This topic lists the supported systems for the Delivery Controller, Citrix Studio, Citrix Director, and Virtual Delivery Agents (VDAs), at the time XenDesktop 7 released.

System requirements for other features and components, such as StoreFront, host systems, HDX, receivers and plug-ins, Desktop Lock, and Provisioning Services are described in their respective documentation.

Unless otherwise noted, the installer deploys component prerequisites automatically. This includes .NET 3.5 SP1, which is required when installing components on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 systems.

The installation media contains several third-party components. Before using the Citrix software, check for security updates from the third party, and install them.

If you install all the core components (Controller, Studio, Director, StoreFront, and Licensing) on a single server, you need a minimum of 3 GB of RAM to evaluate the product; more is recommended when running an environment for users. Performance will vary depending on your exact configuration, including the number of users, applications, desktops, and other factors.

Delivery Controller

Supported Operating Systems:

• Windows Server 2012, Standard and Datacenter Editions.
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions.

Requirements:

• Disk space: 100 MB.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (required on Windows Server 2008 R2 only).
• Microsoft .NET 4.0.
• Windows PowerShell 2.0 (included with Windows Server 2008 R2) or 3.0 (included with Windows Server 2012).
• Visual C++ 2005, 2008 SP1, and 2010 Redistributable packages. The installer deploys these automatically. They are also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support folder.

Database

Supported Microsoft SQL Server versions for the Site Configuration Database (which initially includes the Configuration Logging Database and the Monitoring Database):

• SQL Server 2012 SP1 - Express, Standard, and Enterprise Editions. By default, the Express edition is installed when installing the Controller.
• SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 - Express, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions.

The following database features are supported (except on SQL Server Express Edition, which supports only standalone mode).

• SQL Server Clustered Instances
• SQL Server Mirroring
• SQL Server Replication
• SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn Availability Groups

Windows authentication is required for connections between the Controller and the SQL Server database.

Studio

Supported operating systems:

• Windows 8 Professional and Enterprise Editions.
• Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions.
• Windows Server 2012, Standard and Datacenter Editions.
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions.

Requirements:

• Disk space: 75 MB.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1(required on Windows Server 2008 R2 only).
• Microsoft Management Console 3.0 (included with all supported operating systems).
• Windows PowerShell 2.0 (included with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2) or 3.0 (included with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012).

Director

Supported operating systems:

• Windows Server 2012, Standard and Datacenter Editions.
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions.

Requirements:

• Disk space: 50 MB.
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0. The installer deploys this automatically. It is also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support\DotNet4 folder.
• Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.0 and ASP.NET 2.0. If these are not already installed, you are prompted for the Windows Server installation media, then they are installed for you.
• Supported browsers for viewing Director:
  • Internet Explorer 9 and 10 (compatibility mode in Internet Explorer 10 is not supported)
  • Firefox
  • Chrome

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for Windows Desktop OS

Supported operating systems:

• Windows 8, Professional and Enterprise Editions .
• Windows 7 SP1, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate Editions.

The installer automatically deploys requirements such as the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Visual C++ Runtime Library. These components are also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support folders.

Remote PC Access uses this VDA, which you install on physical office PCs.

Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine where you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features will not be installed and will not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software; otherwise, users will not be able to log on to the machine. On most Windows 7 and Windows 8 editions, the Media Foundation support is already installed and cannot be removed. However, N editions do not include certain media-related technologies; you can obtain that software from Microsoft or a third party.

You cannot install a Version 7.0 VDA supplied with this release on a machine running Windows XP or Windows Vista; however, you can install an earlier Virtual Desktop Agent version on those operating systems, if needed. For more information, see Install an earlier Virtual Desktop Agent on Windows XP or Windows Vista. Remote PC Access is not supported on Windows Vista operating systems.

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) for Windows Server OS

Supported operating systems:

• Windows Server 2012, Standard and Datacenter Editions.
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP 1, Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter Editions.

The installer automatically deploys requirements such as the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Visual C++ Runtime Library. These components are also available on the Citrix installation media in the Support folders.

The installer automatically installs and enables Remote Desktop Services role services, if they are not already installed and enabled.

Several multimedia acceleration features (such as HDX MediaStream Windows Media Redirection) require that the Microsoft Media Foundation be installed on the machine where you install the VDA. If the machine does not have Media Foundation installed, the multimedia acceleration features will not be installed and will not work. Do not remove Media Foundation from the machine after installing the Citrix software; otherwise, users will not be able to log on to the machine. On most Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 editions, the Media Foundation feature is installed through the Server Manager (for Windows Server 2012: ServerMediaFoundation, for Windows Server 2008R2: DesktopExperience). However, N editions do not include certain media-related technologies; you can obtain that software from Microsoft or a third party.

The Print Spooler Service is enabled by default on the Windows server. If you disable this service, you cannot successfully install a VDA for Windows Server OS. Therefore, ensure that this service is enabled before installing a VDA.

Host

Supported platforms:

• XenServer.
  • XenServer 6.2
  • XenServer 6.1
  • XenServer 6.0.2
• VMware vSphere. No support is provided for vSphere vCenter Linked Mode operation.
  • VMware vSphere 5.1 Update 1
  • VMware vSphere 5.0 Update 2
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1, plus any version of Hyper-V that can register with those System Center Virtual Machine Manager versions.

See the platform documentation for system requirements. See CTX131239 for updated hypervisor support information.

The following Host and storage technology combinations are supported for Machine Creation Services and runtime Active Directory account injection into VMs. Combinations marked with an asterisk (*) are recommended.

Other

• StoreFront requires 2 GB of memory. See the StoreFront documentation for full system requirements.
• Citrix License Server requires 40 MB of disk space. See the licensing documentation for full system requirements.
• Universal Print Server - Supported operating systems (the Controller includes the Universal Print Server functionality; you need only install the Universal Print Server on your print servers):
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Server 2008 32-bitThe XenDesktop 7 printing documentation lists the Citrix product releases that support the Universal Print Server client component.
• The Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is required if you store Citrix policy information in Active Directory rather than the Site Configuration Database. For more information, see the Microsoft documentation.
• You can install the Receiver for Windows when installing a VDA provided on the XenDesktop installation media. For system requirements information on other platforms, see the Receiver for Windows documentation.
• The Receiver for Linux and the Receiver for Mac are provided on the XenDesktop installation media. See their documentation for system requirements.