This article demonstrates the steps for setting up Citrix User Profiles using Citrix FSLogix. If you are utilizing UPM, you can configure user profiles by referring to the blog post titled How to Setup Citrix User Profiles using Citrix UPM.
To minimize network load and enhance the user logon process, consider redirecting user profile folders, such as Documents, Downloads, Desktop, Pictures, etc., to a network share. For guidance on configuring Folder Redirection for Citrix user profiles, refer to the blog post titled “How to Set Up Folder Redirection in Citrix“.
For those interested in using OneDrive for folder redirection of Windows known folders, please refer to the blog post titled “Move Windows Known Folders to OneDrive Using Intune“.
FSLogix enhances and enables user profiles in Windows remote computing environments. It serves as a user profile management solution in Citrix environments. Another alternative for user profile management is Citrix UPM. However, if you are operating in a Citrix and Office 365 environment, FSLogix is often considered the preferred choice. Now, let’s explore the steps to configure FSLogix.
Table of Contents
Step 1 – Create FSLogix Profile Container
Begin by creating an FSLogix Profile Container or a shared folder on a file server where FSLogix user profiles will be stored. FSLogix user profiles are typically stored in a file with a .vhd or .vhdx file extension.
You can establish a shared folder with share permissions and NTFS permissions, following a configuration similar to the one outlined in my other blog post: “How to Set Up Folder Redirection in Citrix“. After creating the shared folder, copy the UNC path, as it will be utilized during the configuration of FSLogix policies.
I have created a folder named ‘fslogix_ctx_profiles‘ for storing user profiles and configured both share and NTFS permissions [Follow Step 1]. Ensure the folder is accessible using the UNC Path (using \\ notation).
Step 2 – Download and Install FSLogix Agent on Citrix VDA
- Download the FSLogix Agent from https://aka.ms/fslogix_download and follow the screenshots below to install the agent. Install this agent on each Citrix VDA server. After downloading the agent, extract its contents to a folder.
- Right-click on FSLogixAppsSetup and select “Run as administrator“. The installation of FSLogix is straightforward; follow the wizard to install the agent on the Citrix VDA server or Citrix Session host server.
Step 3 – Configure FSLogix User Profile Settings
While you can create FSLogix User Profile settings directly in the Windows Registry on a Citrix VDA server, it is strongly recommended to leverage the Active Directory Group Policy for the configuration and application of FSLogix settings on Citrix VDA servers. This approach ensures easier deployment, centralized management, and consistency across the environment.
Locate the FSLogix Administrative Template (.admx) file in the downloaded agent folder. Import both the .admx and .adml files on your domain controller and use them to configure FSLogix user profile settings.
After importing the FSLogix Administrative Templates, you can configure the same settings that would be configured in the registry through the Group Policy Object. I will be configuring the Registry Entries using the Windows registry.
Create the below registry Entries under the registry path: HKLM\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Profiles (create the Profiles registry key if it does not exist).
- VHDLocations and Enabled Registry Entries are the minimum required settings for FSLogix to work.
- VHDLocations – specify the shared folder where FSLogix User profiles will be stored (MULTI_SZ is used if you have more than one path to for High Availablity).
- Enabled – Setting this to 1 will enable FSLogix Profile Containers.
| Registry Entry | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| VHDLocations | MULTI_SZ or REG_SZ | \\tp-dc1\fslogix_ctx_profiles |
| Enabled | DWORD | 1 |
You can create the following additional Registry Entries to optimize FSLogix:
- Create an additional Registry Entry named “VolumeType” (REG_SZ) and set its value to “vhdx“. This ensures that the profile containers are created with the vhdx file extension. VHDX disks are more optimized than VHD. For more information on VHDX files, you can refer to the link: VHDX Overview.
- Create a Registry Entry named “DeleteLocalProfileWhenVHDShouldApply” with a REG_DWORD type and set its value to 1. This configuration will permanently delete the local profile on the Citrix VDA if it exists for the user, allowing the use of the FSLogix profile.
- Create a Registry Entry named “SizeInMBs” with a REG_DWORD type and set its value to a number accepted as MBs. The default value is 30000 (30GB), representing the maximum allowed size of the user profile.
- You can modify this value to increase the capacity of the user profile. For instance, to update the user profile maximum size limit to 50GB, set this value to 50000 (50GB). It’s essential to note that exceeding this limit may result in issues or errors during user logon.
- Create a Registry Entry named “IsDynamic” with a REG_DWORD type and set its value to 1. This configuration ensures that the VHDX file is not allocated with space set in SizeinMBs all at once. If IsDynamic is set to 1, the FSLogix user profile will use the minimum space required on the disk and can grow up to the value set in SizeinMBs.
- Create a Registry Entry named “FlipFlopProfileDirectoryName” with a REG_DWORD type and set its value to 1. When set to ‘1’, the SID folder is created as “%username%%sid%” instead of the default “%sid%%username%”. This setting has the same effect as setting SIDDirNamePattern = “%username%%sid%” and SIDDirNameMatch = “%username%%sid%”.
| Registry Entry | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|
| VolumeType | REG_SZ | vhdx |
| DeleteLocalProfileWhenVHDShouldApply | REG_DWORD | 1 |
| SizeInMBs | REG_DWORD | 30000 (30GB) |
| IsDynamic | REG_DWORD | 1 |
| FlipFlopProfileDirectoryName | REG_DWORD | 1 |
To expedite the creation of the registry keys, you can copy the following registry entries, paste them into a notepad, and save the file with a .reg extension. After saving the file, double-click on it to import these registry entries.
| FSLogix_Reg_Keys_File.reg |
|---|
| Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Profiles] “VHDLocations”=”\\\\tp-dc1\\fslogix_ctx_profiles” “VolumeType”=”vhdx” “Enabled”=dword:00000001 “DeleteLocalProfileWhenVHDShouldApply”=dword:00000001 “SizeInMBs”=dword:00030000 “IsDynamic”=dword:00000001 “FlipFlopProfileDirectoryName”=dword:00000001 |
Exclude Users from FSLogix Profile
By default, when you install the FSLogix Agent on the server, four local groups are automatically created. To locate these groups, follow these steps: Click on Start -> Type Run -> Type compmgmt.msc -> System Tools -> Local Users and Computers -> Groups.
By default, Everyone is added to the FSLogix Profile Include List and FSLogix ODFC Include List Group. You can add users or AD Security groups to the FSLogix Profile Exclude List and FSLogix ODFC Exclude List to exclude users from FSLogix or to prevent FSLogix settings from being applied.
If you want to manage the Office container separately, then add the users to the FSLogix ODFC Exclude group only, as Office containers store Microsoft Office-specific settings.
The following screenshot displays the FSLogix groups created on the Citrix VDA server.
How to Verify If FSLogix is Working?
Now, the configuration of FSLogix user profiles is complete. Once the user logs in to Citrix, their profile folder will be created under the fslogix_ctx_profiles folder. You can open the folder and find the user’s profile with a .vhdx extension file, which represents the FSLogix user profile.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have explored how to configure FSLogix User Profiles. FSLogix user profiles are easy to set up and should be employed when working with non-persistent devices where users do not have a dedicated device for logging in. Examples of such environments include Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, etc.
