604: Administering and troubleshooting XenDesktop 7.x

Transcription

1 604: Administering and troubleshooting XenDesktop 7.x Hands-on Lab Exercise Guide This session is offered as both an instructor led training and a self-paced online lab. Make money selling Field Services Stop by the Education and Consulting booths in the Solutions Expo to find out how! We're here to help.

2 Contents Overview... 2 Exercise Configuring Internal and External Access for a XenDesktop/XenApp Deployment... 4 Exercise Integrating NetScaler Insight Center with Citrix Director to View Session Details...40 Exercise Using Citrix Scout to Obtain CDF Traces of a Launch and Logon of a Session Exercise Understanding How to Read a CDF Log File...75 Exercise Understanding the Different PowerShell cmdlets Used to Publish an Application from within a VDA Machine Optional: Exercise Using Citrix Director and CDF Log Files to View Information About a Launched Published Application

3 Overview Hands-on Training Module Objective This training will provide hands-on experience with troubleshooting XenDesktop 7 using Citrix Director, NetScaler Insight Center and CDF tracing. Prerequisites Experience administering XenDesktop would be beneficial. Audience Citrix Partners, Customers, Sales Engineers, Consultants, Technical Support. Lab Environment Details Describe the lab environment. The system diagram of the lab is shown below: The Student Desktop is accessed remotely using Citrix Receiver running on your laptop. All Windows applications such as XenCenter, (the XenServer GUI management tool), are accessed from the Student Desktop. 2

4 Lab Guide Conventions This symbol indicates particular attention must be paid to this step Special note to offer advice or background information reboot VMDemo Start Text the student enters or an item they select is printed like this Filename mentioned in text or lines added to files during editing Bold text indicates reference to a button or object Focuses attention on a particular part of the screen (R:255 G:20 B:147) Shows where to click or select an item on a screen shot (R:255 G:102 B:0) List of Virtual Machines Used VM Name IP Address Description / OS Site1-AD.training.lab Active Directory Domain Controller for Site1 Site1-Insight NetScaler Insight Center Server for Site1 Site1-NetScaler NetScaler in Site1 Site1-SQLServer SQL Server for Site1 used to host XenDesktop Database Site1-Win8Client Windows 8 Client in Site1 Site1-W2K12Srv Windows 2012 VDA in Site1 Site1-XenApp XenApp Server in Site1 Site1-XenDesktop XenDesktop7 Server in Site1 Required Lab Credentials The credentials required to connect to the environment and complete the lab exercises. VM Name Username Password Site1-AD.training.lab training\administrator Citrix123 Site1-Insight nsroot nsroot Site1-NetScaler nsroot nsroot Site1-SQLServer training\administrator Citrix123 Site1-Win8Client training\administrator Citrix123 Site1-W2K12Srv training\administrator Citrix123 Site1-XenApp training\administrator Citrix123 Site1-XenDesktop7 training\administrator Citrix123 3

5 Exercise 1 Configuring Internal and External Access for a XenDesktop/XenApp Deployment Overview In order to generate some key metrics, we will configure our lab environments to be externally accessible. In our deployment we will utilize NetScaler to load balance access to resources of both XenDesktop and XenApp using a single StoreFront URL. We will also configure NetScaler Gateway to allow access to published resources from an external device. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 40 minutes. Step Action 1. On the Student desktop, launch Citrix XenCenter by clicking on the Citrix XenCenter icon found on the desktop. 2. Navigate to XenCenter -> Add 4

6 3. Add the XenServer Credentials details from your Welcome screen here: Select Add. 4. In XenCenter, select the Site1-XenDesktop7 VM and click on the console tab. Login with Domain Administrator credentials: Username: TRAINING\Administrator Password: Citrix123 For better performance, switch to a Remote Desktop connection. 5

7 5. The first thing we will do is create a Machine catalog and a Delivery Group so as to publish a Windows 2012 Server VDA. This can be configured through Citrix Studio but also using PowerShell. A script has already been created for you and you can run this script to automatically create both a machine catalog and a desktop group using PowerShell. To run the script, double-click on the shortcut xd-powershell on the desktop. Double-click on XDSetup.cmd to run the script. 6

8 6. Type R to run this script and press Enter. You will see the following output where a catalog called Win2K12VDA is created and then associated to a delivery group called Win2K12 Server. 7. Navigate to Citrix Studio by double-clicking on the Citrix Studio shortcut found on the desktop 7

9 8. Navigate to Citrix Studio (Site) -> Machine Catalogs and confirm that the machine catalog Win2K12VDA has been created 9. Navigate to Citrix Studio (Site) -> Delivery Groups and confirm that the delivery group Win2K12 Server has been created. The VDA machine will take about 3 minutes to register with the delivery controller. Please do not wait for the VDA to register as this will occur in the background. You can move ahead with the exercises. 10. Now that we have created a Machine Catalog as well as a Delivery Group, we can move ahead to create both external and internal access to the XenDesktop and XenApp environment. Click on the Site1-Win8Client VM and choose the Console tab. Login with the following Credentials: Username: TRAINING\Administrator Password: Citrix123 For better performance, switch to a Remote Desktop connection. 8

10 11. Open a browser and navigate to the NetScaler Administration UI using the default credentials: Username: nsroot Password: nsroot Deployment Type: NetScaler ADC Click on Login 9

11 12. First, create the Subnet IP for the NetScaler to contact backend resources. In the First Time wizard, enter the following parameters: NetScaler IP Address: Netmask: Subnet IP Address: Subnet IP Address Netmask: Hostname: ns.training.lab DNS (IP address): Time Zone: GMT-07:00-PDT-America/Los_Angeles Click Continue. 10

12 In the Welcome Screen, click Continue.

13 14. Review the information and click on Done to complete the wizard. 15. Save your configuration by clicking on the Save icon on the top right. Select Yes to confirm the save. 12

14 16. Navigate to Configuration -> System -> Settings -> Configure Basic Features. 17. Enable the following basic features: SSL Offloading, Load Balancing, NetScaler Gateway and Authentication, Authorization and Auditing. Click OK. 18. In the following section, we will setup the necessary components to allow internal and external ICA connections. First, we will start with the load balancing configuration for StoreFront; StoreFront is installed on the following VMs: Site1-XenApp and Site1- XenDesktop7. This will provide access to published applications and desktops from both XenApp and XenDesktop 7. After configuring the load balancing of the StoreFront servers, we will proceed to configure StoreFront and NetScaler Gateway to allow connections externally. 13

15 19. In the NetScaler Administration console, navigate to Configuration -> Traffic Management -> Load Balancing -> Load Balancing Wizard. 20. Click on Next. 14

16 21. Create the services for StoreFront. As we have a StoreFront running on Site1-XenApp and on Site1-XenDesktop7, we will need to create a service for each StoreFront server. Add a service for each StoreFront server using the following parameters: Service Name: SF1-XenApp Protocol: SSL Port: We need to create a server object for Site1-XenApp VM. To add the Site1-XenApp VM details, select New. 15

17 23. Use the following details: Server Name: XenApp IP Address: Select Create. 24. Now that you have all the details you need, you can select Add. Confirm that the State of SF1-XenApp is shown as UP. 16

18 25. Now we need to add the details for the XenDesktop StoreFront Server. Add a service for the XenDesktop StoreFront server using the following parameters: Service Name: SF2-XenDesktop (You will need to delete the previous name: SF1-XenApp and then type in the new data: SF2-XenDesktop) Protocol: SSL Port: We will need to create a server object for Site1-XenDesktop VM. To add the Site1-XenDesktop7 VM details, select New. 17

19 27. Use the following details: Server Name: XenDesktop7 IP Address: Select Create. 18

20 28. Now that you have all the details you need, you can select Add. Confirm that the State of SF2-XenDesktop is shown as UP. Select Next. 29. Use the following details to create a virtual server: Name: SF_vserver IP Address: Protocol: SSL Port:

21 30. Select both services and select Add. 31. We aren t ready yet! Click on the Advanced button. 20

22 32. Next we will configure the required persistence settings for all receiver types to connect successfully. Persistence is required so that client connections are directed to the same backend Storefront server during the session. In the Persistence section, use the following parameters: Type: SOURCEIP Timeout(minutes): 2 mins IPv4 Netmask: Select OK. 21

23 33. Lastly, before we create the virtual server, we need to import the certificate issued to the internal FQDN for internal connections. Select Upload. 34. Install a certificate using the following parameters: Certificate-Key Pair Name: wildcard.training.lab 22

24 35. Select the first drop-down arrow besides Browse and select Appliance. This will open up the file browser and will display the contents in the /nsconfig/ssl directory. 36. Select the correct files from the list: Certificate File Name: wildcard.training.lab.cer Certificate Key File Name: wildcard.training.lab.cer 23

25 37. Click Install. 38. Select Next -> Finish -> Exit. 39. We are ready to test the load balancing configuration. Open a new browser window and navigate to the following URL: sflb.training.lab is the base URL specified on the StoreFront servers. This FQDN (Full Qualified Domain Name) is mapped to the NetScaler Load balancer Virtual IP address specified in step 24 above, i.e This mapping is already configured for you in the DNS server of training.lab domain. 40. Log into StoreFront with these credentials: Username: TRAINING\user1 Password: Citrix123 Select Log On 24

26 41. Once you have logged in, click on Windows Server 2012 Desktop to launch the published desktop. This verifies that the XenDesktop delivery infrastructure is working properly. Sign out from the launched desktop. 25

27 42. Select the Apps tab and then click the plus sign. Subscribe to applications Notepad and Calculator. Launch an application e.g. Notepad. This verifies that the XenApp delivery infrastructure is working properly. Close any launched applications and log off from StoreFront. 26 Continue to the next step when finished.

28 43. Save your configuration by returning to the NetScaler Configuration Utility and clicking on the Save Icon on the upper right corner. Click Yes at the prompt to save the running configuration. 44. Next, we need to configure external access. For this we will use the simplified UI for NetScaler Gateway. Go back to the NetScaler Configuration Utility and navigate to Configuration -> NetScaler Gateway -> Configure NetScaler Gateway for Enterprise Store. 27

29 45. Since a NetScaler Gateway has not been configured, you are presented with the getting started wizard. Click on Get Started. 46. In NetScaler Gateway Settings configure a name, IP address, and port using the provided parameters: Name: NSG10_vserver IP Address: Port: 443 Click Continue. 28

30 47. In the Certificate Section, select Choose Certificate and ensure the certificate used in this configuration is: wildcard.mycitrixtraining.net. Click Continue. 29

31 48. In the Authentication Settings section, we need to configure a new LDAP profile. Select Configure New and enter the following information: IP Address: Port: 389 Time out: 3 Base DN: dc=training,dc=lab Admin Base DN: administrator@training.lab Server Logon Name Attribute: samaccountname Password: Citrix123 Confirm Password: Citrix123 Secondary Authentication: None Click Continue. 30

32 49. In the Enterprise Store Settings, click the XenApp / XenDesktop tab. Use the following parameters: Deployment Type: StoreFront StoreFront FQDN: sflb.training.lab Receiver for Web Path: /Citrix/StoreWeb Single Sign-on Domain: TRAINING STA URL: Click Done. 50. Close the Simplified UI window to return to the main configuration utility UI. 31

33 51. Save your configuration by clicking on the Save Icon on the upper right corner. Select Yes to save the configuration. 52. Now, we need to configure StoreFront for external access. In XenCenter, select the Site1- XenDesktop7 VM and click on the console tab. Login with Domain Administrator credentials: Username: TRAINING\Administrator Password: Citrix Open the Citrix Studio console. A shortcut is on the taskbar 54. Wait until the Citrix Studio console loads completely. This might take around seconds. Select the Authentication node (Citrix Storefront -> Authentication) located on the left pane. 55. In the Authentication options, select Add/Remove Methods in the right column. 32

34 56. Select Pass-through from Citrix NetScaler Gateway. Leave User name and password checked. Click OK. 57. On the left pane, select NetScaler Gateway. 33

35 58. Click on Add NetScaler Gateway Appliance on the right-hand pane. Enter the following settings: Display Name: NSG_site1 Gateway URL: (PublicIP1) Version: 10.0 (Build 69.4) or later Subnet IP address: (see note below) Logon Type: Domain Callback URL: (PublicIP1) (Note: PublicIP1 is available from the lab details. Take the I PublicIP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (- ). Example: PublicIP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net Click Next. TIP: Select and copy the Gateway URL as you will need it in Step 64. Since we are using the same appliance for StoreFront load balancing as well as NetScaler Gateway for external access, we are selecting using IP for the subnet IP to prevent internal XenApp/XenDesktop sessions to be given the parameters for launching the application through the gateway. When selecting an IP that is not used by any appliance, StoreFront relies on the X-Citrix- Gateway header to identify connections originated through the gateway: 34

36 59. In the Secure Ticket Authority settings, enter the same STA used in the gateway settings. Click OK and then Create. 60. Review the summary information and click on Finish to continue. 61. Finally, we need to enable remote access in the Store settings. In the left pane, select Stores, then click on Enable Remote Access from the right-hand pane and complete the configuration with the following parameters: Remote Access: No VPN tunnel NetScaler Gateway appliances: NSG_Site1 Default appliance: NSG_Site1 Click OK. 35

37 62. Now we need to propagate the changes to the second StoreFront server. In the left pane, select Server Group. On the right-hand pane, click on Propagate Changes. Click OK on the confirmation prompt. 63. Propagation should complete successfully. Click OK at the prompt. 36

38 64. It is now time to test external access. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding IP1 You browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 65. Login with the following credentials: Username: user1 Password: Citrix123 37

39 66. Once you have logged in, click on Windows Server 2012 Desktop to launch a desktop. This verifies that the XenDesktop delivery infrastructure is working properly. Sign out from the launched desktop. 67. Congratulations, you have configured external access for your XenDesktop and XenApp infrastructure. Continue to the next exercise. 38

40 Exercise Summary Takeaways from this exercise: 1. Configure a NetScaler load balancer to access resources from both XenDesktop and XenApp using a single StoreFront URL 2. Configure NetScaler Gateway to allow access to published resources from an external device 39

41 Exercise 2 Integrating NetScaler Insight Center with Citrix Director to View Session Details Overview In this exercise you will launch a published desktop session and look at the rich information that is available within Citrix Director. Specifically we will look at the different logon stages detailed by Citrix Director. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 30 minutes. Step Action 1. The first step is to configure NetScaler Insight Center. In XenCenter, switch to the Site1- Insight VM. Click on the Console tab. 2. Go through the configuration wizard. Provide the following values: Select 1 and enter the details for NetScaler Analytics IPv4 address: Select 2 and enter the details for Netmask: Select 3 and enter the details for Gateway IPv4 address: When ready to commit the changes, select option 5. The appliance will apply the values and display a login prompt. If you enter an incorrect value and need to go back to the network configuration setup, you can do so by running networkconfig from the shell. 40

42 3. We are now ready to connect to the NetScaler Insight Center UI. Switch to the Site1- Win8Client VM. Open a new tab in a browser and navigate to the management IP of the NetScaler Insight Center appliance: Username: nsroot Password: nsroot 4. Since there is the appliance has never been configured, you are presented with the getting started wizard. Click on Get Started. 41

43 5. Enter the following details in the NetScaler Insight Inventory Setup: NetScaler IP address: Username: nsroot Password: nsroot Click Add. 6. Select VPN to view the NetScaler Gateway details we have configured for StoreFront: 42

44 7. Select and right-click. Select Enable AppFlow. For more information on AppFlow, view the following whitepaper: 8. Select true in Select Expression* -> OK 43

45 9. The next step is to integrate Citrix Director with NetScaler Insight. Switch to Site1-XenDesktop7 VM. Launch a command prompt window, and navigate to c:\inetpub\wwwroot\director\tools. Run command: DirectorConfig.exe /confignetscaler Use the following details: Enter Machine name: Enter User name : nsroot Enter Password: nsroot For Secure HTTPS Connection enter 1, For HTTP connection enter 0 : 0 44

46 10. Let us launch a session so we can see details shown in Citrix Director for a live session. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding to PublicIP1: ( PublicIP1 is available from the lab details. Take the PublicIP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (-)). Example: PublicIP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net You browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 45

47 11. Login with the following credentials: Username: user1 Password: Citrix123 The Windows Server 2012 desktop will launch automatically. 12. Select Desktop. 13. Launch Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer within the published desktop. The shortcuts to these applications are in the desktop s taskbar. 46

48 14. Switch back to Site1-XenDesktop7 and launch Citrix Director from a browser at Log in using the following credentials: User: Administrator Password: Citrix123 Domain: training 15. Observe details from last logon in the Dashboard. 16. Select Filters -> Connections -> All Connections. 47

49 17. Here we can see details of all connections to XenDesktop over the last 60 minutes: 18. Let us search for user one. 19. In Activity Manager you can view the list of applications launched by the user. 48

50 20. The Processes tab will show the list of processes running. These can be sorted by Image Name, CPU, Memory and User Name. 21. Let us look use the Details tab to view further information about this session. This is found at the top right-hand corner. Select Details. 49

51 22. Together with the Activity Manager, there is Machine Details and Session Details. Machine Details: In this section you are able to see details about the VDA machine itself, including OS type, Allocation type and VDA version. In the second part of this section, you are able to see details about the hosting infrastructure that this VDA is running on, including Host Name, Machine properties and Load evaluator index. Lastly an administrator is also able to control the power of the machine as per below: Session details: In this section, you can see details about the session including Latency and the NetScaler gateway Virtual IP Address (in this example its ). 50

52 23. Further down the page, information of the Logon Duration is displayed. Both the Logon Duration as well as the breakdown of the Logon process is displayed: Logon Duration: Average time taken for each of the stages within the Logon process: In this section a breakdown of the logon process is displayed. As we currently have only one session, the average values displayed are very small. However over time the Monitor server would collect more data for each of the categories shown above, displaying trends for each category as well as the average logon duration for a particular user. 24. Further down the page, information of the Network details for this specific session is displayed. This information is obtained from NetScaler Insight Center. 51

53 25. View the different options listed in the drop down menu to view the graphs available: 26. Log out of user1 s session by going to Start. 27. Select user1 -> Sign out. 28. Let us inject some latency into the network and then view again the graph details within the Network tab in Citrix Director. 52

54 WAN (Wide Area Network) Emulation We are going to modify the network parameters to inject some latency and other network conditions to our inbound links. For this, we will use a WAN emulator which controls the network characteristics for each link configured in the environment. In this exercise, we will modify the RemoteSite-uplink and the Site-to-Site link to control network flows, not only from the client to the NetScaler, but also from the NetScaler to the backend servers. Here is a simple diagram to illustrate the changes we will make in the next section. After analyzing the diagram, continue to the next step. Public Bond eth4 MainSite Uplink RemoteSite Uplink PublicIP #1 PublicIP #2 eth2 eth1 WAN emulator eth3 eth0 PublicIP #3 PublicIP #4 Router1 Site-to-Site link /24 Router2 29. From the Site1-Win8Client, open a new web browser and navigate to the WAN emulator UI: Click on basic mode: 53

55 31. We will be injecting 200ms delay on the interface eth2. Under eth2 enter 200 into Delay time (ms). Click Apply Settings to commit the changes. 32. Now that we have increased latency in the WAN, let us launch a new session so we can see the changed to the Network graphs within Citrix Director. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding to IP1: ( IP1 is available from the lab details. Take the IP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (-)). Example: IP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net You browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 54

56 33. Login with the following credentials: Username: user1 Password: Citrix123 The Windows Server 2012 desktop will launch automatically. 34. Let us go back to Citrix Director. Switch to Site-XenDesktop7 and launch Citrix Director. 35. Log in using the following credentials: User: Administrator Password: Citrix123 Domain: training2 Search for User one 36. Select Details. 55

57 37. In the Network section, a significant increase in WAN latency can be seen. This information is obtained from NetScaler Insight Center. 38. Change latency back to 0 in the WAN emulator as this can affect responsiveness of lab. 39. Congratulations, you have finished this lab exercise. 56

58 Exercise Summary Takeaways from this exercise: 1. Configured NetScaler Insight Center and integrated it with NetScaler to enable AppFlow monitoring for NetScaler Gateway 2. Integrated NetScaler Insight Center with Citrix Director 3. Launched a session and viewed the rich information that is shown in Citrix Director 4. Introduced network latency to the WAN and viewed the data obtained by NetScaler Insight Center within Citrix Director 57

59 Exercise 3 Using Citrix Scout to Obtain CDF Traces of a Launch and Logon of a Session. Overview In this exercise we will use Citrix Scout to obtain clear text CDF traces of a launch and logon session. This exercise will give us an opportunity to see what useful troubleshooting information is obtained using Citrix Scout. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 25 minutes. Step Action 1. On the XenCenter console, select Site1-XenDesktop7: Login with Domain Administrator credentials: Username: training\administrator Password: Citrix123 58

60 2. Launch Citrix Scout by going to Start -> All programs -> Citrix 3. There are two main buttons in Citrix Scout: - Start CDF Trace and Collect & Upload. The option Start CDF Trace is used to obtain a full CDF trace for all Citrix XenDesktop components on a machine, be it a Delivery Controller or a Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA). The option Collect & Upload is used to enable Service Logging Configuration as well as to obtain site information and machine specific information like event logs, hardware and software information and registry information. Service Logging Configuration will edit the config file for each of the XenDesktop services running on either the Delivery Controller or the VDA to enable clear-text CDF logging for each of these services. This information is extremely useful when narrowing down an issue. To obtain Service Logging, select Collect & Upload. 59

61 4. Select the Settings symbol 5. Enable Service Logging for the Broker Service and select Close. 6. The next step is to enable Service Logging on the VDA. Check W2k12Srv.training.lab machine and select the Settings icon 60

62 7. Enable Service Logging for the Broker Agent. Select Close. DO NOT click on Continue. We first need to reproduce the issue before we collect the log files. 61

63 8. Now that we have enabled logging, let us launch a session so we can capture the logging information that pertains to this session logon and launch process. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding to Public IP#2 ( IP1 is available from the lab details. Take the IP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (-)). Example: IP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net You browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 62

64 9. Login with the following credentials: Username: user1 Password: Citrix123 The Windows Server 2012 desktop will launch automatically. 10. Now we have launched a session and captured the logging information in the clear-text log files, let us go back to Scout to obtain the data. 11. Switch back to Citrix Scout on Site-XenDesktop7 and select Continue There is a lot of information being collected by Citrix Scout so it will take a few minutes before this information is available. 63

65 12. Whilst Scout collects a lot of necessary information together with the Service Logs, it is good to know that there are other methods of enabling Service Logging. This can be done manually by following Citrix KB article CTX117452: Scout will ask you to save a ZIP file with all the collect data in a location of your choice. Save the file on the desktop. 64

66 Scout will give you the option to upload the information collected to the Citrix Tools as a Service (TaaS) website for analysis. In this case we are not going to avail of this option so you can click on Cancel.

67 15. Let us look at the rich information obtained by Scout. Expand Site -> Site Info -> XDDBDiag The Site Info section includes relevant information about the XenDesktop site which is common to all machines which are part of this site. One section to highlight is the XDDBDiag which is a tool used to check the XenDesktop database for any inconsistencies. 66

68 Scrolling to the bottom of the page will show the results obtained from this tool and will highlight if there are any inconsistencies. In the below example, no problems were detected so the message No problems found is shown. The Controller Database Connection settings are also tested.

69 17. Another interesting tab within the context of this lab is the Monitoring Service section which shows the configuration details for this service amongst others. The Monitor service supplies most of the data that is displayed in the Desktop Director dashboard, including session connections, logon durations, connection failures etc. Details of Monitor Configuration shown above: FullPollStartHour - The time at which Monitor polls the Broker for a full set of data (Midnight) GroomDeletedRetentionDays - Time to retain logically deleted Monitor data (Defaults to 90 days) GroomFailuresRetentionDays - Time to retain Failure data (Defaults to 90 days) GroomLoadIndexesRetentionDays - Time to retain Load Index data (Defaults to 90 days) GroomSessionsRetentionDays - Time to retain Session data (Defaults to 90 days) GroomSummariesRetentionDays - Time to retain Summary level data (Defaults to 90 days) ResolutionPollTimeHours - Time until next "requires resolution" poll (Defaults to 2 hours) SyncPollTimeHours - Time until next sync poll (Session, Machine, Catalog, DesktopGroup data) (Defaults to 1 hour) 68

70 18. Select XenDesktop.training.lab tab. Here we can see the different data that is obtained for each machine. In the Citrix section, XDPing provides useful information to ensure the Delivery Controller has all the necessary configuration to handle successful registrations of the VDA machines. XDPing is a useful tool when troubleshooting registration issues within XenDesktop. It can be run on any Delivery server or Virtual Desktop Agent and it will test the configuration of the machine. This includes: 1. Ensuring that the machine has been correctly added to a domain, 2. The correct ports are opened on the Windows Firewall (if this is enabled) 3. There is no time skew between machines which could invalidate the Kerberos authentication request 69

71 19. The Broker Service Configuration file shows details of the WCF config file for the Broker Service. This is the config file which is changed to enable Service Logging for this service. In fact, we can see the changes that were made to enable Service Logging for this service as well as the location of where the log file was saved on the local machine. 20. Next let us look at the data collected for the VDA machine. Select W2K12Srv.training.lab -> Citrix. Here you can see a XDPing section which will confirm that the VDA is configured correctly for a successful registration with the Delivery Controller server. Selecting Workstation Agent Configuration File shows details of the WCF config file for the Broker Agent Service. This is the config file which is changed to enable Service Logging for this service. In fact, we can see the changes that were made to enable Service Logging for this service as well as the location of where the log file was saved on the local machine. 70

72 21. Do not close Scout for now, as it will delete the downloaded ZIP file for security reasons. First we want to extract the downloaded zipped folder so that we can view the clear-text CDF log files that we obtained for the Broker service from the Delivery Controller as well as the Workstation Agent and ICA Service log files from the VDA machine. These logs will contain the information we need to view the launch and logon process of a user onto a VDA machine. 22. Minimize Scout -> select the Scout created zip file called Scout-<date and time>-site and extract the contents of the zip file to the Desktop. 23. Now that we have this information extracted, we can go ahead and close off Citrix Scout. As Citrix Scout has enabled the Service Logging on a number of machines, it will prompt you if you want to turn off this logging before closing off Citrix Scout. Select Yes. It is always good practice to stop the logging of these services if no additional logging is needed. This will prevent the log files from getting too big and use up disk space. 71

73 24. Select the first Settings symbol 25. Disable Service Logging for the Broker Service and select Close. 26. Repeat steps 24 and 25 for the W2K12Srv.training.lab machine. 72

74 27. Select cancel and exit off Citrix Scout. The following warning message will be shown as we haven t uploaded the data to Tools as a Service (TaaS) site. As we have an extracted copy of these logs, we can go ahead and Exit the tool. You will see that now the zipped file called Scout-<date and time>-site.zip has been deleted. 28. Log off from the Win2k12Srv VDA session launched earlier. 73

75 Exercise Summary Takeaways from this exercise: 1. Using Citrix Scout, obtained relevant CDF traces for the Broker service (on the DC) as well as the Broker Agent and the ICA service (on the VDA) by enabling the Service logging for each of these services. 1. Viewed the rich information obtained by Citrix Scout. As seen in this exercise, this information is very useful when troubleshooting issues related to registration, the database to mention a few. 74

76 Exercise 4 Understanding How to Read a CDF Log File Overview In this exercise we will use the information obtained in Citrix Director to help us navigate through the CDF log files and understand which information is relevant to the launch and logon process. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 30 minutes. Step 1. Action On XenCenter console and select Site-XenDesktop7 2. Login as Administrator via RDP Username: training\administrator Password: Citrix123 75

77 3. Open the folder Scout-<date and time>-site which was saved on the desktop in the previous exercise. Navigate to Site -> XenDesktop.training.lab -> Citrix -> Broker Service Configuration file Open the file called Broker.log. This is clear-text CDF log file created for the Broker service when we enabled Service Logging Configuration in the previous exercise. 4. Open the Broker log file. Here you will see a text file filled with data. How can we obtain the information we need without reading every line of text? The best way to obtain the information we need is by following these three simple steps: 1. Obtain the date and time when the user experienced an issue. In our case, we will be looking through the data of a successful launch process for User1. This data is available in Citrix Director 2. Use keywords to immediately allow us to see relevant data 3. Using information obtained in both steps 1 and 2, to link the data from the Broker log file to the BrokerAgent logs from the VDA machine 76

78 5. First we need to obtain the date and time when user 1 last logged onto the machine. This information is available within Citrix Director. Navigate to Start -> All Programs -> Citrix -> Citrix Director. 6. Logon to Citrix Director using the following details: User name: Administrator Password: Citrix123 Domain: training 77

79 7. We need to obtain the date and time of when user one logged onto machine. This is crucial data as it allows us to quickly move through the Broker log file to view the section of the log which is relevant to this user s logon process. Search for User one in the Search option 78

80 8. As the user is not currently not logged into a session, this is the information that is shown in Citrix Director: Here we have information we need about the last connection attempt by this user, if it has been successful or not, as well the date and time of this log on attempt. Other information includes the Delivery group where the user attempted a connection as well as the Endpoint IP address. A view of all connections for a user can also be seen using the Filters tab. Here we will also be able to see date and time of any failed connections with reason of that failure as per below: 9. Once we have this information, the next step is to use this information together with different key words to quickly and efficiently find the information we need from the Broker log file. 79

81 10. Go back to the Broker log file (Open the folder Scout-<date and time>-site and navigate to Site -> XenDesktop.training.lab -> Citrix -> Broker Service Configuration file). Note: There are many different tools that can be used to help with filtering log files, from Microsoft Excel to more advanced tools. In this case we will use simple Notepad so the same methodology can be used regardless of the tool being used to read the log file. Search for the keyword BrokerOpEvent. These are the operational events being generated by the Broker and sent to the Monitor service, which is reflected in Desktop Director. You will find that there are quite a few logs with the keyword BrokerOpEvent but as we know the date and time when the user logged in, we can skip to the BrokerOpEvent logs which were generated around the timestamp of the last user connection. In my example this was at 6:20am 11. The first relevant BrokerOpEvent event that is seen within the timeframe shown in Citrix Director is the following: 04/12/13 06:19: : BrokerOpEvent: T11:19: Z:ResourceLaunch(91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4, Worker=S , Reconnect=False, Windows Server 2012 Desktop $S1-1, Client= , Via=fe80::dddd:6822:ca60:703e%16, 31ms, User=S , TRAINING\user1, user1@training.lab, User One, App=False) Here we find some very useful information including SIDs for both user one as well as the Worker. This is the published desktop machine the user is connecting to. One piece of information which is key to identifying relevant information about this session is: 91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4 This is the session GUID. This GUID is unique for this session and will be referenced in any log file that is generated, be it the Broker log file, the BrokerAgent or any other log file within the XenDesktop environment, including NetScaler! We will be using this session GUID to view relevant information in the BrokerAgent log. 80

82 12. The next few BrokerOpEvent logs that are seen are the following: (TIP: use word wrap within Notepad to easily ready through the log file.) 04/12/13 06:20: : BrokerOpEvent: T11:20: Z:SessionValidate(91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4, Worker=S , Brokered=True, Failure=None) 04/12/13 06:20: : BrokerOpEvent: T11:20: Z:SessionLogon(91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4, Worker=S , Via= , Client= , LANDINGVM, , HDX, Secure=False, User=S , TRAINING\user1, user1@training.lab, User One, Complete=False) 04/12/13 06:20: : BrokerOpEvent: T11:20: Z:SessionTrustedUser(91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4, S , TRAINING\user1, user1@training.lab, User One) 04/12/13 06:20: : BrokerOpEvent: T11:20: Z:SessionLogonComplete(91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4) As you can see above, each of the BrokerOpEvent logs have the session GUID 91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4 which allows you to confirm that these logs pertain to the session for User one. 13. Now let us go through the Broker log with the timespan identified, and search for events with the session GUID 91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4. Here you will find detailed information about each of the steps carried out by the Broker Service for this session launch. From looking at the logs, you may notice some additional keywords that could be helpful in filtering through a Broker log file: XmlServices: This will show you information related to the XML communication between the broker and the StoreFront server. BrokerDAL: This will show you information related to the broker s communication with the database 14. Once we have this detailed information, we can move onto the BrokerAgent log file and see the information we can obtain by using the session GUID 91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4. Open BrokerAgent log file by going to the folder Scout -<date and time> -> Site and navigate to Site -> W2K12Srv.training.lab -> Citrix -> Workstation Agent Configuration file. Search for 91470b87-a7fb f2-8ec f4. Confirm that the logs are within the timeframe that was highlighted in Citrix Director. 81

83 15. Apart from the log files above, where else have you seen the Session GUID? If you go back to Citrix Director, the session GUID is shown in the Network section of a live session as per below: 16. Congratulations you have finished this exercise. 82

84 Exercise Summary Takeaways from this exercise: 1. Understand the methodology used to find relevant information within a CDF log file. 2. Used the data obtained from Citrix Director to navigate through the different CDF log files for each of the services. 3. Identified important keywords which help to navigate to relevant sections of the CDF log file. 83

85 Exercise 5 Understanding the Different PowerShell cmdlets Used to Publish an Application from within a VDA Machine. Overview In this exercise we will publish a couple of applications from a VDA machine. We will also look at different PowerShell cmdlets used under the hood by the application publishing wizard within Citrix Studio. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 20 minutes. Step Action 1. On XenCenter console and select Site-XenDesktop7. Logon using the Administrator details: Username: training\administrator Password: Citrix Launch Citrix Studio by selecting Citrix Studio icon found within the taskbar. 84

86 3. Go to Delivery Groups, right-click on Win2K12Server and select Edit Delivery Group. 4. Select Delivery Type and select Applications. Select OK. 85

87 5. Right-click on Win2k12 Server and select Add Applications. 6. Select Next. 86

88 7. Select Command Prompt, Paint and Windows Media Player Select Next -> Finish. 87

89 8. Next let us configure File Type Associations (FTA) for the Paint application. The first step is to place the VDA machine in maintenance mode. Go to Search in the left pane, select the Server OS Machines tab, then right-clicking W2k12Srv.training.lab and selecting Turn On Maintenance Mode. Click Yes to confirm maintenance mode. 9. Navigate to Delivery Group and select the Applications Tab 88

90 10. Right-click Paint and select Properties 11. Select File Type Association and check:.emf and.wmf. Select Apply and OK 89

91 12. Before we can test the published applications, we need to remove the VDA machine from maintenance mode. Go to Search in the left pane, select the Server OS Machines tab, then right-clicking W2k12Srv.training.lab and selecting Turn Off Maintenance Mode. Select Yes 90

92 13. Let us confirm that we are able to launch a newly published application. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding to Public IP#2 : IP1.mycitrixtraining.net. ( IP1 is available from the lab details. Take the IP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (-)). Example: IP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net Your browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 91

93 14. Once you are logged in, you will only see the applications published by XenApp. To add the applications published by XenDesktop, select the white + sign to add applications. 15. Select All Apps -> Select the following applications: Command Prompt, Paint and Windows Media Player 92

94 16. As can be below, there is no distinction between the applications published by XenApp and those published by XenDesktop. 17. Launch Command Prompt to confirm that you are able to launch an application through XenDesktop. 18. Which PowerShell cmdlets are used to query a VDA workstation and obtain the applications from that machine? To find this out, let us go back to the XenDesktop Controller server and run the different cmdlets which will obtain this data. On XenCenter console and select Site-XenDesktop7. Logon using the Administrator details: Username: training\administrator Password: Citrix123 93

95 19. Launch Citrix Studio (if it is not already launched) by selecting Citrix Studio icon found within the taskbar. 20. Select Citrix Studio (Site) and select the PowerShell tab. 21. Select Launch PowerShell. By launching PowerShell from Citrix Studio, all the XenDesktop modules will already be loaded within PowerShell. You could also launch PowerShell directly from Windows Desktop. In this case you will need to run the command asnp Citrix.* and press Enter to load the XenDesktop modules (asnp is the PoSH Alias for Add-PSSnapin). 94

96 22. The PowerShell cmdlet used to retrieve application from a VDA machine is: Get- BrokerMachineStartMenuShortcuts. Let us run the Get-help cmdlet together with this cmdlet so we can obtain information about cmdlet Get-BrokerMachineStartMenuShortcuts. Run cmdlet Get-help Get-BrokerMachineStartMenuShortcuts 23. Now that we know what this cmdlet does, let us use the cmdlet to retrieve the list of applications from Windows Server 2012 machine W2k12Srv.training.lab. Run command: Get-BrokerMachineStartMenuShortcuts MachineName W2k12Srv.training.lab. 95

97 24. Another interesting PowerShell cmdlet that is used to obtain the FTA (File Type Association) for each Application. Let us first look at the two PowerShell cmdlets that are used by Citrix Studio to obtain these details. Run command: Get-Help Get-BrokerImportedFTA 25. Now that we understand what the cmdlet does, let us run the command: Get- BrokerImportedFTA -ExtensionName ".wmf". 96

98 26. The second cmdlet that is used for FTA is Get-BrokerConfiguredFTA. Run command: Get-Help Get-BrokerConfiguredFTA. 27. Now that we understand what the cmdlet does, let us run the command: Get- BrokerConfiguredFTA -ExtensionName ".wmf" 28. Congratulations you have finished this exercise. 97

99 Exercise Summary Takeaways from this exercise: 1. Used Citrix Studio to configure and publish a couple of applications from a VDA machine 2. Configured File Type Association for one of the applications 3. Learnt which PowerShell cmdlets are used under the hood within Citrix Studio to retrieve applications from within a VDA machine as well as the associated FTA for an application. 98

100 Optional: Exercise 6 Using Citrix Director and CDF Log Files to View Information About a Launched Published Application Overview In this exercise we will use Citrix Director to assist with published application troubleshooting in XenDesktop 7 and look at the CDF logs obtained from launching a published application. Step by step guidance Estimated time to complete this lab: 20 minutes. Ste p Action 1. On XenCenter console, select Site-XenDesktop7: 99

101 2. Login as Administrator via RDP: Username: training\administrator Password: Citrix Launch Citrix Scout by going to Start -> All programs -> Citrix 100

102 4. There are two main buttons in Citrix Scout:- Start CDF Trace and Collect & Upload. The option Start CDF Trace is used to obtain a full CDF trace for all Citrix XenDesktop components on a machine, be it a Delivery Controller or a Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA). The option is used to enable Service Logging Configuration as well as to obtain site information and machine specific information like event logs, hardware and software information and registry information. Service Logging Configuration will edit the config file for each of the XenDesktop services running on either the Delivery Controller or the VDA to enable clear-text CDF logging for each of these services. This information is extremely useful when narrowing down an issue. To obtain Service Logging, select Collect & Upload. 5. Select the Settings symbol 101

103 6. Enable Service Logging for the Broker Service and select Close. 7. The next step is to enable Service Logging on the VDA. Check W2k12Srv.training.lab machine and select Settings icon 102

104 8. Enable Service Logging for both Broker Agent. Select Close. DO NOT click on Continue. We first need to reproduce the issue before we collect the log files. 103

105 9. Now that we have enabled logging, let us launch a session so we can capture the logging information that pertains to this session logon and launch process. From your external workstation, open your browser and navigate to the external FQDN corresponding to Public IP#2 ( IP1 is available from the lab details. Take the IP1 and replace the periods (.) between octets and replace them with dashes (-)). Example: IP1: IP address or FQDN: mycitrixtraining.net You browser should be able to display the Access Gateway login. 104

106 10. Launch Command Prompt and Windows Media Player. 11. Switch back to Citrix Scout on Site-XenDesktop7 and select Continue 105

107 Scout will ask you to save a zip file with all the collect data in a location of your choice. Save the file on the desktop.

108 13. Scout will give you the option to upload the information collected to the Citrix Tools as a Service website for analysis. In this case we are not going to avail of this option so you can click on Cancel. 14. Minimize Scout -> select the Scout created zip file called Scout-<date and time>-site and extract the contents of the zip file to the Desktop. 15. Let us start by looking at the ICA Service log file by going to the folder Scout-<date and time>-site and navigate to Site -> W2k12Server.training.lab -> Citrix -> Workstation Agent Configuration file -> BrokerAgent. 16. What information do we need to identify which logs are relevant to the launch of both the Command Prompt and Windows Media Player applications? 107

109 17. First we need to obtain the date and time when user 1 last logged onto the machine as well as the Session GUID. This information is available within Citrix Director. 18. Launch Citrix Director and log in using the following credentials: User name: Administrator Password: Citrix123 Domain: training 19. Search for User one in the Search option 20. In Activity Manager you can view the list of applications launched by the user. 108

110 21. Let us look use the Details tab to view further information about this session. This is found at the top right-hand corner. Select Details. 22. Let us look at the Network section and find the Session GUID. 23. Now that we have the Session Guid, let us change the format to reflect how it is displayed in the log files: ad2acdda-ee5c ce a52e5 109