Citrix XA Sessions Test

This test reports performance statistics related to Citrix user sessions.

Target of the test : Any Citrix server

Agent deploying the test : An internal agent

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

Configurable parameters for the test
TEST PERIOD – How often should the test be executed Host – The host for which the test is to be configured Port – Refers to the port used by the Citrix server reportusingmanagertime - By default, this flag is set to Yes. This indicates that the user login time displayed in the detailed diagnosis page for this test and in the Thin Client reports will be based on the eG manager's time zone by default. Set this flag to No if you want the login times displayed in the detailed diagnosis page for this test and in the Thin Client reports to be based on the Citrix server’s local time. ignore down session ids – By default, this parameter is set to 65536,65537,65538 – these are nothing but the default ports at which the listener component listens. If any of these ports go down, then by default, this test will not count any of the sessions that failed when attempting to connect to that port as a Down session. You can override this default setting by adding more ports or by removing one/more existing ports. domain name, domain user, domain password, and confirm password – A Citrix Virtual Apps server (v6.5) can run in the controller mode or the worker mode. In the controller mode, the Virtual Apps server can perform all farm management tasks. However, in the worker mode, a Virtual Apps server can only host user sessions. By default, the domain name, domain user, domain password, and confirm password parameters are set to none. If the Virtual Apps server being monitored is the controller in a farm, then this default value will automatically apply. In other words, in this case, you can leave the values of these parameters as none. On the other hand, if the target Virtual Apps server is a worker in the farm, then first, you will have to configure the name of the domain in which the Virtual Apps server operates in the domain name text box. Then, you need to configure the test with the credentials of a user with Citrix Farm Administrator rights, using the domain user and domain password text boxes. Finally, you will have to confirm the domain password by retyping it in the confirm password text box. Note: If the Virtual Apps server is a worker in the farm, then, in addition to configuring the domain name, domain user, domain password parameters, the following pre-requisites should also be fulfilled for this test to report metrics: Make sure that the Citrix Virtual Apps Commands Remoting service is running in the Controller server. The port 2513 must be open on the Controller server in the farm. report by domain name – By default, this flag is set to Yes. This implies that by default, the detailed diagnosis of this test will display the domainname\username of each user who logged into the Citrix server. This way, administrators will be able to quickly determine which user logged in from which domain. If you want the detailed diagnosis to display the username alone, then set this flag to No. 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
Established sessions:	Indicates the number of active Citrix user sessions currently on the server.	Number	This measure gives an idea of the server workload in terms of active sessions. Tracking the number of active sessions with time, a Citrix administrator can obtain information that can help him/her plan the capacity of their Citrix environment. The detailed diagnosis capability, if enabled, lists the active and inactive sessions on the Citrix server.
Idle sessions:	Indicates the number of sessions that are initialized and are currently ready to accept connections.	Number	To optimize the performance of a server, two default (idle) sessions are initialized before any client connections are made. For performance reasons, the number of idle sessions should be less than ten. Note that this test does not differentiate between RDP and ICA sessions.
Connected sessions:	Indicates the current number of sessions that are connected, but no user has logged on to the server.	Number	A consistent increase in the value of this measure could indicate that users are having trouble logging in. Further investigation may hence be required. Note that this test does not differentiate between RDP and ICA sessions.
Connecting sessions:	Indicates the number of sessions that are in the process of connecting.	Number	A very high value for this measure indicates a problem with the session or connection. Note that this test does not differentiate between RDP and ICA sessions.
Disconnected sessions:	Indicates the number of sessions from which users have disconnected, but which are still active and can be reconnected.	Number	Too many disconnected sessions running indefinitely on a Citrix server cause excessive consumption of the server resources. To avoid this, a session limit is typically configured for disconnected sessions on the Citrix server. When a session limit is reached for a disconnected session, the session ends, which permanently deletes it from the server. Note that this test does not differentiate between RDP and ICA sessions.
Listen sessions:	Indicates the current number of sessions that are ready to accept connections.	Number	Note that this test does not differentiate between RDP and ICA sessions.
Shadow sessions:	Indicates the current number of sessions that are remotely controlling other sessions.	Number	A non-zero value for this measure indicates the existence of shadow sessions that are allowed to view and control the user activity on another session. Such sessions help in troubleshooting/resolving problems with other sessions under their control.
Down sessions:	Indicates the current number of sessions that could not be initialized or terminated.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0. By default, if sessions to any of these ports – 65536, 65537, 65538 – could not be initialized or terminated, they will not be counted as a ‘down session’.
Init sessions:	Indicates the current number of sessions that are initializing.	Number	A high value for this measure could indicate that many sessions are currently experiencing initialization problems.

The detailed diagnosis capability of the Active sessions measure, if enabled, lists the active and inactive sessions on the Citrix server.

Figure 1 : The detailed diagnosis of the Active sessions measure of a Citrix server