Troubleshooting

On the local client, the VDX Plugin is initiated automatically every time a remote session starts. By hovering over the VDX Plugin taskbar icon, the following information can be viewed:

  • The server or virtual machine where the session started
  • The session number
  • The version number of the VDX Plugin

Similarly, on the remote desktop, when a remote session starts, right-click the VDX Engine taskbar icon to view the status of VDX. This status overview shows:

  • The VDX Engine version running on the machine that hosts the remote desktop
  • The VDX Plugin version running on the local client
  • The VDX Mode
  • Whether VDX is licensed
  • Whether VDX is integrated with Ivanti Workspace Control

Clicking on the VDX Engine taskbar icon opens the Client Start Menu. This window shows items from the local start menu, the local desktop and the local notification area of the client. The window remains open until an item is opened. A Search option is included to search for items included in the Client Start Menu.

Universal Windows Platform (UWP) Apps are not added to the Client Start Menu.

Tackling VDX connectivity problems

If the VDX Plugin taskbar icon does not appear at all on the local client, the VDX Plugin might not be registered correctly. In this case, re-install the VDX Plugin MSI by using the Repair option. If this does not solve the issue, please check the following:

The following key must be present in the registry:

Key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIns\RESVDX

Name

File path and name of the VDX Plugin
For example: %programfiles%\Ivanti\VDX Plugin\VDXRDPPlugin_x86.dll

There are different versions per platform (x86/x64). Use the appropriate installer for each platform.

The following keys must be present in the registry:

Key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Configuration\Advanced\Modules\ICA 3.0

Name

VirtualDriverEx

Value

RESVDX

Key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\ICA Client\Engine\Configuration\Advanced\Modules\RESVDX

Name

DriverNameWin32

Value

Name of the VDX ICA Plugin:

VDXICAPlugin.dll

The following files must be present in the ICA Client folder (default location - %programfiles%\Citrix\ICA Client\):

  • VDXICAPlugin.dll
  • VDXICAPluginEx.dll
  • VDXPlugin.dll
  • VDXPluginHelper.exe
  • While VDX RDP support is always installed when installing the Ivanti VDX Plugin, the VDX installer detects whether a Citrix Client is present. Only if a Citrix Client is detected, the necessary files and registry settings are also installed.
  • After installing Citrix for the first time on a system where the Ivanti VDX Plugin is already installed, perform a Repair on the VDX Plugin installation by right-clicking on the MSI file, and check the Ivanti VDX Citrix Plugin (x86) components. If this is not done after (re)installing the Citrix Client, the connection between the VDX Plugin and the VDX Engine is not established.
  • Citrix requires third party plugin files to be located in the Citrix main folder, but removes files and registry settings when installing or reinstalling the Citrix Client. This affects all Citrix plugins, including the Ivanti VDX Plugin. Therefore, always reinstall the VDX Plugin after installing or reinstalling the Citrix Client.
  • You can also use the VDXPluginHelper.exe that is located in the installation folder to recreate the necessary registry settings. Use /installica for Citrix, and /installvmv for VMware View. Note that the executable needs to run using a local Administrator account, and only recreates the registry settings, and not the necessary files.

Changing the Start Menu Behavior on Windows Server 2019

When VDX is used on machines running Microsoft Windows Server 2019 or Windows 10 build 1809 or higher, the following intended behavior can be observed:

  • When the Windows Start Menu is opened, the window managing mode is disabled, which results in VDX extended applications to disappear from the session.

  • At the beginning of the session, the Windows Start Menu is opened and closed. This occurs only once.

The behavior previously described was introduced to resolve the following issues:

Create the following registry key on the machine where the VDX Engine is installed to disable the opening and closing of the Windows Start Menu at the beginning of the session:

Key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\RES\VDX Engine

Name

DisableMenuTrigger

Type

DWORD

Value

0 or 1

Setting the DisableMenuTrigger registry key to 1 reintroduces the two previously mentioned issues.