• Receiver for Windows

Symptoms or Error

Solution

Problem Cause

Disclaimer

Wanted to point out this PDF from Citrix on the XenApp/ XenDesktop architecture – especially pages 21, 22 which are on how authentication works. During my Citrix course the instructor had talked about it but like an idiot I didn’t take notes and now I can’t find much info on what he was explaining.

The part which is of interest to me is the STA (Secure Ticket Authority).

There’s a couple of steps that happens when a user logs in to access a Citrix solution. First: the StoreFront authenticates the user against AD. Or if the user is accessing remotely, the NetScaler gateway authenticates the user and passes on details to the StoreFront. Then the StoreFront passes on this information to the Delivery Controller so the latter can give a list of resources the user has access to. The Delivery Controllers in turn authenticate the user AD. The Delivery Controller then sends a list of resources the user has access to, to the StoreFront, which sends this on to the user’s Citrix Receiver or Browser. This is when the user sees what is available to them, and can select what they want.

When the user selects what they want, this is information is passed on to the StoreFront, which then passes the info to the Delivery Controller – who then finds an appropriate host that can fulfill the requirement and sends this information to the StoreFront.

The next step is where the STA comes in.

In case the user is accessing Citrix locally, the StoreFront can create an ICA file with details of the host and send it over to the user’s Citrix Receiver or Browser and the latter can then directly talk to the VDA agent installed on the host (note the StoreFront & Delivery Controller have no more role to play). But what if the user is accessing remotely? We don’t want to send these sensitive details over the public Internet. So, as a workaround, Citrix creates a “ticket” (which is a randomly generated sequence of 32 uppercase alphabetic or numeric characters) and associates the ticket with the details of the host that the Citrix Receiver or Browser need to contact to access the requested resources. This ticket is what is sent over to Citrix Receiver or Browser in the ICA file, using which it can contact the NetScaler gateway and the NetScaler gateway can validate this and initiate a connection with the VDA on the host on behalf of the user.

So, as we can see the STA only comes into play in case of remote access. The STA is a part of the Citrix XML Service (once again linking to this excellent post!), which is installed as part of the Delivery Controller (so the STA is a part of the Delivery Controller). It is written as an ISAPI extension (called CtxSta.dll) for the IIS WebServer and runs the /Scripts/CtxSta.dll URL. The STA has an ID called the STA_ID, and this along with the TICKET and an STA_VERSION field are what is put into the ICA file. I am not sure whether the STA requires IIS, or it can run standalone (as I blogged previously the Citrix XML Service can run standalone so I would assume the STA can do the same). The Citrix STA FAQ says IIS is required, but that could be outdated.

The Citrix StoreFront is configured with the STA details in the NetScaler Gateway section (remember you only need to use the STA in case of remote users, for which you would have to configure a NetScaler Gateway).

Citrix Receiver Cannot Connect To Server 40 Standard

Similarly the NetScaler itself is configured with the STA details.

Citrix Receiver Cannot Connect To Server 40 Stations

It is important to keep in mind that there are thus TWO places where the STA details are input, and that the details in both places must be the same. The StoreFront uses its configured details to generate a ticket and put it in the ICA file. And the StoreFront uses its configured details to validate that ticket with an STA and identify what resources it should connect to. If the two details are not identical then you will not be able to launch any resources! (I had this problem at work today which is why I decided to refresh my knowledge about STAs and thought of writing this blog post. If the two details are not identical you will get a “Cannot start App:” error because the ticket the client has cannot be validated or used by the NetScaler).

Citrix Receiver Cannot Connect To Server 40 State

Just as an aside to myself – the port used to talk to the VDA is 1494 or 2598. This is the case if the Citrix Receiver or Browser contacts the VDA, or if the NetScaler gateway does so on behalf of these. I like to remember port numbers. :o)

Citrix Receiver For Mac Cannot Connect To Server 40 Sta

Also – there is nothing that ties a particular STA generated ticket to the device where the request was made from. That is, in theory a remote user could make a request from Computer A, get the ICA file and run it on Computer B – and NetScaler + STA will happily let the user access resources. A ticket only has a 100 seconds validity, so they’d have to do this switch-over quickly though. ;o) Also, a ticket can only be used once. (Also this and more info are from the very informative Citrix STA FAQ by the way).