System requirements

The Current Release of the Linux VDA is aligned with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. It is also backward compatible with earlier versions of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops that haven’t yet reached the end of their lifecycle. For information about the Citrix product lifecycle, and to find out when Citrix stops supporting specific versions of products, see the Citrix Product Lifecycle Matrix.

The configuration process for Linux VDAs differs slightly from Windows VDAs. Any Delivery Controller farm is able to broker both Windows and Linux desktops.

System requirements for components not covered here (such as Citrix Workspace app) are described in their respective documentation sets.

For information about using a Current Release (CR) in a Long Term Service (LTSR) environment and other FAQs, see Knowledge Center article.

Linux distributions

The Linux VDA supports the following Linux distributions:

Important:

When the support from your OS vendor expires, Citrix might be limited in its ability to remediate problems.
For deprecated or removed platforms, see Deprecation.

• Amazon Linux
  • Amazon Linux 2
• CentOS Linux
  • CentOS 7.9
• Debian Linux
  • Debian 11.3
  • Debian 10.9
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Workstation 8.4
  • Workstation 8.2
  • Workstation 7.9
  • Server 8.4
  • Server 8.2
  • Server 7.9
• SUSE Linux Enterprise:
  • Server 15 Service Pack 3
  • Server 15 Service Pack 2
• Ubuntu Linux
  • Ubuntu Desktop 20.04
  • Ubuntu Server 20.04
  • Ubuntu Desktop 18.04
  • Ubuntu Server 18.04
  • Ubuntu Live Server 18.04

Note:

CentOS project shifts focus to CentOS Stream. CentOS Linux 8, as a rebuild of RHEL 8, ends at the end of 2021. CentOS Stream continues after that date, serving as the upstream (development) branch of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. For more information, see https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/centos-stream-building-innovative-future-enterprise-linux.

For a matrix of the Linux distributions and the Xorg versions that this version of the Linux VDA supports, see the following table. For more information, see XorgModuleABIVersions.

Tip:

Do not use HWE kernel or HWE Xorg on Ubuntu.

At least one desktop must be installed. You can specify through the ctxinstall.sh or ctxsetup.sh script the GNOME or MATE desktop environment to use in sessions. Your user name format must comply with the systemd syntax rules for your current display manager. For more information about the systemd user name syntax, see User/Group Name Syntax.

Supported host platforms and virtualization environments

• Bare metal servers
• Citrix Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere Hypervisor
• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Nutanix AHV
• Microsoft Azure
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Note:

In all cases, the supported processor architecture is x86-64.

From Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 2003 through 2112, hosting the Linux VDA on Microsoft Azure, AWS, and GCP was supported only for Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service). Starting with the 2203 release, you can host the Linux VDA on these public clouds for both Citrix DaaS and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. To add these public cloud host connections to your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment, you need Hybrid Rights License. For information about Hybrid Rights License, see Transition and Trade-Up (TTU) with Hybrid Rights.

Active Directory integration packages

The Linux VDA supports the following Active Directory integration packages and products:

HDX 3D Pro

HDX 3D Pro of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops lets you deliver desktops and applications that perform best using a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for hardware acceleration.

Hypervisors

For the Linux VDA, HDX 3D Pro is compatible with the following hypervisors:

• Citrix Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere Hypervisor
• Nutanix AHV
• Microsoft Azure
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Note:

The hypervisors are compatible with certain Linux distributions. To use HDX 3D Pro for Amazon Linux 2, we recommend you install NVIDIA driver 470.

GPUs

To learn which NVIDIA GPU cards your Linux distribution supports, go to the NVIDIA product support matrix and check the Hypervisor or Bare-Metal OS, Software Product Deployment, Hardware Supported, and Guest OS Support columns.

Ensure that you install the latest vGPU driver for your GPU card. Currently, the Linux VDA supports up to vGPU 13. For more information, see NVIDIA Virtual GPU Software Supported GPUs.