Installing and Configuring

Provisioning Services
Overview

After completing this module, you will be able to:

Configure Provisioning Services.
Determine which options to select during a Provisioning
Services installation.
Identify the key components and services of Provisioning
Services architecture.
Integrate Provisioning Services with Active Directory to
enable Active Directory password management.
Prepare a target device for vDisk assignment by adding the
device to the Provisioning Services database.
Hypervisor
XenServer 6.0 and later

VMWare ESXi 5.0

ESXi 5.0 update 1 and update 2
ESXi 5.1
vSphere 5.0 (4.1 update 1 supported but not tested for
scalability)

Hyper- SCVMM 2012 with Hyper-V 2.0

V/SCVMM SCVMM 2012 SP1 with Hyper-V 3.0

XenServer 5.6 SP2 is

NOT supported
Operating systems

Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard, Essential and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2012 Standard, Essential and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise and DataCenter editions

Windows Server 2008 32 or 64-bit; all editions

Supported database platforms

MS SQL 2008 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

MS SQL 2008 R2 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

MS SQL 2012 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise

editions

SQL native client required on the server if using database mirroring feature

Database clustering supported

Network
Server to server Configure each PVS Server to use same ports (UDP)
At least 5 ports must exist - default range: 6890 - 6909

Server to target Default ports: UDP 6910-6930

Target to server Default ports: UDP 6901, 6902 and 6905

Login Server Stream Servers Boot list - default port is UDP 6910

Console Default console port (SOAP Service): TCP 54321

TFTP Default port: UDP 69

Network Addressing DHCP

Additional requirements
Processors Intel/AMD x86 or x64 / 2 GHz minimum; 3 GHz preferred

Memory Minimum of 2 GB RAM; 4 GB preferred

Hard Disk and Enough space on the hard disk to store the vDisks.
Storage Streaming performance can be improved using a RAID
array, SAN, or NAS

Network Adapter Static IP. Minimum 100 MB Ethernet, 1 GB Ethernet

preferred

Additional Install program requires Microsoft NET 4.0 and PowerShell

Software 2.0
If using PVS with SCVMM 2012 SP1, PowerShell 3.0
PVS console
Win Server 2008 32 or 64-bit; all editions

Win Server 2008 Standard, DataCenter and Enterprise editions

R2

Win Server 2012 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Windows 8.1 32 or 64-bit, all editions

Windows 7 32 or 64-bit

Windows XP Prof 32 or 64-bit

Windows Vista 32 or 64-bit; Business, Enterprise, Ultimate (retail licensing)

Target device without VDA installed
Win Server 2012 R2 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Win Server 2012 Standard, Essential, and Datacenter editions

Windows 8.1 32 or 64-bit

Win Server 2008 R2 Standard, DataCenter, Enterprise editions

SP1

Windows 7 SP1 32 or 64-bit: Enterprise, Professional, Ultimate

Windows XP Prof SP3 32-bit

Windows XP Prof SP2 64-bit Ultimate edition of Win 7

is only supported in
Private Image mode
Provisioning Services Technology

Provisioning Services provides the ability to provision the

operating system of a computer and re-provision it in real-
time from a single shared-disk image.
vDisks are created from the hard drive of a target device.

The device used to create a snapshot is referred to as a Master target

device.

The devices that use vDisks are referred to as target devices.

Target devices start from the network and communicate with a

Provisioning Services host.

Instead of pulling down all the vDisk content, the data is brought
across the network in real-time, as needed.
Citrix Provisioning Services Components

Provisioning Services Host: streams a vDisk to target devices

Provisioning Services Database: stores all Provisioning Services, vDisk,
target devices, and system configuration settings.
Stores: logical name given to a location for vDisks.
vDisk: file that contains an image of the hard drive of a device, including
OS and any installed applications.
vDisk Pools: a collection of all vDisks available to a site.
Target Device: any desktop or server system that receives a vDisk.
Master Target Device: used to create a vDisk that will be shared by end
users.
Citrix License Server: stores Provisioning Services licenses.
Citrix Provisioning Services Infrastructure

Farm: the top level of a Provisioning Services infrastructure.

Site: contains one or more Provisioning Services hosts,
device collections, views, vDisk pools, and may contain
shared storage.
Device Collection: represents a logical grouping of target
devices. A target device can only be a member of one device
collection.
View: allows for the management of target devices. Unlike
device collections, a target device can be a member of
multiple views.
vDisk Pool: a collection of all vDisks available to a site.
There is one vDisk pool for each site.
Citrix Provisioning Services Infrastructure
Administrative Roles

The ability to view and manage objects within a Provisioning

Services implementation is determined by the administrative
role assigned to any object in Active Directory.
Farm Administrator: can view and manage all objects within
a farm.
Site Administrator: has full management access to all
objects within a site.
Device Administrator: manages device collections.
Device Operator: can start, restart, and shut down target
devices in a device collection; can also view target device
and vDisk properties.
 Key Services
The Citrix license service retrieves the product license from the license
server.
The Stream Service makes vDisk streaming possible by providing a vDisk
and its contents to target devices.
The SOAP service provides a framework to enable external or existing
solutions to interface with and manage Provisioning Services.
PXE: enables target devices to start from a network interface. PXE is a BIOS
extension.
BOOTP: a precursor to DHCP; BOOTP is a UDP protocol that target devices
use to request and obtain IP addresses from a BOOTP server. BOOTP can
also deliver the bootstrap file location and file name to a target device.
DHCP: used by the target device to request and obtain an IP address from
the DHCP service.
TFTP: used to request and receive a bootstrap file from the TFTP service.
 Provisioning Services Farm Design
Consider the following items when planning a farm design:
Farm name
SQL database server
SQL database authentication
Sites
Stores
Device collections
Role-based administration
High availability
Farms

A farm is a grouping of:

Provisioning Services hosts
Target devices
vDisks
All are connected to the same database and license server.
SQL Database Server

Only one Provisioning Services database is associated with a

farm.
The Provisioning Services database can be created on an
existing SQL database server, provided the server can
communicate with all Provisioning Services hosts within the
farm.
SQL Database Authentication and
Configuration
Provisioning Services uses Windows authentication.
All Provisioning Services components, including the
Configuration Wizard and services that access the database,
must run in the context of the logged-on user.
Sites

A Provisioning Services site provides both a site administrator

and farm administrator with a method of representing and
managing logical groupings of Provisioning Services hosts,
device collections, and local shared storage.
Sites
Stores

Several different types of stores can be created, including:

Farm Store
Site Store
Single Server Store
Stores
Target Device Collection

A device collection is a grouping of target devices.

Actions can be performed on collections, rather than on
individual target devices.
A target device becomes a member of the collection when it
is added to the farm.
A target can only be a member of one collection, but can exist
in a number of views.
Target Device Template

A target device can be set as the template for new target

devices that are added to a device collection.
This allows you to quickly add new devices to the device
collection by using the template to imprint properties on the
new device.
Provisioning Services Architecture
Provisioning Services 7
Configuration
Configure DHCP Services
PXE Services
Specifying the Farm
Configuring the PVS Database Server
Farm Details and Admin Group
Configuring the vDisk Store
Adding the Citrix License Server
Stream/Soap Services User Account
AD Computer Account Password
Streaming Network Card
TFTP Service
Stream Servers Boot List
Verifying Configuration Settings
PVS Configured / Services Started