Best practice how to launch RES PowerFuse / RES WSM published Desktop

** Updated 19-01-2012
Last weeks we have seen more empty desktops started: no start menu, no desktop icons, only a file explorer is started.
Again: all solved by using this best practice.

I’ve updated the solution a bit more detailed.

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Regularly we have discussions with IT Admins about how to launch a remote desktop. For RDP desktops there is not much discussion, only one taste available: Full Screen. This rules!!

Most discussion are about Citrix published Desktops. The Citrix client is in general leading in how a published application is started, many IT admins don’t know this or are not able to control this end point setting.
RES WSM (Workspace Manager) Console offers a button to automatically publish a Desktop, the only ‘but’ about this one is that this is a Published Application which starts actually a desktop (this is not bad, but there is a better way to do).
This is where issues begin, the possibility to launch this desktop in Seamless mode can cause taskbar issues, dual-screen issues, application issues, etc.

The real Citrix published ‘Server Desktop’ will only launch in Full Screen mode!
This is centainly not accidentally.

A short summary of issues found in our job by the way of launching the RES WSM desktop by a Published Application, Seamless or even in Full Screen mode:

• When using RES VDX applications within a Published RES WSM Desktop, RES VDX applications might minimize when using them
• When using the (P)Explorer accessing a DFS Share in a RES WSM published Desktop, where the RES WSM Shell is in use, the (P)Eplorer can hang for 30 seconds
• Published RES WSM Desktop is not always launched correctly, an ICA/RDS Desktop is launched instead, despite a correctly configured published desktop
• Applications within a RES WSM published desktop might show partly behind the session taskbar, this might be caused by incorrect ICA client settings.
• Dual screen configurations might show strange behavior with the taskbar, also related to incorrect ICA client settings.
• Citrix EdgeSight might complain about PFWSMGR.exe. In most cases this is due to the fact that PFWSMGR.exe is started as Initial Program. This can cause performance issues.
• Some applications require explorer.exe set as shell, else the application will fail to launch or particular functions will not behave as expected. This is not in place using a published application.
• The Citrix Desktop Viewer does not recognize a RES WSM published desktop, as this is a regular published application, and not a Citrix published ServerDesktop
• Sometimes, when launching applications within the RES WSM published desktop, applications will not be displayed on top

All these issues were solved by using the following way to launch the Desktop.

1. Create a Citrix Server Desktop application within Citrix Services Delivery Console to be launched by the users:

2. Place the Terminal Servers within one OU (do not place users in the same OU)

3. Define the following GPO at the Terminal Server’s OU:
* set “%RESPFDIR%\pfwsmgr.exe” at
User Configuration > Administrative Templates >
System > Custom User Interface

* Enable
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates >
System > Group Policy > User Group policy loopback processing mode

4. Exclude Administrators from applying this GPO.
- Goto Delegation > Advanced
- Set Deny at Apply Group Policy for Administrators