Pre-requisites for Using eG Enterprise Logon Simulator for Citrix

Before attempting to use the simulator, make sure that the following pre-requisites are fulfilled:

Category Pre-requisites
Logon Simulator Agent / Simulation Endpoint
  • Client Session Simulation capability should be enabled on the eG license.
  • The logon simulator agent/external agent should be installed on a dedicated virtual machine or a physical server running Windows 2012/2016/2019/2022 or Windows 8/10/11 operating system.
  • The logon simulator agent/external agent should only run on an English version of Windows operating system.

    Note:

    If Multilingual User Interface pack is applied on the Windows operating system, then, ensure that the English language is chosen as the System locale.

  • The logon simulator agent should not be used to monitor any other component in the target environment.
  • Chrome browser v122 (and above) should be available on the dedicated endpoint.

    Note:

    In some environments where browsers are automatically updated to their latest versions, incompatibility is cited between the browser version and the Chrome drivers. This may sometimes lead to the non-start of simulation. Therefore, ensure that the Chrome drivers are also updated whenever the browser is updated to the latest version.

    Ensure that the files are automatically downloaded only to the default location (C:/Users/<Username>/Downloads) without prompting the users to choose the download location.

  • Citrix Receiver version 2.x (also referred to as v12.x) and above or Citrix Workspace App should be installed on the system hosting the Logon Simulator Agent. Take care to install the Receiver/Workspace App in the default location only.

    Note:

    • Ensure that you install the Standard or full version of the Citrix Receiver/Citrix Workspace App. Citrix Workspace App installed as a plugin is not supported.
    • Download the latest version of Citrix Workspace App here: https://www.citrix.com/products/receiver.html
    • The latest version of Citrix WorkSpace App is capable of automatically applying updates and upgrading itself to higher versions. Whenever the Citrix WorkSpace App auto-upgrades, the simulation will be interrupted. To avoid this, ensure that you stop automatic updates/upgrades on the Citrix WorkSpace App. However, if you update/upgrade to the higher versions of Citrix WorkSpace App, you should execute the ICALogonSimulatorChecks.exe-verbose yes command from the <eG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib folder.
  • The simulator also requires a user account with local administrator rights on the simulation endpoint - i.e., on the system hosting the Logon Simulator Agent / Citrix Receiver / Citrix Workspace App. This user should be logged in at all times for the simulator to run continuously. Also, make sure that this session window is not minimized because this may cause problems in the logon simulation.

    Note:

    • The logon simulation will not work if the session is closed.
    • The logon simulation will not work if the screen is locked on the logon simulation endpoint.
    • The logon simulator will not work if the screensaver appears on the logon simulation endpoint.
  • No other ICA session should be connected/running on the simulation endpoint before running the script. Any Receiver/Workspace App processes will be killed, so existing sessions will be disconnected.
  • If the Citrix Receiver/Citrix Workspace App has created a system tray icon on the simulation endpoint, then make sure it is removed.

Citrix XenApp / XenDesktop
  • The simulator will only work with Citrix XenApp / XenDesktop 6.x and Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7.x environments and Citrix Cloud Workspace.
  • A dedicated Citrix test account is required on Citrix Virtual Apps / Virtual Desktops with rights to launch applications/desktops.
Citrix StoreFront / ADC(NetScaler) / Citrix Cloud Workspace
  • For Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7.x environments, make sure that StoreFront 2.0 or higher or NetScaler Gateway (ADC) version 9.3 or higher is available in your environment.
  • If a firewall separates the simulation endpoint from StoreFront / NetScaler Gateway, then make sure you configure the firewall to allow two-way communication between the endpoint and StoreFront / NetScaler Gateway.

  • When using Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7.x, you can auto subscribe users to applications by setting "KEYWORDS:Auto" in the published application's description in the Citrix XenDesktop Broker. When using Citrix XenApp 6.x on the other hand, the desktop/application that the simulator should launch should be displayed in the Main page of the Citrix Web Interface Management console.

  • Additionally, for launching desktops published on Citrix XenApp / XenDesktop v6.x or Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops 7.x, set the autoLaunchDesktop flag to false in the web.config file under C:\inetpub\wwwroot\Citrix\<storename>Web folder on the StoreFront server.

Note:

To ensure that all the pre-requisites of the Citrix Logon Simulator is fulfilled, you can execute the ICALogonSimulatorChecks.exe which is available in the <eG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib folder. This executable should be executed by a user with administrator privileges from the command prompt of the target agent host. If any pre-requisite has not been fulfilled, failure will be highlighted in Red (as shown by Figure 1).

Figure 1 : Setup script where a pre-requisite has failed

Use the pointers provided in Figure 1, just below the failed pre-requisite, to know how to fulfill that requirement. Then, rerun the ICALogonSimulatorChecks.exe to make sure that all pre-requisites are fulfilled, and then proceed.

If all pre-requisites are fulfilled, then Figure 2 will appear.

Figure 2 : All pre-requisites are fulfilled

Caveats:

  • Users can access their Citrix environments through different means. Users within the Citrix environment use the Citrix StoreFront to access the Citrix hypervisors and applications whereas users accessing the Citrix environment from remote/external locations use the Citrix ADC. Some Citrix environments may also use F5 load balancers through which the users can access their environments. Citrix ADC can be integrated with additional authentication mechanisms (single sign-on systems) such as OKTA, Azure AD, AD FS. The Citrix Logon Simulator is capable of simulating the transactions when the Citrix ADC is integrated with authentication mechanisms such as Microsoft Azure AD and AD FS.

  • Sometimes, the eG agent may not be able to simulate the login session. This may be because of the non interaction of the simulator with the ICA client objects.

    For the simulator to interact with the ICA object and perform the simulation, the following registry entries are needed on the simulator endpoint's registry with DWORD type and value 1.

    • "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\CCM, AllowLiveMonitoring”
    • "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\CCM, AllowSimulationAPI”
  • The eG Enterprise Logon Simulator for Citrix can be used to simulate logons to both on-premises Citrix installations and those on the Citrix Cloud or Citrix Workspace. Sometimes, the simulator may not be able to cleanly logoff the application/desktop sessions it created. Such sessions may continue to linger on the server in a disconnected state. Because of this, the next time the simulator attempts to create a session, it will automatically reconnect to the old session and perform the logon. Metrics reported by the simulator during such sessions may not be representative of the true logon experience. To report a reliable set of metrics each time, the simulator should perform clean application/desktop session logoffs every time.

    For simulations that are performed on-premises, you should deploy the light-weight eG Logoff Helper software to enable proper application/desktop logoffs. Install the helper software on Citrix ZDC, if a Citrix XenApp Server v6.5 is monitored, or a Citrix Delivery Controller, if Citrix XenDesktop v7.x is monitored. Refer to The eG Logoff Helper topic to know how to install the helper. For simulations performed on the Citrix Workspace or on the Citrix Cloud, the eG Logoff Helper cannot be used for logging off application/desktop sessions. In this case instead, make sure that the USE ICA flag of the Citrix Logon Simulator test is set to Yes. This setting ensures that session logoffs are performed by the eG agent on the simulation endpoint.

  • Sometimes, the user login session may get disconnected. This would primarily happen if the simulation endpoint is rebooted due to automatic updates, scheduled reboots, power failure etc. Every time a session disconnect occurs, the administrator will have to login to the endpoint by manually providing the user credentials at the login prompt, while the system boots. If this is not done, then the user session will not get up and running; consequently, the simulation will not occur. To ensure that the user is logged in at all times, for the purpose of the simulation, you can automate a user login at the time of a reboot. Refer to the Fine-tuning the Simulation topic to know how to automate the user logins during reboots.
  • In our environment, logon simulation is performed via RDP sessions. Your pre-requisites specifies that the session window should not be minimized. How should we ensure that the simulation is not impacted if the RDP session is minimized?

    If the logon simulation is performed via an RDP session, then, you can make sure that the simulation is not impacted even if the RDP session window is minimized. For this, execute the RDPSessionInteractiveTask.exe on the system from which the user has launched the RDP session. This executable is available in the <eG_INSTALL_DIR>\lib folder. Once you download and extract the package into any location, you will find the RDPSessionInteractiveTask.exe within.

    Figure 3 : Logon Simulation performed via an RDP session

    To execute the RDPSessionInteractiveTask.exe, do the following:

    • Open the command prompt of the system from which the RDP session was launched as an administrator.
    • Execute the RPSessionInteractiveTask.exe file. Upon successful execution, a message to that effect will appear.
    • Reconnect the RDP session.
  • How do I remove the system tray icon created by the Citrix Receiver/Citrix Workspace App?

    To remove the system tray icon, follow the steps below:

    • Open the Windows Registry Editor on the simulation endpoint.
    • Navigate to the following registry key:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Citrix\Receiver\

    • Here, create a new registry entry called ShowIcon of type REG_DWORD, and set its value to 0.

Troubleshooting

The logon simulation was being captured well up until a new Chrome browser update. What should I do in my environment to resume logon simulation monitoring using the latest Chrome browser?

Chrome is capable of automatically applying updates and upgrading itself to higher versions. Sometimes, when Chrome auto-upgrades, some drivers that the eG Logon Simulation Agent uses may suddenly be rendered incompatible with Chrome. This can cause problems in simulation. To avoid this, the Citrix Logon Simulator, by default, prevents Chrome upgrades/updates (both automatic and manual) from being applied at the simulation endpoint.

However, whenever a new version of the eG agent with updated drivers is released, you will have to manually upgrade Chrome to ensure continued compatibility. In this case therefore, you will have to make sure that the simulation endpoint allows Chrome upgrades. To achieve this, before manually upgrading Chrome, follow the steps below:

  • Login to the eG agent host.
  • Open the Windows command prompt as Administrator.
  • Switch to the <EG_AGENT_INSTALL_DIR>\lib directory, and issue the following command:

    ChromeUpgradeHandler.exe enable