A client recently asked for a way to quickly and easily disconnect all ICA sessions. This seemed like an easy task, which could be accomplished by enabling the Disconnect button within StoreFront. The problem was that the client wanted the ability for users to disconnect their sessions without logging in! Since we don't know who the user is until after login, how would we know which session(s) to disconnect?
I then found out that the Citrix Receiver Self-Service Plug-in had a parameter that will allow you to disconnect all of your applications by simply running the following:
SelfService.exe -disconnectapps
Then it became a matter of creating a new URL Protocol to invoke the above when browsing to the specified protocol. With the assistance of my colleague Jacques Bensimon, we created the attached .REG file. An explanation of the keys in the .REG file follows.
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xica] defines a new URL protocol called xica.
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\xica\shell\open\command] specifies the registered handler to execute when the URL protocol is invoked.
The final REG key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ProtocolExecute\xica]
eliminates the IE prompt asking permission to run the registered handler. (Note: Other browsers may or may not prompt, and may have their own way of eliminating prompts, including possibly giving the user the option to no longer be prompted for these protocols. Those settings may not be in the Registry at all, but rather in some config files in the user profile.)
To invoke the new protocol, you simply needed to browse to it. This could be accomplished in many ways. For example, you could create a shortcut on the desktop with the URL xica://DisconnectApps. You could also invoke the protocol via a hyperlink or a button on a web page.
Sam Jacobs is the Director of Technology Development at IPM, the longest standing Citrix Platinum Partner on the East Coast. With more than 30 years of IT consulting, Sam is a NetScaler and StoreFront customizations and integrations industry expert. He holds Microsoft MCSD, Citrix and CCP-N certifications, and is the editor of TechDevCorner.com, a technical resource blog for IT professionals. He is one of the top Citrix support Forum contributors, and has earned industry praise for the tools he has developed to make NetScaler, StoreFront and Web Interface easier to manage for administrators and more intuitive for end users. Sam became a Citrix Technology Professional (CTP) in 2015, and can be reached at: sam.jacobs@ipm.com or on Twitter at: @WIGuru.
