As all COVID restrictions are lifted in the Netherlands we as the DuCUG Steering Committee could finally organize a full DuCUG event again after an edition in October 2021 with limited attendees. Below you can read my experiences of DuCUG 2201-1 event (aka DUCUG#20).
Niek was the ringmaster again and opened the event. We were very happy that again many companies were supported us again to make this event possible. Also a big thanks again to the location De Duikenburg, which again organized everything very well including a new wonderful beamer.
The day started with the first session provided by Liquit. Liquit asked one of their customers (LambWeston) represented by Niels Zegers to explain how they are using Liquit in their landscape. The portal is based on Synigo CMS and Liquit (the back-end is installed in Azure). They are deploying around 700 packages where Liquit is providing many benefits according to Niels (Liquit Setup Store, application distribution several Liquit Contexts, application availability done by filters). They also connected ServiceNow for application requests. He also discussed the project they started with MS Autopilot and Liquit for distributing laptops during corona. On the roadmap are MS AVD with Liquit Deployment, Windows 11 and a new portal.
Next on stage was John Billekens with the session Tools for the community. John created three free scripts for the community. The first one OTP4ADC is used for generating secrets for Citrix ADC access where he showed the tool via several demos. The second script is LeCertforNS; a script that can be used for creating certificates by Let’s Encrypt (because they are free). He also showed this tool in a demo. The last script shown was J81.ADCToolkit.
Mick Hilhorst was next with the session Using Nitro for Turbo (ADC). He started with the possibilities to automate tasks for the Citrix ADC (ADM Service/Nitro API). He talked about how he got started (reporting tool) and after discussing with Bas Stapelbroek he got started to work on a baseline utility based on SSL Labs results. He demoed his TurboADC that was the results of this journey. He continued with his vision on the timeline of the development of the tool.
Essential Guide Citrix Secure Access was the next session provided by Al Taylor after the traditional Bossche Bollen break. After a nice introduction he started the session with the question why do we have VDIs (consolidated service, control access, prevent data loss, manage compliance). Next he discussed the traditional way of delivery (on-prem VDI) leading to how the way of delivery changed. In the hybrid world the following topics are in place (users, devices, locations, service consumptions, services published). Al continued with Citrix Workspace, leading to the Citrix Secure Access suite and the components within the suite. He deep dived deeper describing those components like Citrix Secure Private Access (zero trust, adaptive access/security controls, browser isolation, adaptive authentication, single sign-on, visibility/monitoring), Citrix Secure Internet Access (Secure Web Gateway/Firewall, Cloud Access Security Broker, Malware Protection/DLP/Sandbox) and Citrix Web APP/API Protection (Web App Firewall, DDoS, API Gateway, Bot Manager).
After a great lunch the sponsor session by ThinScale was next. Bas van Goor started with explaining the history of ThinScale. Started with ThinKiosk they evolved to a software defined thin client on Build Your Own Devices called Secure Remote Worker. He touched some the key feature like Security/Compliance, simplified IT Management. In a good demo the product was shown in practice.
After that I was on stage. I presented a session the way of a production selection by using a VDI Monitoring solution as an example. A non-technical session, but more on the process side. I shared my experiences and way of working, hopefully this will be helpful for those that need to a product selection in the (near) future.
The Nutanix sponsor session was the next one on the agenda. The session was about security and how the products/features of Nutanix can help with that. They did a nice demo of the security central. They are offering nice bootcamps around VDI and security topics for free, so check their website on that for more information.
The last official session was the HDX Innovation by Rody Kossen. Rody started that everything is about User Experience, followed by some details about the 2203 LTSR (LTSR support for W11 and Server 2022) and a feature comparison between 1912 and 2203. Rody also mentioned the Workspace App 2203 LTSR (Windows only). Between 1912 and 2203 around 65+ new features are introduced in the HDX stack leading to Rody to discuss the HDX stack in more detail. Rody continued with the enhancements within HDX Graphics (Virtual Display Layout from CWA to VDA, Build-to-Lossless). Rody deep dived into HDX 3D Pro including the tests between CVAD 2112 and 2109 and some demos. Next topic was Session Screen Sharing (both Windows as Linux VDIs), interesting feature that I was not aware of. The enhancements within HDX audio were next (adaptive audio), followed by HDX networking (MTU Discovery, adaptive throughput). Rody continued with HDX Teams Offloading new features (app sharing, multimonitor screen sharing, DTMF support, proxy server support, Dynamic e911, Give/Tak control, multi-windows chat). Last topic were miscellaneous enhancements (RemotePC WakeOnLan, VDA Restore, FIOP 2 support, Virtual Channel Allow List, Rendezvous V2, Session Recording, WIA Redirection and BCR Proxy).
After this session we had a new element for this event: Fun, Games and Prices. In this session we did three Kahoot quizzes with the topics Citrix, Community and DuCUG. It turned out in a cool session with lots of fun moments. After this session it was time for some drinks, followed by a good BBQ ending the event.