Nutanix virtualization environments

Follow this guidance when using Nutanix Acropolis to provide virtual machines in your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment. The setup process includes the following tasks:

• Install and register the Nutanix plug-in in your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment.

• Create a connection to Nutanix.

• Create a machine catalog that uses a snapshot of a master image you created on the Nutanix hypervisor.

For more information, see the Nutanix Acropolis MCS plug-in Installation Guide, available at the Nutanix Support Portal.

Important:

Install the Nutanix plug-in on all Cloud Connectors where Citrix DaaS must create a host connection to the resource location that has a Nutanix hypervisor.

Install and register the Nutanix plug-in

Complete the following procedure to install and register the Nutanix plug-in on all your Cloud Connectors. Use the Manage > Full Configuration functions in Citrix Cloud to create a connection to Nutanix. Then, create a machine catalog that uses a snapshot of a master image you created in the Nutanix environment.

Tip:

We recommend that you stop and then restart the Citrix Host Service, the Citrix Broker Service, and the Machine Creation Services when you install or update the Nutanix plug-in.

For information about installing the Nutanix plug-in, see the Nutanix Documentation site.

Create a connection to Nutanix

The following information is a supplement to the guidance in Create and manage connections. To create a Nutanix connection, follow the general guidance in that article, minding the details specific to Nutanix.

In the Add Connection and Resources wizard, select the Nutanixconnection type on the Connection page, and then specify the address and credentials, plus a name for the connection. On the Network page, select a network for the hosting unit.

The following connection types are available for selection: Nutanix AHV, Nutanix AHV XI, and Nutanix AHV PC.

• For Nutanix AHV, specify the Prism Element (PE) cluster address and credentials.

• For Nutanix AHV PC, specify the hypervisor address and credentials.

• For Nutanix AHV XI, specify your address and user name, and then import the public and private keys contained in your Nutanix XI credential files (.pem). (Public and private keys are generated in Nutanix XI cloud by Nutanix XI administrators.)

  • To import the key, locate your credential file, open it with Notepad (or any text editor), and then copy the content. After that, return to the Connection page, select Import key, paste the content, and then select Save.

  Caution: Do not change the credential content or its format.

Tip:

If you deploy machines using Nutanix AHV (Prism Element) as the resource, select the container where the VM’s disk resides.

Create a machine catalog using a Nutanix snapshot

The following information is a supplement to the guidance in Create machine catalogs. To create a catalog, follow the general guidance in that article, minding the details specific to Nutanix.

The snapshot you select is the template used to create the VMs in the catalog. Before creating the catalog, create images and snapshots in Nutanix. For more information, see the Nutanix documentation.

In the catalog creation wizard:

• The Operating System and Machine Management pages do not contain Nutanix-specific information.

• The Container or Cluster and Container page is unique to Nutanix.

  • If you deploy machines by using Nutanix AHV XI as the resources, on the Container page, select a container where the VMs’ identity disks will be placed.

  • If you deploy machines by using Nutanix AHV Prism Central (PC) as the resources, you see the Cluster and Container page. Select which cluster to use for the deployment of VMs and then a container.

• On the Master Image page, select the image snapshot. Acropolis snapshot names must be prefixed with “XD_” to be used in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. Use the Acropolis console to rename your snapshots if needed. If you rename snapshots, restart the catalog creation wizard to see a refreshed list.

• On the Virtual Machines page, indicate the number of virtual CPUs and the number of cores per vCPU.

• On the NICs page, select the NIC type to filter associated networks. This option is available only for Nutanix AHV PC connections. There are two NIC types: VLAN and OVERLAY. Select one or more NICs that the master image contains and then select an associated virtual network for each NIC.

• The Machine Identities, Domain Credentials, Scopes, and Summary pages do not contain Nutanix-specific information.

Nutanix clusters on AWS

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) supports Nutanix Clusters on AWS. Nutanix Clusters simplifies how applications are run on private or multiple public clouds.

Tip:

This support provides the same functionality as a Nutanix on-premises cluster. Only a single cluster is supported, Prism Element. For more information, see here.

Requirements

You need the following to use Nutanix Clusters on AWS:

• A Nutanix account.
• An AWS account with the following permissions:
  • IAMFullAccess
  • AWSConfigRole
  • AWSCloudFormationFullAccess

Create a Nutanix Cluster

To create a Nutanix Cluster:

1. Log in to your Nutanix account.
2. Locate the Nutanix cluster option, and click Launch. The Nutanix Console opens. For more information, see Get Started with Nutanix Cluster on AWS.
3. Choose to create a new VPC.

The cluster creation process may fail with the following errors:

• Cluster failed to create within a given time. Deleting cluster.
• Host Nutanix Cluster - Node XXXXXXXXXXX: Instance i-xxxxxxxxxxxxx: disable network interface source/dest check error.
• Host Nutanix Cluster - Node XXXXXXXXXXX: Unable to obtain instance i-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx network interface info.

If the cluster failed to create:

• Try to recreate one in a different region.
• Make sure to delete the Nutanix CloudFormation Stack (CFS) before retrying.

In addition to other resources, the Nutanix CFS creates:

• 1 VPC named Nutanix Cluster xxxxxxxxxxxxx 10.0.0.0/16
• 2 subnets 10.0.128.0/24 and 10.0.129.0/24
• 1 Internet gateway
• 1 NAT gateway

Once the cluster is created, retrieve the address of the Nutanix Prism:

1. Go to the Nutanix Console.
2. In the upper right on the console, mouse over the link Launch Prism Element and copy the URL.

Connect to Nutanix Prism

To connect to Nutanix Prism:

1. Create a bastion VM in the 10.0.129.0/24 subnet.
2. RDP into the bastion VM, go to the URL of the Prism Element you copied in the previous section.
3. Log in using the default credentials: admin:nutanix/4u. Remember to change the password.

Create a VM on the Nutanix Cluster

After connecting to Nutanix Prism, create VMs on the Nutanix cluster.

If the VM needs Internet access

1. Go to AWS console.
2. Create a new subnet 10.0.130.0/24 in the same VPC as the one created by Nutanix CFS.
3. Add a route to the route table of this subnet to direct all none local traffic to the NAT gateway above.
4. RDP into the bastion VM, go to the URL of the Prism Element you copied in the previous section and login.
5. Add a new network. Go to Settings>Network Configuration>Create Subnet. Use the same subnet 10.0.130.0/24 used in AWS.
6. Create all the VMs (AD, CC, VDA, and so on) in that new subnet.

If the VM does not need Internet access

1. RDP into the bastion VM, go to the URL of the Prism Element you copied in the previous section and login.
2. Add a new network. Go to Settings>Network Configuration>Create Subnet. Use the subnet 10.0.129.0/24.
3. Create all the VMs (AD, CC, VDA, and so on) in that subnet.

Tip:

Make sure that the time and timezone information in the VMs are set up correctly. This is especially true for AD.

Create host connection

1. Launch the Citrix Studio.
2. Select the hosting node, and click Add Connection and Resources.
3. On the Connection screen, select Create a new Connection, and in the Connection address, enter https://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:9440.
4. Follow the UI to complete the wizard.

Note:

To see the option for Nutanix in Citrix Studio, all connector VMs must have nutanix plug-in installed, even if they are not used in the nutanix zone.

More information

• Connections and resources
• Create machine catalogs