Hey folks. I am going to write a series of blog posts which go through the installation and configuration of Citrix  Workspace Environment Manager 1909 (Citrix WEM).   I must admit I haven’t really used this product much in production so I am looking forward to exploring the features that it provides.

So what does it actually do???  There are 2 main functions of Citrix WEM:

Resource Management

Citrix WEM monitors and analyses user and application behaviour and then adjusts the RAM, CPU & I/O on the server.  This can be especially useful on a Citrix Apps & Desktops deployment where we have multiple users logged onto the same servers.

Profile Management

Citrix WEM replaces common GPO settings which are configured in the console and the changes are applied only when required. This ensures that users have a faster logon experience as they don’t have to wait for GPO settings to be applied. 

So now that we know what it is let’s get on with the installation.  You can get the download files from here:

https://www.citrix.com/downloads/citrix-virtual-apps-and-desktops/components/workspace-environment-management-1909.html

A list of the pre-reqs can be found here – https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/workspace-environment-management/current-release/system-requirements.html

Install the Infrastructure services

1) Once you have downloaded the installation files the first thing we need to do is to deploy the WEM Infrastructure Services.

2) Click Install to install the pre-reqs

3) Once the pre-reqs have been installed we can continue to the main installation

4) Accept the license agreement and select Next

5) To install all the features select Complete and select Next

6) The installation can now begin. Select Install to begin the installation.

After a few minutes the installation should complete successfully.  Now we need to configure the database

Database Configuration

OK so now that we have performed the installation we now need to create the database that will be used by WEM.  You need at minimum SQL Server 2008 R2. 

1) Launch the database configuration utility and select Create Database from the menu

2) Select Next to begin the database creation process

3) Now we need to enter the SQL Server details. On the Server section enter the name of your SQL Server and enter the Database Name which you want the database to be called.

4) Now we need to enter the name of an AD Group which will be assigned Full Administrative rights to configure and manage the environment. This can either ben an existing AD Group or you can create a new one. I chose to create a new AD Group specifically for WEM Management.

5) The next screen is a summary screen. Once you are happy with all the settings select Create Database.

6)  The database should be created successfully

WEM Infrastructure Service Configuration

Now that we have WEM installed and the database configured we now need to configure the service so when we connect to the server it knows which database to connect to.

1) Launch the service configuration and enter the details you configured earlier.  Click on Save Configuration. This will be the Database server and the database name. After doing this the service will be restarted.

Console connection

1) You need to install the console before you can use it.  After the console has been installed enter the server name that you have installed WEM on and select Connect.

2) If everything is working as it should be then you should be connected to the console successfully. At the bottom of the screen you should see a green tick box showing a successfully connection and the bottom right the current access rights that you have.

That’s it for this post! In the next post we will the agent onto a Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops server and tweak some profile settings.