Created Date: Modified Date. Citrix Workspace app CommandLine tool is a graphical user interface to help Citrix administrators configuring advanced installation options for Citrix Workspace app. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops requirements. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly known as XenApp and XenDesktop) provides AV optimization for Teams on VDI. With Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Teams on VDI supports calling and meeting functionality in addition to chat and collaboration. Citrix Workspace App replaces Citrix Receiver. The latest (and last) version of Receiver is 4.12, and the last LTSR version is 4.9.6. The latest LTSR version of Citrix Workspace App is 1912.Compared with Citrix Workspace App and Citrix Receiver, the files, directories and registry are very similar, but there are also the following differences. Download Citrix Workspace App, Citrix ADC and all other Citrix workspace and networking products. Receive version updates, utilities and detailed tech information. In a Citrix environment, this is only recommended for desktop operating systems (pooled or personal desktop). A user-based installation can be detected very quickly in the User Profile, since data is then located under AppData Local Microsoft Teams. This type of installation in a worker with server operating system has many disadvantages.
Introduction
In my first blog post http://axendatacentre.com/blog/2020/04/22/zoom-hdx-offloading-for-citrix-virtual-desktops-part-1/ I explored how frictionless it was to setup and deploy Zoom in a Citrix Virtual Desktop, this post builds upon my initial post looking at a wider device spectrum, fallback scenarios and further testing using iGel thin clients.
Overview of Optimised vs. Un-Optimised Zoom Meetings in Citrix VDI (DaaS)
The below image represents both an (un)optimised Zoom meeting running within a Citrix virtual desktop. If an employee access’s his/her Citrix virtual desktop from an endpoint e.g BYO that doesn’t have the “Zoom Media Plugin” installed like it was on there e.g CORP device then the once “Optimised” HDX offloaded A/V traffic for there Zoom Meeting is effectively now “Un-Optimised” and the A/V processing that was shifted onto the employee’s endpoint will now be processed within the Citrix virtual desktop in the resource location (data centre) causing a degraded experience, macro uplift in computing and networking resources to process the A/V for the Zoom meeting and the A/V traffic sent and received from the employees endpoint which is then sent out via the Zoom client within the Citrix virtual desktop.
@zoom_us Optimised vs. Un-Optimised #HDX Offloading of #Zoommeeting in a #Citrix#virtualdesktoppic.twitter.com/7mOXiZGoHI
— Lyndon-Jon Martin 👨🏻💻 (@lyndonjonmartin) May 7, 2020UPDATEDZoomPre-requisites & System Requirements
Follow my original guidance at – http://axendatacentre.com/blog/2020/04/22/zoom-hdx-offloading-for-citrix-virtual-desktops-part-1/. My initial test focused on testing the viability of using Zoom meetings in a Citrix virtual desktop when HDX Offloading was enabled to “Optimise” Zoom meetings and improve the employee experience by shift the A/V processing to the employee’s endpoint, the initial results where hugely promising with minimal effort.
I found some time to continue with further tests but I hit a wall the “Zoom Client for VDI” was displaying a “Grey blank screen” during the meeting and when checking the video settings within the “Zoom Client for VDI” app in system tray, you get the same result a “Grey blank screen” even though Citrix Workspace app is doing its job of automatically connecting “Microphones and Webcams” as I tested a GoToMeeing without any issues so I knew there where no policies conflicts or issues. I googled the problem briefly and found nothing useful, I then decide to revisit Zoom’s on-line documentation and found this important notification published within the last 6 days of this blog post stating that Zoom now requires both the “Zoom Media Plugin” + “Zoom Client for VDI” to match exactly from version 2.1.5 documented at – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360031768011-New-Updates-for-Virtual-Desktop-Infrastructure-VDI- as, anything prior to the pending date 30/05/2020 you can configure the MinPluginVersion via registry settings – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360032343371 to be able to use older versions for backwards compatibility – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360041602711.
Zoom Meeting Test & Citrix Lab Overview
1.CVAD 1912 LTSR running in my personal AWS EC2 in N.Virgina, USA delivering a Citrix virtual desktop to me in London, England. The virtual desktop is running Windows Server 2019 its a “t2.medium” instance type running the 1912 LTSR Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA), also installed was the “Zoom Client for VDI” product version 4.6.15322 used during my orginal testing – https://twitter.com/lyndonjonmartin/status/1253036938992529408?s=20. To resolve the “Grey blank screen” download and install the latest product version I was running 4.6.15630.
2. Personal iPhone 7S running Zoom app setup with my account to start/stop Zoom meetings.
3. Zoom doesn’t support HDX Offloading on MacBooks therefore I used my wife Windows 10 laptop in these tests, which is running Citrix Workspace app 1912, and I installed the Zoom Plugin for Citrix Receiver product version 4.6.15630. You’ll notice that the product versions between the Citrix virtual desktop running the “Zoom Client for VDI” – https://zoom.us/download/vdi/ZoomInstallerVDI.msi and the Zoom Plugin “Zoom Media Plugin” – https://zoom.us/download/vdi/ZoomCitrixHDXMediaPlugin.msi on the endpoint are an exact match.
4. Zoom have published a VDI Backward Compatibility Matrix which is available at – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360041602711.
Demonstration of a @zoom_us#secure#VirtualMeeting room that is @citrix#HDX Offloaded (Optimised) to process A/V on the employees endpoint providing a HD #EmployeeExperience. #zoommeeting#citrixworkspace#Citrixpic.twitter.com/YYHO8EUmIl
— Lyndon-Jon Martin 👨🏻💻 (@lyndonjonmartin) May 7, 2020Zoom VDI Optimisation Management
I think its important to recognise, when rolling out the Citrix + Zoom “Optimisation” capability you need to include both the “Zoom Client for VDI” + “Zoom Media Plugin” as part of your internal and external software deployment strategy. It is also worth noting the differences between Zoom meetings within “Citrix” VDI and on other platforms, Zoom has put together a comparison feature matrix at – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360031441671-VDI-Client-Features-Comparison?zcid=1231#h_fceae51c-f385-4a20-bd54-c7c50f186c15. You should also be mindful of the native features by platform which is available at – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360027397692.
Internal Strategy
Manage the “Zoom Client for VDI” using a Citrix App Layering “App Layer” – https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-app-layering/4/layer/create-app-layer.html in conjunction or separately with your existing preferred Citrix provisioning technology e.g Machine Creation Services (MSC) or Provisioning Services (PVS).
External Strategy
Management of the “Zoom Media Plugin” is better controlled for security + avoid breaking the employee experience on supported endpoints – https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360031096531-Getting-Started-with-VDI by enrolling the endpoints into Citrix Endpoint Management (CEM). For Windows endpoints use the *.MSI installer with the “Windows Agent” – https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-endpoint-management/policies/windows-agent-policy.html to deploy a script to update the “Zoom Media Plugin” and for iOS and Android you could send a push notification to employees to update to the latest Zoom app available in the public app store so that you have app versioning + device spectrum consistently re feature + security parity across the organisation.
LTSR vs. CR vs. Citrix Cloud Strategy for HDX Offloading of Zoom?
Zoom is not embedded into the Citrix stack like Teams is, therefore you can choose to deploy your own Zoom + Citrix HDX Offloading inline with your preferred CVAD release strategy BUT you must align to Zoom’s leading practises for “Citrix” VDI and Citrix’s for release strategy type. The reason this is possible it because you need to manually or automate the installation of the “Zoom Media Plugin” + Zoom Client for VDI” software both client and server/workstation sides outside of the Citrix stack, remembering that the Teams HDX offloading components are part of the VDA (server/workstation) and the CWa (client) – http://axendatacentre.com/blog/2019/08/06/hdx-offloading-for-microsoft-teams-within-a-citrix-virtual-desktop/.
Zoom 90 Day Security Plan Facts & Personal Opinions
Zoom recently published an updated communications on there 90 Day Security & Privacy Plan for June available to read at – https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/06/03/90-day-security-plan-progress-report-june-3/*. Since the beginning of this journey I will continue to update the security & privacy portion of this blog post below. Zoom is so committed to this its CEO Eric Yaun and “leader” holds LiVE sessions entitled “Ask Eric Anything“. If you wish to register to join these sessions LiVE register at – https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9jdr63uuRuSRBX-yEJ2zVQ?id=3IWjZb4JTJm0II3A4lkBOg&zcid=1231 and if you want to ask a question email answers@zoom.us as per the blog post*. If you have doubts, you heard a “Chinese Whisper” surrounding Zooms security or privacy then you should watch the below, and be sure to submit that question to Zoom’s leader and his leadership team to reply on “Ask Eric Anything“.
I’ve yet to see a leader openly committed to and inclusive of customer, business, community and peer feedback to drive CHANGE and INNOVATION. Upon reflection I’m actually not surprised he’s an “Entrepreneur Leader” and therefore both change and innovation are built into his DNA likewise to learn from failure fast and then act to achieve continued success. These two values for me is missed while driving (Digital) Transformation in any organisation from paper to paperless vs. manual to co-hybrid automation.
Security & Privacy
Zoom is continuing to take security and privacy seriously and they continue to communicate that publicly on the company blog, they have as of releasing this blog post published the following blog articles – https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/05/04/navigating-a-new-chapter-for-zoom/, https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/05/05/use-zoom-to-securely-host-virtual-board-meeting/ and https://blog.zoom.us/wordpress/2020/05/05/zoom-disable-pmi-security-updates-for-basic-accounts-may-9/. The collective sum of these post indicates that Zoom is giving IT more security controls for Zoom meetings in an enterprises. The following list is just a high level summary of what can be found in the above blog pots on https://blog.zoom.us/.
-Zoom Encryption whitepaper published April 2020 – https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom%20Encryption%20Whitepaper.pdf discussing the use of TLS 1.2, AES, AES-256 and SRTP or Secure Real-time Transport Protocol for Zoom to Zoom communication. The whitepaper looks at clients, browsers and 3rd party devices/services.
-Zoom client connection progress whitepaper published April 2020 – https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom_Client_Connection%20Process_Whitepaper.pdf
-Leading practices when using a Zoom Personal Meeting IDs (PMI)
-Zoom 5.0 supports AES 256-bit GCM encryption*
-Scheduled security changes to come to FREE Zoom accounts
-Zoom watermarks in two flavours
-Industry certifications e.g SOC2 Type II, Privacy Shield Certified, GDPR e.t.c – https://zoom.us/docs/ent/privacy-and-security.html
-Lock meetings and require authentication –
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360041848151-In-meeting-security-options?mobile_site=true
Final Thoughts
Zoom continue to step up on security and privacy frontier, and the second round of tests continue to demonstrate a real WOW moment for me in how frictionless the experience has been as a IT Professional and as an consumer of Zoom meetings personally within my lab. I will time permitting continue with my full tests in the future expanding the device spectrum being inclusive of employee experience optimisation strategies.
The views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Citrix.
-->This article describes the requirements and limitations for using Microsoft Teams in a virtualized environment.
What is VDI?
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is virtualization technology that hosts a desktop operating system and applications on a centralized server in a data center. This enables a fully personalized desktop experience to users with a fully secured and compliant centralized source.
Microsoft Teams in a virtualized environment supports chat and collaboration. And with the Windows Virtual Desktop, Citrix, and VMware platforms, calling and meeting functionality is also supported.
Teams in a virtualized environment supports multiple configurations. These include VDI, dedicated, shared, persistent, and non-persistent modes. Features are in continuous development and are added on a regular basis, and functionality will expand in the coming months and years.
Using Teams in a virtualized environment might be somewhat different from using Teams in a non-virtualized environment. For example, some advanced features might not be available in a virtualized environment, and video resolution might differ.
To ensure an optimal user experience, follow the guidance in this article.
Note
For details about Teams VDI on different platforms, see Teams features by platform.
Teams on VDI components
Using Teams in a virtualized environment requires the following components.
- Virtualization broker: The resource and connection manager to the virtualization provider, such as Azure
- Virtual desktop: The Virtual Machine (VM) stack that runs Microsoft Teams
- Thin client: The endpoint that the user physically interfaces with
- Teams desktop app: The Teams desktop client app
Teams on VDI requirements
Virtualization provider requirements
The Teams desktop app was validated with leading virtualization solution providers. With multiple market providers, we recommend that you consult your virtualization solution provider to ensure that you meet the minimum requirements.
Currently, Teams on VDI with audio/video (AV) optimization is certified with Windows Virtual Desktop, Citrix, and VMware. Review the information in this section to ensure that you meet all requirements for proper functionality.
Platforms certified for Teams
The following platforms have virtual desktop infrastructure solutions for Teams.
| Platform | Solution |
|---|---|
| Windows Virtual Desktop | |
| Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops | |
| VMware Horizon |
Windows Virtual Desktop
Windows Virtual Desktop provides AV optimization for Teams on VDI. To learn more and requirements and installation, see Use Teams on Windows Virtual Desktop.
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops requirements
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (formerly known as XenApp and XenDesktop) provides AV optimization for Teams on VDI. With Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Teams on VDI supports calling and meeting functionality in addition to chat and collaboration.
You can download the latest version of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops at the Citrix downloads site. (You'll need to sign in first.) The necessary components are bundled into the Citrix Workspace app (CWA) and Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) by default. You don't need to install any additional components or plugins on CWA or the VDA.
For the latest server and client requirements, see this Citrix website.
VMware Horizon Workspace and Desktop requirements
VMware Horizon is a modern platform for secure delivery of virtual desktops and apps across the hybrid cloud. To offer a great end-user experience, VMware Horizon provides media optimization for Teams. This optimization improves overall productivity across virtual desktops and apps, and enhances user experience when calling and meeting using Teams.
You can download the latest version of VMware Horizon from the VMware Downloads page. The required media optimization components are part of the Horizon Agent and Horizon Client by default and there's no need to install any additional plug-in to use the optimization feature for Teams.
To get the latest requirements and instructions on how to configure media optimization for Teams, see this VMware website.
Install or update the Teams desktop app on VDI
You can deploy the Teams desktop app for VDI using a per-machine installation or per-user installation using the MSI package. Deciding on which approach to use depends on whether you use a persistent or non-persistent setup and the associated functionality needs of your organization.
For a dedicated persistent setup, either approach would work. However, for a non-persistent setup, Teams requires a per-machine installation in order to work efficiently. See the Non-persistent setup section.
With per-machine installation, automatic updates is disabled. This means that to update the Teams app, you must uninstall the current version to update to a newer version. With per-user installation, automatic updates is enabled. For most VDI deployments, we recommend you deploy Teams using per-machine installation.
To update to the latest Teams version, start with the uninstall procedure followed by latest Teams version deployment.
For Teams AV optimization in VDI environments to work properly, the thin client endpoint must have access to the internet. If internet access isn't available at the thin client endpoint, optimization startup won't be successful. This means that the user is in a non-optimized media state.
Dedicated persistent setup
In a dedicated persistent setup, users' local operating system changes are retained after users log off. For persistent setup, Teams supports both per-user and per-machine installation.
The following is the recommended minimum VM configuration.
| Parameter | Workstation operating system | Server operating system |
|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 2 cores | 4,6, or 8 It's important to understand the underlying non-uniform memory access (NUMA) configuration and configure your VMs accordingly. |
| RAM | 4 GB | 512 to 1024 MB per user |
| Storage | 8 GB | 40 to 60 GB |
Non-persistent setup
In a non-persistent setup, users' local operating system changes are not retained after users log off. Such setups are commonly shared multi-user sessions. VM configuration varies based on the number of users and available physical box resources.
For a non-persistent setup, the Teams desktop app must be installed per-machine to the golden image. (To learn more, see the Install or update the Teams desktop app on VDI section.) This ensures an efficient launch of the Teams app during a user session.
Using Teams in a non-persistent setup also requires a profile-caching manager, for efficient Teams runtime data synchronization. Efficient data synchronization ensures that the appropriate user-specific information (such as a user's data, profile, or settings) is cached during the user's session. Make sure data in these two folders are synched:
- C:UsersusernameAppDataLocalMicrosoftIdentityCache (%localAppdata%MicrosoftIdentityCache)
- C:UsersusernameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftTeams (%appdata%MicrosoftTeams)
Note
A roaming folder (or, if you are using folder redirection, a caching manager) is required to ensure that the Teams app has the runtime data and files required to run the application. This is necessary to mitigate network latency issues or network glitches, which would otherwise cause application errors and a slow experience due to unavailable data and files.
There are a variety of caching manager solutions available. For example, FSLogix. Consult your caching manager provider for specific configuration instructions.
Teams cached content exclusion list for non-persistent setup
Exclude the following from the Teams caching folder, %appdata%/Microsoft/Teams. Excluding these items helps reduce the user caching size to further optimize your non-persistent setup.
- .txt files
- Media-stack folder
- meeting-addinCache (%appdata%MicrosoftTeamsmeeting-addinCache)
Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise considerations
Consider the following when you deploy Teams with Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise on VDI.
New deployments of Teams through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
Before you deploy Teams through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, you must first uninstall any pre-existing Teams apps if they were deployed using per-machine installation.
Teams through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise is installed per-user. To learn more, see the Install or update the Teams desktop app on VDI section.
Teams deployments through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise updates
Teams is also being added to existing installations of Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. Since Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise installs Teams per-user only, see the Install or update the Teams desktop app on VDI section.
Using Teams with per-machine installation and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise doesn't support per-machine installations of Teams. To use per-machine installation, you must exclude Teams from Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. See the Deploy the Teams desktop app to the VM and How to exclude Teams deployment through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise sections.
How to exclude Teams deployment through Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise
To learn more about Teams and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, see How to exclude Teams from new installations of Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and Use Group Policy to control the installation of Teams.
Deploy the Teams desktop app to the VM
Download the Teams MSI package that matches your VDI VM operating system using one of the following links:
Note
For government clouds, see Install Microsoft Teams using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager for the download links to the MSI files.
The minimum version of the Teams desktop app that's required is version 1.3.00.4461. (PSTN hold isn't supported in earlier versions.)
Install the MSI to the VDI VM by running one of the following commands:
Per-user installation (default)
This process is the default installation, which installs Teams to the %AppData% user folder. At this point, the golden image setup is complete. Teams won't work properly with per-user installation on a non-persistent setup.
Per-machine installation
This process installs Teams to the Program Files (x86) folder on a 64-bit operating system and to the Program Files folder on a 32-bit operating system. At this point, the golden image setup is complete. Installing Teams per-machine is required for non-persistent setups.
The next interactive logon session starts Teams and asks for credentials.
Note
These examples also use the ALLUSERS=1 parameter. When you set this parameter, Teams Machine-Wide Installer appears in Programs and Features in Control Panel and in Apps & features in Windows Settings for all users of the computer. All users can then uninstall Teams if they have admin credentials.It's important to understand the difference between ALLUSERS=1 and ALLUSER=1. The ALLUSERS=1 parameter can be used in non-VDI and VDI environments, while the ALLUSER=1 parameter is used only in VDI environments to specify a per-machine installation.
Uninstall the MSI from the VDI VM. There are two ways to uninstall Teams.
PowerShell script: You can use this PowerShell script to uninstall Teams and remove the Teams folder for a user. Run the script for each user profile in which Teams was installed on the computer.
Command line: Run the following command.
This process uninstalls Teams from the Program Files (x86) folder or Program Files folder, depending on the operating system environment.
Teams on VDI performance considerations
There are a variety of virtualized setup configurations, each with a different focus for optimization. For example, a configuration might focus on user density. When planning, consider the following to help optimize your setup based on your organization's workload needs.
- Minimum requirement: Some workloads might require a setup using resources that are above the minimum requirements. For example, workloads for developers who use applications that demand more computing resources.
- Dependencies: These include dependencies on infrastructure, workload, and other environmental considerations outside the Teams desktop app.
- Disabled features on VDI: Teams disables GPU-intensive features for VDI, which can help improve transient CPU utilization. The following features are disabled:
- Teams CSS animation
- Giphy auto-start
Teams on VDI with calling and meetings
In addition to chat and collaboration, Teams on VDI with calling and meetings is available with supported virtualization provider platforms. Supported features are based on the WebRTC media stack and virtualization provider implementation. The following diagram provides an overview of the architecture.
Important
If you currently run Teams without AV optimization in VDI and you use features that are not supported yet for optimization (such as Give and take control when app sharing), you have to set virtualization provider policies to turn off Teams redirection. This means that Teams media sessions won't be optimized. For steps on how to set policies to turn off Teams redirection, contact your virtualization provider.
Network requirements
We recommend that you evaluate your environment to identify any risks and requirements that can influence your overall cloud voice and video deployment. Use the Skype for Business Network Assessment Tool to test whether your network is ready for Teams.
To learn more about how to prepare your network for Teams, see Prepare your organization's network for Teams.
Migrate from Skype for Business on VDI to Teams on VDI
If you're migrating from Skype for Business on VDI to Teams on VDI, besides the differences between the two applications, there are some differences when VDI is also implemented. Some capabilities that aren't currently supported in Teams VDI that are in Skype for Business VDI are as follows:
- Per-platform policy to disable some AV features in VDI
- Give and take control when app sharing
- Screen share from chat without audio
- Simultaneous video and screen sharing send and receive
Teams on Chrome browser versus Teams desktop app for VDI
Teams on Chrome browser doesn't provide a replacement for the Teams desktop app for VDI with AV optimization. The chat and collaboration experience works as expected. When media is needed, there are some experiences that might not meet user expectations on the Chrome browser:
- The audio and video streaming experience might not be optimal. Users might experiences delays or reduced quality.
- Device settings aren't available in browser settings.
- Device management is handled through the browser and requires multiple settings in browser site settings.
- Device settings might also need to be set in Windows device management.
Teams on VDI with chat and collaboration
If your organization wants to only use chat and collaboration features in Teams, you can set user-level policies to turn off calling and meeting functionality in Teams.
Set policies to turn off calling and meeting functionality
You can set policies by using the Microsoft Teams admin center or PowerShell. It might take some time (a few hours) for the policy changes to propagate. If you don't see changes for a given account immediately, try again in a few hours.
Calling polices: Teams includes the built-in DisallowCalling calling policy, in which all calling features are turned off. Assign the DisallowCalling policy to all users in your organization who use Teams in a virtualized environment.
Meeting policies: Teams includes the built-in AllOff meeting policy, in which all meeting features are turned off. Assign the AllOff policy to all users in your organization who use Teams in a virtualized environment.
Assign policies using the Microsoft Teams admin center
To assign the DisallowCalling calling policy and the AllOff meeting policy to a user:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Users.
- Select the user by clicking to the left of the user name, and then click Edit settings.
- Do the following:
- Under Calling policy, click DisallowCalling.
- Under Meeting policy, click AllOff.
- Click Apply.
Citrix Workspace App 2008 For Windows Msi
To assign a policy to multiple users at a time:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Users, and then search for the users or filter the view to show the users you want.
- In the ✓ (check mark) column, select the users. To select all users, click the ✓ (check mark) at the top of the table.
- Click Edit settings, make the changes that you want, and then click Apply.
Or, you can also do the following:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to the policy you want to assign. For example:
- Go to Voice > Calling policies, and then click DisallowCalling.
- Go to Meetings > Meeting policies, and then click AllOff.
- Select Manage users.
- In the Manage users pane, search for the user by display name or by user name, select the name, and then click Add. Repeat this step for each user that you want to add.
- When you're finished adding users, click Save.
Assign policies using PowerShell
The following example shows how to use the Grant-CsTeamsCallingPolicy to assign the DisallowCalling calling policy to a user.
To learn more about using PowerShell to manage calling policies, see Set-CsTeamsCallingPolicy.
The following example shows how to use the Grant-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy to assign the AllOff meeting policy to a user.
To learn more about using PowerShell to manage meeting policies, see Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy.
Migrate Teams on VDI with chat and collaboration to optimize Teams with calling and meetings
If you have an existing implementation of Teams on VDI with chat and collaboration in which you had set user-level policies to turn off calling and meeting functionality, and you're migrating to Teams with AV optimization, you must set policies to turn on calling and meeting functionality for those Teams on VDI users.
Set policies to turn on calling and meeting functionality
You can use the Microsoft Teams admin center or PowerShell to set and assign calling and meeting policies to your users. It can take some time (a few hours) for policy changes to propagate. If you don't see changes for a given account immediately, try again after a few hours.
Calling polices: Calling policies in Teams control which calling features are available to users. Teams includes the built-in AllowCalling calling policy, in which all calling features are turned on. To turn on all calling features, assign the AllowCalling policy. Or, create a custom calling policy to turn on the calling features that you want and assign it to users.
Meeting policies: Meeting policies in Teams control the types of meetings that users can create and the features that are available to meeting participants that are scheduled by users in your organization. Teams includes the built-in AllOn meeting policy, in which all meeting features are turned on. To turn on all meeting features, assign the AllOn policy. Or, create a custom meeting policy to turn on the meeting features that you want and assign it users.
Assign policies using the Microsoft Teams admin center
Citrix Workspace App Msi Download
To assign the AllowCalling calling policy and the AllOn meeting policy to a user:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Users.
- Select the user by clicking to the left of the user name, and then click Edit settings.
- Do the following:
- Under Calling policy, click AllowCalling.
- Under Meeting policy, click AllOn.
- Click Apply.
To assign a policy to multiple users at a time:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Users, and then search for the users or filter the view to show the users you want.
- In the ✓ (check mark) column, select the users. To select all users, click the ✓ (check mark) at the top of the table.
- Click Edit settings, make the changes that you want, and then click Apply.
Or, you can also do the following:
- In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to the policy you want to assign. For example:
- Go to Voice > Calling policies, and then click AllowCalling.
- Go to Meetings > Meeting policies, and then click AllOn.
- Select Manage users.
- In the Manage users pane, search for the user by display name or by user name, select the name, and then click Add. Repeat this step for each user that you want to add.
- When you're finished adding users, click Save.
Assign policies using PowerShell
The following example shows how to use the Grant-CsTeamsCallingPolicy to assign the AllowCalling calling policy to a user.
To learn more about using PowerShell to manage calling policies, see Set-CsTeamsCallingPolicy.
The following example shows how to use the Grant-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy to assign the AllOn meeting policy to a user.
To learn more about using PowerShell to manage meeting policies, see Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy.
Control fallback mode in Teams
When users connect from an unsupported endpoint, the users are in fallback mode, in which AV isn't optimized. You can disable or enable fallback mode by setting one of the following registry DWORD values:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftTeamsDisableFallback
- HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftOfficeTeamsDisableFallback
To disable fallback mode, set the value to 1. To enable audio only, set the value to 2. If the value isn't present or is set to 0 (zero), fallback mode is enabled.
This feature is available in Teams version 1.3.00.13565 and later.
Known issues and limitations
Client deployment, installation, and setup
- With per-machine installation, Teams on VDI isn't automatically updated in the way that non-VDI Teams clients are. You have to update the VM image by installing a new MSI as described in the Install or update the Teams desktop app on VDI section. You must uninstall the current version to update to a newer version.
- In Citrix environments, if the user disconnects from the Virtual Machine while Teams is running, Teams updates can result in the user to be in a non-optimized state for AV when they reconnect. We recommend that users quit Teams before they disconnect from Citrix Virtual Machine to avoid this scenario.
- Teams should be deployed either per user or per machine. Deployment of Teams for concurrent per user and per machine is not supported. To migrate from either per machine or per user to one of these modes, follow the uninstall procedure and redeploy to either mode.
- Windows Virtual Desktop and VMware don't support MacOS and Linux-based clients at this time.
Calling and meetings
The following calling and meeting features are not supported:
- Any multi-window functionality like the new meeting experiences or any functionality that comes with the new meeting experience
- Enhanced emergency services
- HID buttons and LED controls between the Teams app and devices
- Background blur and effects
- Broadcast and live event producer and presenter roles
- Location-Based Routing (LBR)
- Call park
- Call queue
- Shared system audio/computer sound
- Media bypass for Direct Routing
- Zoom control
Note
We're working on adding calling and meeting features that are currently only available in non-VDI environments. These might include more admin control over quality, additional screen sharing scenarios, and advanced features recently added to Teams. Contact your Teams representative to learn more about upcoming features.
The following are known issues and limitations for calling and meetings:
- Interoperability with Skype for Business is limited to audio calls; there is no video modality.
- Only a single incoming video stream is supported in meetings or group calls. When multiple people send video, only the dominant speaker's video is shown at any given time.
- Incoming and outgoing video stream resolution is limited to 720p resolution. This is a WebRTC limitation.
- Only one video stream from an incoming camera or screen share stream is supported. When there's an incoming screen share, that screen share is shown, instead of the video of the dominant speaker.
- Teams doesn't switch to use the last audio device that a user selected, if the device is disconnected, and then reconnected.
- Outgoing screen sharing:
- Application sharing is not supported.
- Give control and take control:
- Not supported during a screen sharing or application sharing session.
- Supported during a PowerPoint sharing session.
- Citrix-only limitations
- When screen sharing in a multi-monitor setup, only the main monitor is shared.
- High DPI scaling on CWA is not supported.
For Teams known issues that aren't related to VDI, see Support Teams in your organization.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshoot Citrix components
Teams crashes or the Teams sign in screen is blank
This is a known issue with Citrix VDA versions 1906 and 1909. To work around this issue, add the following registry DWORD value, and set it to 204 (hexadecimal).
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixCtxHookAppInit_DllsSfrHookTeams.exe
Then, restart VDA. To learn more, see this Citrix support article, Troubleshooting HDX optimization for Teams.
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