8. 5.        MetaFrame XP User Policies

With User Policies, you can apply select MetaFrame XP settings, including shadowing permission settings, printer autocreation settings, and client device mapping settings, to specific users or user groups. Using policies, you can tailor your environment at the user / group level.

Policy rules have three states: Rule Enabled, Rule Disabled, or Rule Not Configured.

By default, not all rules are configured. All rules marked Rule Not Configured are ignored when users log on to the MetaFrame XP Server. I highly recommend reducing the amount of rules set to Rule Not Configured to reduce the need to process the policy and to speed up the logon time.

Keep with the following when creating a new MetaFrame XP policy:

       Decide the purpose for the MetaFrame XP policy Why are you creating the policy and who will it affect. An example of a policy would be to assign users/groups common settings specific to their function, connection type or geographic location.

       Create the policy - You will need to define a name for the policy, assign user(s) / group(s) to the policy and set the rules that will be the action of the policy.

       Prioritize or rank your policies In order to over come user(s) / groups(s) that are members of multiple policies you will need to configure policy priority. I highly recommend creating an Administrator policy that disables all policies and gives full control to a select group of Citrix administrators to the top of the policy list to prevent from locking yourself out.

In order to view the priory of MetaFrame XP policies you set the consoles view mode to Details. Select Details on the View menu Click the Priority section of the title bar to sort by priority.

Important! User Policy settings override all other MetaFrame XP and Terminal Services settings. However, if you disable functionality in Citrix Connection Configuration or through a registry setting change you cannot enable the functionality by creating user policies.

8. 5. 1 How to Create a New MetaFrame XP policy

The following details how to create a new Policy. Throughout this document I will document how to use policies to perform MetaFrame XP functions on a per user/group basis.

1.      Open the Management Console for MetaFrame XP, right click on the Policies section and click Create Policy

2.      Enter a name for the new policy and click OK.

3.      Adjust the policy priority by highlighting the desired policy and clicking up or down priory buttons located on the toolbar.

You have now sucessfully created a MetaFrame XP policy and are ready to configure the rules and assign user(s) / group(s) to it.

8. 5. 2 How to Configure a MetaFrame XP policy

The following details how to configure policy rules.

1.      Double click on a MetaFrame XP policy to open the policy properties.

2.      Click the policies of the rules you would like to set and click OK when finished.

You have now successfully configured a MetaFrame XP policy and are ready to assign the Policy to user(s) / group(s).

8. 5. 3 How to Assign a MetaFrame XP policy to User(s) and or Group(s)

The following details how to assign a policy to user(s) and or group(s).

1.      Right click on the policy you would like to assign user and or group to and click Assign Users.

2.      Select the User(s) / Groups(s) you would like to assign to the policy and click OK. I highly recommend sticking with group(s) to simply policy management. However if you need to assign a user then you will need to check the Show users checkbox.

The MetaFrame XP policy will now be assigned to the designated user(s) / group(s) next time they login to the MetaFrame XP farm.