Independent release of Director for LTSR deployments

The independent release of Director for LTSR deployments now provides an option to access the latest Director features for enhanced troubleshooting and monitoring in Citrix environments to compatible LTSR environments. This feature allows you to use the latest Director version on your 2402 LTSR deployments. Also, provides access to features released after the LTSR announcement without impacting the application delivery infrastructure.

For information on the Director features that are part of current releases after the 2402 LTSR release, see the following:

• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2407 release
• Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2411 release

To learn more about specific features on Director with the minimum version of VDA, see Director Version Matrix.

Benefits

• Access to new features: Get access to Director features released after the 2402 LTSR announcement, including those in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2407 and 2411 Cumulative Release (CR).
• Targeted upgrades: Upgrade only the Director and Monitoring service component without impacting the rest of your LTSR infrastructure.
• LTSR compatibility: Maintain your LTSR environment while benefiting from the latest Director enhancements.
• Rollback option: You have the flexibility to roll back to the previous Director version if needed.

Key consideration

The upgraded Director component is LTSR compatible, but is not covered by LTSR core component support. However, the rest of your LTSR infrastructure retains its existing support.

Prerequisites

• Ensure you are using a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR CU1 site.
• Ensure you are using Microsoft SQL Server version 2019 or later.

High-level overview

To upgrade a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 2402 LTSR CU1 site with the latest features of the Current Release, follow these steps:

1. Backup your database: Before upgrading, ensure you back up the Monitoring database. This procedure is crucial as the upgrade process also updates the database.
2. Upgrade your site: Proceed with upgrading your site to incorporate the new features of the current release.
3. Rollback option: If you decide not to continue with the upgraded site, you can revert to your previous site using the rollback steps.

Upgrade steps

1. Take a back up of the Monitor service database.
2. Click Upgrade in the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops installer.
3. Accept the license agreement.

4. On the Core Components screen, select one of the following options:

   • Delivery Controller - If this option alone is selected, only the Current Release Monitor Service is installed.
   • Director - If this option alone is selected, only the Current Release Director Service is installed.
   • Delivery Controller and Director - If these both options are selected, the Current Release of both Director and Monitor Service are installed.

5. On the Features screen, select the Install Director Current Release <version> checkbox.

   Note:

   The Install Director Current Release <version> checkbox is available for selection only if one of the options in the 4th step is selected.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upgrade.

7. On the Summary page, you can review the components that get installed. Based on the selection on the Core Components page and on the Features page, you get the component installation as follows:

   Core Components page selection	Install Director Current Release <version> checkbox selection	Component installation
   Delivery Controller	Selected	Current release of the Monitoring Service is installed.
   Delivery Controller	Not selected	Cumulative Upgrade of Monitoring Service is installed.
   Director	Selected	Current release of Director Service is installed.
   Director	Not selected	Cumulative Upgrade of Director Service is installed.
   Delivery Controller and Director	Selected	Current release of Monitoring Service and Director Service are installed.
   Delivery Controller and Director	Not selected	Cumulative Upgrade of Monitoring Service and Director Service are installed.

8. Once the installation is complete, select the Open Citrix Site Manager checkbox.
9. Start the automatic site upgrade.
10. Verify the new features are available in Director.

Commandline installation

Use the following sample command to freshly install or upgrade the site:

\x64\XenDesktop Setup\XenDesktopServerSetup.exe /components controller,desktopstudio,licenseserver,director /configure_firewall /quiet /enable_new_monitoring_features 
<!--NeedCopy-->

Rollback steps

1. Make sure to take the backup of the Monitoring database.

2. Download and run the database rollback script named dbollback.zip.

   Note:

   The PowerShell script (dbrollback.ps1) included in the dbrollback.zip file shows how to execute the rollback.sql script if sqlcmd is installed on the DDC.

3. Restore the monitoring database from the backup that you have taken already. For more information, see the knowledge-sharing article CTX135207.

4. Uninstall the following from the Control Panel:

   • Select Citrix Monitor Service PowerShell Snap-in- x64 and click Uninstall.
   • Select Citrix Monitor Service - x64 and click Uninstall.
   • Select Citrix Director and click Uninstall.

5. Reinstall the Delivery Controller and Director using the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops installer. For more information, see install core components

   Or,

   You can also reinstall the components using the following command:

   XenDesktopServerSetup.exe /components controller,director /configure_firewall /quiet
   <!--NeedCopy-->
   

6. Ensure the Install Director Current Release <version> checkbox is not selected.
7. Once the installation is complete, select the Open Citrix Site Manager checkbox.
8. Perform a site upgrade if suggested in the Citrix Site Manager.

Support and compliance

Support

• The Cumulative Release (CR) versions of Director are LTSR compatible, but not LTSR compliant.
• Once upgraded, all support tickets, and bug fixes required are added to the following Cumulative Release (CR) for Director.
• The CR with the changes or fixes are made available in the following Cumulative Updates (CU).

508/WCAG 2.1

• For customers with the 508/wcag 2.1 compliance mandate, it is recommended to continue to use the LTSR version of all core components.