SEPTEMBER 2015

Presenting Problem

You click to launch your applications in Google Chrome and the application does not launch. Instead, you see a launch.ica file downloaded from Google Chrome or the launch.ica file is opened up by some incompatible program on your computer (such as by another web browser or a Microsoft Office application).

Background

The launch.ica file is a Citrix file used by your web browser to virtualize your Citrix applications. This file is usually downloaded silently from Chrome and opened automatically by the Citrix application installed on your local computer. However, a recent update to Chrome has changed this usual process.

Google released the Version 42.0 update to Chrome on April 15, 2015. As a part of this update, Chrome now handles certain web content differently. For Citrix , Instead of downloading and automatically launching the launch.ica file like in the past, Chrome now just downloads the file instead. Depending on other local settings, your computer may try to automatically open the launch.ica file with an incompatible program as well.

Most users have Chrome set to update automatically, hence your Chrome may have already updated to the latest version without your knowledge.

Solution

To resolve, we need to tell Google Chrome to continue to automatically open the launch.ica files instead of just download them.

1. Attempt to launch a Citrix application
2. When you see the launch.ica file appear at the bottom of your web browser, click on the little arrow next to it and choose Always open files of this type
   
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3. Restart Google Chrome
4. Log back into Citrix and launch your application again

Additional Steps

If the above changes did not resolve your issue, then the Google Chrome update may have affected the default program that your computer uses to open .ica file types. As a result, you need to adjust the default program that opens .ica files on your local computer.

For Windows Users:

1. Launch the Control Panel
2. Open the Default Programs menu (this is under Programs if you are in Category View)
3. Choose to Associate a file type or protocol with a program
4. Find the .ica file type and choose to Change program…
5. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\ICA Client (you can paste this in the Open with… window)
   • Depending on your computer settings, the appropriate directory might be C:\Program Files\Citrix\ICA Client if the (x86) directory doesn’t exist
6. Select wfcrun32 from the above directory to set the Citrix Connection Manager as the default program to launch .ica files
7. Restart Google Chrome
8. Log back into Citrix and launch your application again

For Mac Users:

1. Locate the launch.ica file downloaded from Chrome (typically in your Downloads folder)
2. Right-click (control + click) on the launch.ica file and select Open With > Other
3. Browse to your Applications
4. Select the Citrix Receiver,check the Always Open With checkbox, and click Open

Credits: https://harborcloud.zendesk.com/entries/81554985-Google-Chrome-Click-to-launch-an-application-and-see-a-launch-ica-file