Install Citrix Receiver 13 on Ubuntu 13.10

In this post I will explain how I installed Citrix Receiver (version 13) on Ubuntu 13.10 (Xubuntu x64 and Lubuntu x86 – but keep reading for other Ubuntu variants too).

The quick summary
Go to Citrix Receiver for Linux Download Page. Pick the generic tar.gz-version under 32-bit (yes, do this for 64-bit Ubuntu).

Then:

$ cd ~/Downloads

(nasty habit of not including a folder in the tar file:)
$ mkdir citrixtmp
$ cd citrixtmp
$ tar -xzf ../linuxx86-13.0.0.256735.tar.gz

(install, not as root)
$ ./setupwfc
   (choose 1=install
    answer yes to all questions
    use all defaults
    finally, 3=exit installer)

Now, if you are on 64-bit Ubuntu there are some 32-bit dependencies to take care of:

$ sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-0:i386
$ sudo apt-get install libxml2:i386
$ sudo apt-get install libstdc++6:i386

If, on the other hand, you are on 32-bit Ubuntu, you can instead install these packages:

$ sudo apt-get install libwebkitgtk-1.0.0
$ sudo apt-get install libxerces-c3.1

Now, (re)start your browser, log in to your Citrix Portal, open an application. Your browser should suggest you open it with wfica.sh (located in ~/ICAClient/linuxx86). Do it – it should work!

You should now be able to use your Citrix applications in a productive way from your Ubuntu computer!

If you are on 32-bit Ubuntu, you should also be able to use the GUI Self Service application (I have not figured out how to fix the webkit dependencies for 64-bit ubuntu).

Feel free to read on for more comments and details.

What is Citrix Receiver and how do I use it

Citrix is a technology that allows an organization (your employer) to package applications (typically Windows applications) and make them available over the intranet or the internet. This way, you can run the applications on a computer without the need to install those application on the computer itself.

I have two ways to access my Citrix Applications.

The first way is via a web based Citrix Portal. I open my web browser, enter the URL of the portal and log in. Now, in the web browser, I see all my applications as icons, and as I click the applications they start in separate windows via Citrix Receiver.

The second way is to launch the Citrix Receiver Self Service application, give the address of the citrix servers and then authenticate. This method can enable “desktop integration” (your Citrix Applications are available via your normal Start Menu or whatever you call it). This Self Service application is new to Citrix v13, and replaced something else in v12.

The Web-browser way is easier to make work. There are unresolved dependency issues with the Self Service program and my solution above.

My #1 priority is to get a working solution at all.

Why not use the .deb packages
The deb-packages are obviously not built for Ubuntu 13.10. I believe they are built for Debian, but this must be confirmed.

The purpose of deb-packages is to automatically resolve all dependencies. But the dependencies are wrong for Ubuntu, and you will need to “force” installation of the deb-packages. In the future, this can leave you with conflicts and confustion.

So, I prefer the generic tar.gz-installation (which also works fine without sudo/being root).

Why not use the 64-bit packages
Well, first there is no generic 64-bit package, so I would end up resolving the dependency problems with the deb-package.

Also, the 64-bit deb-package actually contains 32-bit binaries. It is just the dependencies that are configured against the 32-bit compability libraries in Debian (instead of the standard 64-bit libraries).

So, nothing fun with 64-bit until Citrix actually compiles a real 64-bit binary with no 32-bit dependencies.

Other versions of Ubuntu
I believe what I have written applies not only to Xubuntu, but also Lubuntu, Kubuntu (may require more gtk-installation as it is QT based) and standard Ubuntu, and more. Please comment below if you experience something else.

Other versions of Linux
If you are on Debian or a Debian-derived distribution (like Crunchbang) I guess you should go with the deb-packages.

You really need the Self Service
Consider installing 32-bit Ubuntu on your 64-bit PC. Depending on what computer you have and what you do with it this may be a quite ok idea, or a very poor idea. I can admit I have been running 32-bit Ubuntu on a 64-bit PC for years, at work, specifically because Citrix worked better that way (even the old Citrix Reciever 12 had this issue, even if the Self Service looked different then).

What is the difference between Receiver 12 and 13
If you use Citrix via your web browser, you will not notice much difference (if any).

The Self Service is much different, visually, from the old Receiver. The old one looked like something for SUN Solaris and the 80s (motif-based). The new one looks like some kind of mobile app. I dont know which is worst. Many components are still the same.

If you currently run Citrix 12 and you are happy with it, I suggest you dont upgrade to 13.

Problems installing Citrix Receiver 12
If you want to install the old Citrix Reciever 12, have a look at my old post.

Troubleshooting
Your browser should allow you to download the ICA file (instead of launching it). Do it – it should be saved to ~/Downloads/lauch.ica. Now try to start it manually with wfica.sh:

$ ~/ICAClient/linuxx86/wfica.sh ~/Downloads/launch.ica

If you are missing dependencies they should show up here.

Final words
I consider this post “work in progress”. I’d like to

  • make Self Service work
  • confirm extra features (audio, drive mapping, etc) that might not work properly with my install above

But I hope it can be helpful even in this state. Feel free to comment!

  1. Install Citrix Receiver on Ubuntu 12.04 | TechFindings - pingback on 2014/01/03 at 12:28
  2. NOTE: Change version number in filenames to the correct number!

    ———-
    – If 32-bit:
    Go to http://www.citrix.com/downloads/citrix-receiver/linux.html, latest release and “For 32-bit Systems”.
    Download “Receiver for Linux” and “USB Support Package” with “File Type: .deb”.

    sudo apt-get install libmotif4

    sudo dpkg -i icaclient_13.0.0.256735_i386.deb
    sudo apt-get install -f

    sudo ln -s /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/

    sudo dpkg -i ctxusb_2.4.256735_i386.deb
    sudo apt-get install -f

    ———-
    – If 64-bit:
    Go to http://www.citrix.com/downloads/citrix-receiver/linux.html, latest release and “For 64-bit Systems”.
    Download “Receiver for Linux” and “USB Support Package” with “File Type: .deb”.

    sudo apt-get install libmotif4:i386 nspluginwrapper lib32z1 libc6-i386

    mkdir ica_temp
    dpkg-deb -x icaclient_13.0.0.256735_amd64.deb ica_temp
    dpkg-deb –control icaclient_13.0.0.256735_amd64.deb ica_temp/DEBIAN

    nano ica_temp/DEBIAN/control
    change the line that starts with “Depends: …”
    to: “Depends: libc6-i386 (>= 2.7-1), lib32z1, nspluginwrapper”

    dpkg -b ica_temp icaclient-modified.deb
    sudo dpkg -i icaclient-modified.deb
    sudo sed -i ‘s/grep \”i\[0\-9\]86\”/grep -E “i[0-9]86|x86_64″/g’ /var/lib/dpkg/info/icaclient.postinst
    sudo dpkg –configure icaclient
    sudo apt-get install -f

    sudo ln -s /usr/share/ca-certificates/mozilla/* /opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/

    sudo dpkg -i ctxusb_2.4.256735_amd64.deb
    sudo apt-get install -f

  3. Thanks this worked – but I had an additional problem – which is solved below.
    When starting Citrix I received this error:

    You have chosen not to trust “name of certifier” the issuer of the server’s security certificate (SSL error 61)

    Following the advice on:
    http://forum.mandriva.com/en/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=106084
    1). In Firefox/Preferences click Advanced
    2). Choose Encryption
    3). Click View Certificates
    4). Click Authorities
    5). Find the certificate (i.e. GlobalSign Root CA) and click on it
    6). Click Export and save the file in “/opt/Citrix/ICAClient/keystore/cacerts/” (in my case the appropriate directory was “/home/”USER”/ICAClient/linuxx86/keystore/cacerts”)

  4. Steven Lee

    This works very well on my Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon.
    Thank you very much.

  5. Hi. I am not lucky as Steven because it does not work. Nothing happen when I try to open an application.
    I am using linux mint 17 32b.

  6. I have setup CitrixReceiver 13 on ubuntu 12.04 64 bit.

    I manually launch my wfica, but error!

    yuming@yumingg:~/ICAClient/linuxx86$ ./wfica -file /tmp/launch.ica
    ./wfica: error while loading shared libraries: libXinerama.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

  7. Alessandro and yuming, I believe you when you say things dont work for you, and I understand it is annoying.

    I have no special insight or knowledge about Citrix, Ubuntu or other Linux version.

    Since it is obviously a bit hard to install Citrix, I simply write down what works for me, for a specific version/combination of Citrix/Linux with the hope that someone might find it useful. When it comes to Linux Mint or Ubuntu 12.04, I simply dont know. And I have no plans to install either of those systems, so I will not find out how to run Citrix either.

    Sorry for not being able to help you.

  8. Thanks for this worked for me (Linux Mint 17 Cinemon 64 BIT) got some errors regarding multiple sertificates (not trusted), “Go-to-dady-something” but followed Anders BB`s tip (firefox-preferences-advancedcertificate-export-save in folder soulution) and now it workes!
    Thanks!!!!

  9. Here is a similar install procedure that can be added to a deployment bash script.

    It has been tested and works on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64-bit using the latest version of Mozilla Firefox.

    http://mark911.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/how-to-install-citrix-receiver-icaclient-in-ubuntu-14-04-lts-64-bit-tested-and-working-using-mozilla-firefox/

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