I had the pleasure of setting up Apple's new iPad to a customer's Citrix environment recently. To say the experience was quick, to the point, and got us quickly and securely accessing the apps would be an understatement.

Here's how you can do the same for your organization.

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In this case, we were setting up <a title="iPAD 3G" href="http://www.apple.com/ipad/3g/">Apple's 3G iPad</a> to a Citrix a highly available Citrix XenApp 4.5 Enterprise Edition farm utilizing SQL 2005, which is fronted by a 3.2 Citrix Secure Gateway, and Citrix Web Interface version 5.3.

 

To get the iPad ready we had to download and install the new Citrix iPad Receiver and for those that don't know the <strong>Citrix Receiver 1.1</strong> is a single auto-updating client that provides users with fast, secure, and above all else an easy point of entry for applications. The accessibility bar just got raised. Users can access any XenApp hosted application with ease just like they would if they were at their PC. Setting the iPad receiver is really just a couple questions.

The Name you want to call it (insert company name here), input your network username, password and citrix web interface address (input everything to the right of the ":" and you're on your way). Save it, but before you connect make sure you have configured the Secure Gateway/Web Interface.
<ul>
	<li>Open the Citrix Web Interface Managment console</li>
	<li>Create a new XenApp Services Site</li>
	<li>Configure the PNAgent Server Farm Properties</li>
	<li>Under Farm Properties add in the Citrix XenApp servers that host your applications</li>
	<li>Set the Secure Access setting to Gateway Direct</li>
	<li>Ensure Authentication Point is At Web Interface and set to Prompts</li>
	<li>Confirm and save settings</li>
	<li>Proceed back to the iPad and click connect. At this point if all settings are online, configured correctly, you should be on your way.</li>
</ul>
 

The iPad I used connected in very fast, and we demo'd the unit by accessing the Published Desktop. We opened secure documents, successfully ran the customer's primary line of business application, and even ran a Crystal Report. Overall the setup, authentication and application experience was very easy and a joy. I especially liked finding the speed of access faster if not on par with the majority of physical devices we've used in the past to access the environment.

If you are looking for additional information on the <a href="http://community.citrix.com/display/xa/Citrix+Receiver+for+iPad">Citrix Reciever for the iPad</a> please follow the embedded links provided. The app is currently available for download via the <a title="Citrix iPad Reciever at the AppStore" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/citrix-receiver-for-ipad/id363501921?mt=8">AppStore</a>.

For more detailed information on setting up the iPad for Citrix go <a title="Citrix eDocs" href="http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/index.jsp">here </a>and search for <span><strong>Receiver 1.1 for </strong><span><strong>iPad</strong>. Be sure to take note of the <strong>Configuring Access Gateway and Secure Gateway for Receiver for Mobile Devices.</strong></span></span>