Micro Focus Visual COBOL 2.3 for Visual Studio 2012 > Welcome > Product Information > Installing Visual COBOL for Visual Studio > Installing on Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix

Installing on Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix

Note: This document is a work-in-progress. Check the documentation for Visual COBOL in the Product Documentation section of the Visual COBOL SupportLine Web site for its most recent version.

Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix (TS/Citrix) are environments for running multiple instances of a single user product. They are not platforms where a single-user product can be made to perform as a multi-user product.

When running Visual COBOL on TS/Citrix machine, there might be some implications to components of Visual COBOL which could cause potential conflicts between a ‘per-user session’ compared to the standard ‘per machine’ setup. The following components of Visual COBOL require special configuration:

Eclipse workspaces and projects
The Enterprise Server component - the Run-Time System product for JCL, CICS and IMS operations
The database management service

You can use Visual COBOL with TS or with any Citrix version certified for use with Visual Studio; however, a separate end-user license is required for each user who accesses Visual COBOL, even if it is running on a single machine. See your End User License Agreement for clarification.

Note: Micro Focus Visual COBOL does not officially support TS/Citrix. However, it will run on any prerequisite Operating System that is supported under TS/Citrix.

Capacity planning

Multi-user capacity planning for TS/Citrix does not scale linearly, and the calculations required for this planning are not directly related or specific) to any Micro Focus technology. Micro Focus recommends that you consult with Microsoft or Citrix Systems, respectively, about the server sizing and capacity planning, based on hosting the required number of “rich” Windows 7 or Windows 8 desktops (e.g. using a singleton desktop build as a baseline).

Installing Visual COBOL

To install Visual COBOL for use with TS/Citrix:

Log on to the physical terminal or Citrix server with a user ID that has administrator privileges.
Use the download links in your Electronic Product Delivery email.
Follow the links for the installation instructions and the End User License Agreement.

Configuring Visual COBOL components

Further configuration is required for the following Visual COBOL components:

Customizing the installation of Visual COBOL for Visual Studio

On TS/Citrix, end-users accessing an application get their own copy (called a "clone") of an initial set of the application's configuration settings. Within their clone of the application, each end-user is then able to apply some changes to the initial configuration settings - for example, change any color and font settings, the screen-layout of windows, some of the shortcut keys among others. The modified settings are then preserved on a per-user basis.

This mechanism enables you to customize the configuration settings within the initial Visual COBOL installation which is then replicated at the individual users's machines when they are using a clone of the application. While this does not prevent the developers from changing the initial settings within their clone of the application, it does favor team work by providing all team members with a preconfigured environment, that has the same settings, behavior and look as a start.

Follow the steps below to customize Visual COBOL for Visual Studio on the TS/Citrix machine and apply the changes to the clones of the product.

CAUTION:

The following instructions involve changing the registry settings on the TS/Citrix machine. Take extra care when editing the registry as incorrect entries might corrupt your system. It is recommended that you back up any valued data on your computer in advance. Micro Focus recommends you also create a backup copy of the master location, after step 8. Alternatively, copy EDsettings.reg to a safe location.

Log onto the TS/Citrix machine as a TS/Citrix administrator.
Install Visual COBOL.
TS/Citrix stores a collection of settings in the server's registry, under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\xxxx. This document refer to this location as the master location.
Note: The Visual COBOL settings are stored under different locations in the registry. For example:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings - stores the options specified in Tools > Options.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Micro Focus\Visual COBOL\2.3\Interface Mapping Toolkit - stores the settings for IMTK
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\COBOL Tools\Client Generation - stores the settings for IMTK client generation
Micro Focus recommends you create a backup copy of any settings in the master location, after step 8. Alternatively, copy EDsettings.reg to a safe location.
Log off from the TS/Citrix account.
Log on as a user that has the privileges of the standard end-user (a developer).
TS/Citrix now clones the contents of the master location to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\xxxx. This document refers to this location as the user location.
Customize Visual COBOL as required for a first time user within your development teams - modify any default settings, default layout of views within Eclipse, etc.
Save the user location within the registry:
1. Using the Registry Editor, export the contents of the user location to a file - for example EDsettings.reg.
2. Edit EDsettings.reg with a plain text editor and replace all HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\xxxx entries with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\xxxx.
  For example, replace HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings entries with HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0\MicroFocus\Settings.
Log off from TS/Citrix.
Log on as a TS/Citrix administrator again.
Copy the contents of the user location back to the master location:
1. Using the Registry Editor, delete the master location, then import the settings from the EDsettings.reg file.
2. Log off from TS/Citrix.

Projects

Create and configure template projects to distribute among your users. Templates must not include fully qualified paths. You can store the projects in a source control system and make them available so that individual users can import them into their own workspace.

Enterprise Server Installation Options

When you install Visual COBOL, the setup file also installs the Enterprise Server component on the same machine. There are different ways in which you can configure and use Enterprise Server regions in TS/Citrix environments. This topic outlines two of the methods and explains what the implications of choosing them are:

Use the Enterprise Server component as part of Visual COBOL installed on the TS/Citrix machine
On the client machines, the developers each use a clone of Visual COBOL. They also use a clone of Enterprise Server to create and manage multiple server instances as required.

While this option provides the greatest flexibility, it also consumes the largest footprint per user.

Install Enterprise Server or Enterprise Test Server on a separate server
You can install Enterprise Server¹ or Enterprise Test Server² on a separate server that does not have TS/Citrix installed. By default, Enterprise Server installs and runs as a single-instance product and, within an Enterprise Server, you can operate a number of server instances. Each server provides session and state management for COBOL applications, as well as optionally interfacing with external resource managers to coordinate resource updates.

There are two ways to provide server instances to the developers using Visual COBOL on the TS/Citrix machine:
- Configure and configure one server instance per developer by specifying different ports. We recommend defining five-digit port numbers where digits one through three identify the developer and four through five identify a unique port. For example: port number 10123 defines a TN3270 listener for developer 1, and port number 10223 defines a TN3270 listener for developer 2.
  This option provides a dedicated enterprise server for testing purposes for each developer, but restricts each developer to that one enterprise serve instance.
  
  This scenario creates the largest footprint per developer.
  
  Or:
- Create and configure one server instance per application for use by a single development team. Use a different port number for each instance as explained above, using the first three digits to differentiate between applications.

Micro Focus Rumba

To use Micro Focus Rumba on a TS/Citrix machine, ensure you install a license for this type of environment. Contact Micro Focus Sales for more information.

ViewNow Installation

To use ViewNow on a TS/Citrix machine, ensure you install a license for this type of environment. Contact Micro Focus Sales for more information.

¹ Micro Focus Enterprise Server provides full application server support for COBOL applications that require high-performance and mainframe subsystem emulation. Enterprise Server is designed as a multi-user environment.

² Micro Focus Enterprise Test Server is an IBM mainframe application test execution environment on Windows. Enterprise Test Server enables mainframe IT organizations to perform a variety of pre-production testing on low cost commodity hardware, avoiding unnecessary cost and delay. Built on proven technology, Enterprise Test Server exponentially expands the test capacity and enables testing to scale up easily to meet delivery timelines and quality standards driven by today's business requirements.