How do I classify Citrix published applications when running Seamless Windows?

Products

• PacketShaper

Issue/Introduction

Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 clients can be configured with different display modes:

• Each published application uses a separate TCP connection ("Percent of Screen Size" and "Full Screen" display modes). PacketWise properly classifies each published application in the appropriate class. For example, if a user runs Microsoft Word, Microsoft Exchange, and PeopleSoft, the traffic will be classified into the appropriate Citrix child classes: Citrix-Word, Citrix-Exchange, and Citrix-PeopleSoft.
• All published applications run over a single TCP session ("Seamless Windows" display mode). PacketWise classifies all applications under the first application that was run. For example, if a user runs Microsoft Word, Microsoft Exchange, and PeopleSoft, all of the traffic will be classified into the Citrix-Word class.

This article explains a workaround to classify published applications when running Seamless Windows.

Resolution

It is possible to configure the Citrix MetaFrame server to utilize multiple TCP sessions for each published application that a client station is running. This feature is available with Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 with Service Pack 1 installed. The following Windows NT Registry string value entry needs to be created on the Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 server:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Citrix\Wfshell\TWI\SeamlessFlags = 1

With the above configuration, Citrix published application traffic will be correctly classified by PacketWise, allowing you to set unique QoS policies on each application running over Citrix.