Book Image

Implementing NetScaler VPX??? - Second Edition

By : Marius Sandbu
Book Image

Implementing NetScaler VPX??? - Second Edition

By: Marius Sandbu

Overview of this book

With a large demand for responsive websites and availability of services, IT administrators are faced with an ever-rising need for services that are optimized for speed. NetScaler VPX is a software-based virtual appliance that provides users with the comprehensive NetScaler feature set. Implementing apps and cloud-based services is much easier with its increased service performance and integrated security features. This book will give you an insight into all the new features that NetScaler VPX™ has to offer. Starting off with the basics, you will learn how to set NetScaler up and configure it in a virtual environment including the new features available in version 11, such as unified gateway and portal theme customization. Next, the book will cover how to deploy NetScalar on Azure and Amazon, and you will also discover how to integrate it with an existing Citrix infrastructure. Next, you will venture into other topics such as load balancing Microsoft and Citrix solutions, configuring different forms of high availability Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB), and network optimization. You will also learn how to troubleshoot and analyze data using NetScaler's extensive array of features. Finally, you will discover how to protect web services using an application firewall and will get to grips with other features such as HTTP, DOS, and AAA.
Table of Contents (10 chapters)
9
Index

Licensing

When we want to set up or deploy NetScaler, we need a license in place in order to access the features we want to use. An important point to note here is that three types of licenses are available for NetScaler:

  • Platform license: This license is used for NetScaler to enable its different features, such as load balancing, content switching, and so on. It also defines the bandwidth.
  • Universal license: This license is used for NetScaler Gateway features such as SSL VPN, CVPN, SmartAccess, and Endpoint analysis.
  • Feature license: This license is used for features such as clustering, caching, compression, and so on. The specific features that can be bought as add-ons to an existing platform can be found in the datasheet.

    Note

    If you do not have access to a regular license, you can download a trial version of the latest NetScaler VPX Platinum edition from Citrix, available at http://www.citrix.com/products/netscaler-application-delivery-controller/try.html.

If you want to download a platform license for NetScaler from https://www.citrix.com/, you need to enter the MAC address of the first NIC on your appliance in the Host ID field on the website.

Note

If you are deploying a NetScaler Gateway VPX, and you want to download a platform license for it or generate universal licenses, both of these should be created with the hostname of the appliance instead of the MAC address. These licenses can be generated from the same website.

The MAC address can be found either via the CLI of the appliance or by using a hypervisor. We will look at CLI in detail in this chapter. To get hardware information from the CLI of the appliance, we have to first log in to the NetScaler System CLI, and then switch to the FreeBSD shell by typing shell and running the following command:

lmutil lmhostid

When using a hypervisor, such as the virtual machine manager PowerShell, run the following command:

Get-VM | Where { $_Name -match "VM" } | Get-SCNetworkAdapter | Select MACAddress

If you are using VMware and have PowerCLI available, you can use a similar command as follows to get the same result:

Get-NetworkAdapter -VM NameofVM

This will give you the host ID/MAC address of the appliance, which needs to be entered on https://www.citrix.com/ to generate a platform license. We will cover installing the license a little later.