A Citrix administrator has updated the Finance vDisk to include Microsoft Office 2013. The administrator has tested the Finance vDisk and now needs to merge all updates to the vDisk to maximize and…

Design Citrix XenDesktop Components

Question

A Citrix administrator has updated the Finance vDisk to include Microsoft Office 2013. The administrator has tested the Finance vDisk and now needs to merge all updates to the vDisk to maximize and reclaim disk space. Members of the Finance user group are expected to have access to Microsoft Office 2013 when they log on to desktops to which the Finance vDisk is assigned.
Tasks:
Merge all updates to the vDisk.
Ensure members of the Finance user group have access to Microsoft Office 2013 as stated in the scenario.
Complete the tasks that are necessary to meet the requirements outlined in the scenario.

Explanation

Answer: Merging Differencing Disks Right-click on a vDisk in the Console, then select the Versions menu option. The vDisk Versions dialog appears. Click the Merge button. The Merge dialog appears. Select to perform a Merged Updates or Merged Base merge. To merge all differencing disks to a single differencing disk (not to the base disk image), select the Merged Updates option. To fully merge all differencing disks into a new base disk, select the Merged Base option. Select the access mode (Production, Maintenance, or Test) for this version after the merge completes. If no access type is selected, the vDisk mode setting selected for automatic merge, on the Path property on vDisk Version tab, is selected by default. Click OK to begin the merge process. The time it takes to complete the merge process varies based on the merge method selected and the number of differencing disks to merge. After the merge successfully completes, the new version will be set to match it.

version displays in the vDisk Versions dialog. The Type column displays either Merge Base if a full merge was selected, or Merge if a partial merge was selected.

Create Application Delivery Group

Start the Delivery Group wizard in Citrix Studio. Select the machine Select a Machine Catalog: Catalog: WS2012 XenApp Type: RDS Manual Random Machines: 1 Choose number of machines to add: 1
When using server based operating systems you can deliver a full blow desktop complete with the menu bar (sans the Start Button on WS2012), just applications, or a combination of both. Select just Applications, Delivery Type You can use the machines in the Catalog to deliver desktops and applications to your users. Use the machines to deliver: Applications
Specify the users or groups that need these applications. Users Assign users: CONTOSO\Domain Users
Next up we can start adding the applications that are installed on our server

Topics

#Provisioning Services#vDisk merge#user group access#XenDesktop

Community Discussion

Ola B.Jun 15, 2026

Took this one on my actual 1Y1-200 sitting and almost panicked when I saw the merge step because I had been lazy in my lab and never let a merge run all the way to base, so I had to think it through cold. The key thing to lock in your head is that after testing a versioned vDisk in test mode you need to promote it to production first, then kick off a merge to base so all the version files collapse back into the single .vhd and you actually reclaim that disk space on the store, not just on paper. Once the merge completes and the vDisk is back to a single base image in production mode, you assign it to the Finance device collection and make sure the Finance user group is added to the Active Directory group that maps to that collection, otherwise users log on and Office just is not there. Do not forget to reboot the target devices after the merge and reassignment so they PXE or stream the updated base image fresh, because I have watched people in my study group miss that last step and wonder why Finance staff were still seeing the old vDisk.

Thekla S.Jun 13, 2026

The merge operation itself is straightforward, you consolidate the differencing disks into the base using the Merge All option from the vDisk Versions dialog, but the gotcha here is that after merging to a new base the vDisk stays in Maintenance access mode and you have to manually switch it back to Standard to let production targets boot from it, which is exactly the step candidates forget when they then wonder why Finance users still can't get to Office 2013 at logon.

Full 1Y1-200 Practice