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Citrix 7.x Best Practices

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Prerequisites

The prerequisites necessary for the implementation of CITRIX probes are available here: /servicenav/en/documentation/how-to-supervise-a-server-citrix/.

Citrix Architecture, Concepts and Components

This illustration shows the main components of a typical XenApp or XenDesktop deployment, which is called a site.

The components in this illustration are as follows:

Delivery Controller Delivery Controller: Delivery Controller is the centralized management component of any XenApp or XenDesktop site. Each site has one or more Delivery Controllers. It is installed on at least one server in the data center.

Data base At least one Microsoft SQL Server database is required for each XenApp or XenDesktop site to store all configuration and session information

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA): The VDA is installed on every physical or virtual machine on your site that you want to make available to users. It allows the machines to register with the Controller, which allows the machine and the resources it hosts to be made available to users.

StoreFront : StoreFront authenticates users on sites hosting resources and manages the desktop and application stores that users access.

Studio : Studio is the management console that allows you to configure and manage your deployment, eliminating the need for separate management consoles to manage application and desktop provisioning.

Director : Director is a web-based tool that allows IT support and help desk teams to monitor an environment, resolve issues before they become system critical, and perform support tasks for end users.

License server : The license server manages the licenses for your products. It communicates with the Controller to manage licenses for each user session and with Studio to allocate license files. You must create at least one license server to store and manage your license files.

Hypervisor : The hypervisor hosts the virtual machines in your site. This can be the virtual machine you use to host applications and desktops, as well as the virtual machine you use to host XenApp and XenDesktop components. A hypervisor is installed on a host computer that is fully dedicated to running the hypervisor and hosting the virtual machines.

The Citrix XenServer hypervisor is included with XenApp and XenDesktop, but you can use other supported hypervisors, such as Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere.

NetScaler Gateway : When users connect outside the corporate firewall, this release can use Citrix NetScaler Gateway (formerly Access Gateway) technology to secure connections with SSL. The NetScaler Gateway Virtual Box or NetScaler VPX is an SSL VPN box deployed in the DMZ to provide a single secure access point through the corporate firewall.

Configuration

General

It is recommended to put all the servers composing your Citrix site under supervision.

For all physical or virtual servers and depending on the technologies employedapply the following service models:

Brief:

  • MS-WIN-RAM
  • LIN-RAM
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_RAM
  • VMware-ESX-VM_RAM
  • VMware-ESXi-VM_RAM

Processor :

  • MS-WIN-Process-CPU
  • CPU
  • LIN-Cpu
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_CPU
  • VMware-ESX-VM_CPU
  • VMware-ESXi-VM_CPU

SWAP (swap file) :

  • MS-WIN-SWAP
  • LIN-Swap
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_SWAP
  • VMware-ESX-VM_SWAP
  • VMware-ESXi-VM_SWAP

Disk space :

  • MS-WIN-DiskUsage
  • LIN-Diskspace
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_ Diskspace
  • VMware-ESX-VM_ Diskspace
  • VMware-ESXi-VM_ Diskspace

I/O disk:

  • MS-WIN-DiskIO
  • LIN-DisksIO
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_ DisksIO-Read
  • VMware-Datacenter-VM_ DisksIO-Write
  • VMware-ESX-VM_ DisksIO
  • VMware-ESXi-VM_ DisksIO
  • MS-WIN-Counter-PercentDiskTime
  • MS-WIN-Counter-CurrentDiskQueueLength

Network Interface :

  • Network_traffic
  • LIN-Network_traffic

These models are used to collect the general health status of the servers composing the Citrix site.

Delivery Controller or Director

On Delivery Controller or Director servers, apply the following service templates:

Citrix-XenApp-Session-Opening-avg :

  • Name of the SQL instance
  • Name of the database
  • Collection period

This model collects the average Citrix login time and the number of logins over a defined time interval. This service requires the configuration of the freetds.conf on the supervision server, configuration procedure available here: /servicenav/en/documentation/configuring-the-supervision-for-a-base-ms-sql-server/.

Citrix-XenApp-Session-Opening-Max :

  • Name of the SQL instance
  • Name of the database
  • Collection period

This template collects the maximum Citrix login time and the number of logins over a defined time interval. This service requires the configuration of the freetds.conf on the supervision server, configuration procedure available here: /servicenav/en/documentation/configuring-the-supervision-for-a-base-ms-sql-server/.

Data base

On the Database server, apply the following service templates:

  • MS-MSSQL
  • MS-MSSQL-ConnectionTime
  • MS-MSSQL-database-backup-age
  • MS-MSSQL-database-free

These templates are used to collect configuration and session information. This service requires the configuration of the freetds.conf on the supervision server, configuration procedure available here: /servicenav/en/documentation/configuring-the-supervision-for-a-base-ms-sql-server/.

Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA)

It is recommended to monitor the proper execution of the processes BrokerAgent.exe, res.exe and resop.exe

On all servers where the VDA agent is deployed, apply the following service model:

  • MS-WIN-ProcessName

This template checks the status of a specific Microsoft Windows service and notifies when it is not started.

StoreFront

It is recommended to ensure that the following services are started correctly:

  • Citrix Cluster Join Service
  • Citrix Configuration Replication
  • Citrix Credential Wallet
  • Citrix Default Domain Services
  • Citrix Peer Resolution Service
  • Citrix Subscriptions Store
  • World Wide Web Publishing Service

On StoreFront servers, apply the following service models:

  • MS-WIN-Services_not_started

This template checks the status of Microsoft Windows services that are to be started except those set as parameters.

  • MS-WIN-ServicesList-Started

This template checks the status of the services of a Microsoft Windows server specified as a parameter.

Also check the health of the WEB service via the following service model:

  • MS-WIN-Counter-ASP.NETRequestsQueued

This template collects the number of rejected requests from the ASP.NET queue.

XenApp Windows

It is recommended to ensure that the following services are started correctly:

  • Citrix Diagnostic Facility COM Server Service
  • Citrix Environment Test Service
  • Citrix Host Services
  • Citrix Machine Creation Service
  • Citrix Monitor Service
  • Citrix StoreFront Service

On XenApp Windows servers, apply the following service templates:

  • MS-WIN-Services_not_started

This template checks the status of Microsoft Windows services that are to be started except those set as parameters.

  • MS-WIN-ServicesList-Started

This template checks the status of the services of a Microsoft Windows server specified as a parameter.

License server

It is recommended to ensure that the following services are started correctly:

  • Citrix Licensing Service
  • Citrix Licensing Support Service
  • Citrix Licensing WMI

On the license servers, apply the following service models:

  • MS-WIN-Services_not_started

This template checks the status of Microsoft Windows services that are to be started except those set as parameters.

  • MS-WIN-ServicesList-Started

This template checks the status of the services of a Microsoft Windows server specified as a parameter.

NetScaler Gateway

On NetScaler Gateways, apply the following service templates:

  • CITRIX-Netscaler-CPU

This service model measures the appliance's processor utilization.

  • CITRIX-Netscaler-Disks

This model measures disk space usage.

  • CITRIX-Netscaler-RAM

This model measures the usage of the appliance's RAM.

  • CITRIX-Netscaler-VServer-State

This model controls the status of each vserver.

It is recommended to check that the NetScaler is accessible in HTTPS from the network where it is implemented, but also from the outside via the public URL used by the Receiver clients (e.g: https://monworspacecitrix.com), to do this use the following service model:

  • HTTP_HTTPS

This model tests an HTTP/HTTPS request with the possibility to test: if a string is present on the page the loading time and the validity page of the certificate.

Weather

Example of a CITRIX weather application.

Note: it is possible to discover the dependencies of each link by clicking on " + ".

Report

Example of a CITRIX service availability report:

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