Citrix Teams Status Test

Microsoft Teams in a Citrix Virtual Apps environment supports, by default, calling and meeting functionality in addition to chat and collaboration chat. The Citrix® HDX™ Optimization for Microsoft® Teams offers clear, crisp 720p high-definition video calls @30 fps, in an optimized architecture. Virtual application users can seamlessly participate in audio-video or audio-only calls to and from other Teams users, Optimized Teams’ users and other standards-based video desktop and conference room systems. Likewise, Microsoft relies on the Workspace app WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) media engine for acquiring, capturing, and processing the media. WebRTC media engine enables web browsers and virtual applications to directly share video, audio, and data during the sessions. Without proper consideration and design for optimization, virtual application users will likely find the Microsoft Teams experience to be subpar. Therefore, it is important for administrators to continuously check whether the Microsoft Teams application installed on the target server is optimized or not. The Citrix Teams Status test helps administrators in this regard!

This test continuously monitor the target Citrix Virtual Apps server and reports whether the Microsoft Teams application is installed or not. If the Microsoft Teams application is installed on the target server, then, this test will also reveal the optimization status of the Microsoft Teams application and the number of sessions during which the Microsoft Teams has used WebRTC media engine to create a connection and transfer data and/or media among users.

Note:

For the eG agent to collect metrics, the WebrtcDirectorIntegration key value should be set to 1.The WebrtcDirectorIntegration key is located in the following Registry path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\HdxMediaStream.

Target of the test : A Citrix Virtual Apps Server

Agent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the Citrix Virtual Apps server monitored

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters Description

Test Period

How often should the test be executed. By default, this is 6 hours.

Host

The host for which the test is to be configured.

Port

Refers to the port used by the Citrix server. By default, it is set to 1494.

Automated Action Enabled

In a Citrix application delivery infrastructure, VDA enables the target machine to register with the Delivery Controller and establishes and manages the connection between the machine and the user device. The VDA communicates session information to the Broker Service in the Delivery Controller through the broker agent in the VDA. If the VDA is not registered with a valid Delivery Controller or is in the "Unregistered" state, then, communication between the target machine and user device will not be established. As a result, users will be unable to login to the target machine and access their business-critical applications. This in turn can seriously impact user's productivity and degrade overall user experience with the application delivery service. To prevent such an outcome, administrators need to intelligently find out the registration status of VDAs on the target machine and take the remedial actions if the VDA is in the "Unregistered" state. To help administrators in this regard, eG Enterprise offers 'Automation Actions'. These actions are governed by the 'Automation Action Enabled' flag.

This flag, if enabled, automatically initiates user-configured actions when the VDA is in the "Unregistered" state, so that the status of VDA is restored before it impairs application delivery to users. Such an action can restart the Citrix services running on the target machine, or completely restart the machine.

Note:

The 'Automation Action Enabled' parameters, once configured, will apply only to the chosen component. These settings will not be applied to other components even if the Apply to other components button is clicked in the Specific Test Configuration page.

Restart Citrix Services When Unregistered

This parameter is applicable only if the Automation Action Enabled parameter is set to Yes.

Sometimes, the VDA on a machine may fail to register with the Delivery Controller if one/more Citrix services on the target machine are down. As a result, users will be denied access to that machine and all critical business applications running on it. This will adversely impact user productivity and overall experience with the application delivery service. To prevent such anomalies, administrators can configure this test to automatically restart Citrix Services on a target machine, if the value of the Registration status measure for that target is "Unregistered". For this, administrators should set the Restart Citrix Services flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

Note that this test will be able to restart only the Citrix services whose startup type is set as "Auto".

Restart Machine When Unregistered

This parameter is applicable only if the Automation Action Enabled parameter is set to Yes.

Sometimes, restarting the Citrix services on the target machine may not be sufficient to resolve registration issues. In such a case, administrators can configure the test to automatically restart the target machine. This can be achieved by setting the  Restart Machine When Unregistered flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to  No.

Note that, we strongly recommend against restarting the target machine, as such an action may seriously impact the availability and functioning of other business-critical applications running on the machine. You are therefore advised to set this flag to Yes, only if you must.

Automated Action Duration Mins

This parameter is applicable only if the Automation Action Enabled parameter is set to Yes.

Specify the duration (in minutes) that this test should maintan between consecutive user-configured automated actions. By default, this parameter is set to 30 (minutes). This implies that by default, the test will wait for 30 minutes before triggering an automated action if the value of Registration status measure is "Unregistered".

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

Is Microsoft Teams installed?

Indicates whether/not the Microsoft Teams is installed on the target virtual Apps server.

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Yes 1
No 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values discussed in the table above. However, in the graph of this measure is indicated using the numeric equivalents only.

Is media engine enabled?

Indicates whether/not the HDX WebRTC media engine is enabled for the Microsoft Teams.

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Yes 1
No 0

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values discussed in the table above. However, in the graph of this measure is indicated using the numeric equivalents only.

Microsoft Teams optimization status

Indicates the current optimization status of the Microsoft Teams.

 

The values that this measure can report and their corresponding numeric values are discussed in the table below:

Measure Value Numeric Value
Unknown 0
Enabled 1
Disabled 2

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values discussed in the table above. However, in the graph of this measure is indicated using the numeric equivalents only.

Optimized WebRTC sessions

Indicates the number of sessions that are optimized by WebRTC media engine.

Number