Introduction

For years, slow Citrix logons have been the most common complaint in Citrix infrastructures. For a Citrix user, slow logons can lead to frustration, lower productivity and efficiency. For a Citrix administrator, Citrix logon slowness is a complex problem that takes a long time to resolve. There are dozens of steps involved in the Citrix logon process and they involve multiple components – Citrix StoreFront, Citrix Delivery Controller, Active Directory, Profile server, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, the Citrix data store and so on. Identifying exactly what is causing the slowdown is often time consuming and laborious.

To ensure great Citrix user experience, administrators need to monitor their infrastructure proactively and be alerted to issues in advance, before users notice and complain. In order to do so, administrators need a consistent measure of Citrix logon performance – one that is available 24x7, even when there are no users accessing the farm.

Collecting logon metrics of real user activity is challenging. Metrics have to collected from the different tiers involved. Even then, it is a difficult to get a consistent assessment of Citrix logon performance because different users have different profiles and policies associated with them. Furthermore, there will be times when no one is logging in to the Citrix farm, and at those times, it is important to know if Citrix logon is working and whether users can launch their applications and desktops successfully.

The eG Logon Simulator, a part of the eG Enterprise, is a purpose-built solution for delivering proactive visibility into the logon performance in Citrix infrastructures. Using an agentless approach, the eG Citrix Logon Simulator simulates a user logging in to a Citrix StoreFront or ADC (NetScaler gateway) through a browser, reviewing the list of applications/desktops accessible, clicking on a selected application or desktop, launching it in Citrix Workspace App by initiating a session and then logging off. By emulating the exact same process that users go through when they logon to Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop or Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, the eG Citrix Logon Simulator provides a realistic measure of the user experience during Citrix logon. Since every simulation tests the entire Citrix delivery infrastructure (Citrix ADC, Citrix StoreFront, Citrix Delivery Controller, Citrix XenApp Server, Citrix Virtual Apps Server, VDI, etc.), the results represent the cumulative health of all of the tiers supporting Citrix logons.

Unlike traditional simulation tools that require recording of a script that captures the typical steps a user performs, the eG Citrix Logon Simulator requires no recording and hence, is simple to implement. Installed on any desktop that has the Chrome browser and Citrix Workspace App configured, the simulator targets the configured Citrix logon URL and application/desktop 24x7 at pre-configured intervals and tests the Citrix logon availability and performance. When a problem is detected, the offending step is clearly highlighted, so administrators can start working on a resolution immediately.

The simulation can be configured to run from different remote locations, to understand the logon performance from each location. By testing the simulated session from different locations and at different times, administrators can diagnose and resolve logon issues before users experience them and call up the helpdesk. Licensing is based on number of simulation locations, not on the number of Citrix logons simulated.