The VDA auto-update feature allows a VDA to automatically discover and maintain a current list of all Delivery Controllers within a Site. This mechanism is considered "self-managed" because the VDA, after an initial connection, handles the list updates without continuous administrative intervention via static policies.

This self-managed process is effective in two key scenarios:

1. In non-persistent environments like Citrix Provisioning, the updated Controller list must be saved to a persistent location to survive reboots. A PVS write cache drive provides this persistence, allowing the auto-update feature to function correctly.

2. In deployments that do NOT use restrictive policies (conceptually "Controller groups") to force VDAs to register with only a specific subset of Controllers. In this standard configuration, the VDA relies on the default auto-update behavior to learn about all Controllers in the Site.

B. Deployments that use the Delivery Controllers or Controller SIDs policy setting.

Using these Group Policy settings overrides the VDA's self-managed process by providing a static, administratively-defined list of Controllers. This is policy-managed, not self-managed.

D. Deployments that use ListOfSIDs.

Similar to the policy setting, using the ListOfSIDs registry key is a manual configuration method to specify Controllers, which is contrary to the VDA's self-managed auto-update mechanism.

1. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Product Documentation - VDA registration with Controllers:

Section: Auto-update: "The auto-update feature is enabled by default... For non-persistent machines created by Citrix Provisioning, the cache is written to the PVS write-cache disk (if used). This allows the cache to persist across machine restarts." This statement directly supports option A.

Section: Methods of configuring Controller addresses: This section contrasts the default auto-update method with policy-based methods. It states, "When you specify Controllers using the Group Policy setting, it overrides settings specified during VDA installation." This confirms that using policies (options B and D) is an alternative to, not a condition for, the self-managed process. The absence of these restrictive policies allows the default self-managed behavior to function, supporting option C.

2. Citrix Tech Zone - VDA Registration:

Section: Auto Update: "Auto-Update is the most efficient method for VDA registration... The VDA will automatically keep its list of DDCs up to date... For PVS, the list is automatically stored in the write cache disk." This reference further validates option A as a scenario where the self-managed feature is designed to work effectively. It also describes auto-update as the default mechanism, which is used when not overridden by other methods, implicitly supporting option C.