Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

Connection to VMware

Create and manage connections and resources describes the wizards that create a connection. The following information covers details specific to VMware virtualization environments.

Note:

Before creating a connection to VMware, you need to first finish setting up your VMware account as a resource location. See VMware virtualization environments.

Create a connection

In the connection creation wizard:

  1. Select the VMware connection type.
  2. Specify the address of the access point for the vCenter SDK.
  3. Specify the credentials for a VMware user account you set up earlier that has permissions to create VMs. Specify the user name in the form domain/username.

VMware SSL thumbprint

The VMware SSL thumbprint feature eliminates the need to manually create a host connection to a VMware vSphere hypervisor. It is no longer required to manually create a trust relationship between the Delivery Controllers in the Site and the hypervisor’s certificate before creating a connection.

The VMware SSL thumbprint feature stores the untrusted certificate’s thumbprint on the Site database. This configuration ensures that the hypervisor can be continuously identified as trusted by Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, even if not by the Controllers.

When creating a vSphere host connection in Studio, a dialog box allows you to view the certificate of the machine you are connecting to. You can then choose whether to trust it.

Required privileges

Create a VMware user account and one or more VMware roles with a set or all permissions listed in this article. Base the roles’ creation on the specific level of granularity required over the user’s permissions to request the various Citrix DaaS operations at any time. To grant the user-specific permissions at any point, associate them with the respective role, at the data center level at a minimum, with the Propagate to children option selected. However, for StorageProfile permissions and a specific Tags permission, apply the permissions at the Root vCenter Server level, without Propagate to Children. See the notes in each of those tables.

The following tables show the mappings between Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops operations and the minimum required VMware privileges.

Note:

The permissions list display name, specifically the User Interface, is different for some vSphere versions. For example, in vSphere 6.7 the User Interface permission is Change Memory and Change Settings, rather than Settings and Memory as described in the required privileges noted on this page.

Add connections and resources

SDK User interface
System. Anonymous, System. Read, and System.View Added automatically. Can use the built-in read-only role.

Power management

SDK User interface
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn Virtual machine > Interaction > Power On
VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset Virtual machine > Interaction > Reset
VirtualMachine.Interact.Suspend Virtual machine > Interaction > Suspend
Datastore.Browse Datastore > Browse datastore

Provision machines (Machine Creation Services)

To provision machines using MCS, the following permissions are mandatory:

SDK User interface
Datastore.AllocateSpace Datastore > Allocate space
Datastore.Browse Datastore > Browse datastore
Datastore.FileManagement Datastore > Low level file operations
Network.Assign Network > Assign network
Resource.AssignVMToPool Resource > Assign virtual machine to resource pool
VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Add existing disk
VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Add new disk
Virtual machine.Config.Add or remove device Virtual machine > Configuration > Add or remove device
VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig Virtual machine > Configuration > Advanced
VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk
VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount Virtual machine > Configuration > Change CPU count
VirtualMachine.Config.Memory Virtual machine > Configuration > Change memory
VirtualMachine.Config.Settings Virtual machine > Configuration > Change settings
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn Virtual machine > Interaction > Power On
VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset Virtual machine > Interaction > Reset
VirtualMachine.Interact.Suspend Virtual machine > Interaction > Suspend
VirtualMachine.Inventory.CreateFromExisting Virtual machine > Inventory > Create from existing
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create Virtual machine > Inventory > Create new
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone virtual machine
VirtualMachine.State.CreateSnapshot vSphere 5.0, Update 2, vSphere 5.1, Update 1, and vSphere 6.x, Update 1: Virtual machine > State > Create snapshot; vSphere 5.5: Virtual machine > Snapshot management > Create snapshot

Image update and rollback

SDK User interface
Datastore.AllocateSpace Datastore > Allocate space
Datastore.Browse Datastore > Browse datastore
Datastore.FileManagement Datastore > Low level file operations
Network.Assign Network > Assign network
Resource.AssignVMToPool Resource > Assign virtual machine to resource pool
VirtualMachine.Config.AddExistingDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Add existing disk
VirtualMachine.Config.AddNewDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Add new disk
VirtualMachine.Config.AdvancedConfig Virtual machine > Configuration > Advanced
VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOn Virtual machine > Interaction > Power On
VirtualMachine.Interact.Reset Virtual machine > Interaction > Reset
VirtualMachine.Inventory.CreateFromExisting Virtual machine > Inventory > Create from existing
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Create Virtual machine > Inventory > Create new
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone virtual machine

Delete provisioned machines

SDK User interface
Datastore.Browse Datastore > Browse datastore
Datastore.FileManagement Datastore > Low level file operations
VirtualMachine.Config.RemoveDisk Virtual machine > Configuration > Remove disk
VirtualMachine.Interact.PowerOff Virtual machine > Interaction > Power Off
VirtualMachine.Inventory.Delete Virtual machine > Inventory > Remove

Storage Profile (vSAN)

To view, create, or delete storage policies during catalog creations on a vSAN datastore, the following permissions are mandatory:

SDK User interface
StorageProfile.Update PROFILE-DRIVEN STORAGE > Profile-driven storage update. For vSphere 8: VM storage policies > Update VM storage policies
StorageProfile.View PROFILE-DRIVEN STORAGE > Profile-driven storage view. For vSphere 8: VM storage policies > View VM storage policies

Note:

Apply the storage profile permissions at the Root vCenter Server level, without Propagate to Children.

Tags and Custom Attributes

Tags and custom attributes allow you to attach metadata to the VMs created in vSphere inventory and make it easier to search and filter these objects. To create, edit, assign, and delete tags or categories, the following permissions are mandatory:

SDK User interface
InventoryService.Tagging.CreateTag vSphere Tagging > Create vSphere Tag
InventoryService.Tagging.CreateCategory vSphere Tagging > Create vSphere Tag Category
InventoryService.Tagging.EditTag vSphere Tagging > Edit vSphere Tag
InventoryService.Tagging.EditCategory vSphere Tagging > Edit vSphere Tag Category
InventoryService.Tagging.DeleteTag vSphere Tagging > Delete vSphere Tag
InventoryService.Tagging.DeleteCategory vSphere Tagging > Delete vSphere Tag Category
InventoryService.Tagging.AttachTag vSphere Tagging > Assign or Unassign vSphere Tag
InventoryService.Tagging.ObjectAttachable vSphere Tagging > Assign or Unassign vSphere Tag on Object
Global.ManageCustomFields Global > Manage custom attributes
Global.SetCustomField Global > Set custom attribute

Note:

  • When MCS creates a machine catalog, it tags the target VMs with special name tags. These tags differentiate the master image from MCS created VMs and prevent using MCS created VMs for image preparation. You can identify the difference by the value of XdProvisioned attribute in vCenter. The attribute is set to True if MCS creates VMs.
  • Apply the InventoryService.Tagging.AttachTag permission at the Root vCenter Server level, without Propagate to Children.

Cryptographic operations

Cryptographic operations privileges control who can perform which type of cryptographic operation on which type of object. vSphere Native Key Provider uses the Cryptographer.* privileges. The following minimum permissions are required for cryptographic operations:

Note:

These permissions are required for creating MCS machine catalogs with vTPM equipped VM.

SDK User interface
Cryptographer.Access Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Direct Access
Cryptographer.AddDisk Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Add disk
Cryptographer.Clone Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Clone
Cryptographer.Encrypt Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Encrypt
Cryptographer.EncryptNew Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Encrypt new
Cryptographer.Decrypt Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Decrypt
Cryptographer.Migrate Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Migrate
Cryptographer.ReadKeyServersInfo Privileges > All Privileges > Cryptographic operations > Read KMS information

Provision machines (Citrix Provisioning)

These permissions to clone and deploy a template are required to provision VMs using Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Setup Wizard and Export Devices Wizard through the Citrix Provisioning console. Set the permissions while creating a hosting connection. You need all the permissions from Provision machines (Machine Creation Services) and the following.

SDK User interface
VirtualMachine.Config.AddRemoveDevice Virtual machine > Configuration > Add or remove device
VirtualMachine.Config.CPUCount Virtual machine > Configuration > Change CPU Count
VirtualMachine.Config.Memory Virtual machine > Configuration > Memory
VirtualMachine.Config.Settings Virtual machine > Configuration > Settings
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.CloneTemplate Virtual machine > Provisioning > Clone template
VirtualMachine.Provisioning.DeployTemplate Virtual machine > Provisioning > Deploy template
VApp.Export vApp > Export

Note:

The VApp.Export is required for creating MCS machine catalogs using machine profile.

Obtain and import a certificate

To protect vSphere communications, Citrix recommends that you use HTTPS rather than HTTP.

HTTPS requires digital certificates. Use a digital certificate issued from a certificate authority that meets your organization’s security policy.

If you are unable to use a digital certificate issued from a certificate authority, you can use the VMware-installed self-signed certificate. Only use this method if your organization’s security policy permits it. Add the VMware vCenter certificate to each Delivery Controller.

  1. Add the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the computer running vCenter Server to the hosts file on that server, at %SystemRoot%/WINDOWS/system32/Drivers/etc/. This step is required only if the FQDN of the computer running vCenter Server is not already present in the domain name system.

  2. Obtain the vCenter certificate using any of the following three methods:

    From the vCenter server.

    1. Copy the file rui.crt from the vCenter server to a location accessible on your Delivery Controllers.
    2. On the Controller, navigate to the location of the exported certificate and open the rui.crt file.

    Download the certificate using a web browser. If you are using Internet Explorer, right-click on Internet Explorer and choose Run as Administrator to download or install the certificate.

    1. Open your web browser and make a secure web connection to the vCenter server (for example https://server1.domain1.com).
    2. Accept the security warnings.
    3. Click the address bar displaying the certificate error.
    4. View the certificate and click the Details tab.
    5. Select Copy to file and export in .CER format, providing a name when prompted to do so.
    6. Save the exported certificate.
    7. Navigate to the location of the exported certificate and open the .CER file.

    Import directly from Internet Explorer running as an administrator.

    • Open your web browser and make a secure web connection to the vCenter server (for example https://server1.domain1.com).
    • Accept the security warnings.
    • Click the address bar displaying the certificate error.
    • View the certificate.
  3. Import the certificate into the certificate store on each of your Controllers.

    1. Click the Install certificate option, select Local Machine, and then click Next.
    2. Select Place all certificates in the following store, and then click Browse. Select Trusted People and then click OK. Click Next and then click Finish.

    If you change the name of the vSphere server after installation, you must generate a new self-signed certificate on that server before importing the new certificate.

Where to go next

More information

Connection to VMware