Section 3: Monitoring Citrix XenDesktop 7 Solutions
3.1
Task Description: Use Director to monitor the environment
Testing Aspect: How
When troubleshooting a user or virtual desktop issue, the operator is able to shadow the end user by starting a Remote Assistance connection to the virtual desktop machine.
In XenDesktop 7, Citrix Director is the management console.
Remote Desktop is RDP, which can only have one session on Desktop OS, is not used for shadowing.
Shadow Taskbar is used in XenApp, not XenDesktop.
How to Enable Remote Assistance for Citrix Director
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX127388
XenApp > XenApp 5 Feature Pack for Windows Server 2003 > XenApp Administration > Managing Session Environments and Connections > Viewing User Sessions
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xenapp5fp-w2k3/ps-sessions-use-sess-shad-v2.html
Identifying and handling an unregistered VDI:
The administrator should use Citrix Director and filter State is Unregistered.
This shows a VDI’s State is Unregistered and means there is an issue with VDA to DDC communications.
This also includes the situation when Citrix Desktop Service is Stopped or Citrix Desktop Service is Started but still having issues communicating with the DDC.
The Last Connection Failure is historical data.
Using WMI and querying Citrix Desktop Service status is Stopped only shows the VDIs that the VDA service is stopped.
Citrix ICA Service is used to handle ICA sessions, but does not communicate with a DDC.
Troubleshooting XenDesktop brokering process
http://blogs.citrix.com/2012/07/23/troubleshooting-xendesktop-brokering-process-2
XenDesktop 7 > Monitor > Monitor environments with Director > Monitor deployments > Filter data to troubleshoot failures > Filter data to troubleshoot failures
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-use-create-filters.html
3.2
Task Description: Interpret Alerts in Citrix Director
Testing Aspect: How
In Citrix Director, Unavailable Capacity means that the Desktop/Server OS session is not available due to max capacity reached.
When Unavailable Capacity count is greater than 0, it means the VM in a Delivery Group has no more free sessions to hand out.
An administrator should add more VMs to the Delivery Group.
XenDesktop > XenDesktop 7 > Monitor Monitor environments with Director > Monitor deployments on the Dashboard
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-monitor-deployment-wrapper.html
Image
https://citrixxperience.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/unavailable-capacity-count.jpg
(3.3 intentionally left out. See Citrix Education’s 1Y0-200 Exam Prep Guide)
3.4
Task Description: Monitor Machine Processes and Failures
Testing Aspect: How
View processes running under a user’s VDI session with Citrix Director.
Citrix admins should also use Director to end non-responsive applications or processes.
XenDesktop 7 > Monitor > Monitor environments with Director > Troubleshoot user issues > Resolve application failures
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-help-app-failure.html
3.5
Task Description: Monitor the Virtual Delivery Agent
Testing Aspect: How
Using Citrix Director, administrators can monitor the Usage table.
The Usage table shows whether each machine is:
Off
Ready
Connected
Disconnected
Unregistered
When a machine’s registration state becomes unregistered, there is an issue with virtual delivery agent on the virtual machine.
A user will not be able to login to a VDI.
A disconnected user will not be able to re-connect back to a VDI.
This results in a login failed event.
The Category table can also be monitored for Unregistered machines.
Technologies > Desktop Director > Desktop Director 2.1 > Use > Interpreting the Information Displayed > Dashboard > Usage
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/director-210/director-dashboard-usage.html
Technologies > Desktop Director > Desktop Director 2.1 > Use > Interpreting the Information Displayed > Dashboard > Machines
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/director-210/director-dashboard-summary.html
An administrator can monitor machines from Director.
In the Director Dashboard, the Category table lists the machines in the following states, which might require action:
All
Unregistered
High CPU
High Latency
High Profile Load Time
Last Connection Failed
Pending Update
Technologies > Desktop Director > Desktop Director 2.1 > Use > Interpreting the Information Displayed > Dashboard > Machines
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/director-210/director-dashboard-summary.html
3.6
Task Description: Monitor Configuration Logging
Testing Aspect: How
Configuration Logging is provided through Citrix Studio > Logging.
Anyone that needs to view the logs should be in the Read Only Administrator role.
Don’t allow them the Full Administrator role.
XenDesktop > XenDesktop 7 > Manage > Configuration Logging
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-configlog-wrapper.html
Image
https://citrixxperience.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/configuration-logging.jpg
3.7
Task Description: Monitor hosted server workload
Testing Aspect: How
IntelliCache is a XenServer host related feature.
The IntelliCache related counter is on a XenServer host.
There are three IntelliCache counters available on a XenServer host Performance tab:
IntelliCache Cache Hits
IntelliCache Cache Misses
IntelliCache Cache Size
Options to monitor Virtual Machine related counters include:
Performance Monitor
Resource Monitor
Selecting a Virtual Machine on a XenServer host’s Performance tab
XenDesktop > XenDesktop 7 > Manage > Connections and resources > Use IntelliCache with XenDesktop
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-manage-hosts-intellicache.html
Image
https://citrixxperience.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/xenserver-intellicache.jpg
The Hosts table in Director contains:
Health status icons
Display alerts about issues with:
XenDesktop Controller’s connection to a host
CPU
Memory
Bandwidth (network usage)
Storage
Alerts are based on thresholds defined by the hypervisor administrator.
Technologies > Desktop Director > Desktop Director 2.1 > Use > Interpreting the Information Displayed > Desktop Groups > Infrastructure
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/director-210/director-infrastructure-health.html
3.8
Task Description: Monitor System Performance
Testing Aspect: How (to interpret data)
Before an administrator investigates the reason for a user’s extended logon time, the administrator should:
Look at the user’s current and average logon duration.
Look at the Delivery Group average logon duration.
When an administrator needs further investigation for the extended logon time, the administrator should:
Ask the user to log off and log back on to observe the Logon Duration data.
Examine each phase of the logon process.
The total logon time is not an accurate sum of each of the phases.
XenDesktop > XenDesktop 7 > Monitor > Monitor environments with Director > Troubleshoot user issues > Diagnose user logon issues
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/xendesktop-7/cds-help-logon-user.html
3.9
Task Description: Use PVS Auditing for Monitoring
Testing Aspect: How
Provisioning Services provides an auditing tool that records configuration actions on components within the Provisioning Services farm, to the Provisioning Services database.
This provides administrators with a way to troubleshoot and monitor recent changes that might impact system performance and behavior.
To enable auditing in the PVS Console:
Right-click on the farm.
Select the farm Properties menu option.
On the Options tab, under Auditing, check the Enable auditing checkbox.
Technologies > Provisioning Services > Provisioning Services 7.x > Provisioning Services Administration > Auditing
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/provisioning-7/pvs-audit-wrapper.html
3.10
Task Description: Monitor StoreFront logs
Testing Aspect: Monitor Profile Management
When StoreFront tracing is enabled:
Tracing information is written to files in the \Admin\Trace\ directory of the StoreFront installation.
Typically located at C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\.
The StoreFront installation log files can be found in C:\Windows\Temp\.
The web.config file for the authentication service, store, or Receiver for Web site, is typically located in the following directories:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\Authentication\
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\storename\
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\storenameWeb\
Logs created by Windows PowerShell commands are stored in the \Admin\logs\ directory of the StoreFront installation.
Typically located at C:\Program Files\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\.
Technologies > StoreFront > StoreFront 2.1 > Troubleshoot StoreFront
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/dws-storefront-21/dws-troubleshoot.html
StoreFront supports Windows event logging for:
The authentication service
Stores
Receiver for Web sites
Any events that are generated are written to the StoreFront application log.
Events can be viewed using Event Viewer under:
Application and Services Logs > Citrix Delivery Services
OR
Windows Logs > Application
Technologies > StoreFront > StoreFront 2.1 > Troubleshoot StoreFront
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/dws-storefront-21/dws-troubleshoot.html
3.11
Task Description: Monitor Profile Management
Testing Aspect: How (where to find it is implied)
Citrix Profile Manager logs errors in the Windows Event Log.
All other warnings and informational messages are logged in a file named UserProfileManager.log in the directory:
%SystemRoot%\system32\LogFiles\UserProfileManager\
Profile management collects data about the efficiency of a deployment using Microsoft Windows Performance Monitor (Perfmon) counters.
For each session, counters are stored under the object called Citrix Profile Management.
Technologies > Profile Management > Profile Management 3.x > Manage > Performance Optimization > Tuning Profiles > Monitoring and Logging Profile Management
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/user-profile-manager-kib/upm-perfmon.html
Technologies > Profile Management > Profile Management 3.x > Manage > Performance Optimization > Tuning Profiles > Monitoring and Logging Profile Management > About the Profile Management Log File
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/user-profile-manager-kib/upm-logging-about-den.html
3.12
Task Description: Monitor the event log for NetScaler
Testing Aspect: How
NetScaler natively supports logging to:
SYSLOG server
AND
NSLOG server
Either server can be running on:
A remote system.
OR
On NetScaler.
Most deployments should have SYSLOG , NSLOG, or both in the environment, so configuring NetScaler to upload logs to one of them is an efficient solution.
NetScaler > NetScaler 10.1 > System > Administration
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/ns-system-10-1-map/ns-ag-asl-intor-wrapper-con.html
3.13
Task Description: Monitor NetScaler user sessions
Testing Aspect: How
The Citrix NetScaler appliance is a central point of control for all application traffic in the data center.
It collects flow and user-session level information valuable for:
application performance monitoring
analytics
business intelligence applications
AppFlow transmits the information by using the Internet Protocol Flow Information eXport (IPFIX) format.
Using UDP as the transport protocol, AppFlow transmits the collected data, called flow records, to one or more IPv4 collectors.
The collectors aggregate the flow records and generate real-time or historical reports.
NetScaler > NetScaler 10.1 > System > AppFlow
http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/ns-system-10-1-map/ns-ag-appflow-intro-wrapper-con.html
1Y0-200 Study Guide Lite Part One and Part Two