Linux Virtual Delivery Agent

Custom desktop environments by session users

You can specify a desktop environment for session users by using the CTX_XDL_DESKTOP_ENVIRONMENT variable. Starting with the 2209 release, session users can customize their own desktop environments. To let session users use this feature, you must install desktop environments on the VDA in advance.

The following table shows a matrix of the Linux distributions and the desktop environments that support custom desktop environments by session users.

Linux distribution Supported desktop
Debian 12.7/12.5 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic, KDE, Xfce
Debian 11.11 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic, KDE
RHEL 9.4/9.2 GNOME, Xfce
RHEL 8.10/8.8 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic, Xfce
Rocky Linux 9.4/9.2 GNOME, Xfce
Rocky Linux 8.10/8.8 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic, KDE, Xfce
SUSE 15.6 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic
Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 MATE, GNOME, GNOME-Classic, KDE, Xfce
Ubuntu 24.04 MATE, KDE, Xfce

Desktop switching commands

Note:

You can switch between desktop environments from both the Terminal and the system tray.

To switch to a target desktop environment from the Terminal, run the corresponding command within the session:

If the target desktop environment is Run the command
GNOME /opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxdesktopswitch.sh GNOME
GNOME Classic /opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxdesktopswitch.sh GNOME-CLASSIC
MATE /opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxdesktopswitch.sh MATE
KDE /opt/Citrix/VDA/bin/ctxdesktopswitch.sh KDE

KDE tips

  • Magnus might load at startup in KDE. As a workaround, you can remove the Magnus package by running sudo apt remove magnus.
  • To disable QT warnings that occur during KDE startup, edit /usr/share/qt5/qtlogging.ini as a root user by adding the following entries:

     qt.qpa.xcb.xcberror.error=false
     qt.qpa.xcb.warning=false
     qt.qpa.xcb.error=false
     <!--NeedCopy-->
    
  • Screen unlock might fail for KDE. As a workaround, we recommend you disable the auto-lock feature of your desktop.
Custom desktop environments by session users