STA is a Secure Ticket Authority, it is a service which provides a ticket, which is like a token that assures that the credentials have been accepted but prevents them from being transmitted in a way which they can be hijacked or wire sniffed. It is built into the IMA protocol stack and any PS server can act as an STA. It uses the XML port generally for communications but refers to a specific services when polling for an STA response. Steve Greenberg Thin Client Computing 34522 N. Scottsdale Rd D8453 Scottsdale, AZ 85266 (602) 432-8649 www.thinclient.net steveg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx _____ From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of James Scanlon Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 2:13 PM To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [THIN] Citrix STA - What is it? Hi Everyone, Apologies for the rudimentary question, but I am keen to get a stranglehold on exactly WHAT the STA service is and hows its used? How Does it differ from the XML service? Why does Web Interface or Accessgateway (when it asks for the STA address) actually end up with the XML Port number as well? Arent they completely separate for instance 'server1' running Citrix Pres 4.5 with XML on 8181 sta = http://server1:8181/scripts/ctxsta.dll YET! some machines doent even have IIS installed, or this file available, and the STA continues to work? We upgraded to R02 for CPS4.5 and had a failure on the only working STA server (yes each server is SUPPOSED to have an STA, but the rest dont work!) when using Access Gateway to get an ica file on the only working STA server we are getting "Faulting application ctxxmlss.exe, version 4.5.3276.1, faulting module msvcr71.dll, version 7.10.3052.4, fault address 0x00002777" Is it a version problem? how can you test it? Didnt the STA used to be a separate product? why is it now a part of citrix? how can the STA be "reinstated" if it stops working? what happens when a citrix server is imaged (like powerquest or altiris)? Thank you to everyone for any replies and apologies once more the the barrage of questions. :-) Thankyou!! James