Citrix SQL Gotchas

Every Citrix XenApp farm requires a data store, which is basically a SQL database.  The database can exist on either a fully-licensed Microsoft SQL server implementation, or a freely available (and included) SQL Express server.  When running Citrix XenApp setup, you can opt to setup the included SQL Express edition.  However, you may wish to do a manual installation of SQL Express for various reasons.  If you choose to do a manual installation, there are a couple of things you will need to know.

First of all, when setting up a new SQL Express installation, always choose a named instance, and use the name “CITRIX_METAFRAME” whenever possible.  This is the default choice for an out-of-the-box Citrix SQL Express installation, and makes things easier.  When you create the new data store during XenApp installation, it should automatically create the MF20 database for you.

When you are attempting to join a new Citrix XenApp server, you may encounter a “Network-Failure” error when testing the connection (during the join process).  If you encounter this issue, it is most likely due to the configuration of SQL Express on the data store server.  By default, the TCP/IP and Named Pipes protocols are disabled on a new SQL Express 2008 R2 installation.  To change this, on the SQL Express server hosting the data store, launch the SQL Server Configuration Manager (found under the start menu, under Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2\Configuration Tools), and expand the SQL Server Network Configuration node.  Select “Protocols for NAMED_INSTANCE” (should be CITRIX_METAFRAME), right-click on TCP/IP and Named Pipes and select “Enable”.  It should look like this:

When you are finished you should restart the SQL services, then attempt to join the new XenApp server to the farm again.