Installing and Configuring Citrix StoreFront 3.0

Original Article - https://www.robinhobo.com/installing-and-configuring-citrix-storefront-3-0


Creating the DNS record

In one of my previous blogs (see here) I showed you how to configure Citrix StoreFront in a Load Balanced environment. I will skip that part in this blog, but for future configuration I will configure the StoreFront Base URL to a generic name and not to the name of the first StoreFront server. Therefore I will create a DNS record pointing to my first StoreFront server first.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 001

On the domain controller open the DNS Console and add an A Record. In my case I will create the record StoreFront pointing to the IP of my first StoreFront server.

Installing Citrix StoreFront 3.0

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 002

Start the setup, select I accept the terms of this license agreement and click Next

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 003

Click Next

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 004

Click Install

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 005

Click Finish

The StoreFront administration console will now start automatically, but close it for now. To enable a secure connection over HTTPS, it is important to first install the server certificate and configure the default site bindings before configuring StoreFront (The StoreFront Base URL can be changed afterwards, but why not configure it with the right Base URL in the first place?)

Installing the SSL certificate 

Using a secure connection to Citrix StoreFront over SSL is optional, however it is a Citrix best practice and it is easy to implement.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 006

Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager and open Server Certificates

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 007

On the right side of the window click Import. To import your existing (wildcard) certificate. If you don’t have a SSL certificate already you can create one by clicking on Create Certificate Request. See my Citrix StoreFront 2.0 blog (here) to see the particular steps to create a new SSL certificate.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 008

Browse to the certificate file, fill in the Password and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 009

Within the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, navigate to the Default Web Site. On the right side of this window, click Bindings

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 010

Click Add

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 011

Select https as Type, select the imported certificate and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 012

Click Close

Creating the Deployment in Citrix StoreFront 3.0

The next step is to configure Citrix StoreFront 3.0. For that, open the Citrix StoreFront console.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 013

Click on Create a new deployment

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 014

Fill in the Base URL in my case https://storefront.robinhobo.com and click Next

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 015

Fill in a Store name, in my case RobinHobo

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 016

Click Add to add a Delivery Controller like you XenApp or XenDesktop controller

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 017

Fill in the information of your XenApp, XenDesktop, AppController (XenMobile) or VDI-in-a-B0x server and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 018

Click Next

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 019

For this blog I will skip the Remote Access part. For information on how to configure remote access with the NetScaler see this blog of me (click here)

Click Create

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 020

Click Finish

Configuring Citrix StoreFront 3.0

In this part of the blog I will configure Citrix StoreFront 3.0 including the customizations and the new enhanced features.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 021

If you are upgrading from an older version of StoreFront the Classic Receiver Experience is enabled by default. This means that the Green Bubbles layout is still active and the new enhanced features like the customizations and featured app groups are not available. The enable this, go to the Receiver for Web page within the StoreFront console and click on Disable Classic Receiver Experience on the right side of the screen.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 022

Click Disable

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 023

I will walk though the configuration of StoreFront 3.0 starting with the Authentication page. Click on Add/Remove Methods on the right side of the window.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 024


Select what is applicable for you and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 025

Click on Configure Trusted Domains

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 026

My internal domain name is robinhobo.com. Fill in your domain name information and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 027

Click on Manage Password Options

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 028

Select what is appropriate for you and click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 029

Open the Stores page and click on Set Unified Experience as Default

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 030

As the dialog describes, here you can set the default website for the store that will be used (including the customizations). Click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 031

Click on Customize Receiver Appearance

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 032

Here you can customize the StoreFront webinterface (including in the Citrix Receiver) with custom logo’s and text and link colors. Click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 033

Click on Manage Featured App Groups

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 034

Click Create

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 035

Give it a Name (anything you like, but it will be displayed for the user). You select the following definition methods;

Keyword ; Must be divined in the application properties within XenApp / XenDesktop

Application Category ;  Must be divined in the application properties within XenApp / XenDesktop

Application Name ; Fill in the list of Applications you want in this group

For now I choose Application catagory and select the Microsoft Office 2010 group (configured in XenDesktop)

Click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 036

For this blog I will add a second App Group, so I click Create.. one more time

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 037

This time I will add the AppSense Application category. Click OK

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 038

Click OK

Testing Citrix StoreFront 3.0

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 039

Now it’s time to test Citrix StoreFront 3.0. When I open a browser and navigate to the StoreFront webinterface I see the new layout with the custom logo.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 040

After logon, I see the customized page, with the logo and the custom colors. The default landing page is the Favorites page. On the Desktop and Apps page you can add resources to this Favorites page.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 041

On the Apps page you can see the Application Category Groups and the other published applications.

Installing and Configuring Citrix Storefront 3.0 042

As you can see on the screenshot above, you have the same interface now integrated in the new Citrix Receiver!

No comments: