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Citrix Metaframe URL Question

C

chusteczka

Diamond Member
Question:
Is there a way to set up an external URL on an internal webpage within the Citrix Metaframe that will open a new browser window from the local client, thereby external from the company intranet and outside of the Citrix Metaframe?

For example, my company has IE6 installed on the Citrix Metaframe. I have IE7 installed on my local client system. If I click on an external URL from within Citrix, how can I have this external URL open in IE7 from my local client system rather than IE6 within the Citrix Metaframe?

I am not certain if this is an HTML coding issue or a Citrix networking issue but suspect it is a Citrix issue.



Problem:
My company uses a proprietary web application through Citrix to allow clients to query their data on our database and run reports. We are currently creating a dashboard application to provide a graphical snapshot of the client's current data. One of the tabs for this dashboard will include external resource URL's.

It is our desire to provide these URL's in an <a href=""> html link but there is concern about security since these links are external from our company's intranet and would allow an external web application to open within a frame of our internal dashboard.

It is possible to provide the TARGET modifier to the html link to allow the external web application to open in a new browser window, separately from our internal dashboard.

<A HREF="slide2.html" TARGET=_blank>slide 2.</A>

However, since this application is accessed exclusively through Citrix, any external web application would still be accessed from a browser within our Citrix metaframe. Thereby creating a possible security issue with external applications accessing the internal company intranet.


Thank you for your help.
 
I will try this tomorrow but I do not think it will help. I expect it will only open a new browser from within the Citrix Metaframe.
 
Thank you very much, dphantom, for providing the links to the Citrix Knowledge Center and the term "server to client content redirection". This is exactly what I was looking for.

I happen to be a "user" tracking down a development problem the developers or the Citrix admins are not taking the initiative to investigate. Because of this, I was not previously aware of the Citrix Knowledge Center.

Here are some of the pertinent resources I found:
There seems to be a small specific problem I have with the article Redirecting Specific URLs and Protocols with Server to Client Content Redirection. This article mentions specific URL's but focuses on protocols. Does anyone have any experience redirecting only a few specific URL's to a client browser? Does anyone have any specific tips for this? Unless someone can provide specifics, I will just have to provide these resources to the Citrix admin and let them follow through with Citrix support.

Thank you all for your help.
 
Originally posted by: chusteczka
Thank you very much, dphantom, for providing the links to the Citrix Knowledge Center and the term "server to client content redirection". This is exactly what I was looking for.

I happen to be a "user" tracking down a development problem the developers or the Citrix admins are not taking the initiative to investigate. Because of this, I was not previously aware of the Citrix Knowledge Center.

Here are some of the pertinent resources I found:
There seems to be a small specific problem I have with the article Redirecting Specific URLs and Protocols with Server to Client Content Redirection. This article mentions specific URL's but focuses on protocols. Does anyone have any experience redirecting only a few specific URL's to a client browser? Does anyone have any specific tips for this? Unless someone can provide specifics, I will just have to provide these resources to the Citrix admin and let them follow through with Citrix support.

Thank you all for your help.
Click to expand...

At the very bottom of the KB article it tells you how to edit the registry to redirect specific URLs and not by protocol. Your Citrix person should be able to do this or Citrix support can assist for $$.
 
Originally posted by: dphantom
At the very bottom of the KB article it tells you how to edit the registry to redirect specific URLs and not by protocol. Your Citrix person should be able to do this or Citrix support can assist for $$.
Click to expand...

Thanks again, dphantom. With the influx of information, I unfortunately read right over that part. This is exactly what is needed.

Here is the useful information:
Redirecting Specific URLs and Protocols with Server to Client Content Redirection

There is another enhancement allowing you to redirect specific URLs from server to client, without redirecting other URLs.

A new registry key,

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \SOFTWARE\Citrix\SFTA\ValidSites

lets you specify URLs to be redirected from server to client.

To implement this enhancement, make the following value changes to the registry key using regedt32:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\SFTA
Name: ValidSites
Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
Data: Specify any combination of URLs


Note: The values must be line-delimited, for example:

www.my_URL.com
*.my_URL.com

The asterisk (*) is supported as a wildcard character.
 
Interesting, the admin discounts this information as being inappropriate for the following reasons.
I do not think this is correct but he is the certified professional.

Content redirection provides a way to launch a users local browser from a published application icon. It does not apply here since we are already inside the published application. We also don't want to spawn browsers inside a terminal session for security and administrative reasons.
Click to expand...

EDIT:
I think I understand his point that we are already inside a published application, which is our proprietary reporting tool. Therefore, by his reasoning, the "content redirection" does not work.

I would think something would be available to allow an internal Citrix application to open a client browser from a linked URL. And if it was able to open outside the Citrix Metaframe connection, through the client instead, then the security concerns would not apply.
 
I feel like a gossip. 😱

The admin just let me know he originally thought of this issue similar to what dphantom provided and thought it was not possible. He is now reevaluating the issue based on the new, specific information uncovered here.

I will let you know the outcome. 😀
 
I think it should work regardless. While I have not done this specific situation, I am a CCEA who has worked with Citrix for almost 7 years. If the app is spawning a second browser Window, I think this reg hack will force the second window to open ona local client.

Some depends on the http coding probably, but try in a test environemnt and see what happens.
 
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