Have you ever tried to access Citrix applications from Ubuntu PC? Is it possible? Yes! Citrix has a Workspace application (previously the Citrix Receiver Ubuntu client) for Linux Ubuntu, where you can access Citrix resources.
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to install the Citrix Workspace application and access Citrix applications both via a web browser and the Citrix Workspace app directly.
Let’s get started!
Prerequisites
This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. If you’d like to follow along, be sure you have the following:
- A fully configured Citrix site joined to Active Directory – This tutorial demonstrates a local environment reachable at the https://storefront.homelab.local URL to connect to the Citrix environment. Your Citrix site may be located at a different URL.
- Linux Ubuntu PC with version 18 or later – This tutorial uses Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS version.
- Active Directory (AD) user account – This tutorial uses an AD account named user01 for accessing Citrix applications.
Downloading and Installing the Citrix Receiver Ubuntu Client (Citrix Workspace App)
Initially, when Citrix came up with software to access Citrix applications, they named it Citrix Receiver. But in the newer versions, they renamed Citrix Receiver to Citrix Workspace and added new features.
To access Citrix applications on a Citrix site, download and install the Citrix Workspace application first on your PC.
1. On your favorite browser, navigate to the Citrix Downloads page.
2. Scroll down to the Available Downloads section and click on Debian Packages → Full packages (Self-Service Support) option.
3. Under the Citrix Workspace app for Linux (x86_64) section, click on the Download file button. Doing so allows you to download the Citrix Workspace deb file to your PC.
If you have a 32-bit OS version, click on the Download file button under the Citrix Workspace app for Linux (x86) section instead.
4. Now open your terminal and run the commands below to navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Citrix Workspace app and install it. Enter your sudo password, if not running as the root user (recommended to not run as root), and hit enter to install the Citrix Workspace application on your PC.
Citrix applies fixes for any identified issues and adds new features in new releases, so be sure to enter the correct version of the app that you downloaded when you run the commands below.
# Use cd to change to the directory where the Citrix Workspace application downloaded
cd Downloads/
# Install the Citrix Workspace app with the dpkg command
sudo dpkg -i icaclient_21.8.0.40_amd64.deb5. Select either yes or no for the app protection option shown below based on your Citrix site’s configuration in the pop-up window. With app protection policies, Citrix Workspace protects your data from keylogging and screenshot capturing.
For this tutorial, select no as there are no keylogging or screenshot capturing features enabled in the Citrix site used in this tutorial. Select Ok and hit the space bar.
Selecting yes installs the files needed for keylogging and screenshot capturing, which Citrix admins can enable or disable in the future when needed.
Below, you can see the completed Citrix Workspace app installation.
Accessing Citrix Applications Through a Web Browser
There are different ways you can access Citrix applications and desktops you have access to but first focus on accessing Citrix applications via web browser first.
1. On your web browser, navigate to your company’s Citrix URL. This tutorial uses the https://storefront.homelab.local URL to access the Citrix applications. Click on the Detect Receiver button to start the Citrix Receiver software detection process.
2. In the popup window, check the Always allow Citrix URL to open receiver links box to ensure all Citrix resources open the application you choose without any prompt. Click Choose Application to choose the default application to use when accessing all Citrix URLs in the future.
3. Now select the Citrix Workspace Launcher from the list shown below, and check the box which says Always use this application to open receiver links. As a result, each time you access a Citrix URL, the Citrix Workspace Launcher detects whether Citrix Workspace is installed on your PC or not.
Click Open Link to open the https://storefront.homelab.local link on your web browser.
If the browser doesn’t start the Workspace app detection, click on the Already installed link, as shown below.
4. After the Workspace app detection is complete, log on to the Workspace app, as shown below. Enter your Active Directory credentials, homelab\user01 in this example, and click Log On.
5. In the Citrix Workspace app, click the APPS menu item to see all available applications and desktops. In this example shown below, user01 has access to four Citrix applications.
6. Now click on an application to launch it, in this example, the Calculator.
If you are shown a prompt like the one below, make sure you select Citrix Workspace Engine. Enable the Do this automatically for files like this from now on option, and click OK. Doing so tells your browser to open Citrix applications via Citrix Workspace Engine by default.
7. Finally, click on Accept to agree on the end-user license agreement (EULA), and the Citrix application (Calculator) will open.
Accepting the EULA is a one-time process when you open a Citrix application for the first time.
Accessing Citrix Apps within the Citrix Workspace App
You’ve seen how to launch Citrix applications through a web browser so far. But next look at how to access Citrix applications via the Citrix Workspace application directly.
1. In your Ubuntu PC, search Workspace and click on the Citrix Workspace application.
2. On the pop-up window, enter your Citrix URL and click on Add. This tutorial uses the http://storefront.homelab.local URL.
If you end up in a certificate issue with an SSL error when you enter your company’s Citrix URL, follow the steps given in the KnowCitrix.com article.
3. Now enter your Active Directory username and password and click Log On.
Like accessing Citrix Workspace through a web browser, you’ll see all the applications and desktops you have access to, as shown below.
Uninstalling the Citrix Workspace App
If the Citrix Workspace app doesn’t serve a purpose anymore, just uninstall it from your PC. Uninstalling the Citrix Workspace app is the same as uninstalling any other software on Ubuntu PC.
Run the below command on your terminal to remove icaclient (Citrix Workspace) from your PC. The -y flag tells the command to accept any prompts automatically when you run the command. Enter your admin password when prompted to proceed with running the command.
sudo apt-get remove icaclient -yPerhaps you want to remove leftover files along with the Citrix Workspace app. If so, then replace the
removeoption with thepurgeoption, like so:sudo apt-get purge icaclient -y
Conclusion
In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to install and properly launch Citrix applications both via web browser and the Citrix Workspace Ubuntu client (previously the Citrix Receiver Ubuntu client) application directly.
Out of the two ways, would you turn to a web browser or the Citrix Workspace app to access your Citrix resources?
