StoreFront 3.5 Tweaks

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Here is a collection of optional StoreFront configurations.

CRL Checking – Disable

When the StoreFront server checks certificate revocation for its locally signed files, a delay can occur before the StoreFront logon page is displayed.

Run the following PowerShell commands:

Add-PSSnapin Citrix.DeliveryServices.Framework.Commands
Set-DSAssemblyVerification $false

Run Notepad as administrator.
Open the file C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet.config. You’ll need to change the bottom right selection to All Files.
In the runtime element, add the <generatePublisherEvidence enabled="false" /> line as shown below:
Save the file.
Repeat for the 64-bit aspnet.config file located at C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319.
Another potential tweak to speed up StoreFront is to disable NetBIOS. Right-click the Start Menu and click Network Connections.
Right-click the NIC and click Properties.
Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 and click Properties.
Click Advanced.
On the WINS tab, change the selection to Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP and click OK twice and Close once.
Repeat on the other StoreFront servers.

Receiver Shortcuts

You can use StoreFront to control placement of shortcuts on Receiver machines.

Run Notepad elevated (as administrator).
Edit the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Roaming\web.config.
Search for <account. Find the Store name in the name attribute.
Scroll down to the first <properties> section located under <annotatedServices>.
See Using StoreFront account settings to customize app shortcut locations at docs.citrix.com for a list of properties. Add the properties as detailed at docs.citrix.com. The properties should be added after the clear tag.
Note: if subscriptions are enabled in StoreFront then only Favorites are added to the Start Menu and Desktop. If subscriptions are disabled then all applications are placed on the Start Menu or Desktop.
Close and save the file.
Then Propagate Changes.

PNAgent Authentication

Single Sign-on

From Configure authentication for XenApp Services URLs at docs.citrix.com: XenApp Services URLs support explicit, domain pass-through, and pass-through with smart card authentication. Explicit authentication is enabled by default. You can change the authentication method, but only one authentication method can be configured for each XenApp Services URL. To enable multiple authentication methods, create separate stores, each with a XenApp Services URL, for each authentication method. To change the authentication method for a XenApp Services URL, you run a Windows PowerShell script.

On the primary StoreFront server in your deployment, use an account with local administrator permissions to start Windows PowerShell.
At a command prompt, type the following command to configure the user authentication method for users accessing the store through the XenApp Services URL.
& "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\EnablePnaForStore.ps1" –SiteId 1 -ResourcesVirtualPath /Citrix/Store –LogonMethod sson
Propagate changes.

Remember my password

If you leave PNAgent authentication set to Prompt, you can enable the Remember my password box by doing the following:

Run Notepad as Administrator and edit the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Store\Views\PnaConfig\Config.aspx.
Near line 74 is EnableSavePassword. Change it to true.
When PNAgent connects, there should now be a Remember my password checkbox.

Hide Applications

You can hide all icons of a particular type (Applications, Desktops, Documents). Or you can hide icons with a specific keyword.

Go to Stores > MyStore > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings and look for the Filter options.

Once the ExcludeKeyword has been defined, add the keyword to a published application description and that application will no longer display in Receiver. This works for both Receiver for Web and Receiver Self-Service (non-browser).

Desktop Autolaunch

By default, if only a single desktop is published to the user, Receiver for Web will auto-launch it. You can change this behavior by going to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Client Interface Settings and uncheck the box next to Auto launch desktop.

Full Screen Desktop

Citrix CTX139762 How to Configure StoreFront to Start Published Desktops in Full Screen Mode: This article describes how to configure StoreFront to start published desktops in Full Screen Mode.

Open the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Store\App_Data\default.ica on the StoreFront server(s) with notepad (as Administrator)

Add the line:

[Application]
DesktopViewer-ForceFullScreenStartup=On

In older versions of StoreFront, it should be true instead of On.
Save the file.
Open the command prompt (cmd) and run iisreset.

Autolaunch Application

See the script.js code posted by Michael Bednarek at discussions.citrix.com.

Store for Anonymous

If you intend to publish applications to anonymous users then you can create a StoreFront store that does not require authentication. Note: anonymous stores only work internally (no NetScaler Gateway).

On the VDAs, create and configure anonymous accounts.
In Citrix Studio, configure a Delivery Group to accept unauthenticated (anonymous) users.
In the StoreFront Console, right-click Stores and click Create Store.
In the Store Name and Access page, enter a new store name.
Check the box next to Allow only unauthenticated users to access this store.
Then click Next and finish the wizard like normal.
Anonymous stores are hidden by default. When performing discovery in Receiver you’ll need to enter the full path to the store (e.g. https://storefront.corp.com/Citrix/Anon/discovery).

Workspace Control

Workspace Control is configurable for both Receiver for Web and for Receiver Self-Service.

Receiver for Web

Go to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Workspace Control page.

Receiver Self-Service

Citrix Blog Post – How to Disable Workspace Control Reconnect: For Receiver for Windows, workspace control can be managed on client devices by modifying the registry. Please see this Knowledgebase Article for how to implement it. This can also be done for domain-joined client devices using Group Policy.

In StoreFront Console, go to Stores > MyStore > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings and there’s a setting for Allow session reconnect.

Treat Desktops as Applications

From Treating All Desktops as Applications at Citrix Blog Post What’s New in StoreFront 3.0: Desktops are treated differently from applications in StoreFront/Receivers. They are placed in a separate Desktop tab and in the case of Receiver for Web, they are not reconnected with workspace control. In some use cases, it is desirable to treat desktops as applications so that they are placed together with applications and get reconnected as part of workspace control. With StoreFront 2.x, you have to add the TreatAsApp keyword to all published desktops to achieve this effect. StoreFront 3.0 enables you to configure treating all desktops as applications at the store level without the need of adding the TreatAsApp keyword to all the published desktops. This is configurable using a PowerShell cmdlet.

& "C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts\ImportModules.ps1"

Set-EnhancedEnumerationOptions -siteId 1 -storeVirtualPath /Citrix/Store `
-treatDesktopsAsApps $true

Special Folder Redirection

From Configure special folder redirection at docs.citrix.com: With Special Folder Redirection configured, users can map Windows special folders for the server to those on their local computers. Special folders refer to standard Windows folders, such as \Documents and \Desktop.

In StoreFront Console, go to Stores > Configure Store Settings > Advanced Settings and there’s an option for Allow special folder redirection.

Receiver Self-service – Disable “Remember My Password”

By default, when Receiver Self-Service connects internally to StoreFront, the user is able to check the box next to Remember my password. Note: When connecting through NetScaler Gateway, this checkbox is never available.

This can be disabled by making a change on the StoreFront server. This procedure is documented by John Ashman at Citrix Discussions and Prevent Citrix Receiver for Windows from caching passwords and usernames at docs.citrix.com.

Note that this procedure seems to prevent Receiver for iOS from adding accounts.
On the StoreFront server, run a text editor elevated (as administrator).
Open the file C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreAuth\App_Data\Templates\UsernamePassword.tfrm.
Go to line 20, which should start with @SaveCredential.
To comment out the line, wrap it in @* and *@. Save the file when done.
Now the Remember My Password checkbox is gone.

“Activate” Option in Web Page – Disable

From Citrix Discussions: to disable the “activate…”; function for Citrix receiver for windows that is visible when a user clicks their username in the upper right hand corner of Receiver for Web, in StoreFront Console, go to Stores > MyStore > Manage Receiver for Web Sites > Configure > Client Interface Settings page. There’s a checkbox for Enable Receiver configuration.

HTML5 Receiver Getting Started Tour

The first time a user connects to HTML5 Receiver, the user is prompted to tour the interface.

The Getting Started Tour can be disabled by doing the following:

Edit the file C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\StoreWeb\custom\script.js.
At the bottom of the file, add Feng Huang’s code from First time user tutorial at discussions.citrix.com. Make sure the quotes are straight quotes and not curly quotes.
```
localStorage["showFtu"] = false;
```

Customize Receiver UI in StoreFront 3.x

StoreFront 3.x customizations are visible in both Receiver for Web and in Receiver Self-Service.

If you are load balancing StoreFront and want to put the server name on the webpage, see Nicolas Ignoto Display server name with Citrix StoreFront 3.
Server name is displayed

Citrix Blog Post Citrix Customization Cookbook contains a collection of customizations including:

Add Static or dynamic (read from file) text to the header and/or footer of the login page.
Click-through disclaimer before or after login page
Footer for every page
Default to Folder view when visiting the Apps tab
Change default text
Change background images for featured categories
Background image

Citrix Blog Post Storefront 3 Web Customization: Branding Your Deployment describes the following how to modify CSS to customize the appearance of StoreFront 3.x:

Background images
Logon button
Colors for page and text
How to view the mobile version of the page
CSS for mobile pages

Jason Samuel Upgrading Citrix StoreFront 2.6 to StoreFront 3.0 – Things to Know details how to change the StoreFront logo to a Receiver logo.

Citrix Blog Post StoreFront 3.0: Message Customization describes how to add a scrolling message to the top of the screen. This is displayed in both Browsers and Receivers.

Migrate Web Interface features to StoreFront at Docs.citrix.com details how to configure Web Interface features in StoreFront. This includes:

Enable return to last folder
Header logo
Pre-logon welcome message
Logon screen customization
Footer text

StoreFront 3.0 Receiver Customization APIs are detailed at Citrix Developer. Use the Receiver Customization API to brand or customize your end users’ app and desktop selection experience beyond capabilities provided in the StoreFront admin console. Customizations apply to latest Web, Chrome, Windows, Mac and Linux clients, and will be extended to mobile devices in future releases.

An example use case for the StoreFront 3.0 APIs is Citrix Blog Post Citrix Recipe Box: StoreFront Approvals. This is code for StoreFront that requires workflow approval when a user subscribes to an app.

Citrix Blog Post Receiver X1 APIs describes the following:

Overview of the CSS classes that can be customized.
Override Citrix’s JavaScript functions to modify behavior – exclude or restyle apps, change a sort order, add a warning message etc.
How to force X1 UI to display in either phone or larger mode.

Citrix Blog Post X1 Customization: Going deeper with CSS describes the following:

Use CSS (/custom/style.css) to style the three custom regions (#customTop, #customBottom, #customScrollTop). Shown below in red, blue, and pink.
Marker classes for showing/hiding or highlighting parts of the UI: large display, small display, high DPI, Favorites view, Desktops view, Apps view, appinfo view.

Citrix Blog Post Scripting X1 describes the following:

JavaScript code to display an Acceptance dialog box before users can login.
Use JQuery to add HTML code to custom regions (e.g. #customScrollTop) including using CSS to hide the HTML code unless a specific tab is selected by the user.

Citrix Blog Post – Rewriting the Session ClientName from StoreFront: I would like to offer the following customisation DLL which can apply client name rewrites based on a template. The customisation template can be any string, but where that string contains a particular token, the token will be replaced by some information from the User Context. If the intent was just to replace the ClientName with the user name, the template is then just “$U”. More details and the .dll file are in the blog post.

StoreFront Store Customization SDK at Citrix Developer: The Store Customization SDK allows you to apply custom logic to the process of displaying resources to users and to adjust launch parameters. For example, you can use the SDK to control which apps and desktops are displayed to users, to change ICA virtual channel parameters, or to modify access conditions through XenApp and XenDesktop policy selection. Key Customization Points:

Post-Enumeration
Post-Launch ICA File
Post-Session Enumeration
Access Conditions (pre-launch and pre-enumeration)
Provider List
Device information

Citrix Blog Post Adding a Language to StoreFront 3.0: A new language pack is comprised of a culture definition file, a string bundle file and a custom string bundle file. See the Blog Post for more details.

To change the StoreFront page title, see Sam Jacobs How to Change the Page Title in Citrix Receiver 3.x at mycugc.org.

StoreFront SDK

Use the Store Customization SDK to apply custom logic to the process of displaying resources to users and to adjust launch parameters. For example, you can use the SDK to control which apps and desktops are displayed to users, to change ICA virtual channel parameters, or to modify access conditions through XenApp and XenDesktop policy selection.

Requires Visual Studio to create .dll files that replace the ones bundled with StoreFront.

https://www.citrix.com/downloads/storefront-web-interface/sdks/storefront-customization-software-development-kit

StoreFront 3.0 Portal Theme for NetScaler 11

See NetScaler Gateway 11 > Portal Themes. Build 62 and newer have a built-in X1 theme.

StoreFront 3.0 Theme for NetScaler 10.5

You can make the NetScaler Gateway 10.5 logon page look like the Receiver for Web in StoreFront 3.0. Visit Citrix Blog Post X1 Skin for NetScaler Gateway to download an already developed theme package. Or see Daniel Ruiz NetScaler Gateway front page à la StoreFront 3.0 for instructions to manually edit the NetScaler Gateway theme to match StoreFront 3.0.

Download the theme from the Citrix Blog post.
WinSCP to the NetScaler and switch to /var/netscaler/gui/themes.
1. On the right, rename the existing receivertheme.tar.gz file.
Upload the theme that was downloaded from the Citrix Blog post.
In NetScaler GUI, go to NetScaler Gateway > Global Settings > Change Global Settings.
Switch to the Client Experience tab.
At the bottom, if the current UI Theme is Green Bubble, change it to Default. Then go back into the screen and change it back to Green Bubble. This causes the theme to reload. Click OK.
The logon page should now look more like Receiver for Web in StoreFront 3.0.