The Citrix Logon Simulator Test
This test emulates a user logging into a Citrix farm and launching an application/desktop. In the process, the test reports the total duration of the simulation, time taken for the login to be authenticated, the time taken for application/desktop enumeration, duration of application/desktop launch, and log out duration. Additionally, the test also captures failures (if any) at each step of the simulation. Using the insights provided by this test, Citrix administrators can proactively detect logon slowness/failures and precisely pinpoint the root-cause of the anomaly - is it login authentication? enumeration? application/desktop launch? or logout? This way, Citrix administrators are enabled to isolate the probable pain-points of their Citrix delivery infrastructure, even before users begin to actively use applications/desktops.
Target of the test : Citrix XenApp / XenDesktop 6.x or 7.x
Agent deploying the test : An external agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for every published application and/or virtual desktop that the simulator is configured to launch
Configurable parameters for the test
If this happens, the test will fail after logging an error to that effect in the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\agent\error_log file. To avoid this, it would be a good practice to relook at the TEST PERIOD configuration every time one of the parameters mentioned above is modified, and increase it if required.
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Measurements made by the test
Figure 1 : The measures reported by the Citrix Logon Simulator test
Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation |
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Logon availability |
Indicates whether/not the simulator logged into the web store successfully, when attempting to launch this application/desktop. |
Percent |
The value 100 for this measure indicates that logon was successful, and the value 0 indicates that logon failed. If this measure reports the value 0, then no other measures will be reported for that application/desktop. You can also use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to view the output of the simulation script, scrutinize it, and isolate the failure and problem points of the Citrix delivery infrastructure at first glance. |
Logon duration |
Indicates the time taken by the simulator to login to StoreFront/ADC, when attempting to launch this application/desktop. |
Secs |
If the Total simulation duration for an application/desktop exceeds its threshold, compare the value of this measure with that of the other duration values reported by the test to know where the bottleneck lies - in login authentication? application enumeration? application launch? or log out? |
Application/desktop enumeration availability |
Indicates whether/not applications/desktops were successfully enumerated on the StoreFront / ADC console, when the simulator attempted to launch this application/desktop. |
Percent |
The value 100 for this measure indicates that application/desktop enumeration was successful, and the value 0 indicates that enumeration failed. |
Application/desktop enumeration duration |
Indicates the time taken for application/desktop enumeration to complete, when the simulator attempted to launch this application/desktop. |
Secs |
If the Total simulation duration for an application/desktop exceeds its threshold, compare the value of this measure with that of the other duration values reported by the test to know where the bottleneck lies - in login authentication? application enumeration? application launch? or log out? |
Application/desktop launch availability |
Indicates whether/not the simulator launched this application/desktop successfully. |
Percent |
The value 100 for this measure indicates that application/desktop launch was successful, and the value 0 indicates that the launchn failed. By comparing the value of this measure across applications/desktops, you can quickly identify which application/desktop could not be launched. |
Application/desktop launch duration |
Indicates the time taken by the simulator to launch this application/desktop. |
Secs |
If the Total simulation duration for an application/desktop exceeds its threshold, compare the value of this measure with that of the other duration values reported by the test to know where the bottleneck lies - in login authentication? application enumeration? application launch? or log out? |
Logoff duration |
Indicates the time taken by the simulator to log out of StoreFront / ADC. |
Secs |
If the Total simulation duration for an application/desktop exceeds its threshold, compare the value of this measure with that of the other duration values reported by the test to know where the bottleneck lies - in login authentication? application enumeration? application launch? or log out? |
Total simulation duration |
Indicates the total time taken by the simulator to simulate the launch of this application / desktop . |
Secs |
An abnormally high value for this measure could indicate a logon slowness. In such a case, compare the value of all the duration values reported by the test to know where the bottleneck lies - in login authentication? application enumeration? application launch? or log out? |
Screen refresh latency - avg |
Indicates the average time interval measured at the client between the first step (user action) and the last step (graphical response displayed) of this application /desktop's interactions with the endpoint. |
Seconds |
This is a measurement of the screen lag that is experienced during simulation. In other words, is the latency detected from when the simulator hits a key until the response is displayed. Comparing the value of this measure across simulations will enable administrators to quickly and accurately identify the simulations that are experiencing higher latency. |
Data received |
Indicates the amount of data received by the simulator to simulate the launch of this application / desktop. |
KB |
Comparing the value of these measures across simulations will enable administrators to identify the simulation that had sent/received the maximum amount of data.
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Data sent |
Indicates the amount of data sent from the simulator to simulate the launch of this application / desktop. |
KB |
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Frames received |
Indicates the number of frames received by the simulator to simulate the launch of this application / desktop. |
Number |
Comparing the value of these measures across simulations will reveal the simulation that had sent/received the maximum number of frames.
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Frames sent |
Indicates the number of frames sent from the simulator to simulate the launch of this application / desktop. |
Number |
Use the detailed diagnosis of the Logon availability measure to view the output of the simulation script, scrutinize it, and isolate the failure and problem points of the Citrix delivery infrastructure at first look. A summary of the simulation is also provided as part of the detailed diagnostics. This includes the Site URL configured for monitoring, the user name used for the simulation, the exact time at which the simulated user logged into the site, and the published resource that was accessed as part of the simulation.
Figure 2 : The detailed diagnosis of the Logon availability measure