Citrix App Layering: Compress Layer Utility

Introduction When layers are created in Unidesk 2.x files are written into the vmdk at the block level. The vmdk being written to is a “Thin” disk but deleted blocks are not freed up before saving the layer. This means that the layer sizer is greater then the actual size of the files required to...

Citrix App Layering: Mass Edit of VMX Advanced Settings

Introduction Sometimes there are special settings that Unidesk customers must add to their desktop VMX files based on recommendations by VMware. This script was developed in order to ease the administrative burden of this requirement. The script can also set memory or CPU reservations, as these a...

Citrix App Layering 2.x: Unidesk Appliance Move Utility

Introduction Moving a Unidesk Cachepoint CP from one datastore to another using standard VMware tools is problematic because the layers created by the CP are non-persistent independent disks. If these are moved with a storage vMotion, they will be transformed into normal disks attached to the CP...

Failed to mount Elastic Layers, "A virtual disk support provider for the specified file was not found."

When using Elastic or User Layers, they do not get attached to the end-user VM when the user logs in. Checking C:\ProgramData\Unidesk\Logs\Ulayersvc.log, you see an error like this: 2018-07-19 13:02:25,804 ERROR 16 CompositingManager: Caught exception:...

How To Change the Unidesk(2.x and 3.x) / App Layering(4.x) appliance IP addresses

The IP address can be changed on Unidesk appliances and the App Layering ELM appliance through the administrator login...

App Layering / Unidesk - Finding the KMS server

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Using SNMP with App Layering and Unidesk appliances

A number of customers want to have some kind of external monitoring system for our appliances. SNMP is a fine choice, except that we do not enable it by default on our appliances, and we do not have a custom MIB. However, the SNMP daemon is installed, so if the customer knows what they're doing,...

AppLayering 2.x: Increase the Size of an App Layer Disk in Unidesk

This article describes how to increase the disk size of an App Layer...

"The desktop is in the process of restarting; the Unidesk system is waiting for an indication that the desktop is ready before it proceeds"

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Moving from Unidesk to Citrix App Layering

Although they are based on the same layering technology, Unidesk version 2 and 3 are very different from Citrix App Layering formerly Unidesk version 4. This document lays out the major product differences for exiting version 2 and 3 customers to help them understand those differences and plan fo...

Resetting the root password on the ELM or legacy Unidesk appliances

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Failed to Publish Image to PVS server, Unidesk Agent error: "The specified service does not exist"

When publishing a Citrix App Layering image to PVS, you might get an error like this - Error: The operation being requested was not performed because the user has not logged on to the network. The specified service does not exist. You may also see 'Access is Denied'. This is recorded in the Unide...

Unidesk 2.X: Health Status: High Swap Memory Usage

In the Unidesk Management Console, you might see "Needs Attention" as the status on one or another of your appliances, and if you click the i info button, you will see "High swap memory usage." If you have e-mail notification turned on, you will get e-mailed when the condition is triggered. High...

App Layering/Unidesk: Desktops Blue-screen with "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" STOP 0x0000000A

Desktop will appear to become unresponsive to the end-user, but if you look at the VM console, you will see that it's actually blue-screening with STOP 0xA. Analysis of the dump file will point to unirsd.sys...

FAQ: What are the recommended virtual machine RAM and CPU specs for Unidesk for the Management Appliance and CachePoints?

Q: What are the recommended virtual machine RAM and CPU specs for Unidesk for the Management Appliance and CachePoints? A : Customers will occasionally change the CPU and RAM settings for their Unidesk appliances. We recommend leaving these at the values defined in the original OVF files: 2 CPUs...

How to resolve "A general system error has occurred:vim.fault.genericvmconfigfault" error

You may receive an error when performing any operation on a Unidesk machine, including backups or even just powering the machine on: A general system error has occurred:vim.fault.genericvmconfigfault If your investigation leads you to check the snapshot configuration, and the snapshots are just...

App Layering/Unidesk V2: Migrating a Unidesk System to a Different VMware vCenter

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App Layering/Unidesk V2/V3: Recovering files directly from the User Layer disks when a desktop machine cannot boot

When a desktop will not boot up or the Unidesk tasks for it consistently fail, it is possible to recover the user's data by copying it directly from the User Layer VMDK or VHDXfiles. You might want to do this if you think the desktop is unrecoverable, but also if you think the user will need thei...

App Layering/Unidesk: Blue Screen 0xA referencing unifltr.sys

End-user virtual machines and session hosts crash with a STOP 0xA blue screen referencing unifltr.sys. unifltr the the Unidesk and App Layering filter driver...

Citrix App layering: Recipe for USB Drivers With VMWARE Horizon View 5.X

Overview The purpose is to explain a process for getting USB Hardware related device drivers working in a Unidesk Layer in conjunction with software application that may require peripheral device support. Tested Devices This document utilize these kinds of devices in our testing: Dell USB Laser...