PVS Device Activity Test

Citrix Provisioning Services deliver patches, updates, and other configuration information to target devices i.e. virtual machines/desktops, at boot time through vDisks over the network. The target devices boot from the network, connect to the target PVS server and stream down the associated vDisks after the boot process. If the boot process of the target devices takes longer time to complete or fails, vDisks containing required information will not be streamed to the devices. As a result, the devices will bot be booted or updated with latest information. This, in turn, will seriously affect the user experience with the target devices and even delay/stop business-critical service deliveries performed from the devices. To avoid this, it is imperative to continuously track how quickly the devices are booted so that you will be forewarned of probable delays and failures. The PVS Device Activity test can help you in this regard!

The test monitors the target PVS server and promptly captures the average and maximum time taken by the target devices to complete the boot process. In addition, this test also reveals the count of devices that are booted successfully and the number of devices that are slow at boot process. These metrics will ease troubleshooting when validating PVS functionality as well as when tracking down potential issues in the boot process.

Target of the test : Citrix Provisioning server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Provisioning server being monitored.

Configurable parameters for the test

Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The IP address of the host for which the test is being configured.
Port	Refers to the port used by the Citrix Provisioning server. By default, this is 54321.
Max Acceptable Boot Time in Seconds	Specify the maximum duration (in seconds) for which a boot process should have completed for it to be accepted as successful. The default value is 60.
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 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
Average boot time of devices	Indicates the average time taken by the devices to complete boot process.	Seconds	The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, the time at which the boot process was started and the time duration of the boot process in seconds.
Devices moved for IO	Indicates the number of devices for which the streaming process has been directed to the PVS server thorugh IO port.	Number	Using this measure, administrators can easily find out how many devices established connections to the target PVS server successfully. The detailed diagnosis of this measure the time at which the devices were moved to IO port, the device name and IP address and port of the target PVS server.
Devices slow at boot up	Indicates the number of devices that are slow during boot process.	Number	The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, the time at which the boot process was started and the time duration of the boot process in seconds.
Devices booted	Indicates the number of devices that are booted sucessfully.	Number	The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, the time at which the boot process was started and the time duration of the boot process in seconds.
Devices in "Login Initiated" state	Indicates the number of devices that requested vDisk from the target PVS server.	Number	The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, and the time at which the boot process was started.
Devices in "Service granted" state	Indicates the number of devices that are successfully streaming the assigned vDisk.	Number	A high value is preferred for this measure. The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, the time at which the boot process was started, IP address and port.
Maximum boot time across devices	Indicates the maximum time taken by the devices to complete the boot process.	Seconds	The value of this measure should be low. The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, the time at which the boot process was started and the time duration of the boot process in seconds.
Powered down devices	Indicates the number of devices that are powered off.	Number	The detailed diagnosis of this measure reveals the device name, and the time at which the boot process was started.