Set up DaaS

This article provides an overview of the tasks required to set up Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service). For a list of service features that aren’t available in Citrix Cloud Government, see Citrix DaaS for Citrix Cloud Government.

Request a service trial

If you don’t have a subscription to Citrix DaaS, you can request a trial. Service trials last for 60 days and have all the same functionality as the production service. To request a trial, follow the steps described in Request a service trial.

Prepare a master image and install the VDA

Prepare one or more virtual machines with the desktop configuration or applications that you want to deliver to users. Afterward, install the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) software on each machine. Join each machine to your domain before installing the VDA.

For instructions, Install VDAs

Configure Citrix DaaS

To configure Citrix DaaS, complete the following tasks:

  • Create a host connection. A host connection enables Citrix DaaS to provision and manage the machines in your hypervisor or cloud environment.
  • Create Machine Catalogs. Machine Catalogs are collections of identically configured machines that are created from the VDAs you prepared earlier.
  • Users access the applications or desktops on these machines through their workspaces.
  • Create Delivery Groups. Delivery Groups allow you to define which users or user groups can access certain applications or desktops.
    • When users access their workspace, the Delivery Groups govern the applications or desktops to which those users belong.

Citrix Gateway service

Citrix Gateway service is available for Citrix DaaS. Citrix Gateway service is hosted only on Citrix Cloud Government clouds and is separate from the commercial clouds. The Citrix Gateway service on government clouds is presently available in the United States in the following three regions.

  • Arizona
  • Texas
  • Virginia

Configure the Citrix Gateway service

Configuring the Citrix Gateway service for Cloud Government is similar to configuring the Citrix Gateway service for commercial clouds. You must enable the Citrix Gateway service to configure connectivity for users. For details, see Configure connectivity for users.

Citrix Gateway

Citrix Gateway provides users with secure access to Citrix DaaS applications across a range of devices. If you have an existing on-premises Gateway, you can use it with Citrix DaaS to ensure external users can access their applications securely. Also if you need to create a Gateway deployment to use with Citrix DaaS, refer to Deploy a Citrix ADC VPX instance.

Other features

To learn more about using the other features in Citrix DaaS, refer to the following articles:

Next steps

After you set up Citrix DaaS, configure workspaces for your users. Through workspaces, your users can access the applications and desktops that you make available to them.

Set up DaaS