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Citrix CC-VAD-CC study materials
Citrix CC-VAD-CC study resources

Citrix CC-VAD-CC: Machine Catalogs and Delivery Groups

Citrix CC-VAD-CC · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Machine Catalogs and Delivery Groups

Catalog decisions

The creation wizard asks, in order: OS type (multi-session for RDS-style hosts, single-session for VDI, or Remote PC Access), provisioning method (MCS, PVS, existing machines), master image and snapshot, machine size and count, AD account naming, and assignment. Assignment is where most marks are lost:

  • Random (pooled): any entitled user can land on any machine; users get a clean machine at each logon unless session roaming is configured.
  • Static (dedicated): each machine is bound to a user or group, and changes persist. Assignment is fixed at creation. You cannot convert a static catalog to random in place-build a new catalog and delivery group and reassign users.

Delivery groups

A delivery group presents desktops and/or applications, entitlement (AD users and groups), StoreFront association, access policy, and power management. All machines in a delivery group come from a single catalog. Applications can be published from the same multi-session machines that deliver desktops. Power schedules (peak/off-peak, disconnect and idle timers, shutdown delay) apply to hosted machines, not to Remote PC Access.

Maintenance mode drains a machine: existing sessions continue, new connections do not. Use it before image changes.

Updating images

For MCS, snapshot the updated master, then run a catalog update; the rollout can be gradual and rolled back. Only new or reset machines receive the new image until the update is applied to existing machines, because difference disks preserve per-machine state.

Worked example. 150 task workers plus 40 developers. Task workers: multi-session, MCS, random assignment, powered off at night. Developers: single-session, static, never powered off. Two catalogs, two delivery groups, two AD groups. If a developer later needs a pooled desktop, that is a second catalog-not a catalog edit.

Traps

  • Trying to delete a catalog that still supplies a delivery group; remove machines from the group first.
  • Assuming a machine can be in two catalogs or two delivery groups.
  • Expecting a master image update to change already-running machines automatically.
  • Forgetting that removing a machine from a delivery group does not necessarily delete its AD account-decide deliberately.