Configuration of CtxAppTest

This test reports the performance measures pertaining to the applications executing on the Citrix server.

Note:

This test will report metrics only if the XenApp server being monitored uses the .Net framework v3.0 (or above).

The parameters associated with this test are as follows:

• The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed.

• In the HOST text box, the host name of the server for which the test is to be configured has to be specified.

• The port number to which the selected server is listening has to be specified in the PORT textbox.

• By default, the APPS text box will contain ‘all’. This means that, by default, the eG system will monitor all the applications running on a Citrix server. Alternatively, you can provide a comma-separated list of applications that require monitoring. For example: winword.exe, acrobat.exe. To monitor the published applications only, specify ‘published’.

• The APPSBYNAME parameter is relevant only if the APPS parameter is “published” - that is, the agent is monitoring only published applications. By default, this parameter is set to NO, which means the agent monitors the applications by process name (e.g., msword, iexplore, sfttray, excel, etc.). If this parameter is set to YES, the agent reports by published application name (e.g., Microsoft Word instead of “msword”).

  The APPSBYNAME parameter is particularly relevant if a virtual client like the Softgrid client is deployed on Citrix. In this case, all the user processes will run the Softgrid client (ie., sfttray.exe) and by just monitoring the process names, administrators will not be able to differentiate Microsoft Word instances from Microsoft Excel instances being served by the Softgrid client. If the APPSBYNAME parameter is YES, the agent compares the full process command including arguments with the published application information and is able to differentiate applications that may be served using the same executable program.

• A Citrix XenApp server (v6.5) can run in the controller mode or the worker mode. In the controller mode, the XenApp server can perform all farm management tasks. However, in the worker mode, a XenApp server can only host user sessions.

  By default, the DOMAIN NAME, DOMAIN USER, DOMAIN PASSWORD, and CONFIRM PASSWORD parameters are set to none. If the XenApp server being monitored is the controller in a farm, then this default value will automatically apply. In other words, in this case, you can leave the values of these parameters as none. On the other hand, if the target XenApp server is a worker in the farm, then first, you will have to configure the name of the domain in which the XenApp server operates in the DOMAIN NAME text box. Then, you need to configure the test with the credentials of a user with Citrix Farm Administrator rights, using the DOMAIN USER and DOMAIN PASSWORD text boxes. Finally, you will have to confirm the domain password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box.

• Worker groups are collections of XenApp servers, residing in the same farm, that are managed as a single unit. You can publish applications to a worker group. If you want to know the worker group to which every auto-discovered application has been published, then set the SHOW WORKER GROUPS parameter to Yes. Once this is done, then the descriptors (i.e., the auto-discovered applications) of this test will be grouped by the name of the worker group to which they belong. By default, this parameter is set to No.

• By default, the SHOWPUBLISHEDDESKTOPS flag is set to No. If this flag is set to Yes, then the detailed diagnosis of the test, which typically reveals the users accessing an application and the resource usage of each such user, will now additionally indicate the exact published desktop that has been used by the user to access the application.

• By default, the REPORTBYCLIENTNAME flag is set to No. If set to Yes, then an additional CLIENT NAME column will appear in the detailed diagnosis of this test. This column will indicate the host name of the client machine from which the users accessed the configured applications. When many users access an application on a Citrix XenApp server using the same login credentials, then multiple rows of information in the detailed diagnosis will display the same Username. Under such circumstances, it would be more useful to have the detailed diagnosis also indicate the client machine from which each user accessed that application. To achieve this, set the REPORTBYCLIENTNAME flag to Yes.

• By default, the test rediscovers the applications running on a Citrix server, once in a day; this is why, the APPS REDISCOVER PERIOD is set to 1440 by default. You can override this default setting by specifying a different duration (in minutes) in the APPS REDISCOVER PERIOD text box.

• Typically, when monitoring a Citrix server/farm on which numerous applications have been deployed, the processing overheads of this test may increase every time the test performs application discovery. You may hence prefer to rediscover the applications on these servers/farms only during such times the user activity/load on the server/farm is low. To schedule application rediscovery during the ‘low-activity’ time window of a XenApp server, you can use the CTXAPPDISCTIMERANGE parameter. Here, specify a time range in the following format: Starting Hrs-Ending Hrs. The Hrs here should be in the 24-hour format. For instance, to make sure that the test performs application rediscovery only during 8PM and 11PM every day, your CTXAPPDISCTIMERANGE specification will be: 20-23. Note that you cannot suffix your ‘Hrs’ specification with ‘Minutes’ or ‘Seconds’.

  By default, the CTXAPPDISCTIMERANGE is none; this implies that applications are by defaut rediscovered only in the frequency specified against APPS REDISCOVER PERIOD. However, if a valid time range is provided against the CTXAPPDISCTIMERANGE parameter, then this time range will automatically override the APPS REDISCOVER PERIOD.

• By default, the REPORT BY DOMAIN NAME flag is set to Yes. This implies that by default, the detailed diagnosis of this test will display the domainname\username of each user who accessed an application on the server. This way, administrators will be able to quickly determine which user logged into the server from which domain. If you want the detailed diagnosis to display only the username of these users, set this flag to No.

• By default, the ENABLE BROWSER MONITORING flag is set to No, indicating that the eG agent does not monitor browser activity on the XenApp server. If this flag is set to Yes, then, whenever one/more IE (Internet Explorer) browser instances on the XenApp server are accessed, the detailed diagnosis of the Processes running measure will additionally reveal the URL being accessed via each IE instance and the resources consumed by every URL. Armed with this information, administrators can identify the web sites that are responsible for excessive resource usage by an IE instance.

• Using the SHOW ALL DESKTOP PROCESSES flag, you can indicate whether the test should report top resource-intensive processes alone or all processes running in the background when the user accesses an application. By default, this flag is set to No, indicating that this test will report only top three resource-intensive processes e.g. CPU, Memory and IO Reads processes from the desktop OS processes. This helps the administrator optimize the database. To report all the processes, you need to set this flag to Yes.

• Using the SHOW ONLY ACTIVE APPS flag, you can indicate whether the test should monitor all applications or applications that are currently active on the server. By default, this flag is set to Yes, indicating that only the currently active applications will be monitored by the eG agent. To monitor all applications, you need to set this flag to No.

• To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG system 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 against DETAILED DIAGNOSIS. 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 bad and normal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.

• If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

• Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will register the changes made.

When changing the configuration for specific servers, a "*" beside the text box corresponding to the parameter signifies that these values have to be manually configured by the user. The parameter values that require to be configured will typically be prefixed with a "$" or contain a series of "*". A value of "none" in the parameter value indicates that the corresponding parameter value can be changed if required.