Automating the Upgrading of MetaFrame XP Feature Release 3 Using Citrix Installation Manager

Many have already made the important jump to MetaFrame Feature Release 3. And for good reason, it will stablize problems in your Farm and improve Data Store performance.

Since upgrading our 95 server Citrix Farm to FR3, the intermittent Blue Screens and Event ID 7031 messages IMA service has stopped, have completely disappeared.

I am very pleased with the stability of FR3 so far. Printing issues have dwindled to almost nothing, due to the Universal Print Driver improvements.

Upgrading to FR3 using Installation Manager - Cake walk, Right, Well Almost.

Upgrading 95 MetaFrame Servers from FR2 to FR3 could be a huge time consuming process if performed manually.

Thats why we decided to use Citrix Installation Manager to perform the upgrade. The results were, It went very fast and very smooth. Yes you heard me right. Smooth and Fast, but not perfect.

PreEngineering and preparation was key in using this technique to upgrade. There were many ways to engineer the automated upgrade of FR3, we choose the .mst method.

Using the MFXP001.msi file that comes with the Citrix FR3 CD, I built the .mst answer file using the Wise Package Studio - Professional Edition. The Wise Install Taylor feature allows you to perform the MetaFrame upgrade and records your answers into an MST file, but does not really perform the actual install.

After the MST was recorded, it had to be modified in order to work properly. Using the Microsoft Orca, part of the Microsoft Installer SDK allows you to open the mst and modify it.

In your lab install the Core SDK and Windows Installer SDK only. Once complete, you will need to launch orca.msi, loacated in the directory you installed the SDK in. Default is "c:\Program Files\Microsoft SDK\Bin". This installs Orca and adds a Shortcut. You are now ready to use it.

Key Point: When you are ready to modify the MST you recorded, use Orca to open the MFXP001.msi from your Citrix Installation Manager Network Location. Then apply the MST file. There is a menu option for this, in Orca, you can't miss it.

The Setting "Accept" in the MST file must be set to Yes, and the "CTX_MF_ODBC_USER_NAME", "CTX_MF_ODBC_PASSWORD", "CTX_MF_ODBC_RE_ENTERED_PASSWORD" must also be set manually in the MST file.

Here is a document that will assist you in other settings you may need to set for your specific environment.

MetaFrame XPe Feature Release 2 Enterprise Distribution Even though it was written for FR2, I was able to glean some useful information from it.

Here are some things I ran across during the upgrade that could help you.

The ICA client 7.1 was installed on about 60 of our servers, for support of shadowing. We had to remove the ICA 7.1 client manually, and restart the server before running the FR3 Upgrade Installation Manager job against the server. MetaFrame XP FR3 comes with the ICA Client 7.0 and will not downgrade the ICA client during upgrade. Even though there is a specific setting in the MST file to set for Client Downgrade, it did not work.

Servers that had the ICA 6.3x client installed, sometimes upgraded, but was not consistent, so I decided to removed it manually before upgrading.

After the Server has been upgraded to FR3, you must logon and launch Program Neighborhood once and turn off the Pass-Through Authentication. Then open the c:\program files\citrix\ica client\appsrv.ini and set the SSOnUserSetting=On to SSOnUserSetting=Off.

This turns off the single sign on executable that is loaded in each session on the server.

ATI Video Driver: If your server uses the ATI Video Driver, you MUST install Java Runtime Client 1.4.2, because if do not, the server will blue screen when you launch the CMC at the console of the server.

You can deploy the The J2SE Java Runtime Environment (JRE) using Citrix Installation Manager also. After you download it, run it with the /a administrative installation. This copies it to a central location and uncompreses the MSI file. Using the Wise Install Taylor, build an MST file, like this one JAVA.MST and then you are ready to create the Installation Manager Job.

MetaFrame XP post FR3 Hotfixes are highly recommended. The MetaFrame Hotfixes come as MSI files and easily install with the Citrix Installation Manager. Just create a Package Group and add the Hotfixes in the package group. Easy as pie.

Summary of order:

Preparation


1. Build FR3 MST with Wise Studio Pro and customize it with Orca or Wise Studio.
2. Build Package Group for Post FR3 Hotfixes
3. Build Package for Java Runtime 1.4.2 if you use the ATI Video Driver.

Installation

1. Manually Remove ICA Client from MetaFrame Server. Restart Server.
2. Install IM Package for FR3, Note: DO NOT set the "Force Reboot After Job" Server will reboot automatically.
3. Install IM Package Group FR3 Hotfixes, Force Reboot After Job.
4. Install IM Package Java Rintime 1.4.2, no reboot required.
5. Logon to server and launch Program Neighborhood, turn off pass-thru authentication.
6. Edit the appsrv.ini file and set SSOnUserSetting=On to SSOnUserSetting=Off.