Q: In XenDesktop, in what order must the XenDesktop Virtual Desktop Agent and VMware Tools be installed onto a vSphere VM?

A: Citrix XenDesktop serves a unique role in that it layers atop a data center's virtualization infrastructure and works in collaboration with the datacenter's application delivery infrastructure. As a result, the network delivery aspect of XenDesktop's virtual machines (VMs) requires that those VMssupport some Citrix drivers in addition to some VMware drivers.

One such driver is the Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM), for which both VMware and Citrix drivers exist, but only Citrix's drivers work in aXenDesktop infrastructure. As a result, XenDesktop's Virtual Desktop Agent must be installed after the installation of the VMware Tools sothat Citrix's WDDM driver replaces the equivalent driver from VMware.