XenDesktop 7.5 Publish Application to Multiple Delivery Group

Recently I deployed XenApp/XenDesktop 7.5 environment with StoreFront 2.5. By default, using the GUI console, it only allows you to publish an application to a single Delivery Group.

If you have 4 servers and 2 delivery groups, and in each delivery group, 2 servers are registered, with this configuration in mind, you can only publish a particular application to a single delivery group, which equals to 2 servers only.

There was a requirement to be able to publish an application to all the 4 servers within 2 delivery groups. Apparently this is not possible using the GUI console.

However, using PowerShell you can !

You publish the application to the 1st delivery group using the GUI console, then you publish to the 2nd delivery group using the following

Add-BrokerApplication -Name "My Published App" -DesktopGroup "Delivery Group 2"

Note: There is a bug with this, which I believe is fixed with 7.6. The bug is if you were assigning a user to only a single delivery group, that user won't be able to see any of published application assigned to him/her. The user must be assigned to both delivery group.

Citrix XenApp 6.5 Cloning

Here are the steps I've followed successfully to clone a non Data Collector XenApp role without using PvS: 

Find out about VMware Customisation

yes or no

Find out Data Collector

qfarm

Local Admin Password

find out the username/password for local admin of the cloned machine

Shutdown XenApp Server

shutdown

Backup

Take a snapshot of all XenApp Servers

SQL database

Start the XenApp Server

start

XenApp Role Manager

Start XA Role Manager

Edit Configuration

Prepare this server for imaging and provisioning

Do NOT remove this server from the farm

Apply

Change IMA to Manual

(if) there is NO VMware customisation Wizard

Run sysprep here (or not if want to use as a VMware template later)

Shutdown XenApp Server

shutdown

Clone

Clone use vShpere Clone

- customize (if sysprep has not been done)

- no customize (if want to convert this as a template)

After finish cloning, convert the cloned VM to a template

Deploy

Deploy VM from Template and Customize

Make sure it does not have network connected

Remove from Domain

Let it reboot once

Join to Domain

Connect the network

Join the deployed VM to the domain

Reboot

Start IMA

Start IMA

Check Server Join to farm

Change IMA to automatic

Change the original master server IMA to automatic