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Installing and Configuring Provisioning Services

After completing this module, you will be able to:

• Configure Provisioning Services.

• Determine which options to select during a Provisioning Services installation.

• Identify the key components and services of Provisioning Services architecture.

• Integrate Provisioning Services with Active Directory to enable Active Directory password management.

• Prepare a target device for vDisk assignment by adding the device to the Provisioning Services database.

Overview

Hypervisor

XenServer 6.0 and later

VMWare ESXi 5.0

ESXi 5.0 update 1 and update 2

ESXi 5.1

vSphere 5.0 (4.1 update 1 supported but not tested for

scalability)

Hyper-

V/SCVMM

SCVMM 2012 with Hyper-V 2.0

SCVMM 2012 SP1 with Hyper-V 3.0

XenServer 5.6 SP2 is

NOT supported

Operating systems

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, Essential and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2012 Standard, Essential and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2008 32 or 64-bit; all editions

Supported database platforms

MS SQL 2008 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

MS SQL 2008 R2 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

MS SQL 2012 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

• SQL native client required on the server if using database mirroring feature

• Database clustering supported

Network

Server to server Configure each PVS Server to use same ports (UDP)

At least 5 ports must exist - default range: 6890 - 6909

Server to target Default ports: UDP 6910-6930

Target to server Default ports: UDP 6901, 6902 and 6905

Login Server Stream Servers Boot list - default port is UDP 6910

Console Default console port (SOAP Service): TCP 54321

TFTP Default port: UDP 69

Network Addressing DHCP

Additional requirements

Processors Intel/AMD x86 or x64 / 2 GHz minimum; 3 GHz preferred

Memory Minimum of 2 GB RAM; 4 GB preferred

Hard Disk and

Storage

Enough space on the hard disk to store the vDisks.

Streaming performance can be improved using a RAID

array, SAN, or NAS

Network Adapter Static IP. Minimum 100 MB Ethernet, 1 GB Ethernet

preferred

Additional

Software

Install program requires Microsoft NET 4.0 and PowerShell

2.0

If using PVS with SCVMM 2012 SP1, PowerShell 3.0

PVS console

Win Server 2008 32 or 64-bit; all editions

Win Server 2008

R2

Standard, DataCenter and Enterprise editions

Win Server 2012 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Windows 8.1 32 or 64-bit, all editions

Windows 7 32 or 64-bit

Windows XP Prof 32 or 64-bit

Windows Vista 32 or 64-bit; Business, Enterprise, Ultimate (retail licensing)

Target device without VDA installed

Win Server 2012 R2 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Win Server 2012 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Windows 8.1 32 or 64-bit

Win Server 2008 R2

SP1

Standard, DataCenter, Enterprise editions

Windows 7 SP1 32 or 64-bit: Enterprise, Professional, Ultimate

Windows XP Prof SP3 32-bit

Windows XP Prof SP2 64-bit Ultimate edition of Win 7

is only supported in

Private Image mode

Provisioning Services provides the ability to provision the operating system of a computer and re-provision it in real-time from a single shared-disk image.

• vDisks are created from the hard drive of a target device.

• The device used to create a snapshot is referred to as a Master target device.

• The devices that use vDisks are referred to as target devices.

• Target devices start from the network and communicate with a Provisioning Services host.

• Instead of pulling down all the vDisk content, the data is brought across the network in real-time, as needed.

Provisioning Services Technology

Provisioning Services Host: streams a vDisk to target devices

Provisioning Services Database: stores all Provisioning Services, vDisk, target devices, and system configuration settings.

Stores: logical name given to a location for vDisks.

vDisk: file that contains an image of the hard drive of a device, including OS and any installed applications.

vDisk Pools: a collection of all vDisks available to a site.

Target Device: any desktop or server system that receives a vDisk.

Master Target Device: used to create a vDisk that will be shared by end users.

Citrix License Server: stores Provisioning Services licenses.

Citrix Provisioning Services Components

Farm: the top level of a Provisioning Services infrastructure.

Site: contains one or more Provisioning Services hosts, device collections, views, vDisk pools, and may contain shared storage.

Device Collection: represents a logical grouping of target devices. A target device can only be a member of one device collection.

View: allows for the management of target devices. Unlike device collections, a target device can be a member of multiple views.

vDisk Pool: a collection of all vDisks available to a site. There is one vDisk pool for each site.

Citrix Provisioning Services Infrastructure

Citrix Provisioning Services Infrastructure

The ability to view and manage objects within a Provisioning Services implementation is determined by the administrative role assigned to any object in Active Directory.

Farm Administrator: can view and manage all objects within a farm.

Site Administrator: has full management access to all objects within a site.

Device Administrator: manages device collections.

Device Operator: can start, restart, and shut down target devices in a device collection; can also view target device and vDisk properties.

Administrative Roles

The Citrix license service retrieves the product license from the license server.

The Stream Service makes vDisk streaming possible by providing a vDisk and its contents to target devices.

The SOAP service provides a framework to enable external or existing solutions to interface with and manage Provisioning Services.

PXE: enables target devices to start from a network interface. PXE is a BIOS extension.

BOOTP: a precursor to DHCP; BOOTP is a UDP protocol that target devices use to request and obtain IP addresses from a BOOTP server. BOOTP can also deliver the bootstrap file location and file name to a target device.

DHCP: used by the target device to request and obtain an IP address from the DHCP service.

TFTP: used to request and receive a bootstrap file from the TFTP service.

Key Services

Consider the following items when planning a farm design:

• Farm name

• SQL database server

• SQL database authentication

• Sites

• Stores

• Device collections

• Role-based administration

• High availability

Provisioning Services Farm Design

A farm is a grouping of:

• Provisioning Services hosts

• Target devices

• vDisks

All are connected to the same database and license server.

Farms

Only one Provisioning Services database is associated with a farm.

The Provisioning Services database can be created on an existing SQL database server, provided the server can communicate with all Provisioning Services hosts within the farm.

SQL Database Server

Provisioning Services uses Windows authentication.

All Provisioning Services components, including the Configuration Wizard and services that access the database, must run in the context of the logged-on user.

SQL Database Authentication and Configuration

A Provisioning Services site provides both a site administrator and farm administrator with a method of representing and managing logical groupings of Provisioning Services hosts, device collections, and local shared storage.

Sites

Sites

Several different types of stores can be created, including:

• Farm Store

• Site Store

• Single Server Store

Stores

Stores

A device collection is a grouping of target devices.

Actions can be performed on collections, rather than on individual target devices.

A target device becomes a member of the collection when it is added to the farm.

A target can only be a member of one collection, but can exist in a number of views.

Target Device Collection

A target device can be set as the template for new target devices that are added to a device collection.

This allows you to quickly add new devices to the device collection by using the template to imprint properties on the new device.

Target Device Template

Provisioning Services Architecture

Provisioning Services 7Configuration

Configure DHCP Services

PXE Services

Specifying the Farm

Configuring the PVS Database Server

Farm Details and Admin Group

Configuring the vDisk Store

Adding the Citrix License Server

Stream/Soap Services User Account

AD Computer Account Password

Streaming Network Card

TFTP Service

Stream Servers Boot List

Verifying Configuration Settings

PVS Configured / Services Started