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Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops
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System requirements

November 8, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C

Introduction

The system requirements in this document were valid when this product version was released. Updates are made periodically. System requirements for components not covered here (such as host systems, Citrix Workspace app, and Citrix Provisioning) are described in their respective documentation.

Review Prepare to install before beginning an installation.

Except where noted, the component installer deploys software prerequisites automatically (such as .NET and C++ packages) if the required versions are not detected on the machine. The Citrix installation media also contains some of this prerequisite software.

The installation media contains several third-party components. Before using the Citrix software, check for security updates from the third party, and install them.

For globalization information, see Knowledge Center article CTX119253.

For components and features that can be installed on Windows Servers, Nano Server installations are not supported, unless noted. Server Core is supported only for Delivery Controllers and Director.

Hardware requirements

RAM and disk space values are in addition to requirements for the product image, operating system, and other software on the machine. Your performance varies, depending on your configuration. Your configuration includes the features that you use, plus the number of users, and other factors. Using only the minimum can result in slow performance.

The following table lists the minimum requirements for core components.

Component Minimum
All core components and StoreFront on one server, for an evaluation only, not a production deployment 5 GB RAM
All core components and StoreFront on one server, for a test deployment or a small production environment 12 GB RAM
Delivery Controller (more disk space required for Local Host Cache) 5 GB RAM, 800 MB hard disk, database: see Sizing guidance
Studio 1 GB RAM, 100 MB hard disk
Director 2 GB RAM, 200 MB hard disk
StoreFront 2 GB RAM, see the StoreFront documentation for disk recommendations
License Server 8 GB RAM; see the Licensing documentation for disk recommendations

Sizing of VMs that deliver desktops and applications

Specific recommendations cannot be provided because of the complex and dynamic nature of hardware offerings, and every deployment has unique needs. Generally, sizing a Citrix Virtual Apps VM is based on the hardware and not the user workloads. The exception is RAM. You need more RAM for applications that consume more.

For more information:

Microsoft Visual C++

When installing a Delivery Controller, Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA), or Universal Print Server, the Citrix installer automatically installs the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable.

  • If the machine contains an earlier version of that runtime (such as 2015-2019), the Citrix installer upgrades it.
  • If the machine contains a version earlier than 2015, Citrix installs the newer version in parallel.

Delivery Controller

Supported operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server Core 2022
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option

Requirements:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
  • Windows PowerShell 3.0, 4.0, or 5.0.
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable.

Databases

Supported Microsoft SQL Server versions for the site configuration, configuration logging, and monitoring databases:

  • SQL Server 2022, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
    • For new installations: By default, SQL Server Express 2022 with Cumulative Update 14 is installed when installing the Controller, if an existing supported SQL Server installation is not detected.
  • SQL Server 2019, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
  • SQL Server 2017, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.
    • For upgrades, any existing SQL Server Express version is not upgraded.
  • SQL Server 2016 SP2, Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions.

The following database high availability solutions are supported (except for SQL Server Express, which supports only standalone mode):

  • SQL Server AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances
  • SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups (including Basic Availability Groups)
  • SQL Server Database Mirroring

Windows authentication is required for connections between the Controller and the SQL Server site database.

Local Host Cache considerations: Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB is a feature of SQL Server Express that Local Host Cache uses on a standalone basis. Local Host Cache does not require any components of SQL Server Express other than SQL Server Express LocalDB.

  • When installing a Controller, Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB 2022 with Cumulative Update 14 is installed for use with the Local Host Cache feature. (This installation is separate from the default SQL Server Express installation for the site database.)

  • When upgrading a Controller, the existing Microsoft SQL Server Express LocalDB version is not automatically upgraded. For replacement requirements and procedures, see Replace SQL Server Express LocalDB.

More database information:

Web Studio

Note:

  • You can manage your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment using two management consoles: Web Studio (web-based) and Citrix Studio (Windows-based). This article covers only Web Studio. For information about Citrix Studio, see the equivalent article in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2212 or earlier.
  • Web Studio is a web-based management console that lets you configure and manage your on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment. It’s designed for an improved user experience and generally responds faster than Citrix Studio, the Windows-based management console. See Install Web Studio.

Supported operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server Core 2022
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option

Citrix Director

Supported operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server Core 2022
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019, Standard and Datacenter Editions, and with the Server Core option

Requirements:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and ASP.NET 2.0. Ensure that the IIS server role has the Static Content role service installed. If this software is not already installed, you are prompted for the Windows Server installation media. Then, that software is installed for you.

  • To view the event logs on machines where Citrix Director is installed, you must install Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.

Citrix Profile Management:

  • Ensure that the Citrix Profile Management and Citrix Profile Management WMI Plug-in are installed on the VDA (Additional Components page in the installation wizard) and that the Citrix Profile Management Service is running to view the user profile details in Director.

System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) integration requirements:

  • System Center 2012 R2 Operations Manager

Supported browsers for viewing Director:

  • Internet Explorer 11. Compatibility mode is not supported for Internet Explorer. Use the recommended browser settings to access Director. When you install Internet Explorer, accept the default to use the recommended security and compatibility settings. If you already installed the browser and chose not to use the recommended settings, go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Reset and follow the instructions.
  • Microsoft Edge.
  • Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release).
  • Chrome.

The recommended optimal screen resolution for viewing Director is 1440 x 1024.

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for single-session OS

Supported operating systems:

  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10 (x64 only), any version that is currently in mainstream support.
    • For edition support, see Knowledge Center article CTX224843.

Requirements:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable.

Remote PC Access uses this VDA, which you install on physical office PCs. This VDA supports Secure Boot for Citrix Virtual Desktops Remote PC Access on Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine on which you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features are not installed and do not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software. Otherwise, users cannot log on to the machine. On most supported Windows single-session OS editions, Media Foundation support is already installed and cannot be removed. However, N editions do not include certain media-related technologies; you can obtain that software from Microsoft or a third party. For more information, see Prepare to install.

For Linux VDA information, see the Linux Virtual Delivery Agent articles.

To use the Server VDI feature, you can use the command-line interface to install a VDA for Windows single-session OS on a supported Windows Server machine. See Server VDI for guidance.

For information about installing a VDA on a Windows 7 machine, see Earlier operating systems.

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for multi-session OS

Supported operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows 11 (supported only with Citrix DaaS)
  • Windows 10 (x64 only; supported only with Citrix DaaS), any version that is currently in mainstream support.
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019, Standard, and Datacenter Editions

The installer automatically deploys the following requirements, which are also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support folders:

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 is installed automatically if it (or a later version) is not already installed.
  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable.

The installer automatically installs and enables Remote Desktop Services role services, if they are not already installed and enabled.

Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that the Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine on which you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features are not installed and do not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software; otherwise, users will not be able to log on to the machine. On most Windows Server versions, the Media Foundation feature is installed through the Server Manager. For more information, see Prepare to install.

If the Media Foundation is not present on the VDA, these multimedia features do not work:

  • Windows Media Redirection
  • HTML5 Video Redirection
  • HDX RealTime Webcam Redirection

For Linux VDA information, see the Linux Virtual Delivery Agent articles.

For information about installing a VDA on a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine, see Earlier operating systems.

Hosts / virtualization resources

The following host/virtualization resources (listed alphabetically) are supported. Where applicable, the major.minor versions are supported, including updates to those versions. Knowledge Center article CTX131239 contains current version information, plus links to known issues.

Some features might not be supported on all host platforms or all platform versions. See the feature documentation for details.

The Remote PC Access Wake on LAN feature requires Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager minimum 2012.

Supported hypervisors:

Supported public cloud hosts:

When adding public cloud host connections to your deployment, consider the following:

  • You need Hybrid Rights License. For information about Hybrid Rights License, see Transition and Trade-Up (TTU) with Hybrid Rights. For information about adding a license, see Create a site.

  • The information sources direct you to the Citrix DaaS documentation. If you are familiar with the public cloud hosts in the Citrix DaaS product, the on-premises version has several differences.

    • In Citrix DaaS, the management interface is known as Full Configuration. In on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, the management interface is known as Web Studio.

    • Updates are rolled out to Citrix DaaS approximately every four weeks. So, you might find that certain features available with Citrix DaaS are not available with the on-premises version.

Active Directory functional levels

The following functional levels for the Active Directory forest and domain are supported:

  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2008

HDX

Audio

UDP audio for Multi-Stream ICA is supported on Citrix Workspace app for Windows and Citrix Workspace app for Linux 13.

Echo cancellation is supported on Citrix Workspace app for Windows.

See the specific HDX feature support and requirements. For more information on HDX features and Citrix Workspace apps, see the Feature matrix.

HDX Windows Media delivery

The following clients are supported for Windows Media client-side content fetching, Windows Media redirection, and real-time Windows Media multimedia transcoding: Citrix Workspace app for Windows, Citrix Workspace app for iOS, and Citrix Workspace app for Linux.

To use Windows Media client-side content fetching on Windows 8 devices, set the Citrix Multimedia Redirector as a default program: in Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs > Set your default programs, select Citrix Multimedia Redirector and click either Set this program as default or Choose defaults for this program. GPU transcoding requires an NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU with Compute Capability 1.1 or higher; see https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-gpus.

HDX 3D Pro

The VDA for Windows single-session OS detects the presence of GPU hardware at runtime.

The physical or virtual machine hosting the application can use GPU Passthrough or Virtual GPU (vGPU):

  • GPU Passthrough is available with:

    • XenServer
    • Nutanix AHV
    • VMware vSphere and VMware ESX, where it is referred to as virtual Direct Graphics Acceleration (vDGA)

  • vGPU is available with:

    • XenServer
    • Nutanix AHV
    • VMware vSphere

See https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops/graphics/hdx-3d-pro.

Citrix recommends that the host computer has at least 4 GB of RAM and four virtual CPUs with a clock speed of 2.3 GHz or higher.

Graphical Processing Unit (GPU):

  • For virtualized graphics acceleration using the NVIDIA GRID API, you can use HDX 3D Pro with all the NVIDIA GRID GPUs supported by the NVIDIA Virtual GPU (vGPU) software version 13 and up, see https://docs.nvidia.com/grid/index.html. For a detailed list of supported Hypervisors and supported hardware, see the NVIDIA vGPU software documentation.

  • Virtualized graphics acceleration is supported on the Intel Xeon Processor E3 Family of data center graphics platforms and the Intel data center GPU Flex series. For more information, see GPU Flex series.
  • AMD GPUs are supported with AMD’s mxGPU virtualization. For more information on supported hardware, see AMD documentation.

User device:

  • Citrix supports up to 8 4k monitors, depending on the hardware resources. Depending on the GPU used, there can be other hardware restrictions on this maximum.
  • Citrix recommends that user devices have at least 4 GB of RAM and a CPU with a clock speed of 1.6 GHz or higher. For optimum performance, we recommend that user devices have at least 8 GB of RAM and a dual-core CPU with a clock speed of 3 GHz or higher.
  • For multi-monitor access, Citrix recommends user devices with quad-core CPUs.
  • Citrix Workspace app must be installed.

For more information, see the HDX 3D Pro articles and www.citrix.com/xenapp/3d.

Universal Print Server

The Universal Print Server comprises client and server components. The UpsClient component is included in the VDA installation. You install the UpsServer component on each print server where shared printers reside that you want to provision with the Citrix Universal Print Driver in user sessions.

The UpsServer component is supported on:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server 2022
  • Windows Server 2019

Requirements:

  • Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributable
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 (minimum)

For VDAs for Multi-session OS, user authentication during printing operations requires the Universal Print Server to be joined to the same domain as the VDA.

Standalone client and server component packages are also available for download.

For more information, see Provision printers.

Other

Only Citrix License Server 11.17.2 and later are supported. For more information, see Licensing.

See the Product Matrix for more information about version compatibility.

For supported StoreFront versions, see the StoreFront system requirements.

The Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is required if you store Citrix policy information in Active Directory rather than the site configuration database. If you install CitrixGroupPolicyManagement_x64.msi separately (for example, on a machine that does not have a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops core component installed), that machine must have Visual Studio 2015 runtime installed. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation.

If you want to edit domain GPOs using GPMC, enable the Group Policy Management feature (in the Windows Server Manager) on all machines containing Delivery Controllers.

Multiple NICs are supported.

By default, the Citrix Workspace app for Windows is not installed when you install a current VDA. For more information, see the Citrix Workspace app for Windows documentation.

See Local App Access for supported browser information for that feature.

This version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops requires a minimum of HDX RealTime Connector 2.9 LTSR. For more information, see the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack documentation.

This product supports PowerShell versions 3 through 5.

System requirements
November 8, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C
November 8, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C

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