Manual Monitoring Citrix Xendesktop Site

User Manual: Monitoring Citrix Xendesktop Site

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Monitoring Citrix XenDesktop

Site

eG Enterprise v6.0

Restricted Rights Legend

The information contained in this document is confidential and subject to change without notice. No part of this

document may be reproduced or disclosed to others without the prior permission of eG Innovations Inc. eG

Innovations Inc. makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the software and documentation, including, but not

limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Trademarks

Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2003, and Windows 2000 are either registered trademarks or trademarks

of Microsoft Corporation in United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Table of Contents

MONITORING THE CITRIX XENDESKTOP BROKER SITE .............................................................................................. 1

1.1 The Infrastructures Layer .................................................................................................................................................. 3

1.1.1 Hypervisor Details Test............................................................................................................................................. 3

1.2 The Sites Layer ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

1.2.1 Site Details Test ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

1.3 The Controllers Layer ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

1.3.1 Controller Details Test ............................................................................................................................................ 14

1.3.2 Controller Services Test .......................................................................................................................................... 17

1.4 The Delivery Groups Layer ............................................................................................................................................ 27

1.4.1 Desktop OS Machines Test ..................................................................................................................................... 28

1.4.2 Failed Machines Test .............................................................................................................................................. 32

1.4.3 Server OS Machines Test ........................................................................................................................................ 34

1.4.4 Machine Catalogs Test ............................................................................................................................................ 39

1.5 The Users Layer .............................................................................................................................................................. 43

1.5.1 Logon Performance Test ......................................................................................................................................... 44

1.5.2 Session Details Test ................................................................................................................................................ 49

1.5.3 User Connection Failures ........................................................................................................................................ 52

1.5.4 User Connections Test ............................................................................................................................................ 54

1.5.5 User Logon Performance Test ................................................................................................................................. 56

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................................. 62

Table of Figures

Figure 1.1: The layer model of a Citrix XenDesktop Site.......................................................................................................................................... 1

Figure 1.2: The tests mapped to the Infrastructures layer .......................................................................................................................................... 3

Figure 2.4: The detailed diagnosis of the State of the controller’s connection to hypervisor measure ....................................................................... 8

Figure 1.3: The test mapped to the Sites layer ........................................................................................................................................................... 8

Figure 1.4: The detailed diagnosis of the License server availability measure ........................................................................................................ 13

Figure 1.5: The detailed diagnosis of the Total brokers for this site measure .......................................................................................................... 13

Figure 1.6: The tests mapped to the Controllers layer ............................................................................................................................................. 14

Figure 1.7: The detailed diagnosis of the Controller state measure ......................................................................................................................... 17

Figure 1.8: The tests mapped to the Delivery Groups layer ..................................................................................................................................... 28

Figure 1.9: The detailed diagnosis of the Total machines measure .......................................................................................................................... 31

Figure 1.10: The detailed diagnosis of the Power state measure.............................................................................................................................. 39

Figure 1.11: The detailed diagnosis of the Allocation type measure ....................................................................................................................... 43

Figure 1.12: The tests mapped to the Users layer .................................................................................................................................................... 44

M O N I T O RI N G T H E C I T R I X XE N D E S K T O P B R O K E R S I TE

Monitoring the Citrix XenDesktop

Broker Site

Deployment of XenDesktop in a single geographical location may be called as a site. A site therefore typically

comprises of one/more brokers that point to the same database, a database server, a license server, a Citrix Studio,

Citrix StoreFront, hypervisors, virtual machines, and XenApp servers on the server-side, and receivers at the client

side.

Monitoring a XenDesktop site will therefore provide administrators with an overview of the hypervisors used, delivery

groups managed, and desktops delivered by all the controllers in the site, and also points to probable problem areas.

For this site-level overview of performance, eG Enterprise provides a dedicated

XenDesktop Site

monitoring model.

Figure 1.1: The layer model of a Citrix XenDesktop Site

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Each layer in Figure 1.1. above is mapped to tests that to pull out a wealth of performance information related to a

broker site. To enable the eG agent to collect these metrics, you need to deploy the agent on any broker in the site.

This agent then leverages the Citrix ODATA API and runs Citrix Powershell SDK commands on the broker to report on

site composition and to monitor the connectivity between the monitored broker and key site components such as the

license server, database server, hypervisors, etc. In the process, breaks in connectivity between the broker and a

hypervisor and unavailability of the license server/database server can be promptly detected. In addition, delivery

groups managed by all the brokers in the site are monitored, and state of server/desktop OS machines in each group

is reported, so that powered-off/unavailable machines can be isolated.

Using the metrics so collected, administrators can find quick and accurate answers for the following performance

queries:

 Is the controller not able to communicate with any hypervisor? If so, which hypervisor is it?

 Is the license server in the site available? If so, how quickly is it responding to requests?

 Have any controllers in the site been inactive for a long time? Which brokers are these?

 Is any controller powered-off now?

 Which controller in the site has failed?

 Are the critical site services running on the controller being monitored?

 Which delivery group is overloaded with desktop sessions?

 Are any machines in the site waiting for image updates? Which ones are these and which delivery

group do they belong to?

 Which machines are in the 'Suspended' or 'Powered off' state currently?

 Which machines in the site have failed to start?

 Which machines are stuck on boot?

 Which are the machines that have violated their maximum load limit?

 Is any machine in the maintenance mode?

 Which machine has the highest load evaluator index? What is contributing to this - high

CPU/memory/disk space usage? or high user session load?

 How many catalogs have been configured on the broker? What are they? What is the type of each

catalog?

 How many machines in each catalog have been assigned to users, and how many are unassigned?

 Does any catalog consist of machines that do not belong to any delivery group?

 Which user's logon is taking the maximum time? Where is the user experiencing delays - when

brokering? at VM startup? during HDX connection? during authentication? when applying GPOs? at the

time of logon script execution? when loading user profile? when handing off keyboard and mouse

control to the user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

This document will elaborate on the top 5 layers of Figure 1.1 only.

1.1 The Infrastructures Layer

Use the test mapped to this layer to determine connectivity issues (if any) between the broker and the hosting

platform.

Figure 1.2: The tests mapped to the Infrastructures layer

1.1.1 Hypervisor Details Test

This test reports the status of the connection between the XenDesktop broker and each server that hosts the

machines. In the absence of a healthy connection between the two, the broker may not be able to provision

machines on-demand.

If users complaint of any delay in the servicing of their machine requests, you may want to use this test to check the

connection status between the broker and the server hosting that machine, so that connection errors (if any) can be

promptly detected.

Purpose

Reports the status of the connection between the XenDesktop broker and each server that hosts

the machines

Target of

the test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying

the test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurabl

parameters

for the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller in a site and pull

out metrics from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the

eG agent with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the DOMAIN to which the target controller

belongs and enter the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the USERNAME and

PASSWORD text boxes.

5. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

6. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents can

be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server, choose

the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available only if

the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of

the test

One set of results for each hypervisor with which the target controller communicates

Measureme

nts made

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

by the test

State of controller’s

connection to hypervisor:

Indicates the status of the

connection between the broker

and this hosting server.

This test reports one of the following values

to indicate the status of the connection

between the broker and a hosting server:

 On

 InMaintenanceMode

 Unavailable

The numeric values that correspond to the

above-mentioned states are as follows:

State

Numeric

Value

Description

Indicates that the

broker is in

contact with the

hypervisor

InMainten

anceMode

Indicates that the

hosting server

(e.g., XenServer,

Hyper-V) through

which machines

are managed, is

under

maintenance

Unavailabl

Indicates that the

broker is unable

to contact the

hypervisor

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned States while indicating the

connection status of the broker and the

hypervisor. However, in the graph of this

measure, the same will be represented using

the corresponding numeric equivalents –

1 to

– only.

The detailed diagnosis capability of this

measure if enabled, reveals the connection

name, connection type, Hypervisor address,

the preferred controller and the user who is

accessing the hypervisor.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Is controller’s connection to

hypervisor in maintenance

mode?:

Indicates whether the connection

between the broker and the

hosting server is in maintenance

mode.

This measure reports a value

Yes

if the

connection between the broker and the

hosting server is in maintenance mode and

if otherwise.

The numeric values corresponding to the

above-mentioned measure values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

whether the connection between the broker

and the hosting server is in maintenance

mode. However, the graph of this measure

will be represented using the corresponding

numeric equivalents i.e.,

only.

Is controller’s connection to

hypervisor in persistent?:

Indicates whether/not the

connection is persistent between

the broker and the hosting

server.

This measure reports a value

Yes

if the

connection between the broker and the

hosting server is persistent and

otherwise.

The numeric values corresponding to the

above-mentioned Measure Values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

whether the connection between the broker

and the hosting server is persistent.

However, the graph of this measure will be

represented using the corresponding numeric

equivalents i.e.,

only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Is local storage caching

enabled?:

Indicates whether the local

storage caching is enabled or

not.

This measure reports a value

Yes

if the local

storage caching capability is enabled and

if otherwise.

The numeric values corresponding to the

above-mentioned measure values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

whether the local storage caching capability

is enabled. However, the graph of this

measure will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents i.e.,

only.

Is machine creation service

used to create VMs?:

Indicates whether/not the

machine creation service is used

to create provisioned machines.

This measure reports a value

Yes

if the

machine creation service is used to create

provisioned machines and

if otherwise.

The numeric values corresponding to the

above-mentioned measure values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

whether the machine creation service is used

to create provisioned machines. However, in

the graph of this measure, the same will be

represented using the corresponding numeric

equivalents i.e.,

only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

The detailed diagnosis of the

State of the controller’s connection to hypervisor

measure reveals the connection name,

connection type, Hypervisor address, the preferred controller and the user who is accessing the hypervisor.

Figure 1.1: The detailed diagnosis of the State of the controller’s connection to hypervisor measure

1.2 The Sites Layer

Using the test mapped to this layer, you can monitor the availability and responsiveness of the license server in the

site, the session related information and the number of brokers managed by this site.

Figure 1.3: The test mapped to the Sites layer

1.2.1 Site Details Test

This test promptly alerts administrators to the following anomalies related to the monitored site:

 The sudden non-availability of the license server in the site;

 Poor responsiveness of the license server;

 A session overload on the site;

 Inactive brokers in the site

Purpose

This test promptly alerts administrators to the following anomalies related to the monitored site:

 The sudden non-availability of the license server in the site;

 Poor responsiveness of the license server;

 A session overload on the site;

 Inactive brokers in the site

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller in a site and

pull out metrics from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to

configure the eG agent with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the DOMAIN to which the

target controller belongs and enter the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

5. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

6. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for the XenDesktop server site to which the target broker belongs

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

License server availability:

Indicates the availability of

the license server in this site.

Percent

If the license server is available, a value of

100

is shown and if the license server is not

available, a value of

is shown.

Since the license server is responsible for

managing the licenses for all the components

of XenDesktop, the non-availability of the

license server, should have serious

repercussions on the performance of the

XenDesktop site. However, such adversities

are averted by the 90-day grace period that

XenDesktop embeds; this allows the system

to function normally for 90 days if the license

server becomes unavailable.

Moreover, if this measure reports that the

license server is unavailable, then you may

instantly want to know which license server

the XenDesktop is communicating with. At

this juncture, you can use the detailed

diagnosis of this measure (if enabled) to

ascertain the name of the license server and

the port at which it listens.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

License server response

time:

Indicates the time taken by

the broker to establish a

connection with the license

server.

Secs

Ideally, the response time should be low.

Active licensed sessions:

Indicates the total number of

licensed sessions that are

currently active on this site.

Number

This measure is a good indicator of the load

on this site and the extent of license usage.

Is DNS resolution

enabled?:

Indicates whether the DNS

resolution is enabled or not

on this site.

The values and their corresponding numeric

values that this measure could report are:

Measure

Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the values

Yes

while indicating whether DNS

resolution is enabled or not on this site.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents of

and

only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Is secure ICA required?:

Indicates whether/not a

secure ICA is required for this

site.

By default, client-server communications are

obfuscated at a basic level through the

SecureICA feature, which can be used to

encrypt the ICA protocol.

Plug-ins use the ICA protocol to encode user

input (keystrokes and mouse clicks) and

address it to a server farm for processing.

Server farms use the ICA protocol to format

application output (display and audio) and

return it to the client device.

You can increase the level of encryption for

the ICA protocol when you publish a resource

or after you publish a resource.

In addition to situations when you want to

protect against internal security threats, such

as eavesdropping, you may want to use ICA

encryption in the following situations:

You need to secure communications from

devices that use Microsoft DOS or run on

Win16 systems

You have older devices running plug-in

software that cannot be upgraded to use SSL

As an alternative to SSL/TLS encryption,

when there is no risk of a “man-in-the-

middle” attack

The values that this measure can report and

their corresponding numeric values are:

Measure

Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the values

Yes

while indicating whether a secure

ICA is required for this site or not. However,

in the graph of this measure, the same will

be represented using the corresponding

numeric equivalents of

and

only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Is the trust request sent

to the XML service port?

Indicates whether/not trust

requests were sent to the

XML service.

Trusting requests sent to the XML Service

means:

 Smooth Roaming works when

connecting with the Web Interface

using pass-through or smart card

authentication, and when

connecting with the online plug-in

using smart card authentication or

the Kerberos pass-through option.

 For example, you can use

workspace control to assist health-

care workers in a hospital using

smart cards, who need to move

quickly among workstations and be

able to pick up where they left off in

published applications.

 XenApp can use the information

passed on from Access Gateway

(Version 4.0 or later) to control

application access and session

policies. This information includes

Access Gateway filters that can be

used to control access to published

applications and to set XenApp

session policies. If you do not trust

requests sent to the XML Service,

this additional information is

ignored.

The values that this measure can report and

their corresponding numeric values are:

Measure

Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the values

Yes

while indicating whether/not trust

requests were sent to the XML service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents of

and

only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Total brokers on this site:

Indicates the total number of

brokers that are configured

for this site.

Number

The detailed diagnosis of the

Total brokers

for this site

measure displays the names of

the brokers of this site, the machine on which

the broker is installed, total number of

desktops managed by this broker, the state

of the broker, the version of the broker, the

type of operating system, the version of the

operating system, the last time at which the

broker was active. This information helps you

to identify the brokers that are active and are

utilized effectively.

The detailed diagnosis of the

License server availability

measure displays the name of the License server in the

site and the port at which it listens. Alongside, the detailed diagnosis displays the desktop model, desktop edition,

application model and application edition that is compatible with the license. The date on which the license would

finally expire/the last date for renewal of the license is provided in the

REQUIRED SA DATE

column. This information

enables administrators to effectively troubleshoot issues with the availability of the License server.

Figure 1.4: The detailed diagnosis of the License server availability measure

The detailed diagnosis of the

Total brokers for this site

measure displays the names of the brokers of this site, the

machine on which the broker is installed, total number of desktops managed by this broker, the state of the broker,

the version of the broker, the type of operating system, the version of the operating system, the last time at which

the broker was active. This information helps you to identify the brokers that are active and are utilized effectively.

Figure 1.5: The detailed diagnosis of the Total brokers for this site measure

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

1.3 The Controllers Layer

For each controller in a site, the tests mapped to this layer report the current state of the controller and the state of

each critical service running on the controller. Abnormalities in controller operations can thus be captured quickly.

Figure 1.6: The tests mapped to the Controllers layer

1.3.1 Controller Details Test

Controllers are server machines running instances of the broker service. This test auto-discovers the delivery

controllers configured within a site, and reports the current status of each controller and the count of machines

registered with every controller.

Purpose

Auto-discovers the delivery controllers configured within a site, and reports the current status of

each controller and the count of machines registered with every controller

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller in a site and

pull out metrics from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to

configure the eG agent with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the DOMAIN to which the

target controller belongs and enter the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

5. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

6. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for the XenDesktop server site to which the target broker belongs

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

Controller state:

Indicates the current state of

this desktop delivery

controller (broker).

Number

This test reports one of the following values

to indicate the current state of a destop

delivery controller:

 Active – Indicates that the broker is

powered-on and fully operational

 On – Indicates that the broker is

powered-on, but not fully

operational

 Failed – Indicates that the broker

has failed due to some reason

 Off – Indicates that the broker is

powered-off

The numeric values that correspond to the

above-mentioned states are as follows:

State

Numeric

Value

Active

Failed

Off

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned States while indicating the current

state of a broker. However, the graph of this

measure will represent states using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

The detailed diagnosis of this measure

reveals when the controller was last

accessed, when it was last started, and also

displays the site services that were active on

the controller during its last access.

Total registered machines:

Indicates the number of

machines that are currently

registered with this broker.

Number

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

The detailed diagnosis of the

Controller state

measure reveals when the controller was last accessed, when it was

last started, and also displays the name of the machine on which the broker is installed, the version of the broker,

the Operating system of the machine and the Operating system version.

Figure 1.7: The detailed diagnosis of the Controller state measure

1.3.2 Controller Services Test

The broker service is responsible for the brokering of user sessions to desktops or applications, and for power

management of the underlying machines. Every controller in a site runs an instance of the broker service. In addition

to the broker service, the following critical services also run on a controller:

 AD identity service

 Configuration service

 Host service

 Machine creation service

 Admin service

 Monitoring service

 Logging service

This test periodically checks the health of each of these services on the target controller in a XenDesktop site, and

reports abnormalities (if any). With the help of this test, you can promptly detect which services have failed.

Purpose

Periodically checks the health of each of these services on the target controller in a XenDesktop

site, and reports abnormalities (if any). With the help of this test, you can promptly detect which

services have failed.

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller in a site and

pull out metrics from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to

configure the eG agent with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the DOMAIN to which the

target controller belongs and enter the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

5. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

6. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for every controller configured within a site

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

Broker service status:

Indicates the current status of

the broker service on this

broker.

Number

The Citrix Broker Service brokers connections

from endpoint devices to desktops and

applications.

The numeric values that correspond to the

Measure Values that this measure can take

are as follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

PendingFailure

Failed

Unknown

DBNotFound

DBMissingOptionalFeature

DBMissingMandatoryFeature

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current state of the broker service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

AD identity service status:

Indicates the current status of

the AD Identity Service on

this broker.

The Citrix AD Identity Service manages active

directory computer accounts. Once the

broker validates a user login, this service

connects to the broker’s database to identify

the virtual desktop that is assigned to the

user who has logged in.

The values that this measure reports and the

numeric values that correspond to them are

as follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the AD Identity Service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configuration service

status:

Indicates the current status of

the Configuration Service on

this broker.

The Citrix Configuration Service stores the

configuration information related to Citrix

services in the broker’s MS SQL database.

The values that this measure can report and

their corresponding numeric values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Configuration

service. However, in the graph of this

measure, the same will be represented using

the corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to 10

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Host service status:

Indicates the current status of

the Host service on this

broker.

The Citrix Host Service manages host and

hypervisor connections.

The values that this measure can take and

their corresponding numeric values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Configuration

service. However, in the graph of this

measure, the same will be represented using

the corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to 10

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Machine creation service

status:

Indicates the current status of

the Machine Creation Service

on this broker.

The Citrix Machine Creation Service creates

new virtual machines.

Once a valid user logs into the XenDesktop

Broker via the Web Interface, the

XenDesktop Broker manages the delivery

groups by building, starting, and shutting

down the desktops as required. At this

juncture, the XenDesktop Broker relies on

Machine Creation Services (MCS) to deliver

the appropriate desktop image to the Pooled

and Dedicated delivery groups.

The values that this measure can take and

their corresponding numeric equivalents are

as follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Machine creation

service. However, in the graph of this

measure, the same will be represented using

the corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to 10

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Admin service status:

Indicates the current status of

the Delegated Administration

service on this broker.

The Delegated Administration Service (DAS)

stores information about Citrix administrators

and the rights they have. Services in the

XenDesktop deployment use the DAS to

determine whether a particular user has the

privilege to perform an operation or not.

The values that this measure can report and

their corresponding numeric equivalents are

as follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Delegated

Administration service. However, in the graph

of this measure, the same will be represented

using the corresponding numeric equivalents

– i.e.,

1 to 10

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Licensing service status:

Indicates the current status of

the Licensing service on this

broker.

The values that this measure can take and

their corresponding numeric values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Licensing service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Monitoring service status:

Indicates the current status of

the Monitoring service on this

broker.

The Citrix Monitor Service monitors the

Flexcast system. Citrix FlexCast is a delivery

technology that allows an IT administrator to

personalize virtual desktops to meet the

performance, security and flexibility

requirements of end users. Currently, there

are five different FlexCast models available.

The values that this measure can take and

their corresponding numeric values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Monitoring service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Logging service status:

Indicates the current status of

the Logging service on this

broker.

The Configuration Logging Service logs

configuration changes or administrator

requested state changes made to the site.

The values that this measure can take and

their corresponding numeric values are as

follows:

Measure Value

Numeric

Value

DBUnconfigured

DBRejectedConnection

InvalidDBConfigured

DBNotFound

DBNewerVersionThanService

DBOlderVersionThanService

DBVersionChangeInProgress

Failed

Unknown

Note:

By default, this measure reports the above-

mentioned Measure Values while indicating

the current status of the Monitoring service.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

1 to

1.4 The Delivery Groups Layer

The tests mapped to this layer monitor the desktop OS and server OS machines in each delivery group configured on

the broker in a site and report the status of these machines.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Figure 1.8: The tests mapped to the Delivery Groups layer

1.4.1 Desktop OS Machines Test

XenDesktop supports two types of Delivery Agents: one for Windows Server OS machines and one for Windows

Desktop OS machines. Desktop OS Machines are VMs or physical machines based on the Windows Desktop

operating system used for delivering personalized desktops to users, or applications from desktop operating systems.

Delivery groups consist of virtual desktops and applications that are pooled, pre-assigned, or assigned on first use.

Each group can contain only one type of desktop or application.

To track the status of desktop OS machines in each delivery group configured in a site, use the Desktop OS Machines

test.

Purpose

To track the status of desktop OS machines in each delivery group configured in a site

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group containing desktop OS machines in the site

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

Total machines:

Indicates the total number of

machines in this group.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which desktop OS machines are part of

a delivery group.

Preparing machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this group that

are currently preparing

sessions for users.

Number

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Pending image update

machines:

Indicates the number of

machines managed by this

delivery group to which

updates are currently

pending.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are awaiting updates.

Maintenance mode

enabled machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this group for

which maintenance mode has

been enabled.

Number

Powered on machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this desktop

group that are currently

powered on.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are currently powered

on.

Suspended machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that are currently in the

Suspended state.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are currently in the

Suspended state.

Powered off machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that are currently

powered off.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are currently in the

powered off.

Unavailable machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in the following

power states:

 Unavailable

 Unmanaged

 Unknown

Number

A low value is desired for this measure.

The detailed diagnosis of this measure will

reveal the complete details of the unavailable

machines, such as, the machine name, IP

address, the machine type, the delivery

group and catalog to which the machine

belongs, the hosting server on which the

machine operates, the name of the

hypervisor and the controller on which the

machine operates, the user who is active on

the session, the location at whih the changes

made by the user is stored, the provision

type of the machine, and the application

published on the machine, if the machine is a

XenAPP server.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Assigned machines:

Indicates the number of

machines that are assigned to

users in this delivery group.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are assigned to users.

Unassigned machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that are not assigned

to users.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are not assigned to

users.

Resuming machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this group that

are in the Resume state

currently.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines are in the Resume

state.

Total sessions:

Indicates the total number of

user sessions to this delivery

group.

Use the detailed diagnosis of the

Total machines

measure to know which desktop OS machines are part of a delivery

group.

Figure 1.9: The detailed diagnosis of the Total machines measure

For a list of powered off machines in a delivery goup, use the detailed diagnosis of the

Powered off machines

measure.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

1.4.2 Failed Machines Test

Using this test, administrator can figure out how many machines of which type are currently in a state of failure. The

names of these machines and the precise failure state they are in presently can also be ascertained.

Purpose

Using this test, administrator can figure out how many machines of which type are currently in a

state of failure. The names of these machines and the precise failure state they are in presently

can also be ascertained

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop Site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type – i.e., grouped into Desktop OS Machines and Server OS Machines –

then set this flag to Yes. If not, set this flag to No.

11. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group configured for the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

Machines that failed to

start:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that failed to start.

Number

The value of this measure refers to the

number of failures that occurred due to a

guest machine being unable to start as in

disk is detached when attempting to boot or

the hosting server reported that the VM could

not be booted up.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines failed to start.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Machines stuck on boot:

Indicates the number of

machines that are stuck on

boot.

Number

This measure refers to the number of failures

that occurred due to the guest operating

system being unable to boot up fully. For

example, OS BSOD during boot or unable to

locate the boot partition.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

know which machines were stuck on boot.

Unregistered machines:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that are not registered

with the broker.

Number

Machine registration can fail due to loss of

network connectivity between the machine

and the broker, the clocks on the two being

out of sync or the Desktop Service not

running on the desktop.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

identify the unregistered machines.

Maximum load:

Indicates the number of

machines in this delivery

group that have violated their

maximum load limit.

Number

This measure applies only to Server OS

Machines.

The value of this measure refers to the

number of failures that occurred owing to too

many sessions on the machine or because

CPU or memory usage of the machines

crossed the threshold specified for the

delivery group.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

identify the loaded machines.

1.4.3 Server OS Machines Test

Server OS Machines are VMs or physical machines based on the Windows Server operating system used for

delivering applications or hosted shared desktops to users.

This test auto-discovers the Server OS Machines in the site and reports the session load on, resource usage of, and

current state of each machine. This way, administrators can quickly identify machines that are experiencing heavy

load and those that are consuming resources abnormally.

Purpose

Auto-discovers the Server OS Machines in the site and reports the session load on, resource

usage of, and current state of each machine

Target of the

test

A broker in the Citrix XenDesktop site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY DELIVERY GROUP – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

delivery group then set this flag to Yes. In this case therefore, the delivery groups

containing the server OS machines will be the primary descriptors of this test; expanding

them will reveal the secondary descriptors – i.e., the server OS machines in each delivery

group. If you want the results of this test to be indexed only by the names of the server OS

machines, then set this flag to No.

11. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each server OS machine running in the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Power state:

Indicates the current power

state of this server OS

machine.

The values this measure can report and their

corresponding numeric values are listed in

then table below:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Unknown

Unavailable

Off

Suspended

Turning on

Turning Off

Suspending

Resuming

Unmanaged

Using the detailed diagnosis of the

Power

state

measure you can view the complete

configuration details of the server OS

machine.

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure

Values in the table above to indicate the

power state of a server OS machine.

However, in the graph of this measure, the

same will be represented using the

corresponding numeric equivalents only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Maintenance mode:

Indicates whether/not this

machine is in the

maintenance mode currently.

The values this measure can report and their

corresponding numeric values are listed in

then table below:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Off

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure

Values in the table above to indicate

whether/not a server OS machine is in the

maintenance mode. However, in the graph of

this measure, the same will be represented

using the corresponding numeric equivalents

only.

Pending image update:

Indicates whether/not image

updates are pending on this

machine.

The values this measure can report and their

corresponding numeric values are listed in

then table below:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure

Values in the table above to indicate

whether/not image updates are pending on

this server OS machine. However, in the

graph of this measure, the same will be

represented using the corresponding numeric

equivalents only.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Is this physical machine?:

Indicates whether this server

OS machine is a physical or

virtual machine.

The values this measure can report and their

corresponding numeric values are listed in

then table below:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure

Values in the table above to indicate

whether/not a server OS machine is a

physical machine. However, in the graph of

this measure, the same will be represented

using the corresponding numeric equivalents

only.

Total sessions:

Indicates the total number of

user sessions on this server

OS machine.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current session

load on a server OS machine. Compare the

value of this measure across machines to

know which machine is overloaded with

sessions.

Load evaluator index:

Indicates the load evaluator

index of this machine.

Percent

A server’s load index may be the aggregate

of:

 Various computer performance

counter based metrics, namely

CPU, Memory and Disk Usage

 Session Count

It is designed to indicate how suitable a

XenApp Worker is to receive a new user

session. It is the Delivery Controller’s

responsibility to calculate the load index

based on the aggregate of the normalized

load rule indexes generated by the various

load rules. As only the Delivery Controller can

determine the session load, a server’s overall

load index is calculated on the Delivery

Controller and not the Virtual Delivery Agent.

By comparing the value of this measure

across server OS machines, you can figure

out whether or not load is uniformly balanced

across all servers in the site.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

CPU:

Indicates the CPU load

evaluator index of this server

OS machine.

Percent

A high value is indicative of excessive CPU

usage by the machine over time.

Memory:

Indicates the memory load

evaluator index of this server

OS machine.

Percent

A high value is indicative of excessive

memory usage by the machine over time.

Disk:

Indicates the disk load

evaluator index of this server

OS machine.

Percent

A high value is indicative of excessive disk

usage by the machine over time.

Session count:

Indicates the session count

load evaluator index of this

server OS machine.

Percent

A high value indicates that the machine has

been consistently handling many user

sessions.

Using the detailed diagnosis of the

Power state

measure you can view the details of the server OS machine such as

the IP address, DNS name, OS of the machine, the server hosting the machine, and the current status of that

machine.

Figure 1.10: The detailed diagnosis of the Power state measure

1.4.4 Machine Catalogs Test

In XenDesktop, collections of virtual machines (VMs) or physical computers of the same type are managed as a

single entity called a catalog. To deliver desktops to users, the machine administrator creates a catalog of machines

and the assignment administrator allocates machines from the catalog to users by creating delivery groups.

This test auto-discovers the catalogs managed by the XenDesktop site being monitored, and reports useful statistics

related to each catalog, which reveal:

 The catalog type;

 The type of desktops allocated to each catalog;

 The availability, usage, and assignment of desktops in each catalog

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Purpose

Auto-discovers the catalogs managed by the XenDesktop site being monitored, and reports

useful statistics related to each catalog

Target of the

test

A broker in a XenDesktop site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. DOMAIN, USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller in a site and

pull out metrics from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to

configure the eG agent with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the DOMAIN to which the

target controller belongs and enter the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

5. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

6. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type – i.e., grouped into Desktop OS Machines and Server OS Machines –

then set this flag to Yes. If not, set this flag to No.

7. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for every catalog on each broker configured within a site

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

Allocation type:

Indicates the allocation type

of the machines available in

this catalog.

Number

This measure can report any one of the

following values:

 Static

 Permanent

 Random

 Unknown

The table below provides the numeric values

that correspond to the allocation types listed

above, and a brief description of each type:

Allocation

Type

Numeric

Value

Description

Static

Indicates that the

machines in this

catalog are either

assigned by the

administrator or

assigned on first

use to users. This

assignment will

change only when

the administrator

explicitly changes

the assignments.

Permanent

Indicates that the

machines in this

catalog are

permanently

assigned to the

user.

Random

Indicates that the

machines in this

catalog are picked

in random and

are temporarily

assigned to the

user.

Note:

By default, this measure reports the

Allocation Types listed in the table above.

However, the graph of this measure will

represent the allocation types using their

corresponding numeric equivalents – i.e.,

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

The detailed diagnosis of this measure if

enabled, lists the catalog to which the

machine belongs, the machine type, the

number of sessions supported by the

machine i.e, either Single session or Multi

session, the location used for storing user

data, the provisioning type and the scopes

associated with the chosen catalog.

Are physical machines?:

Indicates whether/not the

machines in this catalog are

power managed by the

broker.

This measure reports a value

Yes

if the

machines are power managed by the broker

and No, if otherwise.

The table below provides the numeric values

that correspond to the abovementioned

values:

Measure Value

Numeric Value

Yes

Note:

By default, this measure reports whether the

machines are power managed by the broker

or not. However, the graph of this measure

will be represented using their corresponding

numeric equivalents – i.e.,

Entitled machines used in

delivery groups:

Indicates the number of

assigned machines (to users)

in this catalog that are within

delivery groups.

Number

Entitled machines

available for delivery

groups:

Indicates the number of

machines in this catalog that

are available to users within

delivery groups.

Number

Machines not entitled

available for delivery

groups:

Indicates the number of

machines within the delivery

groups that are not yet

assigned to users.

Number

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Machines not entitled

used in delivery groups:

Indicates the number of

unassigned machines in this

catalog within the delivery

groups but are still used in

the pool.

Number

Machines used in delivery

groups:

Indicates the number of

machines in this catalog that

are within delivery groups.

Number

Total machines in catalog:

Indicates the total number of

machines in this catalog.

Number

The detailed diagnosis of the

Allocation type

measure if enabled, lists the catalog to which the machine belongs, the

machine type, the number of sessions supported by the machine i.e, either Single session or Multi session, the

location used for storing user data, the provisioning type and the scopes associated with the chosen catalog.

Figure 1.11: The detailed diagnosis of the Allocation type measure

1.5 The Users Layer

Use the tests mapped to this layer to monitor user logons to the broker, assess user load, capture bottlenecks in the

logon process, and detect user connection failures.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Figure 1.12: The tests mapped to the Users layer

1.5.1 Logon Performance Test

The process of a user logging into a desktop/server OS machine managed by a XenDesktop Broker is complex. First,

the user’s login credentials are authenticated. Then, the corresponding user profile is identified and loaded. Next,

group policies are applied and logon scripts are processed to setup the user environment. Then, a HDX connection is

established with the VM, subsequent to which, the VM starts and hands off keyboard and mouse control to the user.

In the meantime, additional processing may take place for a user – say, applying system profiles, creating new

printers for the user, and so on. A slowdown in any of these steps can significantly delay the logon process for a user

and may adversely impact the logins for other users who may be trying to access desktops/applications at the same

time. Hence, if a user complains that he/she is unable to access an application/desktop, administrators must be able

to rapidly isolate exactly where the logon process is stalling and for which user.

The Logon Performance test tracks user connections to each delivery group configured in a site, measures the

average time taken for users to access desktops/applications delivered by each group, isolates the group to which

user logins are slow, and accurately pinpoints where the login process is bottlenecked. Detailed diagnostics provided

by this test point to the precise user who is experiencing the slowness.

Purpose

Tracks user connections to each delivery group configured in a site, measures the average time

taken for users to access desktops/applications delivered by each group, isolates the group to

which user logins are slow, and accurately pinpoints where the login process is bottlenecked.

Target of the

test

A broker in a XenDesktop broker site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type then set this flag to Yes. In this case therefore, the machine types (desktop or

server OS machines) will be the primary descriptors of this test; expanding them will reveal

the secondary descriptors – i.e., the delivery groups containing machines of each type. If

you want the results of this test to be indexed only by the names of delivery groups, then

set this flag to No.

11. DD FREQUENCY - Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to

be generated for this test. The default is

1:1

. This indicates that, by default, detailed

measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a

problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the

detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying

none

against dd

frequency.

12. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group configured in the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Average logon duration:

Indicates the average time

taken for users to login to

desktops/applications offered

by this delivery group.

Secs

If this measure reports a high value

consistently, it could indicate a slowdown in

the logon process.

You can use the detailed diagnosis of this

measure to understand the logon experience

of each user to the delivery group, identify

that user who took the maximum time to

experienced slowness.

Logons:

Indicates the number of users

who recently logged into

desktops/applications

delivered by this delivery

group.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current user

load on a delivery group.

Brokering duration:

Indicates time taken to

complete the process of

brokering sessions to this

deliver group.

Secs

A high value indicates that brokering is taking

a long time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Time taken for

starting VM, HDX connection duration,

Authentication time, GPOs duration, Logon

scripts duration, Profile load time, and

Interactive session duration

measures to

know where exactly the user logon process

slowed down – is it during authentication? Is

it during brokering? Is it when establishing

the HDX connection? Is it when applying

GPOs? Is it during logon scripts execution? Is

it while loading user profiles? Is it when

starting the VM? Or is it when handing over

control to the user?

Time taken for starting

VM:

Indicates the time taken for

starting the machines in this

delivery group.

Secs

A high value indicates that machines are

taking too long to startup.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

HDX connection duration, Authentication

time, GPOs duration, Logon scripts duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

HDX connection duration:

Indicates the time taken to

complete the steps required

for setting up the HDX

connection from the client to

the machines in this delivery

group.

Secs

A high value indicates that HDX connections

are taking time to be established.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, Authentication

time, GPOs duration, Logon scripts duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

Authentication time:

Indicates the time time taken

to authenticate remoe

sessions to the machines in

this delivery group.

Secs

A high value indicates authentication delays.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, GPOs duration, Logon scripts

duration, Profile load time, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

GPOs duration:

Indicates the time taken to

apply group policy settings on

the machines in this delivery

group.

Secs

A high value indicates that GPO application is

taking time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, Logon scripts

duration, Profile load time, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Logon scripts duration:

Indicates the time taken for

logon scripts to be executed

on the machines in this

delivery group.

Secs

A high value indicates that logon script

execution is taking time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

Profile load time:

Indicates the time taken by

the logon process to load the

profile of the users to this

delivery group.

Secs

A high value indicates that profiles are taking

too long to load.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Logon scripts duration, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

Interactive session

duration:

Indicates the time taken by

the logon process to handoff

keyboard and mouse control

to the users to this delivery

group.

Secs

A high value indicates delays in handing off

keyboard and mouse control to users.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Logon scripts duration, and Profile load time

measures to know where exactly the user

logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

1.5.2 Session Details Test

By tracking sessions to each delivery group configured on a site, administrators can not only assess the load on the

delivery groups, but can also quickly identify problematic sessions – these could be sessions that are disconnected,

sessions that are in an Unknown state, sessions that are reconnecting for some reason. This is what the Session

Detaiils test does! This test monitors the user sessions to each delivery group in a site, points administrators to

overloaded groups, and also reports the status of sessions to each group, so that problem sessions can be isolated

and their problems can be investigated.

Purpose

Monitors the user sessions to each delivery group in a site, points administrators to overloaded

groups, and also reports the status of sessions to each group, so that problem sessions can be

isolated and their problems can be investigated

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type then set this flag to Yes. In this case therefore, the machine types (desktop or

server OS machines) will be the primary descriptors of this test; expanding them will reveal

the secondary descriptors – i.e., the delivery groups containing machines of each type. If

you want the results of this test to be indexed only by the names of delivery groups, then

set this flag to No.

11. DD FREQUENCY - Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to

be generated for this test. The default is

1:1

. This indicates that, by default, detailed

measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a

problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the

detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying

none

against dd

frequency.

12. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group configured in the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

Active sessions:

Indicates the number of user

sessions that are currently

active on this delivery group.

Number

This is a good indicator of the current session

load on a delivery group. A consistent zero

value however could indicate a connection

issue.

You can compare the value of this measure

across delivery groups to kow which delivery

group is handling the maximum number of

sessions currently.

To determine the details of the currently

active sessions, use the detailed diagnosis of

this

measure.

Connected sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions that are currently

connected to this delivery

group.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

view the details of connected sessions.

Disconnected sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions that are currently

disconnected from this

delivery group.

Number

If all the current sessions suddenly log out, it

indicates a problem condition that requires

investigation. The detailed diagnosis of this

measure lists the sessions that were logged

out.

Reconnecting sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions that are reconnecting

with this delivery group soon

after a disconnect.

Number

Preparing sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions to this delivery group

that are currently in the

Preparing

state.

Number

Non-brokered sessions:

Indicates the number of user

sessions that are not brokered

by the machines managed by

this delivery group.

Number

Unknown sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions to this delivery group

that are currently in

Unknown

state.

Number

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Other sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions to this delivery group

that are currently in

Other

state.

Number

Pending sessions:

Indicates the number of

sessions to this delivery group

that are currently pending.

Number

1.5.3 User Connection Failures

If a user complains that his/her connections to a desktop/application failed, then adinistrators must be able to quickly

detect the failure and accurately zero-in on the reason for the failure, so that the problem can be fixed and the user

connection can be restored. The User Connection Failures test helps administrators do just that! This test monitors

the user connections to each delivery group in a site, promptly detects connection failures, and accurately indicates

what caused the failure – is it due to a problem at the client side? is it owing to configuration errors? is it because of

machine failures? is it due to the exhaustion of delivery group capacity? Or is it due to the absence of a license?

Purpose

Monitors the user connections to each delivery group in a site, promptly detects connection

failures, and accurately indicates what caused the failure – is it due to a problem at the client

side? is it owing to configuration errors? is it because of machine failures? is it due to the

exhaustion of delivery group capacity? Or is it due to the absence of a license?

Target of the

test

A Citrix XenDesktop Director

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type then set this flag to Yes. In this case therefore, the machine types (desktop or

server OS machines) will be the primary descriptors of this test; expanding them will reveal

the secondary descriptors – i.e., the delivery groups containing machines of each type. If

you want the results of this test to be indexed only by the names of delivery groups, then

set this flag to No.

11. DD FREQUENCY - Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to

be generated for this test. The default is

1:1

. This indicates that, by default, detailed

measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a

problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the

detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying

none

against dd

frequency.

12. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group configured in the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

Client connection failures:

Indicates the number of

connections to this delivery

group that failed due to a

problem at the client side.

Number

The value of this measure indicates the

number of connection failures that occurred

due to the inability of the client side to

complete the session connection; for

example, connection timed out, server was

not reachable.

Configuration errors:

Indicates the number of

connections to this delivery

group that failed due to

configuration errors.

Number

Connection failures can also occur when

administrators change the configuration of

the broker; for instance, a failure may occur

when administrators put a delivery group or a

machine in maintenance mode.

Machine failures:

Indicates the number of

connections to this delivery

group that failed due to

machine failures.

Number

This refers to connections that failed because

the machines that need to launch the

sessions itself failed. For probable reasons,

refer to the measures of the

Failed Machines

test.

Unavailable capacity:

Indicates the number of

connections to this delivery

group that failed because the

configured capacity of the

machines was consumed.

Number

This refers to failures that occurred due to

the configured capacity of a particular

delivery group having been completely

consumed. For example, too many users

logged into a Server Desktop OS delivery

group or a user accessing a Pooled Random

delivery group once all the machines in the

delivery group are already assigned to other

users.

Unavailable licenses:

Indicates the number of

connections to this delivery

group that failed because of

the absence of a license.

Number

These are failures that occur due to the

inability of the delivery controller to acquire a

license from the license server to launch a

session.

1.5.4 User Connections Test

This test reports the number of users who recently connected with the machines/applications in each delivery group

configured in the broker site. Sudden spikes in user connections to a delivery group can thus be identified.

Purpose

Reports the number of users who recently connected with the machines/applications in each

delivery group configured in the broker site. Sudden spikes in user connections to a delivery

group can thus be identified

Target of the

test

A Citrix XenDesktop Director

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. REPORT BY MACHINE TYPE – If you want the results of this test to be grouped by

machine type then set this flag to Yes. In this case therefore, the machine types (desktop or

server OS machines) will be the primary descriptors of this test; expanding them will reveal

the secondary descriptors – i.e., the delivery groups containing machines of each type. If

you want the results of this test to be indexed only by the names of delivery groups, then

set this flag to No.

11. DD FREQUENCY - Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to

be generated for this test. The default is

1:1

. This indicates that, by default, detailed

measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a

problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the

detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying

none

against dd

frequency.

12. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each delivery group configured in the XenDesktop broker ste

Measurements

made by the

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

test

New connections:

Indicates the number of new

connections to this delivery

group since the last

measurement period.

Number

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to

view the details of each new connection.

1.5.5 User Logon Performance Test

The Logon Performance test monitors the user logon process from a delivery group perspective; in other words, it

monitors user logins to the desktops/applications in a delivery group, measures the ‘aggregate’ duration of the login

across all users to that group, and thus points to bottlenecks in the user logon process to that group.

The User Logon Performance test on the other hand, provides the user-perspective to logon monitoring. In other

words, this test tracks each user who logs into a desktop or accesses an application via the XenDesktop broker,

reports in real-time the logon experience of that user, and pinpoints where exactly that user’s logon slowed down.

When a user complaints of delays in accessing his/her virtual desktop, this test will lead administrators straight to

what is causing the delay. Detailed diagnositics provided by this test reveal which machines/applications a user is

accessing and which delivery group these machines/applications belong to.

Purpose

Tracks each user who logs into a desktop or accesses an application via the XenDesktop broker,

reports in real-time the logon experience of that user, and pinpoints where exactly that user’s

logon slowed down

Target of the

test

A broker in a Citrix XenDesktop site

Agent

deploying the

test

An internal agent

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Configurable

parameters for

the test

1. TEST PERIOD - How often should the test be executed

2. HOST - The host for which the test is to be configured.

3. PORT – The port number at which the specified HOST listens to. By default, this is 80.

4. CONTROLLER IP ADDRESS – Specify the IP address of the delivery controller (i.e.,

broker) in the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance

metrics.

5. CONTROLLER PORT – Specify the port number of the delivery controller (i.e., broker) in

the site with which the eG agent should communicate for collecting performance metrics.

6. USERNAME and PASSWORD – To connect to a delivery controller and pull out metrics

from it, the eG agent requires Farm Administrator rights. In order to configure the eG agent

with Farm Administrator privileges, specify the credentials of the Farm Administrator in the

USERNAME and PASSWORD text boxes.

7. CONFIRM PASSWORD – Confirm the PASSWORD by retping it here.

8. FULLY QUALIFIED DOMAIN NAME – Here, specify the fully-qualified name of the domain

to which the specified controller belongs.

9. SSL – Indicate whether/not the controller used for metrics collection is SSL-enabled. By

default, this flag is set to Yes.

10. DD FREQUENCY - Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to

be generated for this test. The default is

1:1

. This indicates that, by default, detailed

measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a

problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the

detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying

none

against dd

frequency.

11. DETAILED DIAGNOSIS - To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise

suite embeds an optional detailed diagnostic capability. With this capability, the eG agents

can be configured to run detailed, more elaborate tests as and when specific problems are

detected. To enable the detailed diagnosis capability of this test for a particular server,

choose the On option. To disable the capability, click on the Off option.

The option to selectively enable/disable the detailed diagnosis capability will be available

only if the following conditions are fulfilled:

 The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability

 Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis

measures should not be 0.

Outputs of the

test

One set of results for each user to the XenDesktop broker in the ste

Measurements

made by the

test

Measurement

Unit

Interpretation

Average logon duration:

Indicates the average time

taken for this user to login to

desktops/access applications.

Secs

If this measure reports a high value

consistently, it could indicate a slowdown in

the logon process.

Compare the value of this measure across

users to know which user’s logon is taking

the longest.

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Logons:

Indicates the number of times

this user has logged in since

the last measurement period

Number

Brokering duration:

Indicates time taken by this

user to complete the process

of brokering sessions.

Secs

A high value indicates that brokering is taking

a long time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Time taken for

starting VM, HDX connection duration,

Authentication time, GPOs duration, Logon

scripts duration, Profile load time, and

Interactive session duration

measures to

know where exactly the user logon process

slowed down – is it during authentication? Is

it during brokering? Is it when establishing

the HDX connection? Is it when applying

GPOs? Is it during logon scripts execution? Is

it while loading user profiles? Is it when

starting the VM? Or is it when handing over

control to the user?

Time taken for starting

VM:

Indicates the time taken by

the broker to start the

machines accessed by this

user.

Secs

A high value indicates that machines are

taking too long to startup.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

HDX connection duration, Authentication

time, GPOs duration, Logon scripts duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

HDX connection duration:

Indicates the time taken by

the broker to complete the

steps required for setting up

the HDX connection from this

user to the machines

accessed by the user.

Secs

A high value indicates that HDX connections

are taking time to be established.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, Authentication

time, GPOs duration, Logon scripts duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

Authentication time:

Indicates the time taken by

the broker to authenticate

this user’s sessions.

Secs

A high value indicates authentication delays.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, GPOs duration, Logon scripts

duration, Profile load time, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

GPOs duration:

Indicates the time taken to

apply group policy settings on

the machines accessed by this

user.

Secs

A high value indicates that GPO application is

taking time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, Logon scripts

duration, Profile load time, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Logon scripts duration:

Indicates the time taken for

logon scripts to be executed

on the machines accessed by

this user.

Secs

A high value indicates that logon script

execution is taking time.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Profile load time, and Interactive session

duration

measures to know where exactly the

user logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

Profile load time:

Indicates the time taken by

the logon process to load the

profile of this user.

Secs

A high value indicates that profiles are taking

too long to load.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Logon scripts duration, and Interactive

session duration

measures to know where

exactly the user logon process slowed down

– is it during authentication? Is it during

brokering? Is it when establishing the HDX

connection? Is it when applying GPOs? Is it

during logon scripts execution? Is it while

loading user profiles? Is it when starting the

VM? Or is it when handing over control to the

user?

M O N I T O RI N G C I T R I X X E N DE S K T OP B R OK E R SI T E

Interactive session

duration:

Indicates the time taken by

the logon process to handoff

keyboard and mouse control

to this user.

Secs

A high value indicates delays in handing off

keyboard and mouse control to users.

If the

Average logon duration

is very high,

you may want to compare the value of this

measure with that of the

Brokering duration,

Time taken for starting VM, HDX connection

duration, Authentication time, GPOs duration,

Logon scripts duration, and Profile load time

measures to know where exactly the user

logon process slowed down – is it during

authentication? Is it during brokering? Is it

when establishing the HDX connection? Is it

when applying GPOs? Is it during logon

scripts execution? Is it while loading user

profiles? Is it when starting the VM? Or is it

when handing over control to the user?

C o n c l u s i o n

Conclusion

This document has described in detail the monitoring paradigm used and the measurement capabilities of the eG

Enterprise suite of products with respect to the Citrix Xendesktop Broker Site. For details of how to administer and

use the eG Enterprise suite of products, refer to the user manuals.

We will be adding new measurement capabilities into the future versions of the eG Enterprise suite. If you can

identify new capabilities that you would like us to incorporate in the eG Enterprise suite of products, please contact

support@eginnovations.com. We look forward to your support and cooperation. Any feedback regarding this manual

or any other aspects of the eG Enterprise suite can be forwarded to feedback@eginnovations.com.

Manual Monitoring Citrix Xendesktop Site

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