The Citrix Workspace app serves as a unified platform for users to securely access their virtualized desktops, applications, and data from various devices and locations. It enables remote and mobile work by connecting users to their virtual workspaces, streamlining access to Windows-based desktops and software, and providing a single sign-on experience.
For users to connect to Citrix based applications and desktops, Citrix Workspace application (Previously Citrix receiver) needs to be Installed on their devices. If you are managing your organization devices using Intune, then you can use it to deploy Citrix Workspace on Windows 10 or Windows 11 devices.
There are multiple ways to deploy Citrix Workspace app which I have not covered in this blog post, but you can refer to Citrix documentation which provides the steps to deploy Citrix workspace app using different methods like On-prem Active directory, SCCM etc. You can check the options here.
Today, we are going to discuss about the steps to deploy Citrix Workspace using Intune admin center. Before we create an app deployment on Intune, we need to download this app from Citrix website. Overall, I will say there are 4 steps to complete this deployment. Please find below:
- Download Citrix Workspace app from Citrix website
- Create .intunewin file for creating Win32 app deployment on Intune
- Create Win32 app deployment to deploy Citrix
- Monitor app deployment
In a recent blog post, I have discussed about how to deploy Company portal app on Windows devices using Intune along with different Issues you could experience during the deployment and how to fix them.
1. Download Citrix Workspace app
First step is to download Citrix Workspace app from Citrix website. Current version at the time of writing this blog post is 2307.1 for Windows devices including server operating systems.
Click on Download Citrix Workspace app for Windows button to download CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe file.
2. Create .IntuneWin file for Citrix Workspace App
Please follow below steps to create an app deployment package and target it to the users. I will be using Intune Content prep tool to create .intunewin file. Please follow below steps to create .intunewin file for Win32 app deployment.
- Once you downloaded Citrix Workspace app, move it a separate folder which does not contain any other files apart from application setup files. I have moved it to D:\CitrixWorkspaceSetup folder.
- Create an empty folder anywhere in C:\ or D:\ drive called Output. You can name it whatever you like. This will be the folder where we will generate .Intunewin file.
- Download and Extract Microsoft Win32 Content Prep tool. I have extracted it to C:\IntuneContentPrepTool.
- Launch Powershell console as an administrator and browse to extracted Microsoft Win32 content prep tool folder.
- Run
IntunewinAppUtil.exeand you will get options to specify Source Folder, Setup File, Output Folder and Catalog Folder.- Source Folder: Provide the location of the folder where all application setup files are copied. D:\CitrixWorkspaceSetup.
- Setup File: Provide the name of the .exe file which installs applications on user device. CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe
- Output folder: Provide a location of a folder where .Intunewin file will be generated. You can provide any folder you like, But i generally create an empty folder called Output for this. C:\output
- Catalog folder: Specify N to not specify any Catalog folder or simply press Enter to skip.
| .IntuneWinAppUtil.exe One liner Command |
|---|
| I have executed .IntuneWinAppUtil.exe program without any parameters specified which prompts for all required information on the powershell console. But you can also run .IntuneWinAppUtil.exe run with all the parameters specified in one single line. \IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c <setup_folder> -s <setup_file> -o <output_folder> .\IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c “D:\CitrixWorkspaceSetup” -s CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe -o C:\output |
3. Create Win32 app deployment for Citrix Workspace App
We have created .intunewin file for Citrix Workspace app in previous steps. Using this file we will create Win32 app deployment on Intune admin center which will deploy Citrix Workspace app on target devices.
Please follow below steps to create Intune Windows app (Win32) app using .IntuneWin file.
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Click on Apps and then click on All Apps
- Click on + Add and Select Windows app (Win32) from app type
App Information
Click on Select app package file to browse and select CitrixWorkspaceApp.intunewin file and click on OK. On App information tab, provide Information about the Application. Update the Name, Description and Enter the name of the publisher. Click on Next to proceed.
Required Fields:
- Name – Provide a unique name of the application. This name will show up on the Company portal app. For example: Citrix Workspace App.
- Description – You can use this field to provide your users with Information / Instructions which could help end users while Installing and managing this application from Company portal app.
- Publisher – This is to Identify the publisher of the application. Publisher also shows up on Company Portal for the app. For example: Citrix.
Optional fields:
- App version – Provide App version Information which will show on Company portal app
- Category – You can choose a category to organize application on the company portal app
- Show this as a featured app in the Company Portal – If you want to make this as a featured app on Company portal app then select Yes.
- Information URL – This provides information about the application. You can provide a link which user’s can click on to get more information about this application
- Privacy URL – Provide a link here which users can click on and find information about Privacy settings and Policies.
- Developer – Provide a name of the company or a person who has developed this app
- Owner – Provide a name of the person who manages this app in your organization. This could be IT team name or an Individual who manages licensing etc
- Notes – Provides additional information about this app which could be helpful for the users
- Logo – Upload a logo that’s associated with the app. This logo will appear next to the app on Company Portal.
Program
In Program tab you have to provide the commands which will execute on target device to Install or Uninstall the application. You can provide switches along with CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe command. For complete list of switches, you can refer to the link here.
- Install command: Provide Install command as CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /silent /ALLOWADDSTORE=N
- Uninstall command: CitrixWorkspaceApp.exe /silent /uninstall
- Installation time required (mins): Keep default which is 60 minutes.
- Allow available uninstall: Yes
- Install behavior: System
- Device restart behavior: Select No specific action to not take any action after the application is Installed.
Requirements
Provide Operating System Architecture and Minimum operating system information. Click on Next to proceed.
- Operating System Architecture: 64-bit
- Minimum operating system: Select according to the operating system version being used in your enviornment. For Example: Windows 10 1607.
Detection Rules
Select Manually configure detection rules and click on +Add to add a detection rule.
- Rules Format: Select Manually configure detection rules
- Rule Type: File
- Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client
- File or folder: wfica32.exe
- Associated with a 32-bit app on 64-bit clients: No
Assignments
Create an Azure AD Security group which contains users or devices on which we need to deploy this app. If you prefer a more controlled deployment to specific devices only, then make sure to target only specific devices via Azure AD group. Once your testing is successful and you want to deploy this script on all Organization devices, you can click on + Add all users.
There are three assignments options available for deployment of Win32 app. Please find below:
- Required – If you add any user or device into required assignment group then app installation on the device will be mandatory and it will also be deployed as soon as the next Intune device check-in process completes.
- Available for enrolled devices – If you add any user or device into “Available for enrolled devices” assignment group then the application will be available for Installation from company portal app / website. It will not be Installed unless user will login on company portal app / website and click on Install button.
- Uninstall – Adding users or devices into this assignment group will Uninstall the application from the target devices.
Review + Create
Next tab is for Review + Create. Save the application which will start the process of uploading .intunewin file and also will start the deployment process.
Intune Policy Refresh Cycle
The Device will Sync / Check in to start Win32 app deployment. It may take some time for the process to start. Therefore, if you are testing it on a test device, you can force initiate Intune refresh cycle on the device which will speed up the download and installation process. You can also use Powershell to force initiate Intune refresh cycle.
Also, you can restart the device first which also starts the device check-in process. Manual sync is not mandatory on user’s devices as the device check-in process happens automatically. But if you are testing this setting on a test device then this can speed up your testing and can save some time.
Monitoring the Installation Progress
To check the Installation status of the app, You can follow below steps:
- From Intune admin center, Click on Apps on the left hand side.
- Click on All apps.
- Search for the app Citrix Workspace App app deployment and click on it.
From the Overview page of the application, you can check the status of Installation and Failures. To find per device or per user Installation status, you can also click on Device Install status or User Install status.
End User Experience
Let’s check if the application has been installed on end user device. To check and confirm the Installation, please follow below steps:
- Press Windows Key + R to open Run dialog box
- Type appwiz.cpl and press enter to open programs and features window
- Find Citrix Workspace application in the list of Installed programs to confirm the Installation.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have seen how to deploy Citrix Workspace app using Intune Win32 app deployment method. There is another method to deploy Citrix Workspace app which is by using Microsoft store apps (new) method. However, this method is not very customizable and deployment of Win32 apps using this method is in Preview. If you want to use switches along CitrixWorkspace.exe app then you can use Win32 app deployment method.