I thought I would go through the processes required to profile and stream Office 2007 to a desktop. Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 Enterprise and Platinum introduced the ability
to package and stream applications to the server or client desktop. In theory this was a good direction for Citrix. However, in reality the first attempt was a little rough. It worked ok,
but needed some fixing. With Citrix XenApp 5.0 the streaming profiler and client have been updated and it looks like some of the general bugs and issues customers have had with the
technology have been fixed.

Also worth a note is that XenDesktop is a virtual desktop infrastructure product from Citrix that includes XenServer for desktops and XenApp for streamed applications.
I have been using and testing streamed application in Citrix for a couple of years now and for the most part liked the technology.
I will now run through the steps required to profile and stream applications in Citrix.

To profile applications all you need is a virtual server with a clean guest machine that matches the type of device you want to stream to.
For instance, if you want to stream to a xp workstation you will need a virtual xp workstation that matches as close as possible.

Some applications can not be profiled. Like similar products you cannot stream applications that need to install kernel mode or device drivers.
I have read that you can profile an application and then install the service on the client machine, but I would do a lot of testing before doing this in a production environment.

Install XenApp streaming profiler.

• Install the XenApp streaming profiler 1.3 or latest release avalible for download from mycitrix.com. You can find this on the components disk of XenApp 5.
  You can usually download a trial copy of XenApp from Citrix
• You will also neet to install Dot Net Framework 2
• Copy any software you will want to work with frequently to a folder on the virtual machine
• If you are using a virtual machine to do the profiling on take a snapshot now

I won’t go through every aspect of the Office 2007 preparation. Citrix has produced a very good guide for streaming Office 2007. See this document for how to rollup updates in Office 2007.

Preparing the Profiling Computer

1. On a clean computer as close to your client computer environment as possible, install the latest version of the Streaming Profiler. Restart when prompted.

2. Open the Office Customization Tool (setup.exe /admin) to create a custom Office 2007 .MSP file that could answer all of the questions asked during the installation. Place the .MSP file in the Updates subfolder in the Office2007 installation folder. This allows an administrator to perform a silent install.

From the Setup menu:

a. On the Install location and organization name page, enter your installation location and organization or company name.

b. On the Licensing and user interface page, enter your 25-character volume license key and select the I accept the terms in the License Agreement check box.
For Display level, select Basic, and select the Suppress modal check box, as shown in the following screen shot:

c. On the Modify Setup properties page, make sure that the value for HIDEUPDATEUI is set to True and the value for WTSDISABLED is set to MsInfoFiles, PPTCastCoreFiles, as shown in the following screen shot:

From the Additional Content menu:

Caution! This procedure requires you to edit the registry. Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system.
Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Be sure to back up the registry before you edit it.

On the Add Registry entries page, add the following registry entries:

Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Data type: REG_DWORD
Key: Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\General
Value name: ShownOptIn
Value data: 00000001

Root: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Data type: REG_SZ
Key: Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\General
Value name: PONT_STRING
Value data: 60

Root: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHING
Data type: REG_DWORD
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\windows Search\Preference
Value name: PreventIndexingOutlook
Value data: 00000001

From the Outlook menu:

a. On the Outlook profile page, select the New Profile radio button, and enter the Profile name: StreamedOutlook.

b. On the Specify Exchange Server page, select the Configure an Exchange Server connection option button and enter your User Name and the FQDN of your Exchange Server.

3. Continue using the Office Customization Tool (setup.exe /admin) to create a custom Project 2007 .MSP file that could answer all of the questions asked during the installation.
Place the .MSP file in the Updates subfolder in the Office2007 installation folder. This allows an administrator to perform a silent install.

From the Setup menu:

a. On the Install location and organization name page, change the Default installation path to [ProgramFilesFolder]\Project2007, as shown in the following screen shot.
This change is required if the application uses the inter-isolation communication (IIC) feature to communicate with Office.

b. On the Licensing and user interface page, enter your 25-character volume license key and select the I accept the terms in the License Agreement check box.
For Display level, select Basic, and select the Suppress modal check box.

4. Continue using the Office Customization Tool (setup.exe /admin) to create a custom Visio 2007 .MSP file that could answer all of the questions asked during the installation.
Place the .MSP file in the Updates subfolder in the Office2007 installation folder. This allows an administrator to perform a silent install.

From the Setup menu:

a. On the Install location and organization name page, change the Default installation path to [ProgramFilesFolder]\Visio2007, as shown in the following screen shot.
This change is required if the application uses the inter-isolation communication (IIC) feature to communicate with Office.

b. On the Licensing and user interface page, enter your 25-character volume license key and select the I accept the terms in the License Agreement check box.
For Display level, select Basic, and select the Suppress modal check box.

5. Copy any necessary Microsoft hotfixes into the Updates subfolder in the Office2007 installation folder.

Tip: Use the #_ as a prefix to force a specific order that these hotfixes are installed. Citrix recommends that you use the 1_ prefix for any .MSP files
created using the Office Customization Tool. If Office Communicator is also included in this profile, extract KB936864 into this Updates folder and
give the files the 2_ prefix, as shown in the following example:

6. Create a script file with the following installations and settings:

• Install Software Update for Web Folders (KB907306)

• Install Office 2003 Web Components SP1 for the 2007 Microsoft Office System

• Install SharePoint Services Client

• Install SaveAs PDF and XPS

• Install Office Communicator

• Copy msvcr80.dll to c:\windows\system32

Add the following registry settings:

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\User Settings\ShownOptIn]
"Count"=dword:00000001
"Order"=dword:00000001

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\User Settings\ShownOptIn\Create\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\General]
"ShownOptInFix"="Applied"

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\User Settings\ShownOptIn\Create\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\General]
"ShownOptIn"=dword:00000001

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE"="WINXPSP2"

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\wow6432node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE"="WINXPSP2"

• [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\citrite.net]
"https"=dword:00000001
"http"=dword:00000001
*"=dword:00000001

• [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE"="WINXPSP2"

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE"="WINXPSP2"

• [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\wow6432node\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers]
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\WINWORD.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\EXCEL.EXE"="WINXPSP2"
"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office12\\POWERPNT.EXE"="WINXPSP2"

Profile Office 2007

• copy the Office 2007 source files to the profiling machine if you haven’t already
• customize your Office installation using setup.exe /admin
• download and extract any service packs and patches to the Updates subfolder of the Office 2007 installation. To make sure your customized msp is running first rename it to aaa_<name>.msp
• open the Citrix XenApp streaming profiler
• click New Profile
• give it a meaningful name
• Select which ever security model you want. I usually use relaxed for testing
• Select your destination system types, languages and service pack levels. Use the lowest common denominator

• Select Advanced Install
• Run install program - browse to and select the setup.exe from the Office installation directory

• Click launch Installer. The office installation will now run through as per your instructions in the MSP file
• Click next and select perform additional installations
• Select files and folders
• Browse to c:\windows\system32 and copy control.exe to c:\windows\system32. This will allow you to use the Mail Profile control panel
• At this point you can install more applications if you like or need to. Just remember the larger the profile the longer it will take to launch.
• You can edit the registry as required to make any customizations needed.
• Click Finish Installations once you’re done
• If required you can run the applications and change any settings you like
• Add a new application in the Select Applications screen. Browse and select control.exe. Set the run and working directories and enter MLCFG32.cpl in the command line parameter
• Click through and finish the profile. The profile will now be built, the time it takes will depend on the size of the profile

• Select the fileshare where you wish to save the profile. It needs to be a UNC path

Isolation rules

Streamed applications isolate the application data from the normal drive files and as a result if you try and save something from a profiled application to a system drive or the drive where the application is installed it will be saved within the application profile. You can get around this two ways.

The first way is to manually edit a file found within the streamed profile once it has been downloaded to the client machine. The file to modify is SandboxData.xml. This is the actual rule sets as they apply. This method is very manual and prone to causing you issues if done wrong.

The second and easiest method is to modify the isolation rules within the application profiler. If you right click on the profiled application you will see a number of options. The one we are concerned with is Rules.

The rule we want to modify is the Default file ignore-rule. We need to do this because the profiled application will essentially isolate all folders on the same drive the application was installed that are not specified to be ignored. What this means is that if you save a file from Outlook into a folder e.g. c:\myfiles it will appear normal. But if you browse the file system you will not be able to find it. This is because the file is actually located within the user part of the streamed application. I simply add environmental variables for additional drive letters e.g. %datadrive% to the rule as well as specific folders that reside on the system drive. Have a play and see the behaviour first hand.

Now the applicaton has been profiled and is ready to be published.

To publish streamed applications you will need a Citrix XenApp 5.0 server with the relevant licenses and a Program Neighbourhood Agent site configured on the web interface server. Part 2 of this article will step through the installation of the Web Interface server and publishing applications to clients.

Creating the Application Profile

Use the following steps to create a profile for Microsoft Office 2007.

1. On the profiling computer, start the Streaming Profiler.

2. Select New, name the profile Office 2007, and click Next to start the wizard.

3. If the Set User Profile Security screen appears, select Enhanced security and click Next.

4. If the Set up Inter-Isolation Communication screen appears, click Next.

5. On the Set Target operating System and Language screen, click Next.

6. On the Select Install Option screen, select Advanced Install and click Next.

7. Install Office 2007, Visio 2007, and Project 2007, using this procedure for each:

8. On the Select Install Method screen, select Run install program or command line script and then select Next.

9. Enter or browse to the location of the setup.exe file in the root of the Office installation folder and select Next.

a. On the Run Installer screen, select Launch Installer.

b. Select the Office 2007 version to install. This should correspond to the version you used in the Office Customization Tool.

c. Once the installation is complete and you are on the Run Installer screen, select Next.

d. On the Select Next Step screen, select Perform additional installations and then select Next.

e. Repeat these steps for each Office application to be installed.

10. Add the Outlook Profile Editor files:

a. On the Select Install Method screen, choose Select files and folders and select Next.

b. On the Select Files and Folders screen:

• On the left side, navigate and highlight c:\windows\system32\control.exe.

• On the right side, navigate to c:\windows\system32.

• Click the arrow pointing from the left side to the right side. Select Next.

c. On the Select Next Step screen, select Finish installations and select Next.

d. On the Run Application screen, select Next.

e. On the Select Applications screen, add the Outlook Profile Editor icon:

• Select Add.

• On the Add Application screen, enter the values (as shown in the following screen shot):
  
  Application name: Outlook Profile Editor
  Path: the path to the control.exe file
  Working directory: the path to the System 32 directory
  Command line parameters: MLCFG32.cpl

• Click OK. On the Select Applications screen, select Next.

11. If the Sign Profile page appears and you do not sign profiles, select Do not sign profile and then select Next. If your organization requires profile signing, sign the profile with your signing key. More information is available in Knowledge Center article CTX110304 – Enhancing Security in Application Streaming for Desktops.

12. On the Build Profile screen, select Finish.

13. After the profile builds, click Save.

14. Enter or browse to the file server or Web server and select Save.

15. Once the save is complete, close the profiler.

More Profiling Guidelines

Use the following guidelines for creating profiles for Microsoft applications:

• User Access Control (UAC) should be disabled prior to profiling.

• Perform the following steps if you are using Skype and Outlook 2007:

1. Open Skype.

2. From the toolbar, choose View.

3. Clear the View Outlook Contacts check box.

• Follow the specific guidelines stated in this document so that Office Communicator can integrate with Outlook 2007 (the above steps take all of this into account by using the Updates folder):

1. Install Outlook 2007 and Office Communicator in the same profile

2. You must install KB936864 BEFORE Office 2007 Service Pack 1. The “2_” before the file name in the updates folder means that it loads first.

3. You must install Office Communicator AFTER Office 2007 Service Pack 1 (this is why there is no number before the file name in the Updates folder).

• If you are using Office Communicator, ensure that you can send an Instant Message to a user from within the profiler for each target before the target is saved. From within isolation, this requires that you do the following:

1. Open Office Communicator and log on.

2. Attempt to send an instant message to a contact. You should see a small warning icon on the Office Communicator icon.

3. If you do the above steps, delete the following registry values outside of isolation so that the profiler’s information is removed from Office Communicator. From:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared\UcClient]
Delete "ServerSipUri"=""
Delete "ServerUsername"=""

• To remove the Recent Documents in Office, delete the following files and registry keys outside of isolation:

1. Run the following commands:

cd %appdata%\microsoft\office\recent
del *.url
del *.lnk

2. Delete these registry keys:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\File MRU]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\MS Project\Recent File List]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\PowerPoint\File MRU]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Publisher\Recent File List]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Visio\Application]

• Do NOT launch Outlook at any time while profiling.

• Install Office 2007, Visio 2007, Project 2007, Office Communicator, and Service Pack 1 in the same profile whenever possible.

• After Office 2007 has been profiled, the below registry values should be deleted outside of isolation so that the profiler’s name and initials are removed from the Office2007 suite.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\AIE\GUID\REGISTRY\USER\CurrentUser\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Common\UserInfo]
Delete “UserInitials”=””
Delete “UserName”=””

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Comments (3)

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Donald Petry III

June 10, 2010

167.121.100.1

Votes: +0

• 
• 
• 

Custom Rule for Group Policy

When packaging Office in a corporate environment, you will find that your Group Policy settings do not apply to the streamed applications by default. To allow your Domain Group Policies to apply, add the an Ignore exclusion in the Package's Rules.

See http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX110352 for more information

Donald Petry III

June 10, 2010

167.121.100.1

Votes: +0

• 
• 
• 

Custom Rule for Group Policy

When packaging Office in a corporate environment, you will find that your Group Policy settings do not apply to the streamed applications by default. To allow your Domain Group Policies to apply, add the an Ignore exclusion in the Package's Rules.

See http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX110352 for more information

Gareth Kitson

August 27, 2009

90.197.178.34

Votes: +0

• 
• 
• 

Dont Forget Device Based Microsoft Application Licensing When Streaming!

Hi,

Firstly, great article as always!

Just wanted to add to this, not from a packaging and streaming technical process, but more from a Microsoft Office Licensing point of view as this is a topic I am having conversations about on a daily basis.

Many Microsoft applications, including Microsoft Office™, Project™ and Visio™, are licensed on a per-device basis. This means a desktop application license is required for each and every device that is able to potentially access the application or server where the application is installed.

This makes licensing applications in virtual or streamed environments is a tricky subject, a subject that is often misunderstood. So lets take just two minutes to cover some of the most common misunderstandings as to Microsoft Application/Device licensing.

One misconception is that by ’streaming’ applications to a limited “user” group, that group is compliant with the Microsoft license agreement - in other words, Microsoft licenses their applications per user.

‘Streaming’ applications to a limited “user” group is not a valid approach to license restriction, since users within the group can potentially access the application from any device that can connect to the Server hosting the application binaries, or, any device the virtualization server can see or stream to.

This means desktop application licenses may need to be purchased for devices where the user of that device does not actually use the application.

Furthermore, Microsoft technologies such as Group Policies and Software Restriction Policies cannot be used as a means of enforcing licensing control, as these methods apply to “users”, or groups of “users”.

For Microsoft applications which are licensed on a per device basis application access must be controlled at the “device” level.

One recognized and approved by Microsoft method of controlling application execution at the device level, and subsequently authorized way of reducing CAL license requirements is AppSense Application Manager.

To learn more about Microsoft Licensing and how AppSense Application Manager can be used not only to ensure compliance, but also reduce the amount of licenses required by controlling application access based on the connecting device, I have posted some links to office Microsoft approved documentation on AppSense Application Manager in a blog which can be found here:

http://appsense.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/microsoft-application-device-license-control-in-sbc-vdi-and-streamed-environments/

Thanks,
Gareth,
AppSense

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