What’s new
A goal of Citrix is to deliver new features and product updates to Session Recording service customers when they’re available. New releases provide more value, so there’s no reason to delay updates. Updates are rolled out to the service release approximately every six weeks.
This process is transparent to you. Initial updates are applied to Citrix internal sites only, and are then applied to customer environments gradually. Delivering updates incrementally in waves helps ensure product quality and maximize availability.
July 2024
Deployment to Microsoft Azure is further simplified and enhanced
When creating and deploying a site through a host connection, you now have the option to create private endpoints for storage and databases, and to create an Azure load balancer with the internal type.
For more information, see Deploy Session Recording resources to a cloud subscription.
Hide specific applications during screen recording
This feature requires that you select Enable lossy screen recording. It lets you hide specific applications with a layer mask during screen recording. The color for the layer mask is configurable, which can be Black, Gray, or White.
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, configure Session Recording Server settings. For more information, see Site and server settings.
Capture printing activities in recorded sessions (preview)
We have extended the scope of event detection to monitor printing activities that occur during recorded sessions and tag the printing activities as events in recordings for later search and playback.
To use this feature, make sure that:
- You have configured and activated a session recording policy that specifies sessions to record. For more information, see Configure session recording policies.
- You have created an event detection policy and selected the Printing option when specifying events to log. For more information, see Configure event detection policies.
Note:
This is a preview feature. It is available with Session Recording version 2407 and later. Preview features might not be fully localized and are recommended for use in non production environments. Citrix Technical Support doesn’t support issues found with preview features.
Fixes
Error 8632 might be raised when you archive or delete recordings. [SRT-12763]
April 2024
Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template) support for simplified deployment in Azure
You can now create an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template) to deploy Session Recording resources in Azure. The ARM template is a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) file that contains how and which resources you want to deploy. For more information, see Create and deploy a site through an ARM template.
Pure Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) deployment can now be achieved through simplified deployment
Simplified deployment refers to creating and deploying a site through a host connection or an ARM template. While doing simplified deployment, you now have an option to join the Session Recording servers you are about to deploy to an Azure AD domain where your VDAs reside. For more information, see Deploy Session Recording resources to a cloud subscription.
Community-driven event trigger templates
To help you quickly find a template that fits your business need, Cloud Software Group has created a community for all full admins of the Session Recording service to contribute towards it. You can contribute to the community by publishing templates of your organization for other customers to access for free. Cloud Software Group has also built a resource library to accommodate all event trigger templates, both from your organization and from the other community members including Cloud Software Group itself.
Note:
See the End User Agreement before submitting a template.
For more information, see Create a custom event response policy.
Recording success rates visualized on the cloud
You can now see a new widget showing the recording success rates for the current site on the upper right corner of the Session Recording management dashboard. You can see both the latest recording success rate and the recording success rates for the past 12 hours.
To facilitate identifying issues, recording success rates below 100% are displayed as an orange dot in comparison to 100% success rates that are displayed as a green dot. You can hover over an orange dot and click the link in the hint to jump to the corresponding event logged on the Activity Feed page where you can:
- view the event details including those sessions which failed to record.
- subscribe to Email notifications to get notified when a recording success rate is below 100%.
Note:
This feature is available with the cloud client versions 7.42.15010.4 and later. To use this feature, make sure that only one site has available servers and this feature is enabled on the dashboard settings page of that site.
For more information, see Management dashboard.
Fixes
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Attempts to add or modify a policy might fail if the length of users or user groups specified as the applicable scope exceeds 16 characters. [SRT-12247]
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Attempts to install a Session Recording server from within the cloud might fail. The issue occurs when you connect the Session Recording server to a cloud database but the database password you provide contains a double quote (“). [SRT-12119]
March 2024
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.
Note:
Azure AD support is available with Session Recording version 2402 and later.
January 2024
Storage consumption forecast
A storage consumption forecast for the next 7 days can be generated based on sufficient historical consumption data of approximately one month. This feature allows you to predict resource usage and take precautions in advance. For more information, see the Management dashboard article.
Support for sharing recordings as restricted and unrestricted links from the cloud player
You can now share recordings as restricted and unrestricted links from the cloud player. Other users can use the links to access the shared recordings directly, which obliterates the need to search among many recordings. If you share a recording as a restricted link, only users who already have playback permission can view the recording using the link. If you share a recording as an unrestricted link, anyone in your AD domain can view the recording using the link.
For unrestricted recording sharing, you can further:
- Specify whether to issue email notifications to specific recipients when an unrestricted recording link is generated. For more information, see Notifications.
- View the events related to unrestricted recording sharing on the Events tab of the activity feed.
To share recordings as links and manage unrestricted links, you must have full access to the Session Recording service. It means that you must be a Citrix Cloud administrator assigned any of the following permissions:
- Full access
- Cloud Administrator, All role
- Session Recording-FullAdmin, All role
For more information, see Share recordings as links and Types of Session Recording administrators.
October 2023
Simplified Session Recording deployment to Microsoft Azure is now generally available
You can create a site to deploy the Session Recording resources to your Azure subscription from within the Session Recording service. The feature is now generally available and enhanced to let you:
- Add resources including servers and storage to an existing site deployed on Azure.
- Change the IP addresses that are allowed to access the load balancer.
For more information, see Deploy Session Recording resources to a cloud subscription.
Introduction of event trigger templates
By event triggers in event response policies, you can specify actions in response to different events including session starts and the events detected in recorded sessions. Starting with this release, you’re provided with event trigger templates for direct use or customization. For more information, see Configure event response policies.
Support for single-port communication
With versions 7.40.13020.11 and later of the cloud client, you need to only open a single port (TCP port 443) for communication.
Fixes
- Host connections can’t be created successfully until you’ve onboarded at least one Session Recording server to the Session Recording service. [SRT-11065]
- Viewing the Session Recording management dashboard causes high CPU utilization on the database machine. [SRT-11190]
- Custom policies aren’t available for a site containing the Session Recording server 1912. [SRT-11334]
September 2023
Administrative access to the Session Recording service is enabled for Azure Active Directory (AD) users and groups
For more information, see Add administrators from Azure AD.
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.
Note:
This feature is available with Session Recording version 2308 and later.
Lossy screen recording
Lossy screen recording lets you adjust compression options to reduce the size of recording files and to accelerate navigating recorded sessions during playback.
You can 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 when configuring an event response policy. When a monitored event is detected later, lossy screen recording is triggered.
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:
- Configure session recording policies
- Configure event response policies
- Enable or disable lossy screen recording
Note:
This feature is available with Session Recording version 2308 and later.
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 Configure preferences and Enable fast seeking.
Note:
This feature is available with Session Recording version 2308 and later.
Fixes
- Session recording and event response policies configured from the cloud don’t take effect. This issue occurs when you use Session Recording server 2305 or earlier. [SRT-10813]
July 2023
Simplified Session Recording deployment to Microsoft Azure (preview)
You can now deploy the following Session Recording resources to your Azure subscription from within the Session Recording service: the Session Recording servers, databases, storage, and load balancer. You can also obtain recommended VM and storage configurations, predict costs, and view the actual costs for using Azure from within the Session Recording service.
For more information, see Deploy Session Recording resources to a cloud subscription (preview).
Remove Session Recording servers from the cloud
You can now remove servers with the Offline, Uninstalled, and Installation Failed states from the cloud to display only the desired Session Recording servers.
For more information, see Server removals.
Troubleshoot Session Recording servers from the cloud
You can perform a few troubleshooting actions from the cloud for the Session Recording servers connected to the Session Recording service.
For more information, see Server troubleshooting from the cloud.
Specify players for a site
You can now specify either the cloud player, on-premises players, or both to play the recordings of a site. By default, both the cloud player and on-premises players are selected.
This feature is available with Session Recording server 2308 and later.
For more information, see Specify players for a site.
Fixes
- Attempts to send storage consumption and session statistics to the Session Recording management dashboard always fail for Session Recording servers with a French operating system. [SRT-10219]
April 2023
A daemon introduced for the cloud client
This release introduces a daemon to keep the Session Recording cloud client running and to automatically repair it when it runs abnormally. The daemon is available in cloud client versions 7.38.10030.16 and later.
Activity feed
As a supplement to the Session Recording management dashboard, the Session Recording service introduces an activity feed to improve data visibility and data visualization.
The activity feed gives you information about the events and tasks that happened in the past.
For more information, see the Activity feed article.
Email notifications
To get notified about specific events and tasks through email, you can now subscribe to email notifications.
You can subscribe to be notified about:
- Resource usage alerts: When resource usage thresholds are exceeded
- Server status changes: When the status of a Session Recording server changes
- Storage maintenance results: A digest of the results of automated tasks for archiving and deleting recordings
For more information, see Email notifications.
Fixes
- Automated tasks for archiving and deleting recordings are terminated if the target sessions are still live. [SRT-9832]
- If you edit more than one rule of a policy in the Session Recording service, your edits might not take effect and a “Policy adding failed” error is logged in your web browser console. [SRT-9754]
- Attempts to edit policy rules that have a Japanese name fail. [SRT-9675]
February 2023
Support for scheduling cloud client upgrades
Previously, the Session Recording cloud client was automatically upgraded each time a new release was issued. Starting with this release, you can upgrade the Session Recording cloud client immediately or schedule automatic upgrades. For more information, see Schedule cloud client upgrades.
Cloud client enhancement
We’ve enhanced the Session Recording cloud client in version 7.37.9010.3. This version of the cloud client handles REST API requests and file streaming requests directly, which brings the following benefits and changes:
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Previously, to make a Session Recording server work properly in the cloud, you must install an SSL certificate on it and add a certificate binding in IIS. Versions 7.37.9010.3 and later of the cloud client don’t depend on the local certificates on Session Recording servers and don’t support the CUSTOMDOMAIN parameter.
For more information, see Connect existing Session Recording servers to the cloud or Install Session Recording servers from within the cloud.
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Versions 7.37.9010.3 and later of the cloud client obliterate the need to configure the web streaming service in IIS if you want to use the cloud player only.
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We’ve removed the web configuration file (Web.config) from <Session Recording server installation path>/WebSocketServer, and use the registry instead for setting the transport packet size. You can locate the registry key at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\SessionRecording\CloudClientService\BlockSizeMultiple. For more information, see Increase the transport packet size.
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The cloud client enhancement increases playback speed and creates a greater playback experience.
December 2022
Server installation from within the cloud
Previously, you could connect only existing Session Recording servers to the Session Recording service. For more information, see Connect existing Session Recording servers to the cloud.
Starting with this release, you can connect any machine to the Session Recording service and then install the Session Recording server component on it from within the cloud. After installation completes successfully, the machine becomes a Session Recording server that is connected to the Session Recording service. To do so:
- Prepare a machine and install the Session Recording cloud client on it. The machine is automatically connected to the Session Recording service, appearing in the Unallocated servers list on the Server Management page.
- Verify that the machine is in the Ready to install status, and then click the installation icon. The installation wizard appears.
- Follow the wizard to install the Session Recording server component on the machine.
This new feature obliterates the need to download the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops installer or the SessionRecordingAdministrationx64.msi file. It also performs domain joining and certificate binding checks to prevent issues that might keep Session Recording servers from functioning after being connected.
For more information, see Install Session Recording servers from within the cloud.
Improved experience in server onboarding
To connect a Session Recording server to the cloud, you must install the cloud client on it. Previously, you had to manually enter a command to do that.
This release introduces a Generate command wizard where you can generate a command by providing the necessary information. The wizard also provides important reminders such as for certificate binding. To open the wizard, click Generate command on the Server connection guide page or click Continue configuration on the Session Recording service Welcome page and then click Generate command.
For more information, see Connect existing Session Recording servers to the cloud and Install Session Recording servers from within the cloud.
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.
November 2022
Session Recording management dashboard
The Session Recording service introduces a comprehensive management dashboard that helps you gain insights into your system. The dashboard lets you monitor various aspects of your system, including:
- Server status
- Storage consumption
- Session statistics
- Client device information
For more information, see the Session Recording management dashboard.
Trace collection from cloud clients
Citrix collects traces from the cloud clients installed on on-premises Session Recording servers and uses the traces for troubleshooting.
September 2022
Support for automatically archiving and deleting recordings on a regular basis
In addition to archiving and deleting recordings manually, you can now schedule site-level tasks to automatically archive and delete recordings on a regular basis. For more information, see Manage recordings.
Recording access control
You can now restrict access to selected recordings from within the Session Recording service. In addition to playback permissions, this feature provides more granular access control.
Citrix Cloud administrators assigned any of the following access permissions are allowed to place access restrictions on recordings:
- Full access
- Cloud Administrator, All role
- Session Recording-FullAdmin, All role
- Session Recording-PrivilegedPlayerAdmin, All role
- Session Recording-ReadOnlyAdmin, All role
Restricted recordings aren’t accessible to Session Recording read-only administrators, that is, Citrix Cloud administrators assigned only the Session Recording-ReadOnlyAdmin, All role. Session Recording read-only administrators do not have permission to access the Restricted page or remove access restrictions on the page. For more information, see Place access restrictions on recordings.
July 2022
Support for 1912 LTSR
Previously, using the Session Recording service required a Session Recording 2203 or later deployment. Starting with this release, you can connect Session Recording servers in a 1912 LTSR deployment to the Session Recording service.
Support for archiving and deleting recordings
You can now archive and delete recordings using the Session Recording service. When archiving recordings, you can choose to move the recording files to a different location from the one where they were originally stored. When deleting recordings, you can choose to also delete the recording files along with the database records.
For information about the archiving and deletion operations, see Manage recordings.
June 2022
Session Recording service is available in the Asia Pacific South (APS) region of Citrix Cloud
In addition to the US and EU regions, the Session Recording service is now also available for provisioning in the Asia Pacific South (APS) region of Citrix Cloud.
Load-balancing Session Recording servers across sites
You can now manage Session Recording servers by load-balancing them across multiple sites. You can also create or activate a policy for all Session Recording servers in a site at a time. For more information, see Connect existing Session Recording servers to the cloud, Configure Session Recording servers, and Configure session recording policies.
Custom domain name support for HTTPS requests
In addition to the default FQDN, a Session Recording server can now use, for HTTPS requests, a custom domain name with an SSL certificate binding. For more information, see Connect existing Session Recording servers to the cloud.
Support for configuring additional event response actions from the cloud
You can now configure, from the cloud, the following actions in response to logged events in recorded sessions:
- Lock session
- Log off session
- Disconnect session
This feature is available for Session Recording 2206 and later. For more information, see Configure event response policies.
April 2022
Session Recording service available in the EU region of Citrix Cloud
In addition to the US region, the Session Recording service is now also available for provisioning in the EU region of Citrix Cloud.
Administrator logging data available in the Session Recording service
The Session Recording service presents administrator logging data for Session Recording server 2204 and later. The data contains logs of administrator activities and of applicable policies triggering recordings. For more information, see Query administrator logging data.
Support for configuring playback permissions
By default, all Citrix Cloud administrators with the Session Recording role have permission to play all recordings. You can now limit playback permissions so that Session Recording read-only administrators can play only specific recordings on a target Session Recording server. For more information, see Configure playback permissions.