HDX Applications Test

How much time an application takes to be launched via ICA affects not just the user experience with that application, but also user productivity, as key business transactions may be delayed if business-critical applications launch slowly. It is hence good practice to periodically run the HDX Applications test and check on the launch time of individual applications. This test auto-discovers applications that are operating on XenApp, reports the number of instances of each application that have been launched currently, and the time every application took to launch; this way, the test sheds light on slow-launching applications. Using the detailed diagnosis of this test, you can also figure out how many sessions have been impacted by such applications and how bad the impact is.

Target of the test : Citrix ADM HDX Insight

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for every application running on XenApp

Configurable parameters for the test
  1. Test period - How often should the test be executed. It is recommended that you set the test period to 5 minutes. This is because, the Nitro API using which the eG agent collects metrics from HDX Insight, is capable of capturing only the performance data related to the last 5 minutes.
  2. Host - The host for which the test is to be configured.
  3. insight username,insight password, and confirm password -  To connect to HDX Insight and collect the metrics it captures, the eG agent needs to be configured with the credentials of a user with read-only permissions to HDX Insight. Type the name of this user against insight username and the password of this user against insight password. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the confirm password text box.
  4. ssl – By default, HDX Insight is not SSL-enabled. This is why, this flag is set to No by default. If it is SSL-enabled, then change this flag to Yes.
  5. 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.

  6. 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:

    • 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

Application launches:

Indicates the number of instances of this application that are currently launched.

Number

Compare the value of this measure across applications to identify the most popular application.

Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know in how many sessions this application was launched, the average launch time of the application, and the average duration of the sessions.

Session launches:

Indicates the number of sessions in which this application was launched.

Number

 

Launch duration:

Indicates the average time it took to launch this application.

Msecs

A high value for this measure indicates that the application is slow in launching.

You may want to compare the value of this measure across applications to isolate the slowest application. 

Use the detailed diagnosis of the Application launches measure to know in how many sessions this application was launched, the average launch time of the application, and the average duration of the sessions. In the process, you can quickly identify those applications that are slow in launching.

Figure 1 : The detailed diagnosis of the Application launches measure of the HDX Applications test