What’s new history

This article provides information about new features included in the releases that shipped after the 1912 LTSR through the 2402 LTSR.

What’s new in 2402 LTSR (initial release)

This release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Session Recording database is now made the mandatory subfeature of the Session Recording server

When the Session Recording server is selected for installation, the Session Recording database is now also selected automatically and cannot be unselected. This enhancement helps avoid installation or upgrade issues in load balancing scenarios. For more information, see Install, upgrade, and uninstall.

Contextual session recording based on smart access tags

When creating a custom policy, you can now specify smart access tags to use as scopes for the policy to apply to. This feature lets you apply policies based on the user access context including:

• The user’s location
• IP address range
• Delivery group
• Device type
• Installed applications

This feature brings more granular control over session recording and is available for the following policies:

• Session recording policies. For more information, see Configure session recording policies.
• Event detection policies. For more information, see Configure event detection policies.
• Event response policies. For more information, see Configure event response policies.

Azure Active Directory (AD) support (preview)

You can now install the Session Recording server and agent on an Azure AD joined machine and enable Azure AD support for them. Later when you configure various policies and playback permissions from the cloud, you can specify Azure AD users and groups who launch sessions from Azure AD joined machines.

For information about installing Session Recording, see Install, upgrade, and uninstall.

For information about configuring policies and playback permissions from the cloud, see Configure session recording policies and Playback permissions.

What’s new in 2311

This release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Audio recording for non-optimized HDX audio is now generally available

You can enable audio recording for non-optimized HDX audio when configuring session recording policies. The feature is now generally available and enhanced to let you adjust the volume during recording playback.

Note:

The audio that is handled on the VDA and delivered to/from the client where the Citrix Workspace app is installed is referred to as non-optimized HDX audio. Unlike non-optimized HDX audio, optimized HDX audio has its processing offloaded to the client, as seen in the Browser Content Redirection (BCR) and Optimization for Microsoft Teams scenarios.

For information about enabling audio recording, see Configure session recording policies.

Prerecording also available for virtual app sessions

When you specify event-triggered dynamic screen recording, you can configure the amount of time of the screen recording you want to keep before triggering events are detected. This prerecording feature is now extended to virtual app sessions. It is now available for both virtual desktop sessions and virtual app sessions. For more information, see Configure event response policies.

Note:

When you configure lossy screen recording, note the following changes:

• The Medium and High values for the Video fluency (FPS) compression option have changed to 5 and 10, respectively.
• Session Recording now uses Average Bitrate (ABR) instead of Constant Rate Factor (CRF) for video bitrate encoding. Note it when you set the Video image quality compression option.

For more information, see the compression option descriptions in Enable or disable lossy screen recording.

Hide specific applications during screen recording

You can now hide specific applications with a layer mask during screen recording. This feature requires that you enable lossy screen recording in your custom session recording policy.

For more information, see Create a custom recording policy.

Explicit user consent before recording sessions

If the active recording policy records sessions with notifications, users receive recording notifications after typing credentials. This feature forces end users to explicitly consent to the session recording disclaimer before they can continue with their session. If end users accept the disclaimer, their session continues with session recording enabled. If end users deny the disclaimer, their session is terminated.

To enable this feature, go to the Notifications tab of Session Recording Server Properties and select Allow end user to deny recording of their session. For more information, see Customize recording notification messages.

Store recording files in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

You can now store recording files in Amazon S3. For more information, see Store recordings in Amazon S3.

Ability to play completed and live session recordings on Citrix Director

You can now play completed and live session recordings on Citrix Director. For more information, see the Citrix Director documentation.

Regular event response reports

You can now schedule reports through Session Recording Server Properties to receive emailed event response reports on a daily or weekly basis. An event response report contains a digest chart as the email body and a csv file as the attachment. The csv file includes a full list of the events during the day or week that have triggered various event responses.

Note:

By selecting email notifications as the event response in your custom event response policy, you can still be notified about each individual occurrence. You can choose regular event response reports, individual notifications, or both.

For more information, see Event response reports.

Ability to check the recording success rate

You can check the recording success rate to learn whether all sessions that match the currently active recording policy are recorded. If all sessions that match the currently active recording policy are recorded, the recording success rate is 100%. Otherwise, the recording success rate is lower than 100% and you are prompted to check failed recordings in a file where session details are provided. This feature helps you monitor recording activities and identify issues in a timely manner. For more information, see Check the recording success rate.

What’s new in 2308

Audio recording for non-optimized HDX audio (preview)

You can now enable audio recording for non-optimized HDX audio when configuring session recording policies. The audio that is handled on the VDA and delivered to/from the client where the Citrix Workspace app is installed is referred to as non-optimized HDX audio. Unlike non-optimized HDX audio, optimized HDX audio has its processing offloaded to the client, as seen in the Browser Content Redirection (BCR) and Optimization for Microsoft Teams scenarios.

For information about enabling audio recording, see Configure session recording policies.

Fast seeking through ICA screen recording

You can now enable fast seeking through ICA screen recording by configuring how often an I-Frame is generated. This feature significantly improves the playback seeking experience. For more information, see Enable fast seeking.

Lossy video codec renamed to lossy screen recording

The lossy video codec feature has been renamed lossy screen recording, and its toggle switch is moved from the Session Recording Agent Properties to the Session Recording policy console.

You can now enable lossy screen recording in any of the following ways:

• Activate a system-defined session recording policy that has lossy screen recording enabled.
• Create and activate a custom session recording policy, and make sure to select Enable lossy screen recording when creating the custom policy.
• Select Enable lossy screen recording for dynamic screen recording when configuring an event response policy. When certain events during an event-only recording trigger dynamic screen recording, lossy screen recording works.

After you enable lossy screen recording, you can adjust compression options through the Lossy Screen tab of Session Recording Agent Properties.

For more information, see the following articles:

• Configure session recording policies
• Configure event response policies
• Enable or disable lossy screen recording

Support for installing the Session Recording database on the Google Cloud SQL Server

You can now install the Session Recording database on the Google Cloud SQL Server, either by running a command or by running the SessionRecordingAdministrationx64.msi package. You can find the SessionRecordingAdministrationx64.msi package on the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops ISO under \x64\Session Recording. For more information, see Install the Session Recording Database on cloud SQL database services.

Ability to close unresponsive or dormant live recordings

Previously, a live recording was considered unresponsive or dormant if no new data was written to the recording file for 48 hours. Unresponsive live recordings could not be closed. Starting with this release, you can configure this time threshold on the Storage tab of Session Recording Server Properties to close unresponsive or dormant live recordings automatically when the threshold is exceeded. You can also manually close unresponsive or dormant live recordings by using the ICLDB DORMANT command. For more information, see Manage recordings.

More parameters are available for ICLDB ARCHIVE, ICLDB REMOVE, and ICLDB DORMANT commands

You can now append the FILEID parameter when using the ICLDB ARCHIVE, ICLDB REMOVE, and ICLDB DORMANT commands to manipulate a specific session recording file. You can also append the CLOSEFILES parameter when using the ICLDB DORMANT command to manually close unresponsive or dormant live recordings. For more information, see Manage recordings.

What’s new in 2305

Support for Azure SQL Database

You can now install the Session Recording database on Azure SQL Database.

For more information, see Install the Session Recording database on Azure SQL Database. For a complete list of the operating systems and database services that you can install the Session Recording database on, see System requirements.

Support for sharing recordings as unrestricted links

In the Session Recording web player, you can now share recordings as unrestricted links so that anyone in your AD domain can access the recordings using the links.

To facilitate managing unrestricted links, Session Recording lets you:

• Set a validity period for each of the links.
• (Optional) Enter a justification when generating the links.
• Get an overview of which recordings have been shared as unrestricted links.
• View all unrestricted links of a specific recording.
• Know which users have accessed an unrestricted link.
• Revoke unrestricted links that haven’t expired.
• Clear invalid links that have expired or revoked.

For more information, see Share recordings as links.

Configure a Session Recording timespan for blocking sensitive information disclosure

Session Recording allows you to bypass specified periods when recording the screen to prevent sensitive information from being disclosed. The sensitive information blocking capability is enabled by using the Session-Pause and Session-Resume cmdlets. This release enhances the feature by allowing you to configure the amount of time of the screen recording you want to skip before sensitive information is detected. The default value is 1 second. For more information, see Sensitive information blocking.

Advanced filters available for ICLDB ARCHIVE and ICLDB REMOVE commands

When using the ICLDB ARCHIVE and ICLDB REMOVE commands to archive and remove session recording files, you can now set advanced filters by appending the RULES parameter. For more information, see Manage recordings.

Support for email alerts in your preferred language

You can now send email alerts even if the operating system language of your Session Recording server is not one of the following languages that Session Recording supports:

• English
• French
• German
• Spanish
• Japanese
• Simplified Chinese

If the operating system language of your Session Recording server is not one of the supported languages, email alerts are sent in English by default. You can customize a language to send email alerts in. To do so, find the email template called template.en.html under <Session Recording server installation path>\Bin\templates and then change the plain text in the template to your preferred language. For more information, see Configure event response policies.

What’s new in 2303

This release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Compressed recording

You can enable compressed recording for parts of Thinwire-transmitted session screens that are not H.264 compressed. This feature reduces recording file size significantly. To enable this feature, go to the Recording tab of Session Recording Agent Properties and select the check box in the Compressed recording section.

Note:

• This feature is disabled by default.
• The minimum version required for the VDA is 2303.

For more information, see Enable or disable recording.

Image resolution scaling for lossy video codec

Lossy video codec lets you adjust compression options to reduce the size of recording files and to accelerate navigation through recorded sessions during playback. This release adds a compression option, image resolution scaling, to the lossy video codec feature. Image resolution scaling lets you downscale the resolution of recorded screens.

For more information, see Enable or disable lossy video codec.

Enhanced notification for event response actions

Starting with Session Recording 2206, you can disconnect, log off, or lock users from their virtual sessions when a specific event is detected. You can also notify users of the actions by setting the time interval between a notice and its execution. This release enhances the notification feature by giving users a clearer understanding of the reason behind the actions. For an example notice, see the following screen capture:

For more information, see Create a custom event response policy.

Google Analytics disabled for EU customers by default

Google Analytics is now disabled for EU customers by default. For more information, see CEIP and Google Analytics.

More optional parameters for ICLDB commands

This release introduces the RELOCATE parameter to the IMPORT command and the FILTER parameter to the ARCHIVE and REMOVE commands of the ICLDB utility.

• The RELOCATE parameter for ICLDB IMPORT

  You can move session recording files to different storage paths for load balancing or other purposes. To ensure that the files can still be played, you must update their new paths to the Session Recording database. To do so, use the ICLDB IMPORT command. To accelerate the import process, append the RELOCATE parameter to the ICLDB IMPORT command.

  Without the RELOCATE parameter, the ICLDB IMPORT command parses session recording files in their entirety, which takes time. With the RELOCATE parameter, the ICLDB IMPORT command simply locates the database records of session recording files and updates their file paths directly.

• The FILTER parameter for ICLDB ARCHIVE and ICLDB REMOVE

  Previously, only the RETENTION parameter was available for the ICLDB ARCHIVE and ICLDB REMOVE commands to specify target session recording files to manipulate. Starting with this release, you can add the FILTER parameter to manipulate session recording files that meet both RETENTION and FILTER. The FILTER parameter lets you filter file paths by using the * and ? wildcards.

For more information about the ICLDB utility, see Manage recordings.

What’s new in 2212

This release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Lossy video codec

Lossy video codec lets you adjust compression options to reduce the size of recording files and to accelerate navigating recorded sessions during playback. Lossy video codec is suitable for use when:

• the size of recording files per time unit is too large, or
• there is a lag while you fast forward or rewind during playback.

For more information, see Enable or disable lossy video codec.

Playback justification logging

This release introduces playback justification logging and creates a Playback Logging page to aggregate all playback logs. With playback justification logging enabled, each time a user plays a recording, a dialog box appears, asking the user to enter a justification for playback. For more information, see Playback logging.

What’s new in 2210

This release includes the following new features and addresses an issue to improve the user experience:

Support for installation in session 0

This release introduces the AllowSession0Install argument for you to automate the installation of the Session Recording administration components in session 0. For more information, see Automate installation.

What’s new in 2209

This release includes the following new features and addresses an issue to improve the user experience:

Recording access control

You can now place access restrictions on target recordings in addition to role-based access control through recording viewing policies. Restricted recordings are accessible only to users and user groups that are assigned the PrivilegedPlayer role through the Session Recording Authorization Console. For more information, see Place access restrictions on recordings in the web player and Place access restrictions on recordings in the Session Recording player.

What’s new in 2207

This release includes the following new features and addresses an issue to improve the user experience:

Improved performance of the web player

We have optimized the graphics engine to improve the performance of the web player. If you encounter compatibility or other issues with the optimized engine, you can disable it through the Configuration > Preferences menu on the web player page. For more information, see Configure preferences.

What’s new in 2206

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Regular session recording storage reports

You can now schedule reports through Session Recording Server Properties to receive emailed session recording storage reports on a daily or weekly basis. A session recording storage report provides weekly statistics on screen recordings. For more information, see Session recording storage reports.

Support for additional event response actions

In addition to email alerts and dynamic screen recording, you can now specify the following actions in response to logged events in recorded sessions:

• Lock session
• Log off session
• Disconnect session

For more information, see Configure event response policies.

What’s new in 2204

This release addresses issues to improve the user experience.

What’s new in 2203 LTSR (initial release)

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Monitoring popup window events

When users open or close a confidential file or access a folder, a popup window might appear, showing a prompt or asking for a password. Session Recording can now monitor such popup window events while recording sessions. Popup windows in web browsers are not monitored. For more information, see Configure event detection policies.

Responses configurable for more event types

You can now specify how to respond when the following session events are detected:

• File transfers between session hosts (VDAs) and client devices
• Windows registry modifications
• User account modifications
• App failures
• App installs and uninstalls
• RDP connections
• Clipboard activities
• Popup window events
• Performance data (data points related to the recorded session)

For more information, see Configure event response policies.

Configurable time span for screen recording before a session event is detected

When you specify events to trigger dynamic screen recording, you can configure the amount of time of the screen recording you want to keep before events are detected. The actual length of the screen recording that Session Recording keeps might be a little longer than your configuration.

This feature is available only for virtual desktop sessions. For more information, see Configure event response policies.

What’s new in 2201

This release addresses issues to improve the user experience.

What’s new in 2112

This release includes the following new features and addresses an issue to improve the user experience:

Integration with Citrix Analytics for Security

You can now configure Session Recording servers to send user events to Citrix Analytics for Security, which processes those user events to provide actionable insights into user behaviors.

For more information, see Integrate with Citrix Analytics for Security.

Extended scope of event detection

We have extended the scope of event detection to monitor the following events while recording sessions:

• App failures: including unexpected app exits and unresponsive apps.
• User account modifications: including account creation, enablement, disablement, deletion, name changes, and password modification attempts.
• RDP connections: RDP connections initiated from the VDA hosting the recorded session.
• App installs and uninstalls

For more information, see Create a custom event detection policy.

Session data overlay

This release introduces a screen overlay during session playback in the web player. It is a semi-transparent overlay that you can relocate and hide. The overlay features the following data points related to the recorded session:

• Round trip time
• Network (send)
• Network (receive)
• CPU usage
• Memory usage

To enable the feature, select Log performance data when creating your event detection policy. For more information, see Create a custom event detection policy and Session Recording web player.

What’s new in 2110

This release addresses issues to improve the user experience.

Note:

Starting with 2110, before installing the Session Recording Administration components on Windows Server 2016 where TLS 1.0 is disabled, complete the following steps:

1. Install Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server.

2. Under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319 registry key, add the SchUseStrongCrypto DWORD (32-bit) value and set the value data to 1.

3. Reboot.

What’s new in 2109

The 2109 release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Windows 11 support

The Citrix components, features, and technologies in this release that support the Windows 10 OS now also support Windows 11, unless otherwise noted. For more information, see Windows 11 support.

Support for event data visualization

Event data visualization is now available in the web player for each recording. It provides graphical event statistics that help you quickly comprehend large numbers of events inserted in recordings, allowing you to easily see and communicate event trends. For more information, see View graphical event statistics in the Session Recording web player article.

Monitor registry modifications

We have extended the scope of event detection to monitor the following registry modifications while recording sessions:

For example:

To enable this registry monitoring functionality, select the Log registry modifications option for your event detection policy. For more information, see Create a custom event detection policy and Log events.

Renamed policies

In the Session Recording Policy Console, we have renamed the following recording policies and options for event detection settings:

Renamed recording policies:

Renamed options for event detection settings:

What’s new in 2107

This release includes the following new features and addresses issues to improve the user experience:

Event-triggered dynamic screen recording

The 2106 release introduced event-only recordings - the ability to record only specific events throughout a session - without capturing any screens. However, there are scenarios where you might want to automatically start recording screens when certain events occur during an event-only recording. As of this release, you can configure this recording behavior (event-triggered dynamic screen recording) using event response policies. For more information, see Event response policies.

Tip:

In this release, we renamed Email Alert Policies to Event Response Policies and Event Logging Policies to Event Detection Policies.

What’s new in 2106

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Windows Server 2022 support

Components, features, and technologies that support Windows Server operating systems now also support Windows Server 2022, unless noted otherwise. For more information, see Windows Server 2022 support.

Monitor file transfers

We’ve extended the scope of event logging to monitor file transfers between session hosts (VDAs) and client devices (including mapped client drives and generic redirected mass storage devices). Selecting the Log sensitive file events option for an event logging policy triggers the logging of file transfers, no matter whether you specify the File monitoring list. This enhanced feature requires Windows VDA 2106 or later. For more information, see Configure policies.

Record events only

In addition to recording screens, you can now record only specific events. This feature helps to free up storage space. To use this feature, activate either of the following new system-defined policies and then set an event logging policy to specify which events to record.

• Record event only for everyone with notification
• Record event only for everyone without notification

An event-only recording played in the web player contains an event statistics pie chart and histogram. The pie chart and histogram hold static throughout playback. You can navigate to a specific event from within the right pane.

The following screen capture shows an example of an event-only recording being played in the Session Recording Player. The EventOnly column indicates a screen recording or an event-only recording. All events are present in the Events and Bookmarks panel and show as yellow dots in the lower part of the Session Recording Player.

For more information, see Configure policies.

What’s new in 2104

This release includes the following enhancements and addresses an issue to improve the user experience:

Enhancement to recording file creation and storage

Previously, recording files were created and visible in the recording storage folder for all sessions when they were launched. The files were then deleted if policies were set not to record the launched sessions. As of this release, recording files are created only for recorded sessions.

What’s new in 2103

This release includes the following new features and enhancements:

Support for deploying the Database on AWS RDS

You can now deploy the Session Recording Database on AWS RDS by using the SessionRecordingAdministrationx64.msi package under \layout\image-full\x64\Session Recording on the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops ISO. For more information, see Deploy the Session Recording Database on cloud SQL database services.

Support for Azure Files and load balancing in Azure

You can now store recording files in Azure file shares that you can mount to both cloud and on-premises deployments. You can also deploy all Session Recording components in Azure and configure load balancing to evenly distribute loads across Session Recording Servers. For more information, see Specify where recordings are stored and Deploy and load-balance Session Recording in Azure.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Remote PowerShell SDK support for dynamic session recording

We have added support for the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Remote PowerShell SDK to facilitate dynamic session recording in a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service environment. For more information, see Dynamic session recording.

Font and color redesigns for the web player website

We have implemented font and color redesigns on the web player website. For more information, see Session Recording web player.

Recording playback enhancements

As recordings grow in size, recording files can take longer to download and respond more slowly when you use the seek slider to navigate during playback. To enhance playback experience, we’ve decreased the recording file upper limit from 1 GB to 300 MB and achieved continuous playback by splitting a single recording into multiple files. You can also right-click or select a recording and then choose or click Follow up to show all recording files of the recorded session. For more information, see Specify file size for recordings, Launch the Session Recording Player, and Session Recording web player.

Hiding content on the web player home page

We have added an option in Session Recording Server Properties. It lets you prevent the web player home page from displaying any content. Recordings are accessible only by way of their URLs. For more information, see Session Recording web player.

Migrating the WebSocket server to IIS

This release migrates the WebSocket server to IIS. A fresh installation of the latest Current Release connects your web browser to the WebSocket server hosted in IIS when you access the web player website. An upgrade installation from an earlier version to the latest Current Release connects your web browser to the original Python-based WebSocket server. To connect to the WebSocket server hosted in IIS, run the <Session Recording Server installation path>\Bin\SsRecUtils.exe -enablestreamingservice command. For more information, see Session Recording web player and Configure load balancing in an existing deployment.

Tip:

Starting from this release, the ArchiveSample.ps1, SrServerConfigurationSync.ps1, and GenRandomQMID.ps1 scripts are available under <Session Recording Server installation path>\Scripts\.