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Access Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops resources with StoreFront

May 13, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

If your organization has Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site, you can deploy NetScaler Gateway to provide secure Internet access to published applications and virtual desktops with StoreFront.

In such deployments, NetScaler Gateway supports StoreFront and the Secure Ticket Authority (STA) to provide authentication, authorization, and redirection to published applications and virtual desktops hosted on virtual or physical systems running the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent software.

This functionality is achieved by integrating NetScaler Gateway with StoreFront and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. This integration provides advanced authentication and an access control option to the StoreFront. For more information about the StoreFront, see the StoreFront documentation in the NetScaler documentation library.

Remote connectivity to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site does not require the Citrix Secure Access client. To access published applications or desktops, users connect by using Citrix Workspace app.

Integrate NetScaler Gateway with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

When you configure NetScaler Gateway for user connections, you can include settings for network traffic to Citrix Virtual Apps, Citrix Virtual Desktops, or both. To do so, you configure NetScaler Gateway and the StoreFront to communicate with each other.

The tasks for integrating these products include:

  • Creating a StoreFront site in the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site.
  • Configuring settings within the StoreFront to route user connections through NetScaler Gateway.
  • Configuring NetScaler Gateway to communicate with the StoreFront and the Secure Ticket Authority (STA).

You can also configure NetScaler Gateway to communicate with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment by deploying NetScaler Gateway in a double-hop DMZ. For more information, see Deploying NetScaler Gateway in a Double-Hop DMZ.

NetScaler Gateway and StoreFront use the STA and Citrix Broker Service to establish user connections. The STA and Broker Service run on the Delivery Controllers in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops deployment .

Establish a secure connection to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site

The following example shows how NetScaler Gateway deployed in the DMZ work to support StoreFront to provide a secure, single point-of-access to published resources available in a secure enterprise network.

In this example, the following conditions exist:

  • User devices from the Internet connect to NetScaler Gateway by using Citrix Workspace app.
  • The StoreFront resides behind NetScaler Gateway in the secure network. The user device makes the initial connection to NetScaler Gateway and the connection is passed to the StoreFront.
  • The secure network contains a server site. One server within this server site runs the Secure Ticket Authority (STA) and the Citrix Broker Service. The STA and the Broker Service can run on Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

Process Overview: User Access to Published Resources in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site

  1. A remote user types the address of NetScaler Gateway; for example, https://www.ag.wxyco.com, in the address field of a web browser. The user device attempts this SSL connection on port 443, which must be open through the firewall for the connection to succeed.
  2. NetScaler Gateway receives the connection request and users are asked for their credentials. The credentials are passed back through NetScaler Gateway, users are authenticated, and the connection is passed to the StoreFront.
  3. The StoreFront sends the user credentials to the Citrix Broker Service running on a Delivery Controller in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site.
  4. The Broker Service authenticates the user credentials and sends the StoreFront a list of the published applications or desktops the user is authorized to access.
  5. The StoreFront populates a webpage with the list of published resources (applications or desktops) that the user is authorized to access and sends this webpage to the user device.
  6. The user clicks a published application or desktop link. An HTTP request is sent to the StoreFront indicating the published resource that the user clicked.
  7. The StoreFront interacts with the Broker Service and receives a ticket indicating the server on which the published resource runs.
  8. The StoreFront sends a session ticket request to the STA. This request specifies the IP address of the server on which the published resource runs. The STA saves this IP address and sends the requested session ticket to the StoreFront.
  9. The StoreFront generates an ICA file containing the ticket issued by the STA and sends it to the Web browser on the user device. The ICA file generated by the StoreFront contains the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the Domain Name System (DNS) name of NetScaler Gateway. The IP address of the server running the requested resource is never revealed to users.
  10. The ICA file contains data instructing the web browser to start Citrix Workspace app. The user device connects to NetScaler Gateway by using the NetScaler Gateway FQDN or DNS name in the ICA file. Initial SSL/TLS handshaking occurs to establish the identity of NetScaler Gateway.
  11. The user device sends the session ticket to NetScaler Gateway and then NetScaler Gateway contacts the STA for ticket validation.
  12. The STA returns the IP address of the server on which the requested application resides to NetScaler Gateway.
  13. NetScaler Gateway establishes a TCP connection to the server.
  14. NetScaler Gateway completes the connection handshake with the user device and indicates to the user device that the connection is established with the server. All further traffic between the user device and the server is proxied through NetScaler Gateway. The traffic between the user device and NetScaler Gateway is encrypted. The traffic between NetScaler Gateway and the server can be encrypted independently, but is not encrypted by default.
Access Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops resources with StoreFront
May 13, 2024
Contributed by: 
C
May 13, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

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