OS Layers - AL Test
An OS Layer is a virtual disk layer containing the operating system such as Windows, basic VM tools/drivers and App Layering drivers. Typically, a single OS Layer is maintained in the environment to manage the number of machine configurations such as pools, silos, delivery groups. This simplifies the environment and reduces management time/complexity and the costs associated with OS and app management. The OS layer is necessary for creating Platform layers, App layers and Layered images. Updating OS Layers is a simple operation with built-in version control. When you create a new version of the OS Layer, the latest version of the layer is copied, and this copy is marked as read-write. A special virtual machine called a Packaging Machine is created on the environment and the copy of the OS is attached. The machine is then booted with this new writable version of the OS, and you can update the OS Layer as needed. The OS Layer acts as a base layer for pools/delivery groups within the environment and for creating App and Platform layers and images, therefore, the OS Layer should be always ready for deployment to avoid delays in delivery of operating systems and applications to end users. This is why, administrators must track the status of the OS Layer at regular continuously. The Os Layers - AL test can help administrators in this regard!
This test continuously monitors the OS Layers created using the to the target Citrix App Layering Manager and reports the current status of each OS Layer. In addition, this test reveals the number of images, collections and desktops that are currently using the OS Layer. This test also helps you to determine which OS Layer is widely used by the App and Platform Layers. Using this test, administrators can find out the OS Layer that is most frequently used by the end-users.
Target of the test : Citrix App Layering Manager
Agent deploying the test : A remote agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for each OS layer managed by the target Citrix App Layering Manager.
| Parameter | Description |
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Test Period |
How often should the test be executed. |
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Host |
The IP address of the host for which the test is being configured. |
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Port |
The port at which the host listens. By default, this is 443. |
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Username and Password |
To pull out metrics, this test needs to be configured with credentials of a user with Read-only permissions to the target appliance. Specify the Username and Password of such a user in the Username and Password text boxes. |
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Confirm Password |
Confirm the Password by retyping it here. |
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Domain |
Specify the name of the domain to which the specified user belongs to. For instance, eginnovations\mpriya. |
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SSL |
Indicate whether/not Citrix App Layering Manager is SSL-enabled. By default, this flag is set to No. |
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Detailed Diagnosis |
To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG Enterprise 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. 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:
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| Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Status |
Indicates the current status of this OS Layer. |
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The values that this measure reports and their corresponding numeric values are listed in the table below:
Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values discussed in the table above. However, the graph of this measure is indicated using the numeric equivalents only. The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the name and current status of the OS Layer, name of the template that is being used by each OS Layer, whether the OS Layer is imported or not, name of the operating system, maximum layer size and time stamp at which each OS Layer is created and last modified. |
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Total layer size |
Indicates the total size set for this App Layer. |
GB |
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Maximum layer size |
Indicates the Max Layer size set for this OS Layer. |
GB |
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Collections used |
Indicates the number of collections that are currently using this OS Layer. |
Number |
Compare the values of these measures across OS Layers to identify the OS Layer which is frequently used by images, collections and desktops.
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Desktops used |
Indicates the number of desktops that are currently using this OS Layer. |
Number |
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Images used |
Indicates the number of collections that are currently using this OS Layer. |
Number |
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Number of app layers using |
Indicates the number of App Layers that are currently using this OS Layer. |
Number |
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Number of platform layers using |
Indicates the number of Platform Layers that are currently using this OS Layer. |
Number |
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The detailed diagnosis of the Status measure reveals the name and current status of the OS Layer, name of the template that is being used by each OS Layer, whether the OS Layer is imported or not, name of the operating system, maximum layer size in GB, time stamp at which each OS Layer is created and last modified and ID of each OS Layer.
Figure 1 : The details diagnosis revealed by the Status measure of OS Layer - AL test
