Session experience

Battery status indicator

The battery status of the device now appears in the notification area of a Citrix Desktop session.

Note:

Starting with the 2111 version, the battery status indicator appears for server VDAs also.

The battery status indicator is enabled by default.

To disable the battery status indicator:

1. Navigate to the <ICAROOT>/config/module.ini folder.
2. Go to the ICA 3.0 section.
3. Set the MobileReceiver=Off.

App indicator icon

The app indicator starts when you launch Citrix Workspace app. It’s an icon that is present in the notification area. With the introduction of the app indicator, the Citrix Workspace app for Linux logon performance is improved.

You can observe performance improvement when you:

• First launch of Citrix Workspace app
• Close and relaunch the app
• Quit and relaunch the app

Note:

The libappindicator package is required for the app indicator to appear. Install the libappindicator package suitable for your Linux distribution from the web.

Workspace launcher

Citrix introduces the Workspace launcher (ctx-webhelper) to launch published desktops and applications.

Previously, the browser plug-in provided along with Citrix Workspace app for Linux enabled users to launch published desktops and applications was based on the NPAPI.

As a solution, Citrix is introducing the Workspace launcher (WebHelper). To enable this feature, configure StoreFront to send requests to the Workspace launcher to detect the Citrix Workspace app installation.

Starting with Version 1901, the Citrix Workspace launcher is compatible with direct connections to StoreFront and Citrix Gateway. This feature helps to launch the ICA file automatically and to detect the Citrix Workspace app installation.

For information about configuring StoreFront, see Solution – 2 > a) Administrator configuration in Knowledge Center article CTX237727.

Note:

Citrix Workspace launcher currently works only with direct connections to StoreFront. It isn’t supported in other cases such as connections through Citrix Gateway.

Disabling new workspace web UI mode

When you launch the Citrix Workspace app for Linux using the self-service executable file from third-party thin-client vendors, the application can become unresponsive because of 100% CPU utilization.

As a workaround, to switch back to the old UI mode:

1. Remove cached files by using the command: rm -r ~/.ICAClient
2. Go to $ICAROOT/config/AuthManconfig.xml file.
3. Change CWACapableEnabled key value to false.
4. Launch Citrix Workspace app for Linux. Observe that the self-service executable file loads the old UI.

Copy and paste files and folders between two virtual desktops

Previously, you can copy only text between two virtual desktops. Starting with Citrix Workspace app for Linux version 2309, you can copy and paste files and folders between two virtual desktops.

This feature is enabled by default.

Note:

• Copy and paste files and folders between two virtual desktops is supported only on the x64 and ARM64 Linux distributions.

• In the Linux Virtual Delivery Agent, the maximum transfer of data in one single copy-paste operation is 200 MB. For more information, see File copy and paste documentation.

To disable this feature, do the following:

1. Navigate to the /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/config/module.ini configuration file.
2. Edit the value of VDGDT to Off.

File type association

A Citrix Virtual Apps Services might also publish a file, rather than an application or desktop. This process is referred to as publishing content, and allows pnabrowse to open the published file.

There’s a limitation to the type of files that the Citrix Workspace app recognizes. Only when a published application is associated with the file type of the published file:

• The system recognizes the file type of the published content
• Users can view the file through Citrix Workspace app

For example, to view a published Adobe PDF file using Citrix Workspace app, an application such as Adobe PDF Viewer must be published. Unless a suitable application is published, users can’t view the published content.

To enable FTA on the client-side:

1. Verify that the app that you want to associate is a favorite or a subscribed application.

2. To get the list of published applications and the server URL, run the commands:

   ./util/storebrowse -l
   
   ./util/storebrowse -S <StoreFront URL>
   <!--NeedCopy-->
   

3. Run the ./util/ctx_app_bind command with the following syntax:

   ./util/ctx_app_bind [-p] example_file|MIME-type published-application [server|server-URI]

   for example, ./util/ctx_app_bind a.txt BVT_DB.Notepad_AWTSVDA-0001 https://awddc1.bvt.local/citrix/store/discovery

4. Verify that the file that you’re trying to open is client drive mapping (CDM) enabled.
5. Double-click the file to open it using the associated application.

Associating a published application with file types

Citrix Workspace app reads and applies the settings configured by administrators in Citrix Studio.

Prerequisite:

Verify that you connect to the Store server where the FTA is configured.

To link a file name extension with a Citrix Workspace app for Linux application:

1. Publish the application.
2. Log on to Citrix Studio.
3. Right-click the application and then select Properties.
4. Select Location.

5. Add “%**” in the Command-line argument (optional) field to bypass the command-line validation and then click OK.

   

6. Right-click the application and select Properties.
7. Select File Type Association.
8. Select all the extensions that you want Citrix Workspace app to associate with the application.
9. Click Apply and Update file types.
10. Follow the steps mentioned in File type association to enable FTA on the client-side.

Note:

The StoreFront file type association must be ON. By default, file type association is enabled.

Transparent user interface

The Citrix ICA protocol uses the Transparent User Interface Virtual Channel [TUI VC] protocol to transmit data between Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS and host servers. The TUI protocol transmits user interface [UI] component messages for remote connections.

Citrix Workspace app for Linux supports the TUI VC feature. This feature helps the client to receive the TUI packets sent by the server, and the client can access the UI-related components. This functionality helps you to control the display of the default overlay screen. You can toggle the VDTUI flag in the module.ini file: VDTUI - On/Off

Starting with version 1912, the VDTUI flag is set to On by default. As a result, the “Starting <Application>” dialog box no longer appears when you launch an app. Instead, a “Connecting <Application>” dialog appears with a progress bar. The dialog also displays the progress of the app launch. However, if you set the flag to Off, the “Starting <Application>” dialog rendered on top of other application windows, covering the login prompt.

For more information on Virtual Channels, see Citrix ICA virtual channels in the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops documentation.

Increase in the number of supported virtual channels

In earlier versions of the client, sessions supported up to 32 virtual channels.

Starting with the 2103 version, you can use up to 64 virtual channels in a session.

Enhanced virtual desktop screen resizing experience

Starting with the 2408 version, Citrix Workspace app for Linux ensures a smooth transition and prevents black screens and flickers when resizing or stretching your virtual desktop screen. This feature is enabled by default.

To disable this feature, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to the $HOME/.ICAClient/wfclient.ini folder.
2. Go to the [WFClient] section.
3. Add the following entry:

    EnhancedResizingEnabled=False
<!--NeedCopy-->

Improved loading experience for shared user mode

Starting with the 2408 version, the time taken to load the store is reduced and thus the loading experience for the shared user mode is improved.

Note:

This feature is applicable only on StoreFront stores.

This feature is disabled by default. To enable this feature, do the following:

1. Navigate to the AuthManConfig.xml configuration file.
2. Set the following entry as True:

<key>KioskSFUIEnhanced</key>
<value>True</value>
<!--NeedCopy-->