  1. Check if the subscription has the encryption at host feature enabled or not. To do this, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/resources/features/get?tabs=HTTP/. If not enabled, you must enable the feature for the subscription. For information on enabling the feature for your subscription, see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/disks-enable-host-based-encryption-portal?tabs=azure-powershell#prerequisites/.

  2. Check if a particular Azure VM size supports encryption at host or not. To do this, in a PowerShell window, run one of the following:

    PS XDHyp:\Connections\<your connection>\east us.region\serviceoffering.folder>
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    PS XDHyp:\HostingUnits\<your hosting unit>\serviceoffering.folder>
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  3. Create a VM or a template spec, as an input for machine profile, in Azure portal with encryption at host enabled.

    • If you want to create a VM, select a VM size that supports encryption at host. After you create the VM, the VM property Encryption at host is enabled.
    • If you want to use a template spec, assign the parameter Encryption at Host as true inside securityProfile.

  4. Create an MCS machine catalog with machine profile workflow by either selecting a VM or a template spec.

    • OS disk / Data Disk: Gets encrypted through Customer-managed key and Platform-managed key
    • Ephemeral OS Disk: Gets encrypted only through Platform-managed key
    • Cache Disk: Gets encrypted through Customer-managed key and Platform-managed key

    You can create the machine catalog using Web Studio or running PowerShell commands.

Retrieve encryption at host information from a machine profile

You can retrieve the encryption at host information from a machine profile when you run the PowerShell command with the AdditionalData parameter. If EncryptionAtHost parameter is True, it indicates that the encryption at host is enabled for the machine profile.

For example: When the machine profile input is a VM, run the following command:

(get-item XDHyp:\HostingUnits\myAzureNetwork\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\def.vm).AdditionalData
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For example: When the machine profile input is a template spec, run the following command:

(get-item XDHyp:\HostingUnits\myAzureNetwork\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\def_templatespec.templatespec\EncryptionAtHost.templatespecversion).AdditionalData
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Double encryption on managed disk

You can create a machine catalog with double encryption. Any catalogs created with this feature have all disks server side encrypted with both platform and customer-managed keys. You own and maintain the Azure Key Vault, Encryption Key, and the Disk Encryption Sets (DES).

Double encryption is platform-side encryption (default) and customer-managed encryption (CMEK). Therefore, if you are a high security sensitive customer who is concerned about the risk associated with any encryption algorithm, implementation, or a compromised key, you can opt for this double encryption. Persistent OS and data disks, snapshots, and images are all encrypted at rest with double encryption.

Note:

  • You can create and update a machine catalog with double encryption using Web Studio and PowerShell commands. See Create a machine catalog with double encryption for PowerShell commands.
  • You can use a non-machine profile-based workflow or machine profile-based workflow for creating or updating a machine catalog with double encryption.
  • If you use non-machine profile-based workflow to create a machine catalog, you can reuse the stored DiskEncryptionSetId.
  • If you use a machine profile, you can use a VM or template spec as a machine profile input.

Limitations:

  • Double encryption is not supported for Ultra Disks or Premium SSD v2 disks.
  • Double encryption is not supported on unmanaged disks.
  • If you disable a DiskEncryptionSet key associated with a catalog, then the VMs of the catalog are disabled.
  • All resources related to your customer-managed keys (Azure Key Vaults, disk encryption sets, VMs, disks, and snapshots) must be in the same subscription and region.
  • You can only create up to 50 disk encryption sets per region per subscription.

Azure resource groups

Azure provisioning resource groups provide a way to provision the VMs that provide applications and desktops to users. You can add existing empty Azure resource groups when you create an MCS machine catalog, or have new resource groups created for you. For information about Azure resource groups, see the Microsoft documentation.

Azure Resource Group Usage

There is no limit on the number of virtual machines, managed disks, snapshots, and images per Azure Resource Group. (The limit of 240 VMs per 800 managed disks per Azure Resource Group has been removed.)

  • When using a full-scope service principal to create a machine catalog, MCS creates only one Azure Resource Group and uses that group for the catalog.
  • When using a narrow scope service principal to create a machine catalog, you must supply an empty, pre-created Azure Resource Group for the catalog.

Azure ephemeral disks

An Azure ephemeral disk allows you to repurpose the cache disk or temporary disk to store the OS disk for an Azure-enabled virtual machine. This functionality is useful for Azure environments that require a higher performant SSD disk over a standard HDD disk. For information on creating a catalog with an Azure ephemeral disk, see Create a catalog with an Azure ephemeral disks.

Note:

Persistent catalogs do not support ephemeral OS disks.

Ephemeral OS disks require that your provisioning scheme uses managed disks and a Shared Image Gallery.

Storing an ephemeral OS temporary disk

You have the option of storing an ephemeral OS disk on the VM temp disk or a resource disk. This functionality enables you to use an ephemeral OS disk with a VM that either doesn’t have a cache, or has insufficient cache. Such VMs have a temp or resource disk to store an ephemeral OS disk, such as Ddv4.

Consider the following:

  • An ephemeral disk is stored either in the VM cache disk, or the VM’s temporary (resource) disk. The cache disk is preferred over the temporary disk, unless the cache disk is not large enough to hold the contents of the OS disk.
  • For updates, a new image that is larger than the cache disk but smaller than the temp disk results in replacing the ephemeral OS disk with the VM’s temp disk.

Azure ephemeral disk and Machine Creation Services (MCS) storage optimization (MCS I/O)

Azure ephemeral OS disk and MCS I/O cannot be enabled at the same time.

The important considerations are as follows:

  • You cannot create a machine catalog with both ephemeral OS disk and MCS I/O enabled at the same time.

  • The PowerShell parameters (UseWriteBackCache and UseEphemeralOsDisk) fail with proper error messages if you set them to true in New-ProvScheme or Set-ProvScheme.
  • For existing machine catalogs created with both features enabled, you can still:
    • update a machine catalog.
    • add or delete VMs.
    • delete a machine catalog.

Use Azure Compute Gallery (formerly Azure Shared Image Gallery) as a published image repository for MCS provisioned machines in Azure. You can store a published image in the gallery to accelerate the creation and hydration of OS disks, improving start and application launch times for non-persistent VMs. The shared image gallery contains the following three elements:

  • Gallery: Images are stored here. MCS creates one gallery for each machine catalog.
  • Gallery Image Definition: This definition includes information (operating system type and state, Azure region) about the published image. MCS creates one image definition for each image created for the catalog.
  • Gallery Image Version: Each image in a Shared Image Gallery can have multiple versions, and each version can have multiple replicas in different regions. Each replica is a full copy of the published image.

Note:

Shared Image Gallery functionality is only compatible with managed disks. It is not available for legacy machine catalogs.

For more information, see Azure Compute Gallery overview.

For information on creating or updating a machine catalog using Azure Compute Gallery image using PowerShell, see Create or update a machine catalog using an Azure Compute Gallery image.

Azure confidential VMs

Azure confidential computing VMs ensure that your virtual desktop is encrypted in memory and protected in use.

You can use MCS to create a catalog with Azure confidential VMs. You must use the machine profile workflow to create such a catalog. You can use both VM and ARM template spec as a machine profile input.

Important considerations for confidential VMs

The important considerations for supported VM sizes and creating machine catalog with confidential VMs are as follows:

  • Supported VM sizes: Confidential VMs support the following VM sizes:

    • DCasv5-series
    • DCadsv5-series
    • ECasv5-series
    • ECadsv5-series

  • Create machine catalogs with confidential VMs.

    • You can create a machine catalog with Azure Confidential VMs using Web Studio and PowerShell commands.
    • You must use machine profile-based workflow for creating a machine catalog with Azure Confidential VMs. You can use a VM or template spec as a machine profile input.

    • The master image and the machine profile input must be both enabled with the same confidential security type. The security types are:

      • VMGuestStateOnly: Confidential VM with only VM guest state encrypted
      • DiskWithVMGuestState: Confidential VM with both OS disk and VM guest state encrypted with platform managed key or customer managed key. Both normal and Ephemeral OS disk can be encrypted.

    • You can get confidential VM information of various resource types such as managed disk, snapshot, Azure Compute Gallery image, VM, and ARM template spec using the AdditionalData parameter. For example:

       PS C:\Users\username> (get-item XDHyp:\HostingUnits\mynetwork\image.folder\username-dev-testing-rg.resourcegroup\username-dev-tsvda.vm).AdditionalData
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      The additional data fields are:

      • DiskSecurityType
      • ConfidentialVMDiskEncryptionSetId
      • DiskSecurityProfiles

      To get the confidential computing property of a machine size, run the following command: (Get-Item -path "XDHyp:\Connections\my-connection-name\East US.region\serviceoffering.folder\abc.serviceoffering").AdditionalData

      The additional data field is ConfidentialComputingType.

    • You cannot change the master image or machine profile from confidential to non-confidential security type, or from non-confidential to confidential security type.
    • You get appropriate error messages for any incorrect configuration.

Prepare master images and machine profiles

Before creating a set of confidential VMs, follow these steps to prepare a master image and a machine profile for them:

  1. In the Azure portal, create a confidential VM with specific settings, such as:
    • Security Type: Confidential virtual machines
    • Confidential OS disk encryption: Enabled.
    • Key management: Confidential disk encryption with a platform-managed key For more information about creating confidential VMs, see this Microsoft article.

  2. Prepare the master image on the VM created. Install the necessary applications and VDA on the created VM.

    Note:

    Creating confidential VMs using VHD is not supported. Instead, use Azure Compute Gallery, managed disks, or snapshots for this purpose.

  3. Create the machine profile using either of these ways:

    • Use the existing VM created in step 1 if it possesses the needed machine properties.

    • If you opt for an ARM template spec as the machine profile, create the template spec as needed. Specifically, configure parameters that meet your confidential VM requirements, such as SecurityEncryptionType and diskEncryptionSet (for customer-managed key). For more information, see Create an Azure template spec.

      Note:

      • Ensure the master image and the machine profile have the same security key type.
      • To create confidential VMs requiring confidential OS disk encryption with a customer-managed key, make sure that the disk encryption set IDs in both the master image and the machine profile are identical.

Create confidential VMs using Web Studio or PowerShell commands

To create a set of confidential VMs, create a machine catalog using a master image and a machine profile derived from a desired confidential VM.

To create the catalog using Web Studio, follow the steps described in Create machine catalogs. Keep the following considerations in mind:

  • On the Image page, select a master image and a machine profile you’ve prepared for the confidential VM creation. The machine profile selection is mandatory and only profiles that match the same security encryption type as the selected master image are available for selection.
  • On the Virtual Machines page, only machine sizes that support confidential VMs appear for selection.
  • On the Disk Settings page, you can’t specify the disk encryption set because it’s inherited from the selected machine profile.

Azure Marketplace

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops supports using a master image on Azure that contains plan information to create a machine catalog. For more information, see Microsoft Azure Marketplace.

Tip:

Some images found on the Azure Marketplace, like the standard Windows Server image, do not append plan information. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops feature is for paid images.

Use the procedure in this section to view Shared Image Gallery images in Web Studio. These images can optionally be used for a master image. To put the image into a Shared Image Gallery, create an image definition in a gallery.

Azure Marketplace Shared Image Gallery

In the Publishing options page, verify the purchase plan information.

The purchase plan information fields are initially empty. Populate those fields with the purchase plan information used for the image. Failure to populate purchase plan information can cause the machine catalog process to fail.

Azure Marketplace verifies VDA publishing options

After verifying the purchase plan information, create an image version within the definition. This is used as the master image. Click Add version:

Azure Marketplace add VDA version

In the Version details section, select the image snapshot or managed disk as the source:

Azure Marketplace select VDA options

Nested virtualization

If you configure the master VM with nested virtualization enabled, then all VMs in the MCS machine catalog created using that master VM have nested virtualization enabled. This feature is applicable to both persistent and non-persistent VMs. You can update an existing MCS machine catalog and existing VMs to have nested virtualization through image update.

Currently, only Dv3 and Ev3 VM sizes support nested virtualization.

For information on nested virtualization, see the Microsoft blog Nested Virtualization in Azure.

Create a machine catalog using PowerShell

This section details how you can create catalogs using PowerShell:

Create a catalog with non-persistent write-back cache disk

To configure a catalog with non-persistent write-back cache disk, use the PowerShell parameter New-ProvScheme CustomProperties. The custom property UseTempDiskForWBC indicates whether you are accepting to use the Azure temporary storage to store the write-back cache file. This must be configured to true when running New-ProvScheme if you want to use the temporary disk as write-back cache disk. If this property is not specified, the parameter is set to False by default.

For example, using the CustomProperties parameter to set UseTempDiskForWBC to true:

-CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns=" http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi=" http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistWBC" Value="false"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistOsDisk" Value="false"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistVm" Value="false"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="WBCDiskStorageType" Value="Premium_LRS"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="Windows_Client"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseTempDiskForWBC" Value="true"/> `
</CustomProperties>'
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Note:

After you commit the machine catalog to use Azure local temporary storage for write-back cache file, it cannot be changed to use VHD later.

Create a catalog with persistent write-back cache disk

To configure a catalog with persistent write-back cache disk, use the PowerShell parameter New-ProvScheme CustomProperties. This parameter supports an extra property, PersistWBC, used to determine how the write-back cache disk persists for MCS provisioned machines. The PersistWBC property is only used when the UseWriteBackCache parameter is specified, and when the WriteBackCacheDiskSize parameter is set to indicate that a disk is created.

Examples of properties found in the CustomProperties parameter before supporting PersistWBC include:

<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="benvaldev5RG3" />
</CustomProperties>
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When using these properties, consider that they contain default values if the properties are omitted from the CustomProperties parameter. The PersistWBC property has two possible values: true or false.

Setting the PersistWBC property to true does not delete the write-back cache disk when the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops administrator shuts down the machine using Web Studio.

Setting the PersistWBC property to false deletes the write-back cache disk when the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops administrator shuts down the machine using Web Studio.

Note:

If the PersistWBC property is omitted, the property defaults to false and the write-back cache is deleted when the machine is shutdown using Web Studio.

For example, using the CustomProperties parameter to set PersistWBC to true:

<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="benvaldev5RG3" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistWBC" Value="true" />
</CustomProperties>
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Important:

The PersistWBC property can only be set using the New-ProvScheme PowerShell cmdlet. Attempting to alter the CustomProperties of a provisioning scheme after creation has no impact on the machine catalog and the persistence of the write-back cache disk when a machine is shut down.

For example, set New-ProvSchemeto use the write-back cache while setting the PersistWBC property to true:

New-ProvScheme
-CleanOnBoot
-CustomProperties "<CustomProperties xmlns=`"http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation`" xmlns:xsi=`"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance`"><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"UseManagedDisks`" Value=`"true`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"StorageAccountType`" Value=`"Premium_LRS`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"ResourceGroups`" Value=`"benvaldev5RG3`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"PersistWBC`" Value=`"true`" /></CustomProperties>"
-HostingUnitName "adSubnetScale1"
-IdentityPoolName "BV-WBC1-CAT1"
-MasterImageVM "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\image.folder\GoldImages.resourcegroup\W10MCSIO-01_OsDisk_1_a940e6f5bab349019d57ccef65d2c7e3.manageddisk"
-NetworkMapping @{"0"="XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\\virtualprivatecloud.folder\CloudScale02.resourcegroup\adVNET.virtualprivatecloud\adSubnetScale1.network"}
-ProvisioningSchemeName "BV-WBC1-CAT1"
-ServiceOffering "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\serviceoffering.folder\Standard_D2s_v3.serviceoffering"
-UseWriteBackCache
-WriteBackCacheDiskSize 127
-WriteBackCacheMemorySize 256
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Improve boot performance with MCSIO

You can improve boot performance for Azure and GCP managed disks when MCSIO is enabled. Use the PowerShell PersistOSDisk custom property in the New-ProvScheme command to configure this feature. Options associated with New-ProvScheme include:

<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Resource <!--NeedCopy-->
``````<!--NeedCopy-->
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````````Groups" Value="benvaldev5RG3" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistOsDisk" Value="true" />
</CustomProperties>
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To enable this feature, set the PersistOSDisk custom property to true. For example:

New-ProvScheme
-CleanOnBoot
-CustomProperties "<CustomProperties xmlns=`"http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation`" xmlns:xsi=`"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance`"><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"UseManagedDisks`" Value=`"true`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"StorageAccountType`" Value=`"Premium_LRS`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"ResourceGroups`" Value=`"benvaldev5RG3`" /><Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"PersistOsDisk`" Value=`"true`" /></CustomProperties>"
-HostingUnitName "adSubnetScale1"
-IdentityPoolName "BV-WBC1-CAT1"
-MasterImageVM "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\image.folder\GoldImages.resourcegroup\W10MCSIO-01_OsDisk_1_a940e6f5bab349019d57ccef65d2c7e3.manageddisk"
-NetworkMapping @{"0"="XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\\virtualprivatecloud.folder\CloudScale02.resourcegroup\adVNET.virtualprivatecloud\adSubnetScale1.network"}
-ProvisioningSchemeName "BV-WBC1-CAT1"
-ServiceOffering "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\adSubnetScale1\serviceoffering.folder\Standard_D2s_v3.serviceoffering"
-UseWriteBackCache
-WriteBackCacheDiskSize 127
-WriteBackCacheMemorySize 256
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Use template spec in creating or updating a catalog using PowerShell

You can create or update an MCS machine catalog using a template spec as a machine profile input. To do this, you can use the Web Studio or PowerShell commands.

For Web Studio, see Create a machine catalog using an Azure Resource Manager image in Web Studio

Using PowerShell commands:

  1. Open the PowerShell window.
  2. Run asnp citrix*.
  3. Create or update a catalog.
    • To create a catalog:

      1. Use the New-ProvScheme command with a template spec as a machine profile input. For example:

        New-ProvScheme -MasterImageVM "XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/image.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/nab-ws-vda_OsDisk_1_xxxxxxxxxxa.manageddisk"
MachineProfile "XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/machineprofile.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/test.templatespec/V1.templatespecversion"
-ProvisioningSchemeName <String>
-HostingUnitName <String>
-IdentityPoolName <String>
[-ServiceOffering <String>][-CustomProperties <String>
[-LoggingId <Guid>]
[-BearerToken <String>][-AdminAddress <String>]
[<CommonParameters>]
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      2. Finish creating the catalog.

    • To update a catalog, use Set-ProvScheme command with a template spec as a machine profile input. For example:

       Set-ProvScheme -MasterImageVm 'XDHyp://Connections/Azure/East Us.region/vm.folder/MasterDisk.vm'
 MachineProfile 'XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/machineprofile.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/testing.templatespec/V1.templatespecversion'
 [-ProvisioningSchemeName] <String>
 [-CustomProperties <String>][-ServiceOffering <String>] [-PassThru]
 [-LoggingId <Guid>] [-BearerToken <String>][-AdminAddress <String>] [<CommonParameters>]
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Machine catalogs with trusted launch

To successfully create a machine catalog with trusted launch, use:

  • A machine profile with trusted launch
  • A VM size that supports trusted launch
  • A Windows VM version that supports trusted launch. Currently, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016, 2019, and 2022 support trusted launch.

Important:

MCS supports creating a new catalog with trusted launch enabled VMs. However, to update an existing persistent catalog and existing VMs, you have to use the Azure portal. You cannot update trusted launch of a non-persistent catalog. For more information, see the Microsoft document Enable Trusted launch on existing Azure VMs.

To view the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops offering inventory items, and to determine whether the VM size supports trusted launch, run the following command:

  1. Open a PowerShell window.
  2. Run asnp citrix* to load the Citrix-specific PowerShell modules.

  3. Run the following command:

    $s = (ls XDHyp:\HostingUnits\<name of hosting unit>\serviceoffering.folder\"<VM size>.serviceoffering)
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  4. Run $s | select -ExpandProperty Additionaldata

  5. Check the value of the SupportsTrustedLaunch attribute.

    • If SupportsTrustedLaunch is True, the VM size supports trusted launch.
    • If SupportsTrustedLaunch is False, the VM size does not support trusted launch.

As per Azure’s PowerShell, you can use the following command to determine the VM sizes that support trusted launch:

(Get-AzComputeResourceSku | where {$_.Locations.Contains($region) -and ($_.Name -eq "<VM size>") })[0].Capabilities
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Following are the examples that describe whether the VM size supports trusted launch after you run the Azure PowerShell command.

  • Example 1: If the Azure VM supports only Generation 1, that VM does not support trusted launch. Therefore, the TrustedLaunchDisabled capability is not displayed after you run the Azure PowerShell command.
  • Example 2: If the Azure VM supports only Generation 2 and the TrustedLaunchDisabled capability is True, the Generation 2 VM size is not supported for trusted launch.
  • Example 3: If the Azure VM supports only Generation 2 and the TrustedLaunchDisabled capability is not displayed after you run the PowerShell command, the Generation 2 VM size is supported for trusted launch.

For more information on trusted launch for Azure virtual machines, see the Microsoft document Trusted launch for Azure virtual machines.

Create a machine catalog with trusted launch

  1. Create a master image enabled with trusted launch. See the Microsoft documentation Trusted launch VM Images.
  2. Create a VM or template spec with security type as trusted launch virtual machines. For more information on creating a VM or template spec, see the Microsoft document Deploy a trusted launch VM.

  3. Create a machine catalog using the Web Studio or PowerShell commands.

    • If you want to use Web Studio, see Create a machine catalog using an Azure Resource Manager image in Web Studio.

    • If you want to use PowerShell commands, use the New-ProvScheme command with the VM or the template spec as a machine profile input. For the complete list of commands to create a catalog, see Creating a catalog.

      Example of New-ProvScheme with VM as machine profile input:

       New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot -HostingUnitName "name" -IdentityPoolName "name" -InitialBatchSizeHint 1
 -MasterImageVM "XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/image.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/nab-ws-vda_OsDisk_1_xxxxxxxxxxa.manageddisk"
 -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\<adnet>\machineprofile.folder\<def.resourcegroup>\<machine profile vm.vm>"
 -ProvisioningSchemeName <String>
 -HostingUnitName <String>
 -IdentityPoolName <String>
 [-ServiceOffering <String>][-CustomProperties <String>]
 [<CommonParameters>]
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      Example of New-ProvScheme with template spec as machine profile input:

       New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot -HostingUnitName "name" -IdentityPoolName "name" -InitialBatchSizeHint 1
 -MasterImageVM "XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/image.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/nab-ws-vda_OsDisk_1_xxxxxxxxxxa.manageddisk"
 MachineProfile "XDHyp:/HostingUnits/azure/machineprofile.folder/fgthj.resourcegroup/test.templatespec/V1.templatespecversion"
 -ProvisioningSchemeName <String>
 -HostingUnitName <String>
 -IdentityPoolName <String>
 [-ServiceOffering <String>][-CustomProperties <String>]
 [<CommonParameters>]
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Errors while creating machine catalogs with Trusted launch

You get appropriate errors in the following scenarios while creating a machine catalog with trusted launch:

Scenario Error
If you select a machine profile while creating an unmanaged catalog MachineProfileNotSupportedForUnmanagedCatalog
If you select a machine profile that supports Trusted launch while creating a catalog with unmanaged disk as the master image SecurityTypeNotSupportedForUnmanagedDisk
If you do not select a machine profile while creating a managed catalog with a master image source with Trusted launch as the security type MachineProfileNotFoundForTrustedLaunchMasterImage
If you select a machine profile with a security type different from the security type of the master image SecurityTypeConflictBetweenMasterImageAndMachineProfile
If you select a VM size that does not support Trusted launch but use a master image that supports Trusted launch while creating a catalog MachineSizeNotSupportTrustedLaunch

Use machine profile property values

The machine catalog uses the following properties that are defined in the custom properties:

  • Availability zone
  • Dedicated Host Group Id
  • Disk Encryption Set Id
  • OS type
  • License type
  • Storage type

If these custom properties are not defined explicitly, then the property values are set from the ARM template spec or VM, whichever is used as the machine profile. In addition, if ServiceOffering is not specified, then it is set from the machine profile.

Note:

If some of the properties are missing from the machine profile and not defined in the custom properties, then the default values of the properties take place wherever applicable.

The following section describes some scenarios at New-ProvScheme and Set-ProvScheme when CustomProperties either have all the properties defined or values are derived from the MachineProfile.

  • New-ProvScheme Scenarios

    • MachineProfile has all the properties and CustomProperties are not defined. Example:

      New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpA.vm"

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DiskEncryptionSetId" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DedicatedHostGroupId" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Zones" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • MachineProfile has some properties and CustomProperties are not defined. Example: MachineProfile only has LicenseType and OsType.

      New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpA.vm"

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • Both MachineProfile and CustomProperties define all properties. Example:

      New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpA.vm" -CustomProperties $CustomPropertiesA

      Custom properties take priority. The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DiskEncryptionSetId" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DedicatedHostGroupId" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Zones" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • Some properties are defined in MachineProfile and some properties are defined in CustomProperties. Example:
      • CustomProperties define LicenseType and StorageAccountType
      • MachineProfile define LicenseType, OsType, and Zones

      New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpA.vm" -CustomProperties $CustomPropertiesA

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<CustomPropertiesA-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Zones" Value="<mpA-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • Some properties are defined in MachineProfile and some properties are defined in CustomProperties. In addition, ServiceOffering is not defined. Example:

      • CustomProperties define StorageType
      • MachineProfile define LicenseType
       New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mp.vm"
 -ServiceOffering "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\serviceoffering.folder\<explicit-machine-size>.serviceoffering"
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      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select ServiceOffering
 serviceoffering.folder\<explicit-machine-size>.serviceoffering

 Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="explicit-storage-type"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="value-from-machineprofile"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • If the OsType is in neither in the CustomProperties nor in the MachineProfile, then:
      • The value is read from the master image.
      • If the master image is an unmanaged disk, the OsType is set to Windows. Example:

      New-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpA.vm" -MasterImageVM "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\image.folder\linux-master-image.manageddisk"

      The value from the master image is written to the custom properties, in this case Linux.

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="Linux"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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  • Set-ProvScheme Scenarios

    • An existing catalog with:

      • CustomProperties for StorageAccountType and OsType
      • MachineProfile mpA.vm that defines zones

    • Updates:

      • MachineProfile mpB.vm that defines StorageAccountType
      • A new set of custom properties $CustomPropertiesB that defines LicenseType and OsType

      Set-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpB.vm" -CustomProperties $CustomPropertiesB

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<mpB-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<CustomPropertiesB-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<CustomPropertiesB-value>"/>
     </CustomProperties>
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    • An existing catalog with:
      • CustomProperties for StorageAccountType and OsType
      • MachineProfile mpA.vm that defines StorageAccountType and LicenseType
    • Updates:
      • A new set of custom properties $CustomPropertiesB that defines StorageAccountType and OsType.

      Set-ProvScheme -CustomProperties $CustomPropertiesB

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<CustomPropertiesB-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<CustomPropertiesB-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<mp-A-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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    • An existing catalog with:
      • CustomProperties for StorageAccountType and OsType
      • MachineProfile mpA.vm that defines Zones
    • Updates:
      • A MachineProfile mpB.vm that defines StorageAccountType and LicenseType
      • ServiceOffering is not specified

      Set-ProvScheme -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azureunit\machineprofile.folder\azure.resourcegroup\mpB.vm"

      The following values are set as custom properties for the catalog:

       Get-ProvScheme | select ServiceOffering
 serviceoffering.folder\<value-from-machineprofile>.serviceoffering

 Get-ProvScheme | select CustomProperties
 <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="<mpB-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OSType" Value="<prior-CustomProperties-value>"/>
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="<mpB-value>"/>
 </CustomProperties>
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Provision catalog VMs with Azure Monitor Agent installed

Azure monitoring is a service which you can use to collect, analyze, and act on telemetry data from your Azure and on-premises environments.

Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) collects monitoring data from compute resources like virtual machines and delivers the data to Azure monitor. It currently supports the collection of Event Logs, Syslog and Performance metrics and sends it to Azure Monitor Metrics and Azure Monitor Logs data sources.

To enable monitoring by uniquely identifying the VMs in monitoring data, you can provision the VMs of an MCS machine catalog with AMA installed as an extension.

Requirements

  • Permissions: Ensure that you have the minimum Azure permissions as specified in Required Azure permissions and the following permissions to use Azure Monitor:

    • Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/extensions/read
    • Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/extensions/write
    • Microsoft.Insights/DataCollectionRuleAssociations/Read
    • Microsoft.Insights/dataCollectionRuleAssociations/write
    • Microsoft.Insights/DataCollectionRules/Read
  • Data Collection Rule: Set up a data collection rule in Azure portal. For information about setting up a DCR, see Create a data collection rule. A DCR is platform specific (Windows or Linux). Ensure that you create a DCR as per the required platform. The AMA uses Data Collection Rules (DCR) to manage the mapping between the resources, such as VMs, and data sources, like Azure Monitor Metrics and Azure Monitor Logs.
  • Default Workspace: Create a workspace in Azure portal. For information on creating a workspace, see Create a Log Analytics workspace. When you collect logs and data, the information is stored in a workspace. A workspace has a unique workspace ID and resource ID. The workspace name must be unique for a given resource group. After you create a workspace, configure data sources and solutions to store their data in the workspace.
  • Whitelisted the monitor extension: The extensions AzureMonitorWindowsAgent and AzureMonitorLinuxAgent are Citrix defined whitelisted extensions. To view the list of whitelisted extensions, use the PoSH command, Get-ProvMetadataConfiguration.
  • Master Image: Microsoft recommends removing extensions from an existing machine before creating a new machine from it. If the extensions are not removed, it might lead to leftover files and unexpected behavior. For more information, see If the VM is recreated from an existing VM.

To provision catalog VMs with AMA enabled:

  1. Set up a machine profile template.

    • If you want to use a VM as a machine profile template:

      1. Create a VM on Azure portal.
      2. Power on the VM.
      3. Add the VM to the data collection rule under Resources. This invokes agent installation on the template VM.

    Note:

    If you must create a Linux catalog, set up a Linux machine.

    • If you want to use template spec as a machine profile template:

      1. Set up a template spec.

      2. Add the following extension and data collection rule association to the generated template spec:

        {
"type": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/extensions",
"apiVersion": "2022-03-01",
"name": "<vm-name>/AzureMonitorWindowsAgent",
"dependsOn": [
    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm-name>"
],
"location": "<azure-region>",
"properties": {
    "publisher": "Microsoft.Azure.Monitor",
    "type": "AzureMonitorWindowsAgent",
    "typeHandlerVersion": "1.0",
    "autoUpgradeMinorVersion": true,
    "enableAutomaticUpgrade": true
}
},
 {
    "type": "Microsoft.Insights/dataCollectionRuleAssociations",
    "apiVersion": "2021-11-01",
    "name": "<associatio-name>",
    "scope": "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm-name>",
    "dependsOn": [
     "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm-name>",
    "Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/<vm-name>/extensions/AzureMonitorWindowsAgent"
    ],
    "properties": {
       "description": "Association of data collection rule. Deleting this association will break the data collection for this Arc server.",
     "dataCollectionRuleId": "/subscriptions/<azure-subscription>/resourcegroups/<azure-resource-group>/providers/microsoft.insights/datacollectionrules/<azure-data-collection-rule>"
     }
    }
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  2. Create or update an existing MCS machine catalog.

    • To create a new MCS catalog:

      1. Select that VM or template spec as a machine profile in the Web Studio.
      2. Proceed with the next steps to create the catalog.

    • To update an existing MCS catalog, use the following PoSH commands:

      • To have the new VMs get the updated machine profile template, run the following command:

         Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "name"
 -MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\Unit1\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\ab-machine-profile.vm"
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      • To update existing VMs with the updated machine profile template:

         Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow -ProvisioningSchemeName my-catalog -StartsNow -DurationInMinutes -1
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  3. Power on catalog VMs.
  4. Go to Azure portal and check if the monitor extension is installed on the VM and the VM is showing up under DCR’s Resources. After a few minutes monitoring data is displayed on the Azure Monitor.

Troubleshooting

For information in troubleshooting guidance for Azure Monitor Agent, see the following:

Create a machine catalog with customer-managed encryption key

The detailed steps on how to create a machine catalog with customer-managed encryption key are:

  1. Open a PowerShell window.
  2. Run asnp citrix* to load the Citrix-specific PowerShell modules.
  3. Enter cd xdhyp:/.
  4. Enter cd .\HostingUnits\(your hosting unit).
  5. Enter cd diskencryptionset.folder.
  6. Enter dir to get the list of the Disk Encryption Sets.
  7. Copy the Id of a Disk Encryption Set.

  8. Create a custom property string to include the Id of the Disk Encryption Set. For example:

    $customProperties = "<CustomProperties xmlns=`"http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation`" xmlns:xsi=`"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance`">
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"StorageAccountType`" Value=`"Standard_LRS`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"persistWBC`" Value=`"False`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"PersistOsDisk`" Value=`"false`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"UseManagedDisks`" Value=`"true`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"DiskEncryptionSetId`" Value=`"/subscriptions/0xxx4xxx-xxb-4bxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxx/resourceGroups/abc/providers/Microsoft.Compute/diskEncryptionSets/abc-des`"/>
</CustomProperties>
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  9. Create an identity pool if not already created. For example:

    New-AcctIdentityPool -IdentityPoolName idPool -NamingScheme ms## -Domain def.local -NamingSchemeType Numeric
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  10. Run the New-ProvScheme command: For example:

    New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot -HostingUnitName "name" -IdentityPoolName "name" -InitialBatchSizeHint 1
-MasterImageVM "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res2\image.folder\def.resourcegroup\def.snapshot"
-NetworkMapping @{"0"="XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res2\\virtualprivatecloud.folder\def.resourcegroup\def-vnet.virtualprivatecloud\subnet1.network"}
-ProvisioningSchemeName "name"
-ServiceOffering "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res2\serviceoffering.folder\Standard_DS2_v2.serviceoffering"
-MachineProfile "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\<adnet>\machineprofile.folder\<def.resourcegroup>\<machine profile vm.vm>"
-CustomProperties $customProperties
<!--NeedCopy-->
  11. Finish creating the machine catalog.

Create a machine catalog with double encryption

You can create and update a machine catalog with double encryption using Web Studio and PowerShell commands.

The detailed steps on how to create a machine catalog with double encryption are:

  1. Create an Azure Key Vault and DES with Platform-managed and customer-managed keys. For information on how to create an Azure Key Vault and a DES, see Use the Azure portal to enable double encryption at rest for managed disks.
  2. To browse available DiskEncryptionSets in your hosting connection:
    1. Open a PowerShell window.
    2. Run the following PowerShell commands:
      1. asnp citrix*
      2. cd xdhyp:
      3. cd HostingUnits
      4. cd YourHostingUnitName (ex. azure-east)
      5. cd diskencryptionset.folder
      6. dir

    You can use an Id of the DiskEncryptionSet to create or update a catalog using custom properties.

  3. If you want to use machine profile workflow, create a VM or template spec as a machine profile input.
    • If you want to use a VM as a machine profile input:
      1. Create a VM in Azure Portal.
      2. Navigate to Disks>Key management to encrypt the VM directly with any DiskEncryptionSetID.
    • If you want to use a template spec as a machine profile input:
      1. In the template, under properties>storageProfile>osDisk>managedDisk, add diskEncryptionSet parameter and add the id of the double encryption DES.
  4. Create the machine catalog.
    • If using Web Studio, do one of the following in addition to the steps in Create machine catalogs.
      • If you do not use machine profile-based workflow, on the Disk Settings page, select Use the following key to encrypt data on each machine. Then, select your double encryption DES from the drop-down menu. Continue creating the catalog.
      • If using machine profile workflow, on the Image page, select a master image and a machine profile. Make sure that the machine profile has a disk encryption set id in its properties.

      All machines created in the catalog are double encrypted by the key associated with the DES you selected.

    • If using PowerShell commands, do one of the following:

      • If not using machine profile-based workflow, add the custom property DiskEncryptionSetId in the New-ProvScheme command. For example:

         New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS" />
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DiskEncryptionSetId" Value="/subscriptions/12345678-xxxx-1234-1234-123456789012/resourceGroups/Sample-RG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/diskEncryptionSets/SampleEncryptionSet" />
 </CustomProperties>'
 -HostingUnitName "Redacted"
 -IdentityPoolName "Redacted"
 -InitialBatchSizeHint 1
 -MasterImageVM "Redacted"
 -NetworkMapping @{"0"="Redacted"}
 -ProvisioningSchemeName "Redacted"
 -ServiceOffering "Redacted"
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      • If using machine profile-based workflow, use a machine profile input in the New-ProvScheme command. For example:

         New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot
 -HostingUnitName azure-east
 -IdentityPoolName aio-ip
 -InitialBatchSizeHint 1
 -MasterImageVM XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-east\image.folder\abc.resourcegroup\fgb-vda-snapshot.snapshot
 -NetworkMapping @{"0"="XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-east\virtualprivatecloud.folder\apa-resourceGroup.resourcegroup\apa-resourceGroup-vnet.virtualprivatecloud\default.network"}
 -ProvisioningSchemeName aio-test
 -MachineProfile XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-east\machineprofile.folder\abc.resourcegroup\abx-mp.templatespec\1.0.0.templatespecversion
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  5. Finish creating a catalog using remote PowerShell SDK. For information on how to create a catalog using the Remote PowerShell SDK, see https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops-sdk/en/latest/creating-a-catalog/. All machines created in the catalog are double encrypted by the key associated with the DES you selected.

Convert an unencrypted catalog to use double encryption

You can update a machine catalog’s encryption type (using custom properties or machine profile).

  • If not using machine profile-based workflow, add the custom property DiskEncryptionSetId in the Set-ProvScheme command. For example:

     Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "SampleProvSchemeName"
 -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DiskEncryptionSetId" Value="/subscriptions/12345678-xxxx-1234-1234-123456789012/resourceGroups/Sample-RG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/diskEncryptionSets/SampleEncryptionSet" />
 </CustomProperties>'
 <!--NeedCopy-->

  • If using machine profile-based workflow, use a machine profile input in the Set-ProvScheme command. For example:

     Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName mxiao-test -MachineProfile XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-east\machineprofile.folder\aelx.resourcegroup\elx-mp.templatespec\1.0.0.templatespecversion
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Once successful, all new VMs that you add in your catalog are double encrypted by the key associated with the DES you selected.

Verify the catalog is double encrypted

  • In the Web Studio:

    1. Navigate to Machine Catalogs.
    2. Select the catalog you want to verify. Click the Template Properties tab located near the bottom of the screen.
    3. Under Azure Details, verify the Disk Encryption Set ID in Disk Encryption Set. If the catalog’s DES Id is blank, the catalog is not encrypted.
    4. In the Azure Portal, verify that the encryption type of the DES associated with the DES Id is platform-managed and customer-managed keys.

  • Using PowerShell command:

    1. Open the PowerShell window.
    2. Run asnp citrix* to load the Citrix-specific PowerShell modules.

    3. Use Get-ProvScheme to get the information of your machine catalog. For example:

      Get-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName "SampleProvSchemeName"
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    4. Retrieve the DES Id custom property of the machine catalog. For example:

      <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="DiskEncryptionSetId" Value="/subscriptions/12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012/resourceGroups/Sample-RG/providers/Microsoft.Compute/diskEncryptionSets/SampleEncryptionSet" />
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    5. In the Azure Portal, verify that the encryption type of the DES associated with the DES Id is platform-managed and customer-managed keys.

Create a catalog with an Azure ephemeral disks

To use ephemeral disks, you must set the custom property UseEphemeralOsDisk to true when running New-ProvScheme.

Note:

If the custom property UseEphemeralOsDisk is set to false or a value is not specified all provisioned VDAs continue to use a provisioned OS disk.

The following is an example set of custom properties to use in the provisioning scheme:

"CustomProperties": [
            {
                "Name": "UseManagedDisks",
                "Value": "true"
            },
            {
                "Name": "StorageType",
                "Value": "Standard_LRS"
            },
            {
                "Name": "UseSharedImageGallery",
                "Value": "true"
            },
            {
                "Name": "SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio",
                "Value": "40"
            },
            {
                "Name": "SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum",
                "Value": "10"
            },
            {
                "Name": "LicenseType",
                "Value": "Windows_Server"
            },
            {
                "Name": "UseEphemeralOsDisk",
                "Value": "true"
            }
        ],
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Configure an ephemeral disk for a catalog

To configure an Azure ephemeral OS disk for a catalog, use the UseEphemeralOsDisk parameter in Set-ProvScheme. Set the value of the UseEphemeralOsDisk parameter to true.

Note:

To use this feature, you must also enable the parameters UseManagedDisks and UseSharedImageGallery.

For example:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name -CustomProperties <CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseSharedImageGallery" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseEphemeralOsDisk" Value="true" />
</CustomProperties>'
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Important considerations for ephemeral disks

To provision ephemeral OS disks using New-ProvScheme, consider the following constraints:

  • The VM size used for the catalog must support ephemeral OS disks.
  • The size of the cache or temporary disk associated with the VM size must be greater than or equal to the size of the OS disk.
  • The temporary disk size must be greater than the cache disk size.

Also consider these issues when:

  • Creating the provisioning scheme.
  • Modifying the provisioning scheme.
  • Updating the image.

Azure dedicated hosts

You can use MCS to provision VMs on Azure dedicated hosts. Before provisioning VMs on Azure dedicated hosts:

  • Create a host group.
  • Create hosts in that host group.
  • Ensure that there is sufficient host capacity reserved for creating catalogs and virtual machines.

You can create a catalog of machines with host tenancy defined through the following PowerShell script:

New-ProvScheme <otherParameters> -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
 <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="HostGroupId" Value="myResourceGroup/myHostGroup" />
 ...other Custom Properties...
 </CustomProperties>
<!--NeedCopy-->

When using MCS to provision virtual machines on Azure dedicated hosts, consider:

  • A Dedicated host is a catalog property and cannot be changed once the catalog is created. Dedicated tenancy is currently not supported on Azure.
  • A pre-configured Azure host group, in the region of the hosting unit, is required when using the HostGroupId parameter.
  • Azure auto-placement is required. This functionality makes a request to onboard the subscription associated with the host group. For more information, see VM Scale Set on Azure Dedicated Hosts - Public Preview. If auto-placement is not enabled, MCS throws an error during catalog creation.

When selecting an image to use for creating a machine catalog, you can select images you created in the Azure Compute Gallery.

For these images to appear, you must:

  1. Configure a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site.
  2. Connect to the Azure Resource Manager.
  3. In the Azure portal, create a resource group. For details, see Create an Azure Compute Gallery using the portal.
  4. In the resource group, create an Azure Compute Gallery.
  5. In the Azure Compute Gallery, create an image definition.
  6. In the image definition, create an image version.

Use the following PowerShell commands to create or update a machine catalog using an image from Azure Compute Gallery:

  1. Open a PowerShell window.
  2. Run asnp citrix* to load the Citrix-specific PowerShell modules.

  3. Select a resource group, and then list all galleries of that resource group.

    Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath @("XDHyp:\HostingUnits\testresource\image.folder\sharedImageGalleryTest.resourcegroup")
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  4. Select a gallery, and then list all image definitions of that gallery.

    Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath @("XDHyp:\HostingUnits\testresource\image.folder\sharedImageGalleryTest.resourcegroup\sharedImageGallery.sharedimagegallery")
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  5. Select one image definition, and then list all image versions of that image definition.

    Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath @("XDHyp:\HostingUnits\testresource\image.folder\sharedImageGalleryTest.resourcegroup\sharedImageGallery.sharedimagegallery\sigtestimage.imagedefinition")
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  6. Create and update an MCS catalog using the following elements:
    • Resource group
    • Gallery
    • Gallery image definition
    • Gallery image version

    For information on how to create a catalog using the Remote PowerShell SDK, see https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops-sdk/en/latest/creating-a-catalog/.

Use the New-ProvScheme command to create a provisioning scheme with Shared Image Gallery support. Use the Set-ProvScheme command to enable or disable this feature for a provisioning scheme and to change the replica ratio and replica maximum values.

Three custom properties were added to provisioning schemes to support the Shared Image Gallery feature:

UseSharedImageGallery

  • Defines whether to use the Shared Image Gallery to store the published images. If set to True, the image is stored as a Shared Image Gallery image, otherwise the image is stored as a snapshot.
  • Valid values are True and False.
  • If the property is not defined, the default value is False.

SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio

  • Defines the ratio of machines to gallery image version replicas.
  • Valid values are integer numbers greater than 0.
  • If the property is not defined, default values are used. The default value for persistent OS disks is 1000 and the default value for non-persistent OS disks is 40.

SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum

  • Defines the maximum number of replicas for each gallery image version.
  • If the property is not defined, the default value is 100.
  • If the property is not defined, the default value is 100.

Tip:

When using Shared Image Gallery to store a published image for MCS provisioned catalogs, MCS sets the gallery image version replica count based on the number of machines in the catalog, the replica ratio, and the replica maximum. The replica count is calculated by dividing the number of machines in the catalog by the replica ratio (rounding up to the nearest integer value) and then capping the value at the maximum replica count. For example, with a replica ratio of 20 and a maximum of 5, 0–20 machines have one replica created, 21–40 have 2 replicas, 41–60 have 3 replicas, 61–80 have 4 replicas, 81+ have 5 replicas.

The existing machine catalog uses Shared Image Gallery. Use the Set-ProvScheme command to update the custom properties for all existing machines in the catalog and any future machines:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageType" Value="Standard_LRS"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="True"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseSharedImageGallery" Value="True"/> <Property xsi:type="IntProperty" Name="SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio" Value="30"/> <Property xsi:type="IntProperty" Name="SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum" Value="20"/></CustomProperties>'
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For this use case:

  1. Run Set-ProvScheme with the UseSharedImageGallery flag set to True. Optionally include the SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio and SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum properties.
  2. Update the catalog.
  3. Power cycle the machines to force an update.

For example:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageType" Value="Standard_LRS"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="True"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseSharedImageGallery" Value="True"/> <Property xsi:type="IntProperty" Name="SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio" Value="30"/> <Property xsi:type="IntProperty" Name="SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum" Value="20"/></CustomProperties>'
<!--NeedCopy-->

Tip:

The parameters SharedImageGalleryReplicaRatio and SharedImageGalleryReplicaMaximum are not required. After the Set-ProvScheme command completes the Shared Image Gallery image has not yet been created. Once the catalog is configured to use the gallery, the next catalog update operation stores the published image in the gallery. The catalog update command creates the gallery, the gallery image, and the image version. Power cycling the machines updates them, at which point the replica count is updated, if appropriate. From that time, all existing non-persistent machines are reset using the Shared Image Gallery image and all newly provisioned machines are created using the image. The old snapshot is cleaned up automatically within a few hours.

For this use case:

  1. Run Set-ProvScheme with the UseSharedImageGallery flag set to False or not defined.
  2. Update the catalog.
  3. Power cycle the machines to force an update.

For example:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageType" Value="Standard_LRS"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="True"/> <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseSharedImageGallery" Value="False"/></CustomProperties>'
<!--NeedCopy-->

Tip:

Unlike updating from a snapshot to a Shared Image Gallery catalog, the custom data for each machine is not yet updated to reflect the new custom properties. Run the following command to see the original Shared Image Gallery custom properties: Get-ProvVm -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name. After the Set-ProvScheme command completes the image snapshot has not yet been created. Once the catalog is configured to not use the gallery, the next catalog update operation stores the published image as a snapshot. From that time, all existing non-persistent machines are reset using the snapshot and all newly provisioned machines are created from the snapshot. Power cycling the machines updates them, at which point the custom machine data is updated to reflect that UseSharedImageGallery is set to False. The old Shared Image Gallery assets (gallery, image, and version) are automatically cleaned up within a few hours.

Provision machines into specified Availability Zones

You can provision machines into specific Availability Zones in Azure environments. You can achieve that using the PowerShell.

Note:

If no zones are specified, MCS lets Azure place the machines within the region. If more than one zone is specified, MCS randomly distributes the machines across them.

Configure Availability Zones through PowerShell

Using PowerShell, you can view the offering inventory items by using Get-Item. For example, to view the Eastern US region Standard_B1ls service offering:

$serviceOffering = Get-Item -path "XDHyp:\Connections\my-connection-name\East US.region\serviceoffering.folder\Standard_B1ls.serviceoffering"
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To view the zones, use the AdditionalData parameter for the item:

$serviceOffering.AdditionalData

If Availability Zones are not specified, there is no change in how machines are provisioned.

To configure Availability Zones through PowerShell, use the Zones custom property available with the New-ProvScheme operation. The Zones property defines a list of Availability Zones to provision machines into. Those zones can include one or more Availability Zones. For example, <Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Zones" Value="1, 3"/> for Zones 1 and 3.

Use the Set-ProvScheme command to update the zones for a provisioning scheme.

If an invalid zone is provided, the provisioning scheme is not updated, and an error message appears providing instructions on how to fix the invalid command.

Tip:

If you specify an invalid custom property, the provisioning scheme is not updated and a relevant error message appears.

Storage types

Select different storage types for virtual machines in Azure environments that use MCS. For target VMs, MCS supports:

  • OS disk: premium SSD, SSD, or HDD
  • Write back cache disk: premium SSD, SSD, or HDD

When using these storage types, consider the following:

  • Ensure that your VM supports the selected storage type.
  • If your configuration uses an Azure ephemeral disk, you do not get the option for write-back cache disk setting.

Tip:

StorageType is configured for an OS type and storage account. WBCDiskStorageType is configured for write-back cache storage type. For a normal catalog, StorageType is required. If WBCDiskStorageType is not configured, the StorageType is used as the default for WBCDiskStorageType.

If WBCDiskStorageType is not configured, then StorageType is used as the default for WBCDiskStorageType

Configure storage types

To configure storage types for VM, use the StorageType parameter in New-ProvScheme. Set the value of the StorageType parameter to one of the supported storage types.

The following is an example set of the CustomProperties parameter in a provisioning scheme:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName catalog-name -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageType" Value="Premium_LRS" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="Windows_Client" />
</CustomProperties>'
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Enable zone-redundant storage

You can select zone-redundant storage during catalog creation. It synchronously replicates your Azure managed disk across multiple availability zones, which allows you to recover from a failure in one zone by utilizing the redundancy in others.

You can specify Premium_ZRS and StandardSSD_ZRS in the storage type custom properties. ZRS storage can be set using existing custom properties or through the MachineProfile template. ZRS storage is also supported with Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow command with -StartsNow and -DurationInMinutes -1 parameters, and you can change existing machine from LRS to ZRS storage.

Limitations:

  • Supported only for managed disks
  • Supported only with premium and standard solid-state drives (SSD)
  • Not supported with StorageTypeAtShutdown
  • Available only in certain regions.
  • Performance of Azure drops when creating ZRS disks at scale. Therefore, for the first power on, turn on the machines in smaller batches (less than 300 machines at a time)

Set zone-redundant storage as the disk storage type

You can select zone-redundant storage during the initial catalog creation, or you can update your storage type in an existing catalog.

Select zone-redundant storage using PowerShell commands

When creating a new catalog in Azure using the New-ProvScheme PowerShell command, use Standard_ZRS as the value in the StorageAccountType. For example:

<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="StandardSSD_ZRS" />
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When setting this value, it is validated by a dynamic API that determines if it can be used properly. The following exceptions can occur if the use of ZRS is not valid for your catalog:

  • StorageTypeAtShutdownNotSupportedForZrsDisks: The StorageTypeAtShutdown custom property cannot be used with ZRS storage.
  • StorageAccountTypeNotSupportedInRegion: This exception occurs if you try to use ZRS Storage in an Azure Region that does not support ZRS
  • ZrsRequiresManagedDisks: You can use zone-redundant storage only with managed disks.

You can set the disk storage type using the following custom properties:

  • StorageType
  • WBCDiskStorageType
  • IdentityDiskStorageType

Note:

During catalog creation, the machine profile’s OS disk StorageType is used if the custom properties are not set.

Capture diagnostic settings on VMs and NICs from a machine profile

You can capture diagnostic settings on VMs and NICs from a machine profile while creating a machine catalog, updating an existing machine catalog, and updating existing VMs.

You can create a VM or template spec as a machine profile source.

Key steps

  1. Set up required IDs in Azure. You must provide these IDs in the template spec.

    • Storage account
    • Log analytics workspace
    • Event hub namespace with the standard tier pricing
  2. Create machine profile source.
  3. Create a new machine catalog, update an existing catalog, or update existing VMs.

Set up required IDs in Azure

Set up one of the following in Azure:

  • Storage account
  • Log analytics workspace
  • Event hub namespace with the Standard tier pricing

Set up a storage account

Create a standard storage account in Azure. In the template spec, give the full resourceId for the storage account as the storageAccountId.

Once VMs are set up to log data to the storage account, the data can be found under the insights-metrics-pt1m container.

Set up a log analytics workspace

Create a log analytics workspace. In the template spec, give the full resourceId for the log analytics workspace as the workspaceId.

Once VMs are set up to log data to the workspace, data can be queried under Logs in Azure. You can run the following command in Azure under Logs to show a count of all the metrics logged by a resource:

AzureMetrics | summarize Count=count() by ResourceId

Set up an event hub

Do the following to set up an event hub in Azure portal:

  1. Create an event hub namespace with the standard tier pricing.
  2. Create an event hub underneath the namespace.
  3. Navigate to Capture under the event hub. Switch ON the toggle to capture with the Avro output type.
  4. Create a new container in an existing storage account to capture the logs.
  5. In the template spec, specify the eventHubAuthorizationRuleId in the following format: /subscriptions/093f4c12-704b-4b1d-8339-f339e7557f60/resourcegroups/matspo/providers/Microsoft.EventHub/namespaces/matspoeventhub/authorizationrules/RootManageSharedAccessKey
  6. Specify the name of the event hub.

Once VMs are set up to log data to the event hub, the data is captured into the configured storage container.

Create a machine profile source

You can create a VM or template spec as a machine profile source.

Create a VM based machine profile with diagnostic settings

If you want to create a VM as your machine profile, then first set up diagnostic settings on the template VM itself. You can refer to the detailed instructions provided in the Microsoft documentation Diagnostic settings in Azure Monitor.

You can run the following commands to verify that there are now diagnostic settings associated with the VM or NIC:

az monitor diagnostic-settings list --resource-group matspo --resource matspo-tog-cc2659 --resource-type microsoft.network/networkInterfaces
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az monitor diagnostic-settings list --resource-group matspo --resource matspo-tog-cc2 --resource-type microsoft.compute/virtualMachines
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Create a template spec-based machine profile with diagnostic settings

If you want to use a VM that already has diagnostic settings enabled and export it into an ARM template spec, these settings won’t be automatically included within the template. You must manually add or modify diagnostic settings within the ARM template.

However, if you want a VM as your machine profile, MCS ensures that the critical diagnostic settings are accurately captured and applied to the resources within your MCS catalog.

  1. Create a standard template spec that defines a VM and NIC(s).

  2. Add additional resources to deploy the diagnostic settings according to the spec: Microsoft.Insights diagnosticSettings. For scope, reference either a VM or NIC that’s in the template by name with a partial ID. For example, for creating diagnostic settings attached to a VM named test-VM in the template spec, specify the scope as:

    "scope": "microsoft.compute/virtualMachines/test-VM",
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  3. Use the template spec as a machine profile source.

Create or update a catalog with diagnostic settings

After you create a machine profile source, you can now create a machine catalog using New-ProvScheme command, update an existing machine catalog using Set-ProvScheme command, and update existing VMs using Request-ProvVMUpdate command.

Page file location determination

The page file location is determined according to the following scenario:

Note:

The default page file location is OS disk.

Scenario Location
Page file setting is specified in the custom properties As specified in the custom properties
Ephemeral OS disk or hibernation is enabled OS disk
VM has a temporary disk Temporary disk
MCS I/O is enabled WBC disk

Page file setting scenarios

The following table describes some of the possible scenarios of page file setting during image preparation and provisioning scheme update:

During Scenario Outcome
Image preparation You set the source image page file on the temporary disk, while the VM size that you specify in the provisioning scheme has no temporary disk The page file is placed on the OS
Image preparation You set the source image page file on the OS disk, while the VM size that you specify in the provisioning scheme has a temporary disk The page file is placed on the temporary disk
Image preparation You set the source image page file on the temporary disk and enable the ephemeral OS disk in the provisioning scheme The page file is placed on the OS disk
Provisioning scheme update You attempt to update the provisioning scheme when the VDA version is earlier than 2311 Modifies the page file setting with a warning
Provisioning scheme update You attempt to update the provisioning scheme when the VDA version is 2311 or later Determines the page file location as per Page file location determination

Specify page file setting

Using PowerShell commands, you can specify page file settings, including the location and size. This overrides the page file settings determined by MCS as per Page file location determination. You can do this by running the following New-ProvScheme command during machine catalog creation.

Important considerations

Consider the following before proceeding with the catalog creation:

  • You must provide all the custom properties (‘PageFileDiskDriveLetterOverride’, ‘InitialPageFileSizeInMB’, and ‘MaxPageFileSizeInMB’) in the New-ProvScheme command or none of them.
  • This feature is not supported through Citrix Studio.
  • The initial page file size must be between 16 MB and 16777216 MB.
  • The maximum page file size must be greater than or equal to the initial page file size and less than 16777216 MB.
  • You can set both the initial page file size and maximum page file size to zero at the same time.

Note:

You can modify the page file settings of the newly added VMs of an existing catalog, without updating the master image. To modify the page file settings, you need VDA version 2311 or later. You can modify the page file settings using the PowerShell commands. For more information, see Modify page file settings.

New-ProvScheme -CleanOnBoot `
-HostingUnitName "zijinnet" `
-IdentityPoolName "PageFileSettingExample" `
-ProvisioningSchemeName "PageFileSettingExample" `
-InitialBatchSizeHint 1 `
-MasterImageVM "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\zijinnet\image.folder\neal-zijincloud-resources.resourcegroup\CustomWin10VDA_OsDisk_1_9473d7c8a6174b2c8284c7d3efeea88f.manageddisk" `
-NetworkMapping @{"0"="XDHyp:\\HostingUnits\\zijinnet\\virtualprivatecloud.folder\\East US.region\\virtualprivatecloud.folder\\neal-zijincloud-resources.resourcegroup\\neal-zijincloud-resources-vnet.virtualprivatecloud\\default.network"} `
-ServiceOffering "XDHyp:\\HostingUnits\\zijinnet\\serviceoffering.folder\\Standard_B2ms.serviceoffering" `
-CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns=" http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi=" http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistOsDisk" Value="false"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PersistVm" Value="false"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PageFileDiskDriveLetterOverride" Value="d"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="InitialPageFileSizeInMB" Value="2048"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="MaxPageFileSizeInMB" Value="8196"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageAccountType" Value="Premium_LRS"/> `
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="Windows_Client"/> `
</CustomProperties>'
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Modify page file settings

You can modify the page file settings of the newly added VMs to an existing catalog without updating the master image. Currently, this feature is applicable to only Azure environments.

To modify the page file settings, you need VDA version 2311 or later. You can modify the page file settings using the PowerShell commands.

Following are the various page file settings that you can modify in the Azure environment:

  • PageFileDiskDriveLetterOverride
  • InitialPageFileSizeInMB
  • MaxPageFileSizeInMB

Modify the page file settings of an existing catalog

To modify the page file settings of an existing machine catalog, run the Set-ProvScheme command. In this case, the updates are applied only to the new VMs added to the catalog. For example:

Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName $schemeName -CustomProperties '<CustomProperties xmlns="http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="UseManagedDisks" Value="true" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="OsType" Value="Windows" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="StorageType" Value="StandardSSD_LRS" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="PageFileDiskDriveLetterOverride" Value="D" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="InitialPageFileSizeInMB" Value="2048" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="MaxPageFileSizeInMB" Value="8196" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="LicenseType" Value="Windows_Client" />
<Property  xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="Zones" Value="1" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="ResourceGroups" Value="neal-test-group1" />
<Property xsi:type="StringProperty" Name="SchemaVersion" Value="2" />
</CustomProperties>'
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Note:

If you enable the write back cache and try to set the PageFileDiskDriveLetterOverride to C: using the PowerShell command, MCS IO driver automatically redirects the page file to a correct disk drive and not C:.

Create a catalog using Azure Spot VMs

Azure Spot VMs allow you to take advantage of Azure’s unused computing capacity at a significant cost savings. However, the ability to allocate an Azure Spot VM depends on the current capacity and pricing. Therefore, Azure might evict your running VM, fail to create the VM, or fail to power on the VM as per the Eviction policy. Therefore, Azure Spot VMs are good for some non-critical applications and desktops. For more information, see Use Azure Spot Virtual Machines.

Limitations

  • All VM sizes aren’t supported for Azure Spot VMs. For more information, see Limitations.

    You can run the following PowerShell command to check whether a VM size supports Spot VMs or not. If a VM size supports Spot VM, then SupportsSpotVM is True.

     (Get-Item "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res-conn2\serviceoffering.folder\Standard_D2ds_v4.serviceoffering"). AdditionalData
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  • Currently, Azure Spot VMs do not support hibernation.

Requirement

While creating the machine profile source (VM or template spec) for Azure Spot VMs catalog, you must select Azure Spot Instance (if using VM) or set priority as Spot (if using template spec).

Steps to create a catalog using Azure Spot VMs

  1. Create a machine profile source (VM or launch template).

    • For creating a VM using Azure portal, see Deploy Azure Spot Virtual Machines using the Azure portal.

    • For creating a template spec, add the following properties under resources > type: Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines > properties in the template spec. For example:

       "priority": "Spot",
 "evictionPolicy": "Deallocate",
 "billingProfile": {
 "maxPrice": 0.01
 }
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    Note:

    • Eviction policy can be Deallocate or Delete.
      • For non-persistent VMs, MCS always sets the eviction policy as Delete. If the VM is evicted, it is deleted along with any non-persistent disks (For example, OS disk). Any persistent disks (for example, Identity disk) are not deleted. However, an OS disk is persistent if the catalog type is persistent or the PersistOsDisk custom property is set to True. Similarly, a WBC disk is persistent if the PersistWbc custom property is set to True.
      • For persistent VMs, MCS always sets the eviction policy as Deallocate. If the VM is evicted, it is deallocated. No changes are made to the disks.
    • Maximum price is the price you are willing to pay per hour. If you are using Capacity Only, then this is -1. The maximum price can only be null, -1, or a decimal greater than zero. For more information, see Pricing.

  2. You can run the following PowerShell command to check if a machine profile is Azure Spot VM enabled or not. If the SpotEnabled parameter is True and SpotEvictionPolicy is set to Deallocate or Delete, then the machine profile is Azure Spot VM enabled. For example,

    • If the machine profile source is a VM, run the following command:

       (Get-Item "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res-conn2\machineprofile.folder\fifthcolumn.resourcegroup\kb-spot-delete.vm"). AdditionalData
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    • If the machine profile source is a template spec, run the following command:

       (Get-Item "XDHyp:\HostingUnits\azure-res-conn2\machineprofile.folder\fifthcolumn.resourcegroup\fc-aeh-templatespec.templatespec\14.0.0-spot-delete.templatespecversion").AdditionalData
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  3. Create a machine catalog using a machine profile with New-ProvScheme PowerShell command.

You can update a catalog using the Set-ProvScheme command. You can also update existing VMs using the PowerShell command Set-ProvVmUpdateTimeWindow. The machine profile is updated on the next power on.

Evictions on a running Azure Spot VM

If the computing capacity is unavailable or the price per hour is higher than the maximum price as configured, Azure evicts a running Spot VM. By default, you are not notified of an eviction. The VM simply freezes and the VM is evicted. Microsoft recommends using Scheduled Events to monitor evictions. See Continuously monitor for eviction. You can also run scripts from within a VM to get a notification before the eviction. For example, Microsoft has a polling script in Python ScheduledEvents.cs.

Troubleshooting

  • You can see Spot VM properties in the provisioned VM’s customMachineData using the Get-ProvVM command. If the priority field is set to Spot, then Spot is in use.

  • You can check if a VM is using Spot in Azure Portal:

    1. Find the VM in the Azure Portal.
    2. Go to the Overview page.

    3. Scroll down to the bottom and locate the Azure Spot section.

      • If Spot is not in use, then this field is empty.
      • If Spot is in use, the Azure Spot and Azure Spot eviction policy fields are set.
  1. You can check the billing profile or maximum price per hour for the VM on the Configuration page.

Configure backup VM sizes

Public clouds can sometimes run out of capacity for a specific VM size. Also, if you use Azure Spot VMs, then the VMs are evicted at any time based on Azure’s capacity needs. In such a case of insufficient capacity on Azure or a Spot VM power on failure, MCS falls back on the backup VM sizes. You can provide a list of backup VM sizes using a custom property BackupVmConfiguration while creating or updating an MCS machine catalog. MCS tries to fall back on the backup VM sizes in the order that is provided by you in the list.

When MCS uses a particular backup configuration for the VM, it continues to use that configuration until the next shutdown. On the next power-on, MCS tries to boot the primary VM configuration. In case of failure, MCS again tries to boot a backup VM size configuration as per the list.

This feature is supported for:

  • a catalog that uses a machine profile
  • persistent and non-persistent MCS machine catalogs
  • Azure environments currently

Important considerations

  • You can provide more than one backup VM size in the list.
  • The list must be unique.
  • You can add the instance type property for each of the VMs in the list. The type is either Spot or Regular. If the type is not specified, then MCS considers the VM to be Regular.
  • You can change the backup VM size list of an existing catalog using the Set-ProvScheme PowerShell commands.
  • You can update the existing VMs created from the provisioning scheme associated with the catalog using Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow command.
  • You can configure the backup VM size list for a selected number of existing MCS VMs using the Set-ProvVM command. However, to apply the updates, set an update time window for the VMs using Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow and start the VMs within the window. If the Set-ProvVm command is used on a VM, the VM continues to use the backup VM size list set on that particular VM even if the list on the provisioning scheme is later updated. You can use Set-ProvVM with -RevertToProvSchemeConfiguration to make the VM use the backup list on the provisioning scheme.

Create a catalog with backup VM sizes

Note:

To address the issue of the Studio UI freezing, replace all the single quotes with &quot; while running the PowerShell commands.

  1. Open a PowerShell window.
  2. Run asnp citrix* to load the Citrix-specific PowerShell modules.
  3. Create a Broker catalog. This catalog is populated with machines which are about to be created.
  4. Create an identity pool. This becomes a container for AD accounts created for the machines that are to be created.
  5. Create a provisioning scheme with the machine profile. See How to configure backup configuration.
  6. Update the BrokerCatalog with the unique Id of the provisioning scheme.
  7. Create and add VMs to the catalog.

Update an existing catalog

You can update a provisioning scheme using the Set-ProvScheme command. See How to configure backup configuration.

Update existing VMs

You can update existing VMs in a catalog using Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow PowerShell command. The command updates the VMs created from the provisioning scheme associated with the catalog on the next power on within the given time window. For example:

  • Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow -ProvisioningSchemeName azure-catalog -StartTimeInUTC "3/12/2022 3am" -DurationInMinutes 60
  • Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow -ProvisioningSchemeName azure-catalog -StartsNow -DurationInMinutes 60

Note:

StartsNow indicates the scheduled start time. DurationInMinutes is the schedule’s time window.

You can configure the backup VM size list for a selected number of existing MCS VMs using the Set-ProvVM command. However, to apply the updates, set an update time window for the VMs using Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow and start the VMs within the window. For example:

  1. Run the Set-ProvVM command to configure the backup VM size list for a selected existing MCS VM. For example:

    Set-ProvVM -ProvisioningSchemeName "name" -VMName "Vm-001"
-CustomProperties
"<CustomProperties xmlns=`"http://schemas.citrix.com/2014/xd/machinecreation`"xmlns:xsi=`"http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance`">
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"UseManagedDisks`" Value=`"true`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"StorageAccountType`" Value=`"Premium_LRS`" />
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"LicenseType`" Value=`"Windows_Server`"/>
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"PersistWBC`" Value=`"true`"/>
<Property xsi:type=`"StringProperty`" Name=`"BackupVmConfiguration`" Value=`"[{&quot;ServiceOffering&quot;: &quot;Standard_D2as_v4&quot;, &quot;Type&quot;: &quot;Spot&quot;}, {&quot;ServiceOffering&quot;: &quot;Standard_D2s_v3&quot;, &quot;Type&quot;: &quot;Regular&quot;}, {&quot;ServiceOffering&quot;: &quot;Standard_D2s_v3&quot;, &quot;Type&quot;: &quot;Spot&quot;}]`"/>
</CustomProperties>"
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  2. Run the Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow command to apply the updates. For example:

    Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow -ProvisioningSchemeName azure-catalog -StartsNow -DurationInMinutes 60
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Copy tags on all resources

You can copy tags specified in a machine profile to all the resources such as, multiple NICs and disks (OS disk, Identity disk, and write-back cache disk) of a new VM or an existing VM in a machine catalog. The machine profile source can be a VM or an ARM template spec.

Note:

You must add the policy on the tags (See Assign policy definitions for tag compliance) or add the tags in a machine profile source to retain the tags on the resources.

Prerequisites

Create the machine profile source (VM or ARM template spec) to have tags on VM, disks, and NICs of that VM.

  • If you want to have a VM as a machine profile input, then apply tags on the VM and all the resources in the Azure portal. See Apply tags with Azure portal.

  • If you want to have ARM template spec as a machine profile input, then add the following tag block under each resource.

      "tags": {
 "TagC": "Value3"
 },
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Note:

You can have a maximum of one disk and at least one NIC in the template spec.

Copy tags to the resources of a VM in a new machine catalog

  1. Create a non-persistent or persistent catalog with a VM or ARM template spec as a machine profile input.

  2. Add a VM to the catalog and power it on. You must see the tags specified in the machine profile copied to the corresponding resources of that VM.

    Note:

    You get an error if there is a mismatch in the number of NICs provided in the machine profile and the number of NICs you want the VMs to use.

Modify tags on the resources of an existing VM

  1. Create a machine profile with the tags on all the resources.

  2. Update the existing machine catalog with the updated machine profile. For example:

    Set-ProvScheme -ProvisioningSchemeName <YourCatalogName> -MachineProfile <PathToYourMachineProfile>
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  3. Turn off the VM on which you want to apply the updates.

  4. Request scheduled update for the VM. For example:

    Set-ProvVMUpdateTimeWindow -ProvisioningSchemeName <YourCatalogName>  -VMName machine1 -StartsNow -DurationInMinutes -1
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  5. Turn on the VM.
  6. You must see the tags specified in the machine profile copied to the corresponding resources.

Note:

You get an error if there is a mismatch in the number of NICs provided in the machine profile and the number of NICs provided in the Set-ProvScheme.

Where to go next

More information

Create a Microsoft Azure catalog
October 18, 2024
Contributed by: 
C
October 18, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

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