Articles In Virtualization

By Josue Molina, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

MSIX is a Windows app package format that was released in 2018 to simplify app deployment and management. Although not widely used at first, MSIX has gained traction in recent years. For example, the Microsoft Teams VDI installation now uses MSIX for deployment, and there are several defined customer journeys. With that in mind, I thought it would be good to share what's contained within an MSIX package. Inside the MSIX package you’ll find the following folders and files: AppxMetadata: This... read more.

• February 19, 2025

By Josue Molina, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

With Windows 10 reaching end of life in October, new opportunities emerge, such as trying MSIX app attach for application delivery. MSIX app attach is a Microsoft packaging technology used to deliver apps to virtual desktops and sessions without requiring installation. The app simply runs in a container. There are four unique phases that must be executed to attach and detach MSIX apps: Stage: This phase prepares the machine to receive and mount the MSIX app disk image Register: This phase registers the... read more.

• February 18, 2025

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Citrix Cloud DaaS has introduced significant upgrades to its backup and restore capabilities, ensuring that businesses can maintain continuity and resilience effortlessly. Here’s a look at what’s new and how these features can benefit your organization. Scheduled and On-Demand Backups: The updated backup feature allows administrators to schedule backups according to their specific needs. This can be set up to occur at regular intervals, ensuring that all critical data is securely backed up wi... read more.

• January 22, 2025

By Kamran Ahmad, Posted in Infrastructure, Support, Virtualization

Recently, I was upgrading a customer's StoreFront deployment from version 1912 to version 2402 LTSR CU1 on a Windows Server 2019. During the process, I encountered an issue where I could not uninstall StoreFront on the second server in the StoreFront server group. The following error message was displayed: I tried the steps in this Citrix article, which had a similar error message, but that did not work. After some digging, I realized Citrix services were still present. I followed the steps below to r... read more.

• January 03, 2025

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Microsoft unveiled the Windows 365 Link at its Ignite conference on November 19, 2024. This compact, fanless device is designed to provide seamless access to Windows 365 Cloud PCs, building upon the legacy of Windows CE, Microsoft's early thin client operating system. Key Benefits of Windows 365 Link: Accelerated Application Updates: With a Windows-based thin client, updates for applications like Microsoft Teams are managed centrally, ensuring users receive new features and improvements more rapidly tha... read more.

• December 06, 2024

By Josue Molina, Posted in Infrastructure, Support, Virtualization

I recently stumbled upon a Citrix Windows KMS license activation bug that I thought would be good to share along with a workaround. The bug appeared after I created machines from a Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition virtual machine template using Citrix Machine Creation Services (MCS). The Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition version was 21H2 (OS Build 20348.2322). The machines are created just fine, but when trying to log in to a virtual desktop, I noticed the “Activate Windows&rdq... read more.

• July 23, 2024

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Microsoft has released a public preview of a new optimization architecture for Microsoft Teams in Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Guided by extensive customer feedback, Microsoft re-architected Teams in Citrix VDI with a focus on modularity, decoupling, performance improvements, and streamlined support. It better aligns the experiences between physical and virtual desktops. Key Optimizations Advanced Features: The new SlimCore Media engine replaces WebRTC, enabling faster feature updates an... read more.

• July 18, 2024

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

In today's age of digital collaboration, using tools like Microsoft Teams in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments is more important than ever. We've recently had customers ask how well the new Teams client will work in VDI, especially with support for classic Teams ending on June 30th. The new Teams version has some great new features, but there's a catch: it isn’t fully supported on Windows Server 2019 and doesn't work on Windows Server 2016 at all. This can be tricky for businesses usi... read more.

• March 27, 2024

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Recent developments from Broadcom regarding VMware's offerings have sparked significant discussions within our organization and our client base. As we dive deeper into these changes, I thought I would write this blog post to discuss two recent changes that I have been asked about and their potential impacts. The End of an Era: Discontinuation of ESXi Free With over a decade of availability, VMware has decided to discontinue the free version of its ESXi hypervisor (versions 7.x and 8.x), marking the end of... read more.

• February 16, 2024

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Security, Virtualization

During our internal tech brief, Tim Husar brought to everyone’s attention a new vulnerability announced by VMware. This critical issue involves an out of bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical Severity Range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8. The write vulnerability could allow a malicious actor to execute remote code. The issue affects most versions of vCenter in production and VMware has... read more.

• October 25, 2023