Outlook Add-ins - OS Test
Outlook add-ins are integrations built by third parties into Microsoft Outlook using the new web technologies based platform. Microsoft Outlook add-ins have three key aspects:
- The same add-in and business logic works across desktop Microsoft Outlook for Windows and Mac, web (Office 365 and Outlook.com), and mobile.
- Outlook add-ins consist of a manifest, which describes how the add-in integrates into Outlook (for example, a button or a task pane), and JavaScript/HTML code, which makes up the UI and business logic of the add-in.
- Outlook add-ins can be acquired from the Office store or side-loaded by end-users or administrators.
The Outlook add-ins may be useful in connecting the business and social networks of the users. These add-ins when integrated with Microsoft Outlook simplifies the job of the users as they can stay up to date on the status and activities of their contacts by merely overlooking the Microsoft Outlook! When a user complains that it is taking too long to launch the add-ins of the Microsoft Outlook published on virtual desktops, administrators must be able to quickly identify the add-ins that were loaded while the Microsoft Outlook is opened by the user, know how much time each add-in took to load, and thus pinpoint the add-in that is the slowest in loading. The Outlook Add-ins - OS test provides these valuable insights to the administrators. This test auto-discovers all the add-ins integrated with the Microsoft Outlook published on the virtual desktops hosted by the virtual server, and for each discovered add-in, reports the number of times the add-in was loaded and the average and maximum time that add-in took to load. This way, the test points administrators to add-ins that are slow in loading.
This test is disabled by default. To enable the test, go to the enable / disable tests page using the menu sequence : Agents -> Tests -> Enable/Disable, pick the desired Component type, set Performance as the Test type, choose the test from the disabled tests list, and click on the < button to move the test to the ENABLED TESTS list. Finally, click the Update button.
Target of the test : Any Citrix server
Agent deploying the test : An internal agent
Outputs of the test : One set of results for every outlook add-in integrated with the Microsoft Outlook published on the virtual desktops being monitored
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
Test period |
How often should the test be executed. |
Host |
The host for which the test is to be configured. |
Port |
The port at which the specified host listens. By default, this is NULL. |
Xen User, Xen Password and Confirm Password |
To enable the eG agent to connect to the XenServer API for collecting statistics of interest, this test should login to the target hypervisor as a root user. Provide the name of the root user in the Xen User text box. Root user privileges are mandatory when monitoring a XenServer 5.5 (or below). However, if you are monitoring XenServer 5.6 (or above) and you prefer not to expose the credentials of the root user, then, you have the option of configuring a user with pool-admin privileges as the Xen User. If you do not want to expose the credentials of a root/pool-admin user, then you can configure the tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges to the XenServer. However, if this is done, then the Xen Uptime test will not run, and the Xen CPU and Xen Memory tests will not be able to report metrics for the control domain descriptor. To avoid such an outcome, do the following before attempting to configure the eG tests with a Xen User who has Read-only privileges to the Citrix Hypervisor:
Once this is done, you can configure the eG tests with the credentials of a Xen User with Read-only privileges. The password of the specified Xen User needs to be mentioned in the Xen Password text box. Then, confirm the Xen Password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. |
SSL |
By default, the Citrix Hypervisor is not SSL-enabled. This indicates that by default, the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTP. Accordingly, the SSL flag is set to No by default. If you configure the target hypervisor to use SSL, then make sure that the SSL flag is set to Yes, so that the eG agent communicates with the target hypervisor using HTTPS. Note that a default SSL certificate comes bundled with every Citrix Hypervisor installation. If you want the eG agent to use this default certificate for communicating with an SSL-enabled Citrix Hypervisor, then no additional configuration is required. However, if you do not want to use the default certificate, then you can generate a self-signed certificate for use by the target hypervisor. In such a case, you need to explicitly follow the broad steps given below to enable the eG agent to communicate with the target hypervisor via HTTPS:
For a detailed discussion on each of these steps, refer to the Troubleshooting section of this document. |
Inside View Using |
By default, this test communicates with every VM remotely and extracts “inside view” metrics. Therefore, by default, the Inside View Using flag is set to Remote connection to VM (Windows). Typically, to establish this remote connection with Windows VMs in particular, eG Enterprise requires that the eG agent be configured with domain administrator privileges. In high-security environments, where the IT staff might have reservations about exposing the credentials of their domain administrators, this approach to extracting “inside view” metrics might not be preferred. In such environments therefore, eG Enterprise provides administrators the option to deploy a piece of software called the eG VM Agent on every Windows VM; this VM agent allows the eG agent to collect “inside view” metrics from the Windows VMs without domain administrator rights. Refer to Configuring Windows Virtual Machines to Support the eG Agent’s Inside View Using the eG VM Agent for more details on the eG VM Agent. To ensure that the “inside view” of Windows VMs is obtained using the eG VM Agent, set the Inside View Using flag to eG VM Agent (Windows). Once this is done, you can set the Domain, Admin User, and Admin Password parameters to none. |
Domain, Admin User, and Admin Password, and Confirm Password |
By default, this test connects to each virtual guest remotely and attempts to collect “inside view” metrics. In order to obtain a remote connection, the test must be configured with user privileges that allow remote communication with the virtual guests. The first step towards this is to specify the DOMAIN within which the virtual guests reside. The ADMIN USER and ADMIN PASSWORD will change according to the DOMAIN specification. Discussed below are the different values that the DOMAIN parameter can take, and how they impact the ADMIN USER and ADMIN PASSWORD specifications:
|
Ignore VMs Inside View |
Administrators of some high security XenServer environments might not have permissions to internally monitor one/more VMs. The eG agent can be configured to not obtain the 'inside view' of such ‘inaccessible’ VMs using the IGNORE VMS INSIDE VIEW parameter. Against this parameter, you can provide a comma-separated list of VM names, or VM name patterns, for which the inside view need not be obtained. For instance, your IGNORE VMS INSIDE VIEW specification can be: *xp,*lin*,win*,vista. Here, the * (asterisk) is used to denote leading and trailing spaces (as the case may be). By default, this parameter is set to none indicating that the eG agent obtains the inside view of all VMs on a Citrix Hypervisor host by default. Note: While performing VM discovery, the eG agent will not discover the operating system of the VMs configured in the IGNORE VMS INSIDE VIEW text box. |
Exclude VMs |
Administrators of some virtualized environments may not want to monitor some of their less-critical VMs - for instance, VM templates - both from 'outside' and from 'inside'. The eG agent in this case can be configured to completely exclude such VMs from its monitoring purview. To achieve this, provide a comma-separated list of VMs to be excluded from monitoring in the EXCLUDE VMS text box. Instead of VMs, VM name patterns can also be provided here in a comma-separated list. For example, your EXCLUDE VMS specification can be: *xp,*lin*,win*,vista. Here, the * (asterisk) is used to denote leading and trailing spaces (as the case may be). By default, this parameter is set to none indicating that the eG agent obtains the inside and outside views of all VMs on a virtual host by default. By providing a comma-separated list of VMs/VM name patterns in the EXCLUDE VMS text box, you can make sure the eG agent stops collecting 'inside' and 'outside' view metrics for a configured set of VMs. |
Ignore Winnt |
By default, the eG agent does not support the inside view for VMs executing on Windows NT operating systems. Accordingly, the IGNORE WINNT flag is set to Yes by default. |
Webport |
By default, in most virtualized environments, the target hypervisor listens on port 80 (if not SSL-enabled) or on port 443 (if SSL-enabled). This implies that while monitoring an SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent, by default, connects to port 443 of the server to pull out metrics, and while monitoring a non-SSL-enabled Citrix hypervisor, the eG agent connects to port 80. Accordingly, the webport parameter is set to 80 or 443 depending upon the status of the ssl flag. In some environments however, the default ports 80 or 443 might not apply. In such a case, against the webport parameter, you can specify the exact port at which the target hypervisor in your environment listens so that the eG agent communicates with that port. |
Report by User |
While monitoring a Citrix hypervisor, the REPORT BY USER flag is set to No by default, indicating that by default, the guest operating systems on the target hypervisor are identified using the host name specified in the operating system. On the other hand, while monitoring a Citrix hypervisor-VDI, this flag is set to Yes by default; this implies that in case of the Citrix hypervisor-VDI model, by default, the desktops will be identified using the login of the user who is accessing them. In other words, in VDI environments, this test will, by default, report measures for every username_on_virtualmachinename. |
Report Powered OS |
This flag becomes relevant only if the report by user flag is set to ‘Yes’. If the report powered os flag is set to Yes (which is the default setting), then this test will report measures for even those VMs that do not have any users logged in currently. Such guests will be identified by their virtualmachine name and not by the username_on_virtualmachinename. On the other hand, if the report powered os flag is set to No, then this test will not report measures for those VMs to which no users are logged in currently. |
Detailed Diagnosis |
|
Measurement | Description | Measurement Unit | Interpretation |
---|---|---|---|
Number of times loaded in last measure period |
Indicates the number of times this outlook add-in was loaded during the last measurement period. |
Number |
The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the time and duration for which the outlook add-in was loaded. Compare the value of this measure across the add-ins to figure out the most/least popular add-in. |
Average load time |
Indicates the average time taken by this outlook add-in to load. |
Secs |
|
Maximum load time |
Indicates the maximum time taken by this outlook add-in to load. |
Secs |
Compare the value of this measure across the add-ins to figure out the add-in that is the slowest to load. |