System requirements
The Current Release of the Linux VDA is aligned with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. It is also backward compatible with earlier versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops that haven’t yet reached the end of their lifecycle. For information about the Citrix product lifecycle, and to find out when Citrix stops supporting specific versions of products, see the Citrix Product Lifecycle Matrix.
The configuration process for Linux VDAs differs slightly from Windows VDAs. Any Delivery Controller farm is able to broker both Windows and Linux desktops.
System requirements for components not covered here (such as Citrix Workspace app) are described in their respective documentation sets.
For information about using a Current Release (CR) in a Long Term Service (LTSR) environment and other FAQs, see the Knowledge Center article.
Supported Linux distributions, Xorg versions, and desktop environments
For a matrix of the Linux distributions, Xorg versions, and desktop environments that this version of the Linux VDA supports, see the following table. For more information, see XorgModuleABIVersions.
| Linux distribution | Xorg version | Supported desktop |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2 | 1.20 | MATE |
| Debian 12.7/12.5 | 1.20 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, KDE, MATE, Xfce |
| Debian 11.11 | 1.20 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, KDE, MATE |
| RHEL 9.4/9.2 | 1.20 | GNOME, Xfce |
| RHEL 8.10/8.8 | 1.20 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, MATE, Xfce |
| Rocky Linux 9.4/9.2 | 1.20 | GNOME, Xfce |
| Rocky Linux 8.10/8.8 | 1.20 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, KDE, MATE, Xfce |
| SUSE 15.6 | 1.20 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, MATE |
| Ubuntu 22.04/20.04 | 1.21 | GNOME, GNOME Classic, KDE, MATE, Xfce |
| Ubuntu 24.04 | 1.21 | KDE, MATE, Xfce |
Note:
When the support from your OS vendor expires, Citrix might be limited in its ability to remediate problems. For deprecated or removed platforms, see Deprecation.
- At least one desktop must be installed. You can specify a desktop environment to use in sessions by using the ctxinstall.sh or ctxsetup.sh script.
- To use GNOME or GNOME Classic in Ubuntu 24.04, complete the following steps:
- Download the Gnome Mutter package from here.
- Extract the downloaded package.
Change to the extracted package directory and run the following commands to install Mutter.
mkdir build && cd build && meson setup --prefix=/usr \ --buildtype=release \ -D tests=false \ -D profiler=false \ .. && ninja <!--NeedCopy-->- Run the ninja install command.
- According to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux documentation, GNOME is the only desktop environment available in RHEL 9. However, you can also use the Xfce desktop environment in RHEL 9 and Rocky Linux 9 if you have the EPEL repository installed.
- Do not use
HWE kernelorHWE Xorgon Ubuntu.- Sometimes, third-party modifications to the kernel might result in missing modules required by the Linux VDA. In this case, you must build and install the necessary kernel module. Ensure that secure boot is disabled while installing the new kernel module.
- Your user name format must comply with the
systemdsyntax rules for your current display manager. For more information about thesystemduser name syntax, see User/Group Name Syntax.
.Net requirements
In addition to the .NET Runtime, you must install .ASP.NET Core Runtime on all supported Linux distributions before you install or upgrade the Linux VDA. Version 6 is required for Amazon Linux 2. Version 8 is required for other distributions.
If your Linux distribution contains the .NET version that you require, install it from the built-in feed. Otherwise, install .NET from the Microsoft package feed. For more information, see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/install/linux-package-managers.
Supported host platforms and virtualization environments
- Bare metal servers
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- XenServer (formerly Citrix Hypervisor)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
- Microsoft Azure
- Microsoft Hyper-V
- VMware vSphere Hypervisor
- Nutanix AHV
Note:
In all cases, the supported processor architecture is x86-64.
Starting with the 2203 release, you can host the Linux VDA on Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops as well as Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service). To add these public cloud host connections to your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment, you need the Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud (HMC) license.
Active Directory integration packages
The Linux VDA supports the following Active Directory integration packages and products:
| Winbind | SSSD | Centrify | PBIS | Quest | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Debian 12.7/12.5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Debian 11.11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| RHEL 9.4/9.2, Rocky Linux 9.4/9.2/8.10/8.8 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes (Quest v4.1 and later) |
| RHEL 8.10/8.8 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Quest v4.1 and later) |
| SUSE 15.6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ubuntu 24.04/22.04/20.04 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Quest v4.1 and later) |
Size and scale considerations for Cloud Connectors
When you connect Linux VDAs to the control plane with Citrix Cloud Connectors, consider the following based on Citrix internal testing:
-
Each Citrix Cloud Connector (4 vCPU, 10 GB memory) can support 6,000 Linux VDAs.
-
Deploy two Cloud Connectors in each resource location for high availability and also deploy a maximum of 6,000 Linux VDAs in each resource location.
Database considerations
-
We recommend you use SQLite for VDI mode only and use PostgreSQL for a hosted shared desktops delivery model.
-
For easy install and MCS, you can specify SQLite or PostgreSQL to use without having to install them manually. Unless otherwise specified through /etc/xdl/db.conf, the Linux VDA uses PostgreSQL by default.
-
For manual installations, you must install SQLite, PostgreSQL, or both manually. If you install both SQLite and PostgreSQL, you can specify one of them to use by editing /etc/xdl/db.conf after installing the Linux VDA package.
HDX 3D Pro
HDX 3D Pro of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops lets you deliver desktops and applications that perform best using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for hardware acceleration.
Hypervisors
For the Linux VDA, HDX 3D Pro is compatible with the following hypervisors:
- XenServer (formerly Citrix Hypervisor)
- VMware vSphere Hypervisor
- Nutanix AHV
- Microsoft Azure
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Note:
The hypervisors are compatible with certain Linux distributions. To use HDX 3D Pro for Amazon Linux 2, we recommend you install NVIDIA driver 470.
GPUs
For the Linux VDA, HDX 3D Pro supports the following types of GPUs:
NVIDIA vGPUs
To learn which NVIDIA GPU cards your Linux distribution supports, go to the NVIDIA product support matrix and check the Hypervisor or Bare-Metal OS, Software Product Deployment, Hardware Supported, and Guest OS Support columns.
Ensure that you install the latest vGPU driver for your GPU card. Currently, the Linux VDA supports up to vGPU 17. For more information, see NVIDIA Virtual GPU Software Supported GPUs.
Non-virtualized GPUs
In the Linux VDA documentation, non-virtualized GPUs refer to:
- GPUs used in Remote PC Access scenarios
- GPUs passed through from a hypervisor
NVIDIA GPUs that support the NVIDIA Capture SDK for Linux
For NVIDIA GPUs that support the NVIDIA Capture SDK for Linux, enable HDX 3D Pro by setting CTX_XDL_HDX_3D_PRO to Y when installing the Linux VDA. No additional configuration is required. Hardware acceleration is enabled by default after you enable HDX 3D Pro.
Tip:
To use HDX 3D Pro with an NVIDIA GPU, you must install an NVIDIA graphics driver version that supports NVIDIA Capture SDK version 8. For more information, see the NVIDIA Capture SDK documentation.