System requirements and compatibility

Supported operating systems

Citrix Workspace app for Mac supports the following operating systems:

  • macOS Sonoma 14.2.1
  • macOS Ventura 13
  • macOS Monterey 12
  • macOS Big Sur 11

At any point in time, Citrix supports only the latest and the previous two macOS operating systems (N, N-1, and N-2) only.

Compatible Citrix products

Citrix Workspace app is compatible with all the currently supported versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service), and Citrix Gateway as listed in the Citrix Product Lifecycle Matrix.

Compatible browsers

Citrix Workspace app for Mac is compatible with the following browsers:

  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Safari

Hardware requirements

  • 1 GB of free disk space
  • A working network or Internet connection to connect to servers

Connections, Certificates, and Authentication

Connections

Citrix Workspace app for Mac supports the following connections to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops and Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service):

  • HTTPS
  • ICA-over-TLS
  • ICA-over-DTLS

Citrix Workspace app for Mac supports the following configurations:

For LAN connections For secure remote or local connections
StoreFront using StoreFront services or Citrix Receiver for website; Citrix Gateway 12.x-13.x, including VPX

Certificates

Important:

If you’re running macOS 10.15, ensure that your system is compliant with Apple’s requirements for trusted certificates in macOS 10.15. Perform this check before you upgrade to Citrix Workspace app for Mac version 2106.

Private (Self-signed) certificates

If a private certificate is installed on the remote gateway, you must install the root certificate for the organization’s certificate authority on the user device. Then, you can successfully access Citrix resources using Citrix Workspace app for Mac.

Note:

When the remote gateway’s certificate can’t be verified upon connection, an untrusted certificate warning appears, as the root certificate isn’t included in the local keystore. When a user continues to add a store, the store addition fails. However, on the web browser, the user might be able to authenticate to the store but connections to sessions fail.

Importing root certificates for devices

Obtain the certificate issuer’s root certificate and email it to an account configured on your device. When clicking the attachment, you’re asked to import the root certificate.

Wildcard certificates

Wildcard certificates are used in place of individual server certificates for any server within the same domain. Citrix Workspace app for Mac supports wildcard certificates.

Intermediate certificates with Citrix Gateway

If your certificate chain includes an intermediate certificate, the intermediate certificate must be mapped to the Citrix Gateway server certificate. For information on this task, see Citrix Gateway documentation. For more information about installing, linking, and updating certificates, see How to Install and Link Intermediate Certificate with Primary CA on Citrix Gateway.

Server Certificate Validation Policy

Citrix Workspace app for Mac has a stricter validation policy for server certificates.

Important

Before installing this version of Citrix Workspace app for Mac, confirm that the server or gateway certificates are correctly configured as described here. Connections can fail if:

  • the server or gateway configuration includes a wrong root certificate
  • the server or gateway configuration does not include all intermediate certificates
  • the server or gateway configuration includes an expired or otherwise invalid intermediate certificate
  • the server or gateway configuration includes a cross-signed intermediate certificate

When validating a server certificate, Citrix Workspace app for Mac uses all the certificates supplied by the server (or gateway). Citrix Workspace app for Mac then checks whether the certificates are trusted. If none of the certificates are trusted, the connection fails.

This policy is stricter than the certificate policy in web browsers. Many web browsers include a large set of root certificates that they trust.

The server (or gateway) must be configured with the correct set of certificates. An incorrect set of certificates might cause Citrix Workspace app for Mac’s connection to fail.

Suppose that a gateway is configured with these valid certificates. This configuration is recommended for customers who require stricter validation, by determining exactly which root certificate is used by Citrix Workspace app for Mac.

Then, Citrix Workspace app for Mac checks that all these certificates are valid. Citrix Workspace app for Mac also checks that it already trusts the “Root Certificate”. If Citrix Workspace app for Mac does not trust the “Root Certificate”, the connection fails.

Important

Some certificate authorities have more than one root certificate. If you require this stricter validation, ensure that your configuration uses the appropriate root certificate. For example, there are currently two certificates (“DigiCert/GTE CyberTrust Global Root”, and “DigiCert Baltimore Root/Baltimore CyberTrust Root”) that can validate the same server certificates. On some user devices, both root certificates are available. On other devices, only one is available (“DigiCert Baltimore Root/Baltimore CyberTrust Root”). If you configure “GTE CyberTrust Global Root” at the gateway, Citrix Workspace app for Mac connections on those user devices fail. Consult the certificate authority’s documentation to determine which root certificate must be used. Root certificates eventually expire, as do all certificates.

Note:

Some servers and gateways never send the root certificate, even if configured. Stricter validation is then not possible.

Now suppose that a gateway is configured with these valid certificates. This configuration, omitting the root certificate, is normally recommended:

  • “Example Server Certificate”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate”

Then, Citrix Workspace app for Mac uses these two certificates. It then searches for a root certificate on the user device. If it finds a trusted certificate that validates correctly, such as “Example Root Certificate”, the connection succeeds. Otherwise, the connection fails. This configuration supplies the intermediate certificate that Citrix Workspace app for Mac needs, but also allows Citrix Workspace app for Mac to choose any valid, trusted, root certificate.

Now suppose that a gateway is configured with these certificates:

  • “Example Server Certificate”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate”
  • “Wrong Root Certificate”

A web browser might ignore the wrong root certificate. However, Citrix Workspace app for Mac does not ignore the wrong root certificate, and the connection fails.

Some certificate authorities use more than one intermediate certificate. In this case, the gateway is normally configured with all the intermediate certificates (but not the root certificate) such as:

  • “Example Server Certificate”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate 1”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate 2”

Important

Some certificate authorities use a cross-signed intermediate certificate, intended for situations when there’s more than one root certificate. An earlier root certificate is still in use at the same time as a later root certificate. In this case, there are at least two intermediate certificates. For example, the earlier root certificate “Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority” has the corresponding cross-signed intermediate certificate “Verisign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5.” However, a corresponding later root certificate “Verisign Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority - G5” is also available, which replaces “Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority.” The later root certificate does not use a cross-signed intermediate certificate.

Note

The cross-signed intermediate certificate and the root certificate have the same Subject name (Issued To), but the cross-signed intermediate certificate has a different Issuer name (Issued By). This difference in name distinguishes the cross-signed intermediate certificate from an ordinary intermediate certificate (such “Example Intermediate Certificate 2”).

This configuration, omitting the root certificate and the cross-signed intermediate certificate, is normally recommended:

  • “Example Server Certificate”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate”

Avoid configuring the gateway to use the cross-signed intermediate certificate, as it selects the earlier root certificate:

  • “Example Server Certificate”
  • “Example Intermediate Certificate”
  • “Example Cross-signed Intermediate Certificate” [not recommended]

It isn’t recommended to configure the gateway with only the server certificate:

  • “Example Server Certificate”

In this case, if Citrix Workspace app for Mac can’t locate all the intermediate certificates, the connection fails.

Authentication

For connections to StoreFront, Citrix Workspace app for Mac supports the following authentication methods:

Authentication method Workspace for Web using browsers StoreFront Services site (native)   Citrix Gateway to Workspace for Web (browser) Citrix Gateway to StoreFront Services site (native)
Anonymous Yes Yes      
Domain Yes Yes   Yes* Yes*
Domain pass-through          
Security token       Yes* Yes*
Two-factor authentication (domain with security token)       Yes* Yes*
SMS       Yes* Yes*
Smart card Yes Yes   Yes* Yes
User certificate       Yes Yes (Citrix Gateway Plug-in)

*Available only for deployments that include Citrix Gateway, with or without installing the associated plug-in on the device.

Connectivity requirements

Feature flag management

If an issue occurs with Citrix Workspace app in production, we can disable an affected feature dynamically in Citrix Workspace app even after the feature is shipped. To do so, we use feature flags and a third-party service called LaunchDarkly.

You do not need to make any configurations to enable traffic to LaunchDarkly, except when you have a firewall or proxy blocking outbound traffic. In that case, you enable traffic to LaunchDarkly via specific URLs or IP addresses, depending on your policy requirements.

You can enable traffic and communication to LaunchDarkly in the following ways:

Enable traffic to the following URLs

  • events.launchdarkly.com
  • stream.launchdarkly.com
  • clientstream.launchdarkly.com
  • Firehose.launchdarkly.com
  • mobile.launchdarkly.com

List IP addresses in an allow list

If you must list IP addresses in an allow list, for a list of all current IP address ranges, see LaunchDarkly public IP list. You can use this list to ensure that your firewall configurations are updated automatically in keeping with the infrastructure updates. For details about the status of the infrastructure changes, see LaunchDarkly Statuspage page.

LaunchDarkly system requirements

Ensure that the apps can communicate with the following services if you have split tunneling on Citrix ADC set to OFF for the following services:

  • LaunchDarkly service.
  • APNs listener service

Provision to disable LaunchDarkly service through MDM tool

Starting with version 2210, you can disable the LaunchDarkly service on Citrix Workspace app, irrespective of whether their users are inside or outside the organization’s firewall. To disable the LaunchDarkly service, set the value for the DisableFeatureFlag setting to True.

This service is available for admins who manage Mac devices using the MDM tool.

Note:

Disabling the FeatureFlag requires the admin to restart the device for this setting to take effect.

For more information on how to use MDM, see Mobile Device Management.

System requirements and compatibility