Citrix

Script to Import and Bind a Certificate to the Default Web Site

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SSL CertificateThis Powershell script will import and bind a certificate to the Default Web Site. I use this script for Citrix StoreFront and Director deployments, but it’s written to be very flexible and versatile so can be used for other tasks.

The original idea came from scripts written by Thomas Albaek and Jerome Quief for Citrix StoreFront.

The way I’ve written this script it will actually remove any existing certificate bindings first, which is really handy for pushing out updated certificates as I found that other scripts written to do this task would fail when run more than once.

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Introducing the new AppDNA Platinum Edition and Goodbye and RIP to the Standalone Editions

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The Excitement:

Last June Citrix included a cut down licensed version of AppDNA as part of the XenDesktop 7 Platinum license. As excited as everyone was at the time, this license was so restrictive that you could only analyse applications using the SBC module. Back then I wrote an article titled “AppDNA is now included with XenDesktop 7 Platinum, or is it just a tease?“, which pointed out the limitations of this release. Clearly Citrix took my feedback seriously, as now they have included a full unrestricted license with XenApp or XenDesktop 7.5 Platinum. It is totally unlimited across all modules! How cool is that?

In the announcement they say that “The inclusion of all the AppDNA capabilities in Platinum editions helps IT address a variety of migration issues, including how to virtualize applications ahead of Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 end-of-life milestones.” It’s a funny marketing statement given that Windows XP will reach it’s end-of-life milestone 13 days after these new capabilities are released into the Platinum editions!

The Disappointment:

To make matters worse Citrix, in their infinite wisdom, have also decided to drop the standalone versions altogether. So as of 28th April you will no longer be able to purchase the Standard or Enterprise editions. This is so uncool! In fact the EOM (End Of Maintenance) for the version 7.1 and later standalone editions is 31st October 2015, and the EOL (End Of Life) is 31st October 2016. So there is no value in purchasing the product if its last sale date is a little more than a month away. 

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Citrix Synergy 2013 Slide Deck for SYN328: Learn why AppDNA should be a part of every consultant’s toolkit

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SYN328: Learn why AppDNA should be a part of every consultants toolkit

Here’s my presentation that I’ve uploaded to SlideShare from my Citrix Synergy 2013 session on why AppDNA should be a part of every consultant’s toolkit.

Unfortunately SlideShare currently doesn’t support animations, so some of the slides are not well presented when viewed in this manner. I’ll work to separate out the animations and make this as readable as possible.

I am continually improving the content within this slide deck. Please feel free to contact me for the latest version.

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My First Big Professional Speaking Gig

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Citrix Synergy 2013 Name Badge

It has always been my career goal to speak at one of the big international and highly recognised IT conferences. My initial focus was to speak at a Citrix Synergy conference. I planted the seed a few years ago for Synergy 2010, but the submission lacked the coolness, the wow factor, some good takeaways, and possibly even professionalism to be taken seriously.

It all started back in 2005 when I attended Citrix iForum in Sydney. I caught up with a long-time Internet friend, Warren Simondson from Ctl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy in Queensland. Way back then Warren and I made a deal that one day we would do a session together at one of these conferences.

We had spoken a few times during 2012, and in November I received an e-mail from him reminding me about the fast approaching submission deadline for Synergy 2013. That’s all I needed to kick me into gear as it was time for me to step up and take action.

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AppDNA Team using Podio to create a community and share scripts

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The Citrix AppDNA Team has created a workspace in Podio to build a community, share scripts and ideas, and to help extend the capabilities of AppDNA.

You’ll first need a Podio account, which will need to be added to the Citrix AppDNA Extensions Workspace. At the time of this posting the only way this can be done is by the administrators of that workspace. If you contact your Citrix Sales Rep or SE, they can forward your request internally. You may also be able to request this from me and I can do the same.

Once you have access you can either go to the Citrix AppDNA Extensions workspace within Podio, or use the following URL: https://citrix.podio.com/appdna-extensions-customers

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AppDNA Tech Tip – Importing apps when there is no installer

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Citrix has recently introduced me to an advanced component of AppDNA that allows the import of apps when a real installer is unavailable. This component is called the AppDNA MSI Generator.

The MSI Generator should only be used in the follow two scenarios:

  • Applications that are known to be just flat files/folders with no real installers.
  • Applications sitting on a file share with just a shortcut or simply copied on the local drive with no other action than that.

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AppDNA is now included with XenDesktop 7 Platinum, or is it just a tease?

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I was excited by the recent announcement during the Citrix Synergy 2013 keynote that an AppDNA license will be included with the upcoming release of XenDesktop 7 Platinum edition. Yes! Now one of my favourite tools, so needed in this space, gets to shine alongside the flagship products. This sparked so much excitement and conversation during the week of Synergy and thereafter.

There are, however, a couple of gotchas, that if not understood up front, will lead to disappointment. So let me explain.

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