Having a preconfigured AppCenter Console makes life a bit easier for the XenApp Admins but is essential if you need to provide support staff access to the XenApp farm to carry out session termination, shadowing, etc.

To avoid running through the AppCenter discover wizard each time you can create a custom MMC snap-in that already has the settings you require:

  • Log onto a XenApp server (that has AppCenter installed)
  • Run mmc.exe /32  (The AppCenter MMC snap-in is 32Bit – it won’t appear in the options if you try to load it into a default 64Bit mmc.exe)

MMC 1

  • Click File-Add/Remove Snap-in

MMC snap-in 1

  • Select Citrix AppCenter, click Add then click OK
  • Right click on Citrix AppCenter and select New Window from here

MMC snap-in 2

  • Enable Skip this screen in the future

Config AppCenter discovery 1

  • Adjust components as required

Config AppCenter discovery 2

  • Add LOCALHOST (Means that the console will discover the XenApp farm irrespective what server it’s opened on. Needless to say it won’t work if you use it on a non-XenApp server).

Config AppCenter discovery 3

  • Enable Close this wizard when discovery is successful

Config AppCenter discovery 4

  • Edit the console as required – customise the View settings to remove menus that aren’t needed etc.

MMC 2

  • Adjust the Options – add a name for the console, add an icon, make read only, etc

MMC 3

  • Then click File-Save As to save the .msc file somewhere accessible to all users

(File-Save will write to local profile (%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools which you’re likely to lose at logoff if you’re not retaining user profiles).