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Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop Policy Planning Guide - CTX134081
To monitor session logon and logoff on all of the servers and be alerted if a pre-determined threshold is reached on any server
Use AppCenter - Monitoring Server Performance with Health Monitoring & Recovery - Logon monitor test
Operations Guide - Monitoring [pdf]
To ensure vDisks are distributed equally across Provisioning Services servers in the event that a server fails but then
returns to service - Enable Rebalance on vDisk
Monitor average latency of each ICA session over a period of few days use Windows Performance Monitor
Using Citrix Performance Monitoring Counters
EdgeSight Agent on PVS target XenApp servers
1. Create your golden image and change Target Device to boot from vDisk.
2. Boot to your gold image.
3. Shutdown your gold image, remove original OS disk, and add write cache disk.
4. Boot to your gold image, format write cache disk and assign drive letter, move pagefile to write cache disk, and any other things neededing to be persistent - EdgeSight Data, AV signatures, Log files, App stream cache, etc.
5. Shutdown and make clone of VM.
6. Make VM clone a template.
Now use this template when running PVS wizard for XenApp or XenDesktop.
Note: Write cache disk size will depending on whether using XenApp or XenDesktop, size of your pagefile, and how much persistent data you need.
Application streaming speed up
For pooled XenDesktop environments, in the profiling wizard, Citrix recommends using the option to Create virtual hard disk (VHD) for this target to improve application launch time. This option is not needed in other deployments, but if enabled, it does not interfere with normal behavior.
When different user profile techniques are in use and users are complaining that logon time varies on the different platforms.
- Implement Citrix Profile Management. Settings to be enabled in the group policy to allow for the fastest logon time
Profile management streaming must be ENABLED
Citrix Profile Management and VDI – Doing it Right!
vSwitch Fail-Modes - XenServer 6.0 vSwitch Controller User Guide - CTX130423
The Fail Mode section allows you to configure how a vSwitch in the resource pool enforces access control (ACL) rules when it is unable to connect with its configured vSwitch Controller. It is important to maintain a high level of vSwitch Controller availability to avoid data loss. During times of unavailability, the following fail modes apply:
• Fail-open: all traffic is allowed, previously defined ACLs no longer apply until the vSwitch is able to reconnect with the vSwitch Controller.
• Fail-safe: existing ACLs continue to apply.
Client drive pass-through: Users access their applications through XenApp from within their XenDesktop hosted virtual machines. Users have the ability to copy files from XenApp published applications back to their local client machine. When users connect to their XenDesktop hosted desktops, they see their client drives; however, when they launch a XenApp published application, they no longer see their client drives.
How to Map Client Drives in Pass-Through Sessions - CTX127872
To configure user roaming - In this example, you want to associate user groups in your company's U.S. office with specific server farms so that when they visit the Japan office, they can log on to a local Web Interface server and automatically receive English language resources from a farm in the U.S.
Step by step guide to standard mode vdisk for XenApp with persistent storage for logs, etc.
Provisioning Services for XenApp Best Practices 8 – Persistent Storage
User in a pooled XenDesktop environment receive the message 'An error occurred while caching a file required for your application' when they try to launch a streamed application while connected to the network:
- Recreate the streaming profile and Create a VHD file for the application.
XenServer 6 Admin guide - CTX130420
Troubleshooting sluggish performance when connecting to a XenApp session. Use the following four counters when monitoring the XenApp server using EdgeSight:
- CPU usage
- Memory usage
- Network usage
- ICA latency counters
To monitor session logon and logoff on all of the servers and be alerted if a pre-determined threshold is reached on any server
Use AppCenter - Monitoring Server Performance with Health Monitoring & Recovery - Logon monitor test
Operations Guide - Monitoring [pdf]
To ensure vDisks are distributed equally across Provisioning Services servers in the event that a server fails but then
returns to service - Enable Rebalance on vDisk
Monitor average latency of each ICA session over a period of few days use Windows Performance Monitor
Using Citrix Performance Monitoring Counters
EdgeSight Agent on PVS target XenApp servers
1. Create your golden image and change Target Device to boot from vDisk.
2. Boot to your gold image.
3. Shutdown your gold image, remove original OS disk, and add write cache disk.
4. Boot to your gold image, format write cache disk and assign drive letter, move pagefile to write cache disk, and any other things neededing to be persistent - EdgeSight Data, AV signatures, Log files, App stream cache, etc.
5. Shutdown and make clone of VM.
6. Make VM clone a template.
Now use this template when running PVS wizard for XenApp or XenDesktop.
Note: Write cache disk size will depending on whether using XenApp or XenDesktop, size of your pagefile, and how much persistent data you need.
Application streaming speed up
For pooled XenDesktop environments, in the profiling wizard, Citrix recommends using the option to Create virtual hard disk (VHD) for this target to improve application launch time. This option is not needed in other deployments, but if enabled, it does not interfere with normal behavior.
When different user profile techniques are in use and users are complaining that logon time varies on the different platforms.
- Implement Citrix Profile Management. Settings to be enabled in the group policy to allow for the fastest logon time
Profile management streaming must be ENABLED
Citrix Profile Management and VDI – Doing it Right!
vSwitch Fail-Modes - XenServer 6.0 vSwitch Controller User Guide - CTX130423
The Fail Mode section allows you to configure how a vSwitch in the resource pool enforces access control (ACL) rules when it is unable to connect with its configured vSwitch Controller. It is important to maintain a high level of vSwitch Controller availability to avoid data loss. During times of unavailability, the following fail modes apply:
• Fail-open: all traffic is allowed, previously defined ACLs no longer apply until the vSwitch is able to reconnect with the vSwitch Controller.
• Fail-safe: existing ACLs continue to apply.
Client drive pass-through: Users access their applications through XenApp from within their XenDesktop hosted virtual machines. Users have the ability to copy files from XenApp published applications back to their local client machine. When users connect to their XenDesktop hosted desktops, they see their client drives; however, when they launch a XenApp published application, they no longer see their client drives.
How to Map Client Drives in Pass-Through Sessions - CTX127872
To configure user roaming - In this example, you want to associate user groups in your company's U.S. office with specific server farms so that when they visit the Japan office, they can log on to a local Web Interface server and automatically receive English language resources from a farm in the U.S.
Step by step guide to standard mode vdisk for XenApp with persistent storage for logs, etc.
Provisioning Services for XenApp Best Practices 8 – Persistent Storage
User in a pooled XenDesktop environment receive the message 'An error occurred while caching a file required for your application' when they try to launch a streamed application while connected to the network:
- Recreate the streaming profile and Create a VHD file for the application.
XenServer 6 Admin guide - CTX130420
Troubleshooting sluggish performance when connecting to a XenApp session. Use the following four counters when monitoring the XenApp server using EdgeSight:
- CPU usage
- Memory usage
- Network usage
- ICA latency counters