Citrix Linux VDA 1.4 CentOS 7.2 - Preparation

How to prepare CentOS in order to install the Citrix Linux VDA

In this section we will prepare the CentOS machine in order to proceed and install the Citrix Linux VDA. This process involves configuring the machine Hostname, Time service NTP,  Installing Java OpenJDK, PostgreSQL, Winbind for domain authentication and joining the CentOS machine to the Windows domain.

The root account is used for configuration, but this is not appropriate for production environments. See References section for assistance using sudo option.

Hostname Configuration

Change the /etc/hostname file to contain only the hostname of the machine.

Linux hostname file

Chance the /etc/hosts file.

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In our example, we have used “nyitvdi05” and “showmehowtodoit.com” as the domain.

Verify hostname by running the following commands:

hostname hostname -f

Configure clock synchronization (NTP)

Edit /etc/chrony.conf and add a server entry for each domain controller.

This assumes that domain controllers are the official time sources, but you should add the appropriate time source for your environment.

Linux time sources

sudo /sbin/service chronyd restart

Install Java OpenJDK

sudo yum info java-1.8.0-openjdk

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java

java –version

PostgreSQL

Execute the following commands to install postgresql

sudo yum -y install postgresql-server sudo yum -y install postgresql-jdbc

Initialize the PostgreSQL database.

sudo postgresql-setup initdb

Configure the service to start on boot, and start now.

sudo systemctl start postgresql sudo systemctl enable postgresql

Run the following command to check the version.

psql –version

You can verify the data directory with the following command.

sudo -u postgres psql -c ‘show data_directory’

Other Packages

Install Motif

sudo yum -y install motif

Install Printing Support

sudo yum –y install cups sudo yum -y install foomatic-filters

Install Other Packages

sudo yum -y install redhat-lsb-core sudo yum -y install ImageMagick

Time Synchronization on ESXi

Ensure that the VDI is not using the ESXi host for time sync.

ESXi VMware Tools Time Sync Option

Install Samba Winbind

Install Samba Winbind by running the following commands

sudo yum -y install samba-winbind \ samba-winbind-clients \ krb5-workstation \ authconfig \ oddjob-mkhomedir

Configure Windbind daemon to start on boot.

sudo /sbin/chkconfig winbind on

Below is a generic command on how to configure Winbind.  You will need to be careful with this command and pay attention to use upper-case for the REALM.

sudo authconfig \ –disablecache \ –disablesssd \ –disablesssdauth \ –enablewinbind \ –enablewinbindauth \ –disablewinbindoffline \ –smbsecurity=ads \ –smbworkgroup=domain \ –smbrealm=REALM \ –krb5realm=REALM \ –krb5kdc=fqdn-of-domain-controller \ –winbindtemplateshell=/bin/bash \ –enablemkhomedir –updateall –enablekrb5kdcdns –enablekrb5realmdns

See a complete example below:

sudo authconfig \ –disablecache \ –enablewinbind \ –enablewinbindauth \ –smbsecurity=ads \ –smbworkgroup=SHOWME \ –smbrealm=SHOWMEHOWTODOIT.COM \ –winbindtemplatehomedir=/home/%D/%U \ –winbindtemplateshell=/bin/bash \ –enablekrb5 \ –krb5realm=SHOWMEHOWTODOIT.COM \ –krb5kdc=nicdc01.showmehowtodoit.com \ –krb5adminserver=nicdc01.showmehowtodoit.com \ –enablekrb5kdcdns \ –enablekrb5realmdns \ –enablelocauthorize \ –enablemkhomedir \ –enablepamaccess \ –updateall –enablekrb5kdcdns –enablekrb5realmdns

The above command will most likely generate an error since the machine has not joined the domain yet.

Edit /etc/samba/smb.conf and add the following lines under the [Global] section but after the #–authconfig–end-line–:

kerberos method = secrets and keytab winbind refresh tickets = true

Join computer to domain, ensure the value for REALM is replaced with the domain in upper-case, and replace “user” with an account that has access to join the computer to the domain.

sudo net ads join REALM -U user

Configure PAM for Winbind

Edit /etc/security/pam_winbind.conf and change the following values:

krb5_auth = yes krb5_ccache_type = FILE mkhomedir = yes

Ensure to uncomment the values

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Restart Winbind.

sudo /sbin/service winbind restart

Edit /etc/krb5.conf with the following value:

default_ccache_name = FILE:/tmp/krb5cc_%{uid}

Verify Domain Membership

sudo net ads testjoin sudo net ads info

Verify Kerberos Configuration

Ensure you replace MACHINE with the computer name and REALM with domain name, both in upper-case.  Example:

sudo kinit -k NYITVDI05\$@SHOWMEHOWTODOIT.COM

sudo klist -ke sudo kinit -k MACHINE\$@REALM sudo klist sudo net ads status

Verify User Authentication

wbinfo –krb5auth=domain\\username%password

References

How To Create a Sudo User on CentOS

Prepare the Linux machine for Virtual Desktop installation