FSLogix Office 365 Container Details - OS Test

FSLogix Office 365 Container redirects only areas of a user’s profile that are specific to Microsoft Office and is a subset of Profile Container. The Container can optionally be used in conjunction with Profile Container, to store Office Data in a location separate from the rest of the user's profile. The Container enables and enhances the Microsoft Office experience of users in non-persistent environments. In non-persistent environments, the index catalog doesn’t roam with user data and must be rebuilt every time the user signs into a new host, which could potentially occur at every sign-on and could create a significant delay in fetching the desired data. When FSLogix Office 365 Container feature is enabled on the target virtual server, the Container redirects user’s Outlook data as well as search index catalog, giving users access to their emails and other Outlook data while enabling users to search in Outlook – even when they roam between sessions on different hosts in a typical VDI environment. The Container roams the search index on a per-user basis inside the user’s profile container; there is no need to re-index a user’s Outlook OST regardless of which the virtual server they access.

If user's experience with Microsoft Office on the target virtual server that is enabled with FSLogix Office 365 Container is poor, then administrators should be able to quickly figure out if the quality of the UX suffers due to unavailability of the services offered by the FSLogix Office 365 Container. The FSLogix Office 365 Container Details - OS test helps administrators in this regard.

For each user connecting to a FSLogix Office 365 Container-enabled virtual server, this test reports whether the Container is enabled/properly attached and the services offered from the Container are enabled. This way, users who are experiencing a poor Microsoft Office experience can be isolated and the reason for the same can be ascertained. In addition, the test points administrators to users whose experience suffer due to inadequate disk space.

Target of the test : A Citrix Hypervisor VDI server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each combination of virtual machine:user on the target virtual server to be monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.
Port

The port at which the specified host listens. By default, this is NULL.

Xen User, Xen Password and Confirm Password

To enable the eG agent to connect to the XenServer API for collecting statistics of interest, this test should login to the target hypervisor as a root user. Provide the name of the root user in the Xen User text box. Root user privileges are mandatory when monitoring a XenServer 5.5 (or below). However, if you are monitoring XenServer 5.6 (or above) and you prefer not to expose the credentials of the root user, then, you have the option of configuring a user with pool-admin privileges as the Xen User. If you do not want to expose the credentials of a root/pool-admin user, then you can configure the tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges to the XenServer. However, if this is done, then the Xen Uptime test will not run, and the Xen CPU and Xen Memory tests will not be able to report metrics for the control domain descriptor. To avoid such an outcome, do the following before attempting to configure the eG tests with a Xen User who has Read-only privileges to the Citrix Hypervisor:

  • Modify the target hypervisor's configuration in the eG Enterprise. For this, follow the Infrastructure -> Components -> Add/Modify menu sequence, pick Citrix Hypervisor as the Component type, and click the Modify button corresponding to the target hypervisor.
  • In the MODIFY COMPONENT DETAILS page that then appears, make sure that the os is set to Xen and the Mode is set to SSH.
  • Then, in the same page, proceed to provide the User and Password of a user who has the right to connect to the XenServer console via SSH.
  • Then, click the Update button to save the changes.

Once this is done, you can configure the eG tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges.

The password of the specified Xen User needs to be mentioned in the Xen Password text box.

Then, confirm the Xen Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.
SSL

By default, the Citrix Hypervisor is not SSL-enabled. This indicates that by default, the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTP. Accordingly, the SSL flag is set to No by default. If you configure the target hypervisor to use SSL, then make sure that the SSL flag is set to Yes, so that the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTPS. Note that a default SSL certificate comes bundled with every Citrix Hypervisor installation. If you want the eG agent to use this default certificate for communicating with an SSL-enabled Citrix Hypervisor, then no additional configuration is required. However, if you do not want to use the default certificate, then you can generate a self-signed certificate for use by the target hypervisor. In such a case, you need to explicitly follow the broad steps given below to enable the eG agent to communicate with the target hypervisor via HTTPS:

  • Obtain the server-certificate for the Citrix Hypervisor
  • Import the server-certificate into the local certificate store of the eG agent

For a detailed discussion on each of these steps, refer to the Troubleshooting section of this document.

Inside View Using

By default, this test obtains the “inside view” of VMs using the eG VM Agent. Accordingly, the Inside view using flag is set to eG VM Agent by default. The eG VM Agent is a piece of software, which should be installed on every VM on a hypervisor. Every time the eG agent runs this test, it uses the eG VM Agent to pull relevant 'inside view' metrics from each VM. Once the metrics are collected, the eG agent then communicates with each VM agent and pulls these metrics, without requiring administrator privileges. Refer to Configuring the Remote Agent to Obtain the Inside View of VMs for more details on the eG VM Agent.

Domain, Admin User, and Admin Password, and Confirm Password

By default, these parameters are set to none. This is because, by default, the eG agent collects 'inside view' metrics using the eG VM agent on each VM. Domain administrator privileges need not be granted to the eG agent if it uses this default approach to obtain the 'inside view' of Windows VMs.

Ignore VMs Inside View

Administrators of some high security environments might not have permissions to internally monitor one/more VMs. The eG agent can be configured to not obtain the 'inside view' of such ‘inaccessible’ VMs using the Ignore VMs Inside View parameter. Against this parameter, you can provide a comma-separated list of VM names, or VM name patterns, for which the inside view need not be obtained. For instance, your IGNORE VMS INSIDE VIEW specification can be: *xp,*lin*,win*,vista. Here, the * (asterisk) is used to denote leading and trailing spaces (as the case may be). By default, this parameter is set to none indicating that the eG agent obtains the inside view of all VMs on a Citrix Hypervisor host by default.

Note:

While performing VM discovery, the eG agent will not discover the operating system of the VMs configured in the Ignore VMs Inside View text box.

Exclude VMs

Administrators of some virtualized environments may not want to monitor some of their less-critical VMs - for instance, VM templates - both from 'outside' and from 'inside'. The eG agent in this case can be configured to completely exclude such VMs from its monitoring purview. To achieve this, provide a comma-separated list of VMs to be excluded from monitoring in the Exclude VMs text box. Instead of VMs, VM name patterns can also be provided here in a comma-separated list. For example, your Exclude VMs specification can be: *xp,*lin*,win*,vista. Here, the * (asterisk) is used to denote leading and trailing spaces (as the case may be). By default, this parameter is set to none indicating that the eG agent obtains the inside and outside views of all VMs on a virtual host by default. By providing a comma-separated list of VMs/VM name patterns in the Exclude VMs text box, you can make sure the eG agent stops collecting 'inside' and 'outside' view metrics for a configured set of VMs.

Ignore Winnt

By default, the eG agent does not support the inside view for VMs executing on Windows NT operating systems. Accordingly, the Ignore Winnt flag is set to Yes by default.

Webport

By default, in most virtualized environments, the target hypervisor listens on port 80 (if not SSL-enabled) or on port 443 (if SSL-enabled). This implies that while monitoring an SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent, by default, connects to port 443 of the server to pull out metrics, and while monitoring a non-SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent connects to port 80. Accordingly, the webport parameter is set to 80 or 443 depending upon the status of the ssl flag.  In some environments however, the default ports 80 or 443 might not apply. In such a case, against the webport parameter, you can specify the exact port at which the target hypervisor in your environment listens so that the eG agent communicates with that port.

Report by User

While monitoring a Citrix hypervisor, the Report by User flag is set to No by default, indicating that by default, the guest operating systems on the target hypervisor are identified using the host name specified in the operating system. On the other hand, while monitoring a Citrix hypervisor-VDI, this flag is set to Yes by default; this implies that in case of the Citrix hypervisor-VDI model, by default, the desktops will be identified using the login of the user who is accessing them. In other words, in VDI environments, this test will, by default, report measures for every username_on_virtualmachinename.

Report Powered OS

This flag becomes relevant only if the Report by User flag is set to ‘Yes’.

If the report powered os flag is set to Yes (which is the default setting), then this test will report measures for even those VMs that do not have any users logged in currently. Such guests will be identified by their virtualmachine name and not by the username_on_virtualmachinename. On the other hand, if the report powered os flag is set to No, then this test will not report measures for those VMs to which no users are logged in currently.

Always Report Logon Duration
  • By default, this flag is set to No indicating that this test will report the Container load duration measure only during the first measurement period. However, if you want this test to report the Container load duration measure for the subsequent measurement periods, set this flag to Yes.
    		•

    DD Frequency

    Refers to the frequency with which detailed diagnosis measures are to be generated for this test. The default is 1:1. This indicates that, by default, detailed measures will be generated every time this test runs, and also every time the test detects a problem. You can modify this frequency, if you so desire. Also, if you intend to disable the detailed diagnosis capability for this test, you can do so by specifying none against DD Frequency.

    Detailed Diagnosis

    To make diagnosis more efficient and accurate, the eG suite 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:

    • The eG manager license should allow the detailed diagnosis capability
    • Both the normal and abnormal frequencies configured for the detailed diagnosis measures should not be 0.
    Measurements made by the test

    Measurement

    Description

    Measurement Unit

    Interpretation

    Is FSLogix application service running?

    Indicates whether/not the FSLogix application service is running for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    No 0
    Yes 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is container enabled?

    Indicates whether/not the FSLogix Office 365 container is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    No 0
    Yes 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Container attached status

    Indicates whether/not the FSLogix Office 365 container is attached.

    This measure will be reported only during the first measurement period when the Always report logon duration flag in the test configuration page is set to No. If the Always report logon duration flag is set to Yes, this measure will be reported for all the measurement periods.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Attached success 0
    The system is in an error state 1
    Virtual Disk API ("virtdisk.dll") cannot be found 2
    Unable to get the user SID 3
    Security API failed 5
    Error determining the path to the VHD/X file 6
    Error creating a directory 7
    Error impersonating the user 8
    Error creating the VHD/X file 9
    Error closing a handle 10
    Error opening the VHD/X file 11
    Error attaching the VHD/X 12
    Error getting the physical path of the virtual disk 13
    Error opening the device 14
    Error initializing the disk 15
    Error retrieving the volume GUID 16
    Error formatting the volume 17
    Unable to determine the user's profile directory 18
    Error creating a junction in the file system 19
    Error importing registry data 20
    Error checking group membership for the user 21
    Error trying to determine the profile type 22
    Error processing the redirections.xml file 23
    Unable to create event 24
    Maximum sessions reached 25
    Can't detach virtual disk at the provided location 26
    Can't find virtual disk at the provided location 27
    No user session config found 28
    Waiting for the Windows Profile Service to begin creation of the user's profile 0.1
    In progress 0.2
    Already attached 0.3

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the file path to Outlook folder, volume name, path to a folder where the user profile is stored, VHD root file path, path to VHD files, etc.

    Container attached reason

    Indicates the reason for attaching the Office 365 container to this user's profile.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Attached with error 0
    Not in white list 1
    In black list 2
    Local profile exists 3
    Short SID 4
    Unset 5
    Component not enabled 6
    Windows temporary profile 7
    Not AVD session 8
    Profile load failed 9

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the name of user, reason for attachment failure, current status of the attachment, path to the VHD file, brief details about error, time stamp at which the Container was started and stopped, etc.

    Container load duration

    Indicates the time taken for loading Office 365 container to this user.

    Seconds

    A very low value is desired for this measure.

    Access network as computer object

    Indicates how the Office 365 container is attached to this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Attach as user 0
    Attach as computer 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is outlook cache mode enabled?

    Indicates whether/not outlook cache mode is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Error code

    Indicates the total number of errors reported for this user while using Office 365 container.

    Number

     

    Is dynamic VHD(X)?

    Indicates whether/not VHD file in which the Office 365 Container is stored, is dynamic.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is concurrent user session allowed?

    Indicates whether/not the concurrent sessions are allowed for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is OneNote enabled?

    Indicates whether/not OneNote is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is OneNote UWP enabled?

    Indicates whether/not OneNote UWP is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 0
    No 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is Outlook enabled?

    Indicates whether/not Outlook is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 0
    No 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is Outlook personalization enabled?

    Indicates whether/not Outlook personalization is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 0
    No 1

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is Teams enabled?

    Indicates whether/not Teams is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is OneDrive enabled?

    Indicates whether/not OneDrive is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is Sharepoint enabled?

    Indicates whether/not Sharepoint is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Is Skype enabled?

    Indicates whether/not Skype is enabled for this user.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Yes 1
    No 0

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    VHD access mode

    Indicates the access mode of VHD file on which Office 365 Container for this user is stored.

     

    The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

    Measure Value Numeric Value
    Direct access 0
    Different disk used and stored on the network 1
    Different disk used and stored on the local machine 2
    Unique VHD(X) used 3

    Note:

    By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above. In the graph of this measure however, the value of this measure is represented using their numeric equivalents only.

    Disk capacity

    Indicates the total disk capacity allocated for this user.

    MB

     

    Disk free space

    Indicates the amount of disk space available for use by this user.

    MB

     

    Disk used space

    Indicates the amount of disk space utilized by this user.

    MB

    A value close to Disk capacity measure value is a cause of concern in this case. Administrators should figure out this and add additional resources if necessary for each user.

    Disk usage

    Indicates the percentage of disk space utilized by this user.

    Percent

    A value close to 100 indicates that the users are facing severe space crunch. Administrators need to analyze such space constraints and add additional disk space as and when required.