Profile Management

Install and set up

About Profile Management installations

Deploying Profile Management consists of installing a .msi file and either an .adm or .admx file. For information on upgrades rather than installations, see Upgrade and migrate.

Install the Profile Management .msi file on each computer whose user profiles you want to manage. Typically, you install the .msi file on computers using a distribution tool, an imaging solution, or streaming technology. You can also install it directly on any computer using one of the installers in the download package. Unattended installations are supported.

Install the .adm or .admx file by adding it to Group Policy (GP).

Installing the .msi file and the .adm or .admx file alone does not enable Profile Management. You must enable it separately (using the procedure Enable Profile Management) after performing all other setup tasks.

Citrix recommends that the same version of Profile Management is installed on all user devices and the same version’s .adm or .admx file is added to each Group Policy Object on all domain controllers. This prevents corruption of profile data, which might result when different user store structures (from different versions) exist.

Note:

In Profile Management 5.x releases, Citrix maintains the same user store structure, except that Citrix updates profile versions by following Microsoft operating system updates.

To install the .msi file

This procedure installs Profile Management on a single computer.

  1. Log on to the computer with administrator privileges.
  2. Locate and run the appropriate installer from the download package. The installation wizard appears.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the wizard.
  4. Restart the computer.

To install the .msi file from the command line

Important:

In an earlier version of Profile Management, the following keys were removed from the registry exclusion list in the supplied .ini file:

  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

If you use these exclusions in Group Policy and set OVERWRITEINIFILES=yes in this procedure, ensure that you add all three of the keys or none of them (but not a subset) to the registry exclusion list. (The OVERWRITEINIFILES option is primarily intended for deployments using Group Policy rather than an .ini file. Or this option is for either deployment type in which configuration settings can be discarded and the default .ini file reinstalled.) The option overwrites all of the changes you made throughout the .ini file including the keys. Citrix recommends running the installer without this option and then manually removing the key settings in the .ini file. Alternatively, if you use this option, ensure that you add the exclusions as described.

  1. At a command line, run the following command:

    pre codeblock msiexec /i <path to the MSI file> /quiet [/norestart] [INSTALLDIR=<installation directory>] [OVERWRITEINIFILES=yes] [INSTALLPOLICYINIFILES=no] <!--NeedCopy-->

    This command performs the installation without displaying a user interface and then performs a restart.

    If UAC is enabled, run the msiexec command with elevated rights, for example from an elevated command prompt.

    You can suppress the restart using the /norestart option, but, depending on the operating system, Profile Management might not function until the computer has restarted. For example, you do not need to restart Windows 7 workstations.

    INSTALLDIR can be user specified.

    For information on the OVERWRITEINIFILES=yes option, see Upgrade Profile Management.

    Setting INSTALLPOLICYINIFILES to no prevents the installation of the Profile Management .ini file. If you have used the .ini file with a previous version of the software and want to continue to use the settings contained in it with this version, after installation transfer each setting manually to the equivalent Profile Management policy in Group Policy Editor.

    If UAC is enabled, run the msiexec command with elevated rights, for example from an elevated command prompt.

  2. If you are upgrading, a dialog box may advise you that some files are in use. You are given the option to close the application or continue without closing. Select the option to close the application.

To add the .adm or .admx file

Use this procedure if no earlier version of the Profile Management .adm file is present in Group Policy. If you are upgrading an .adm file, see Upgrade Profile Management.

In production environments, configure Profile Management with Group Policy. For each OU containing the computers you want to manage, create and link a Group Policy Object (GPO), and then add the Profile Management .adm or .admx file to the GPO.

To configure Citrix user profiles, you can use any computer that runs Windows Group Policy Management Console. The computer does not have to be a domain controller. Domain controllers only store the .adm or .admx file.

Note: For small pilot projects and evaluations where no separate test deployment of Active Directory (AD) is available, you can also use the installed .ini file instead of the .adm or .admx file. If, after successful testing, you move from the .ini file to an AD deployment, be sure to add to the .adm or .admx file any required inclusions and exclusions in addition to the minimum defaults that are documented in Default inclusions and exclusions.

  1. On the domain controller, do one of the following:
    • Import the .adm file. The file is located in the GPO folder in the download package.
    • Copy the .admx file from the GPO folder in the download package to the C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder and copy the .adml file to the C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\<localized folder>. For example, on English language operating systems, <localized folder> is en-US. Proceed to Step 5.
  2. On the computer you want to use to configure Profile Management, open Active Directory Users and Computers.
  3. Identify the OUs containing the computers that Profile Management is installed on. For information on how to configure Profile Management to work in your existing OU structure, see Administer profiles within and across OUs.
  4. In Group Policy Management, create a GPO and link it to each OU. Note: If you apply security filtering to the GPO, do so using either the Authenticated Users group or a computer group. Do not use a security group that only contains individual users.
  5. Edit the GPO in Group Policy Editor:
    1. Expand Computer Configuration and right-click Administrative Templates under the GPO.
    2. Click Add/Remove Templates and click Add.
    3. Browse to the .adm or .admx file that you imported or copied earlier and click Open.
    4. Click Close. Creates a Citrix folder and a Profile Management subfolder that stores the settings from the .adm or .admx file.

Note

Profile Management 5.5 places the ADMX policies node under Citrix Components. To configure Profile Management 5.5:

  • Remove the existing .admx files in the [WindowsFolder]\PolicyDefinitions folder, and then copy the ctxprofile5.5.0.admx file and the CitrixBase.admx file to the folder.
  • Remove the existing .adml file in the [WindowsFolder]\PolicyDefinitions\<localized folder>, and then copy the ctxprofile5.5.0.adml file and the CitrixBase.adml file to the folder.

To remove Profile Management

This procedure removes Profile Management from a single computer. You must be an administrator of the computer.

  1. To avoid data loss, ensure that all users are logged off.
  2. From the list of installed programs in Programs and Features, select Profile Management and click Uninstall.
  3. Click Yes.
  4. Restart the computer.

You can also remove Profile Management in unattended mode.

Install and set up