System Requirements, licensing and performance for Autodesk Citrix Ready products

In the previous post I mentioned that AutoCAD 2012 and Revit 2012 are Citrix Ready.

KB document TS16785740 has this info:

System Requirements for Autodesk Citrix Ready products

Issue

You wish to know the system requirements for Autodesk products that can be used on Citrix XenApp.

Solution

Revit Architecture, MEP, and Structural 2012:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Citrix system with XenApp® 6.0, Citrix® License Manager, and Citrix® Profile Manager.
• Microsoft® Active Directory with support for roaming profiles.
• Dedicated Autodesk license server for session-specific licenses.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (or later).
• Client computers should be bound to the network domain. Each client computer should install either the full or web online client plug-in.
• Users should use their domain logins to access both the Citrix web console and the LAN.

AutoCAD 2012 and other Citrix Ready verticals:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2003.
• Citrix system with XenApp® 6.0 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Citrix system with XenApp® 5.0 for Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
• Microsoft® Active Directory.
• Dedicated Autodesk license server for session-specific licenses.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (or later).
• Client computers should be bound to the network domain. Each client computer should install either the full or web online client plug-in.
• Users should use their domain logins to access both the Citrix web console and the LAN.

AutoCAD Map 3D and AutoCAD Map 3D Enterprise 2012:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2003.
• Citrix system with XenApp® 6.0 for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2.
• Citrix system with XenApp® 5.0 for Microsoft Windows Server 2003.
• Microsoft® Active Directory.
• Dedicated Autodesk license server for session-specific licenses.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (or later).
• Client computers should be bound to the network domain. Each client computer should install either the full or web online client plug-in.
• Users should use their domain logins to access both the Citrix web console and the LAN.

KB document TS16785782 has this info:

Licensing and license file format for Autodesk products on Citrix XenApp

Issue

You wish to know the requirements for licensing with Autodesk Citrix Ready versions of AutoCAD and Autodesk Revit.

Solution

Note: Using Autodesk Citrix Ready products requires the purchase of a special license. Contact your Autodesk Authorized Reseller to inquire about purchasing this license.

A separate network license server is required for Autodesk products on Citrix XenApp. The reasons for this are:

• The license is a session specific license. More detail for this will be discussed below.
• There is no special installer for the Citrix versions of Autodesk products. Therefore they use the same feature name in the licensing system.
• Licenses cannot be allowed to cascade.

You can identify a license file as session specific by reviewing the key words in the INCREMENT. Regular network license files contain the DUP_GROUP key word. Session specific licenses do not.

As an example this INCREMENT for AutoCAD Map 3D 2011 does not contain a DUP_GROUP key word. It is therefore a license for only the Citrix environment. Each license is checked out for each session.

INCREMENT 85557MAP_2011_0F adskflex 1.000 permanent 5 \
VENDOR_STRING=commercial:permanent SUPERSEDE ISSUED=09-Mar-2010 \
SN=399-99999999 SIGN="1A7D ABCD B4EC CA97 E4AD 0AF2 0D95 3399 \
B51C 18F7 BB46 9ACA C19A F63E D42D 1E39 28F6 94C3 84B0 23E8 \
E314 3D97 E77E8 3F68 58DE 8C79 C0C3 0EF8 23B5 623D" SIGN2="02B6 \
5026 DBDA 268F DAC3 50E7 0A6A BD82 6A5C C926 B368 5DD2 5923 \
654E C5DD FFFF 1DD3 511B 66C1 0EF3 88FA 9667 7B43 57ED 08BC \
C699 4DD4 F866 9A99 665E"

As an example this INCREMENT for AutoCAD 2012 does have the DUP_GROUP key word. One license is checked out for the host. This license will prevent license usage for multiple users on the same host and is NOT to be used for the Citrix environment.

INCREMENT 85730ACD_2012_0F adskflex 1.000 permanent 5 \
VENDOR_STRING= commercial:permanent SUPERSEDE DUP_GROUP=UH \
ISSUED=29-Mar-2011 BORROW=4320 SN=399-99999999 SIGN="ABCD 8D3A \
94EA FFFF DE0D AF7C 77EC 9DB8 9695 A204 9229 C136 49EB 5423 \
82EB 11E3 FFFF 1DC0 917B 0FC0 B4F0 5555 8639 1F7C CCCC D20C \
DDDD C61D B7A3 AAAA" SIGN2="0808 DDDD B42B 030B AE34 42A5 4DD2 \
5FC3 0000 D699 AC7D 275C 9BEB 36A7 E993 1075 F3F8 3F17 5654 \
CB24 903E 7777 6897 71A8 3A41 A220 FA8A 57D6 4AB7 FDFD"

For installation and configuration steps refer to the Single server network license manager quick start guide solution.

KB document TS16755552 has this info:

AutoCAD Performance Recommendations for Citrix XenApp

Issue

You wish to know what user interface components most impact the user experience in the Citrix XenApp environment.
You wish to know recommended configurations to improve performance.

Solution

Tooltips

ToolTips and rollover ToolTips significantly impact performance when running AutoCAD on Citrix XenApp. We recommend that you disable ToolTips and rollover ToolTips. To disable ToolTips and rollover ToolTips, click Application menu button > Options. On the Display tab of the Options dialog box, clear the checkmarks for Show ToolTips and Show rollover ToolTips. You can also reset the TOOLTIPS and ROLLOVERTIPS sysvars to 0 at the command line.

Dynamic Input

Dynamic Input significantly impacts performance when running AutoCAD on Citrix XenApp. We recommend that you disable Dynamic Input. To disable Dynamic Input, right-click the Dynamic Input icon on the Map Status Bar or enter DSETTINGS at the command prompt. On the Dynamic Input tab of the Drafting Settings dialog box, clear the checkmarks for Enable Pointer Input, Enable Dimension Input where possible, and Show command prompting and command input near the crosshairs. You can also hide the Dynamic Input icon by right clicking on it and clearing the check next to Display > Dynamic Input.

Selection Preview

Selection Preview significantly impacts performance when running AutoCAD on Citrix XenApp. We recommend that you disable Selection Preview when no command is active. To disable Selection Preview when no command is active, click Application menu button > Options. On the Selection tab of the Options dialog box, clear the checkmark for When no command is active. You can also reset the SELECTIONPREVIEW sysvar to 2 at the command line.

AutoCAD 2012 and Revit 2012 are Citrix Ready

JTB FlexReport can be used to monitor license usage of Autodesk Citrix Ready products.