This article is co-authored with: Allen Furmanski, Senior Principal Technical Marketing Manager, who supports marketing activities for this product.
At Citrix, innovation and exploration of new technologies are happening everyday. We are super excited to announce the Citrix VDA for macOS – Public Tech Preview is now available! To test drive, simply click the download link & follow the product documentation page to start enjoying this new VDA option!
Abhilash Verma, CPO, Citrix:
“The Citrix VDA for macOS unlocks exciting new use cases for existing Citrix customers – whether it’s remote mobile app developers for finance institutions, product designers accessing their Mac-based UX tools, or any other user persona requiring secure access to macOS apps from any device with an engaging user experience.”
“Citrix HDX™ Remoting for macOS” – personas & use cases
Many enterprises have a long time need for remote access to their macOS devices with a secure and comprehensive platform such as Citrix DaaS/CVAD. The end user usually will not accept any compromise regarding performance and graphics/audio fidelity degrading – this is exactly where Citrix HDX user experience technology comes into play given our over three decades experience in this domain We have architected the Citrix VDA for macOS with the following personas/use cases in mind based on customer need:
- Developers, where usually all iOS, ipadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS development is performed on macOS with XCode and related tools. Now developers can realize remote access to their IDE and tools from anywhere, anytime with Citrix Workspace app – all with high performance and comprehensive security features enabled. Enterprises can leverage this capability for globally distributed workforces, which are common in today’s Fortune 500 companies. Many customers have requested this feature; for example, they may have development teams in Asia where shipping physical devices is not only difficult but also costly. Consequently, they prefer their workforce in these regions to access Mac devices located in their U.S. data centers for development tasks.
- Designers, in multimedia verticals (Film, Audio, Game, 3D Simulation…) where macOS-based applications are heavily used and well-loved – with our HDX user experience technology to offer a stunning visual and audio experience. Now designers/artists can realize their creativity without the constraint of time, place, or endpoints they have. The company can best utilize their investment in high-end Apple hardware. This has also been mentioned many times by our customers as their employees (artists, designers) like to work remotely with flexibility whenever creativity/new ideas happens, so they can leverage those high-end Mac devices in the office to carry on the heavy-lifting while they’re using an iPad or even iPhone to access them.
Understanding customers may have various endpoint devices accessing the desktop, we support almost all platforms Citrix supports today. This provides great flexibility, same as all other VDA types, for admins to implement the solution: it could be an all Apple solution like access from iPad, iPhone or another Mac device or from thin clients such as Windows, Linux running on different hardware platforms or even Android phones etc.
Product architecture and main feature highlights
The Citrix VDA for macOS delivery model is “Remote PC Access” for physical macOS devices; it can be deployed in customers’ own data center, office premises or macOS hosting provider as the below diagram shows. There is no change or impact to existing DaaS and CVAD architecture and this new VDA supports non-domain-joined registration and enrollment so customers do not need to worry about setup of extra infrastructure if they want to manage the Mac fleet independently.
As we approached this Public tech-preview we had developed many of the key features in the HDX stack and provided seamless integration with the DaaS management plane, meanwhile we did specific optimization for Apple Silicon platform for high performance and stability. Here are some quick breakdown of main features in this preview:
- “Classic” HDX/ICA features: this include support to base capabilities such as Graphics, Audio, Mouse, Keyboard (and IME); Clipboard and corresponding policies; Advanced network & connectivity features: SR (Session Reliability), ACR (Auto Client Reconnect), DTLS/TLS support, Adaptive throughput, TCP and EDT (Citrix Enlightened Data Transport), V4 reducer and MTU discovery; Proxy PAC file support; Advanced graphics and audio features: client multi-monitors support, high DPI display, Adaptive Graphics, Thin-Wire, Full-screen H.264 and Selective H.264
- Management plane and supportability features: Rendezvous V2, Non-domain joined (NDJ) VDA; DDC policy configuration; DaaS management console integration; VDA easy installer; AOT log and supportability tools: xdlcollect, ctxsession, App Center crash report…
- Apple silicon and macOS specific capability support: graphics codec optimization; Apple trackpad experience support and “Fast User Switching” support
Collaboration within the Apple Ecosystem
We’re working closely with Apple Ecosystem key players to ensure our customers and partners will have solid choices of existing solutions to assist them in managing the underlying infrastructure, providing flexibility and automation of workflows to meet their needs. This has also been asked by our enterprise customers and partners during the Private Tech Preview program & various surveys.
For example, one of the key requests from customers has been to work with industry leading MDM solutions for Apple devices such as Jamf. We are happy to announce that we are actively working towards making our VDA deployed and configured using Jamf.
Another key player in the Apple Ecosystem when it comes to IaaS providers is MacStadium. MacStadium has dedicated its effort & expertise in this domain for more than 12 years, and is a leader in this domain with a rich portfolio of products and solutions. We are happy to announce a joint offer from MacStadium for tech preview customers (please also refer to this blog from MacStadium). This partnership allows us to offer a strong IaaS solution for customers and partners who want to deploy this new VDA in a hybrid environment. We’re extremely excited to partner with MacStadium & looking forward to provide best-in-class solutions and services to our joint customers in the future, as both companies’ executives commented of this collaboration:
Abhilash Verma, CPO, Citrix:
“To help our customers begin their remote macOS delivery journey, Citrix has chosen to partner with MacStadium. MacStadium is well-positioned to help Citrix customers quickly and easily incorporate the Apple hardware from their global data centers within the existing delivery infrastructure while offering the scale, security, and management capabilities enterprises need.”
Ken Tacelli, CEO, MacStadium:
About the partnership – “We have been focused on all things Mac cloud compute for over a decade and have seen the need in the market for a macOS virtual desktop solution,” said MacStadium CEO Ken Tacelli. “So we are thrilled to partner with Citrix, the remote access pioneer, to deliver an enterprise-grade macOS VDI solution.”
About the solution – “Our Mac cloud expertise combined with Citrix’s leading remote access technology is what creates this uniquely enterprise-grade Mac VDI solution,” said MacStadium CEO Ken Tacelli. “MacStadium and Citrix are united in our focus on delivering security and performance for Mac users around the world. And now those users can leverage a virtual Mac desktop to work efficiently and effectively from any location.”
Getting Started with Citrix VDA for macOS
Installation of the Citrix VDA for macOS is straightforward. Just a few clicks and steps that admins and/or end users to perform VDA installation, as well as enrollment. In this Public Tech Preview, in conjunction with the new “Manage Enrollment Token (preview)” feature, this is a one-stop-shop for all steps needed before the VDA machine is visible and managed by DaaS (CVAD support will be available very soon)
All other steps are same as when you manage Windows and Linux VDA, then you can use it from your favorite Citrix Workspace app (refer to link regarding supported CWA types)
Here is a two minutes video where you can also take a quick look & feel at this new VDA before your own installation:
Wrap up
This Public technical preview is open to all Citrix DaaS customers and partners. Meanwhile, we’re actively working with Apple ecosystems’ major players to ensure our customers have smooth adoption of this new VDA by leveraging suitable options available.
Click the download link & follow the product documentation page which includes all details like system requirements/install/configure/tuning etc. and start the exciting journey!
At the same time, as you may know, we’ve rebranded our Citrix site with a new community discussion forum and have a dedicated channel for Citrix VDA for macOS, please click here to join us for discussions & suggestions!
We look forward to seeing what use cases our customers will begin exploring with the Citrix VDA for macOS. For any queries and suggestions, please reach out to:
- Product Management team in Citrix
- Mail us at: vda-mac-feedback@citrix.com
- Submit your feedback directly under “Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent for macOS Public Tech Preview” download section by clicking “View Checksums and Documentation”
Enjoy & talk soon!
Disclaimer: This publication may include references to the planned testing, release and/or availability of Cloud Software Group, Inc. products and services. The information provided in this publication is for informational purposes only, its contents are subject to change without notice, and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for products remains at the sole discretion of Cloud Software Group, Inc.