The solution included in the Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop suite is to publish those “bad applications” on a XenApp server and deliver it to the virtual desktop through Citrix Receiver. Yes, this solution works, but it can also confuse the user and cause them to try launching another session of the virtual desktop.
The challenge is that if we publish applications to the same StoreFront URL and configure the virtual desktop to use it, the virtual desktop then shows up in Citrix Receiver as well—hence the confusion.
So I suggest this alternative solution: create a published application-only store in StoreFront, configuring StoreFront for Single Sign-On, and pre-populating the URL for the users in Receiver when they are on a virtual desktop.
This store can be hidden, does not need remote access, points to the same delivery controllers, and as I prefer, also has user subscriptions disabled. No one besides the administrators will know the URL and we can populate that for Citrix Receiver through Citrix Studio.
1. Hiding Desktops from the Store can be done via Powershell scripts
Set Powershell Execution to Unrestricted.
Load the Citrix Powershell Snapins on the StoreFront Server(s).
Example: $dsInstallProp = Get-ItemProperty ` -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Citrix\DeliveryServicesManagement -Name InstallDir $dsInstallDir = $dsInstallProp.InstallDir & $dsInstallDir\..\Scripts\ImportModules.ps1
2. Set the Store to include applications only
3. Set XenApp/XenDesktop site to Truest XML requests from StoreFront
Example: Set-BrokerSite -TrustRequestsSentToTheXmlServicePort $True
4. Configure Store to be used by Citrix Receiver
This can be done a few different ways, in this example I do it via GPO, but you can assign it through Studio to each Delivery Group as well.
5. Configure the StoreFront URL as a Trusted Site and to use the current username and password to login
6. Test away!
Run a gpupdate /force and you should have a store that only shows published applications and does not show any desktops.
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