rPath announced that virtual appliances intended for the Citrix Ready designation can be developed using rBuilder and the rPath Appliance Platform.

“Both rPath and Citrix are committed to creating new revenue sources for application providers,” said Barry Davis, vice president, Business Development at Citrix Systems. “Virtual appliances built using rBuilder and verified as Citrix Ready give application providers new sources of revenue while simultaneously improving end user satisfaction.”

A virtual appliance is an application combined with a streamlined operating system, offered in a format that runs in virtualized environments. Using rBuilder, a developer can create a virtual appliance for Citrix XenServer and submit it to Citrix for verification. The Citrix Ready designation is awarded to third party products that have successfully met the verification criteria set by Citrix. The verification process includes an extensive series of tests to ensure consistency and completeness of the virtual appliance before it is certified.

"The Citrix Ready program is one more significant milestone on the path to a future where software application value is delivered on-demand -- without the hassles of installation, maintenance, and administration," said Billy Marshall, founder and CEO of rPath. "Our support of the Citrix Ready program further extends rPath's commitment to provide the best technology for creating and managing virtual appliances.”

rBuilder uses an appliance definition to create all these virtual images, as well as appliance images suitable for installation on physical hardware. The use of one appliance definition ensures you get the same appliance regardless of the end format. rBuilder also knows to automatically include format-specific tools or files each time the appliance is updated.