Customize the Control Panel on XenApp Workloads

One of the things you do when you lockdown your VDAs in your XenApp environment is restricting access to the control panel. Sometimes it would be a great help for your users and your service desk if you customize the control panel instead of restricting access to it. There are two ways to customize the control panel on your XenApp workloads. I will describe both of them in this article.

Customize the Control Panel with GPO

If you wish to customize the control panel using GPO, navigate to the “Group Policy Management Console” and create a new GPO or edit an existing one. Go to: “User Configuration->Administrative Templates->Control Panel. Find the policy called “Allow only specified Control Panel items” and double-click it.

Click “Enable” and then click on “Show…”. Add the canonical names of the items you wish the users should be able to see. You can see all the Control Panel items right here -> Control Panel Items

Customize the Control Panel with Workspace Environment Management

The other way you can customize the Control Panel is using Workspace Environment Management from Citrix. Log in to your WEM administrator console and navigate to “Policies and Profiles”->”Environmental Settings”->”Control Panel”. Check the “Show only specified Control Panel Applets” and add the applets you wish the users should be able to access. You can find the canonical names of the control panel items just below.

Control Panel Items

Applet Name	Canonical Name
Action Center	Microsoft.ActionCenter
Administrative Tools	Microsoft.AdministrativeTools
AutoPlay	Microsoft.AutoPlay
Biometric Devices	Microsoft.BiometricDevices
BitLocker Drive Encryption	Microsoft.BitLockerDriveEncryption
Color Management	Microsoft.ColorManagement
Credential Manager	Microsoft.CredentialManager
Date and Time	Microsoft.DateAndTime
Default Programs	Microsoft.DefaultPrograms
Device Manager	Microsoft.DeviceManager
Devices and Printers	Microsoft.DevicesAndPrinters
Display	Microsoft.Display
Ease of Access Center	Microsoft.EaseOfAccessCenter
Family Safety	Microsoft.ParentalControls
File History	Microsoft.FileHistory
Folder Options	Microsoft.FolderOptions
Fonts	Microsoft.Fonts
HomeGroup	Microsoft.HomeGroup
Indexing Options	Microsoft.IndexingOptions
Infrared	Microsoft.Infrared
Internet Options	Microsoft.InternetOptions
iSCSI Initiator	Microsoft.iSCSIInitiator
iSNS Server	Microsoft.iSNSServer
Keyboard	Microsoft.Keyboard
Language	Microsoft.Language
Location Settings	Microsoft.LocationSettings
Mouse	Microsoft.Mouse
MPIOConfiguration	Microsoft.MPIOConfiguration
Network and Sharing Center	Microsoft.NetworkAndSharingCenter
Notification Area Icons	Microsoft.NotificationAreaIcons
Pen and Touch	Microsoft.PenAndTouch
Personalization	Microsoft.Personalization
Phone and Modem	Microsoft.PhoneAndModem
Power Options	Microsoft.PowerOptions
Programs and Features	Microsoft.ProgramsAndFeatures
Recovery	Microsoft.Recovery
Region	Microsoft.RegionAndLanguage
RemoteApp and Desktop Connections	Microsoft.RemoteAppAndDesktopConnections
Sound	Microsoft.Sound
Speech Recognition	Microsoft.SpeechRecognition
Storage Spaces	Microsoft.StorageSpaces
Sync Center	Microsoft.SyncCenter
System	Microsoft.System
Tablet PC Settings	Microsoft.TabletPCSettings
Taskbar and Navigation	Microsoft.Taskbar
Troubleshooting	Microsoft.Troubleshooting
TSAppInstall	Microsoft.TSAppInstall
User Accounts	Microsoft.UserAccounts
Windows Anytime Upgrade	Microsoft.WindowsAnytimeUpgrade
Windows Defender	Microsoft.WindowsDefender
Windows Firewall	Microsoft.WindowsFirewall
Windows Mobility Center	Microsoft.MobilityCenter
Windows To Go	Microsoft.PortableWorkspaceCreator
Windows Update	Microsoft.WindowsUpdate
Work Folders	Microsoft.WorkFolders

How do i get Mail / Outlook to show in the Control Panel

One item is missing from the list above. If you want “Mail” to show in the control panel, you need to add “Mail” in the items list.