Configure Offline Access in Citrix

Administrators can configure applications that are published to stream to desktops for offline access. This feature allows users to disconnect from the company network and continue to run their applications in offline mode for a specified length of time. No additional configuration is needed while profiling the application to create application profiles or targets that can be accessed offline.
After you configure the offline application policy settings and configure a streamed application for offline access, the next time the user device connects to XenApp, the offline plug-in downloads the application and caches it on the user device.

Important: Before you configure offline access, refer to System Requirements for Application Streaming for the supported platforms and system prerequisites for user devices.

• Step 1: Configure policy settings for offline access
• Step 2: Install the online and offline plug-ins on user devices
• Step 3: Publish the application for offline access

You can complete these steps in any order, but users cannot run applications in offline mode until all steps are completed.


Step 1: Configure Policy Settings for Offline Applications

Configure these Citrix policy settings for Offline Applications:

• Offline app users (required). Create a list of users or groups who have offline access permission and add that list both when creating the policy for Offline app users and when publishing the application. Users or groups listed in the offline app users policy setting and who are also configured for the application have permission to run offline-enabled applications in online and offline mode. Users who are configured for the application, but who are not added to the policy list can access the application online, but not offline.Users or groups on this list use an offline license to launch applications regardless of whether they are connected to the network or disconnected.
  
• Offline app license period (required). Specify the number of days applications can work offline before users have to renew the license (21 days by default, but can range from 2 to 365 days).
•  For versions 1.0 through 5.1 of the plug-in, the license for each application in the profile is activated when the user launches the application the first time, for online or offline use. Beginning with version 5.2 of the plug-in, when the user launches an application in the profile for the first time, for online or offline use, the offline license is activated for all other applications in the profile, as well. This occurs at the farm level. Thus, the offline license for all applications in the profile expires based on the date of the first application launched the first time, regardless of when the other applications are launched.
• To configure licenses, administrators can use the License Management Console or command-line tools. They must also ensure they have a sufficient number of licenses to support the total number of users with offline access permission. Users who run XenApp hosted applications can also stream applications to user devices without requiring a separate license. For general information, in the topics for Licensing Your Product, see Getting Started with Citrix Licensing.
• When users with offline access log on using the online plug-in, they automatically either check out an offline license or renew a license already checked out. If users stay logged on, licenses are renewed automatically each day. If the license is near its expiration date while a user is running the application in offline mode, a notice appears reminding the user to log on (that is, change to online mode). When the user logs on, the offline license is renewed automatically if a license is available.
•  If the license expires and no license is available, the user cannot launch the application offline.Offline app client trust (optional). Use this setting to enable offline application clients that have disconnected to recreate sessions when reconnecting, without authenticating again.
  
• Offline app event logging (optional). Use this setting to enable logging of offline application events to the event log on the server. 

Step 2: Install the Online and Offline Plug-ins on User Devices 

To use the offline access feature, install both the offline and online plug-ins on the user device. The offline plug-in caches each streamed application on the hard drive of the user device. After the application is cached, the user can disconnect from the network or server and continue to run the application in offline mode for the period of time specified in the license.

Step 3: Publish the Application for Offline Access

The offline access feature is available only for applications that you publish as Streamed to client or Streamed if possible, otherwise accessed from a server.

In addition, when publishing an application for offline access, check the application's documentation and Web site to determine whether any special configuration is required on the user device to enable offline access of that application. For example, to stream Microsoft Outlook to the user device for offline access, users must enable the Microsoft Exchange Setting to "Use Cached Exchange Mode."

Configure the application for offline access while publishing the application or later using the application properties: 

• Enable the application for offline access and select the caching preference.
• Create a list of users or groups who have offline access permission and add that list both when creating the policy for Offline app users and when publishing the application.