AVD Connections By Host Pools Test

Frequent virtual desktop connection failures are one of the key causes for user dissatisfaction with the AVD service. Prompt detection of such failures and rapid restoration of connection can help salvage the users' AVD experience. For this, administrators need to be instantly alerted when a connection attempt fails. Also, for troubleshooting these failures expertly, administrators will need answers to the following questions:

Which user's connection failed and where - i.e., on which session host? Did connections to this host fail frequently?
Which host pool did the problematic session host belong to? Are connections to this host pool failing repeatedly?
What type of connections failed the most - desktop connections? or remote application connections?
Were specific client types, client operating systems, and client versions behind many of the connection failures?
Did connections initiated by specific users fail often?

The AVD Connections By Host Pools Test provides all the answers! This test tracks the status of connections to each host pool, and alerts administrators as soon as a connection fails. In the process, the test points you to those host pools that have seen the most connection failures. Detailed diagnostics reported by the test provide insights into current failures. With he help of these insights administrators will be able to quickly locate the failure and address it. Also, by analyzing the detailed metrics over time, administrators can deduce failure patterns. This will help them isolate the source of frequent failures (if any), and eliminate it, thereby preventing future failures.

Note:

Typically, to consolidate log entries, correlate log data, and perform complex analysis, a host pool's logs are often sent to one/more Log Analytics Workspaces. This test reports valid metrics by reading data from these Log Analytics Workspaces only. If the host pool's logs are not sent to any Log Analytics Workspace, then this test will only report the value 0 for most of its measures. To avoid this, before configuring this test, make sure that the host pool's logs are configured to be sent to at least one Log Analytics Workspace. Follow the steps discussed in Configuring the Host Pool Logs to be Sent to a Log Analytics Workspace to achieve this.

Target of the Test: A Microsoft AVD Broker

Agent deploying the test: A remote agent

Output of the test: One set of results for each AVD host pool managed by the target AVD broker, in each resource group of the configured subscription

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameters	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Subscription ID	Specify the GUID which uniquely identifies the Microsoft Azure Subscription to be monitored. To know the ID that maps to the target subscription, do the following: Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal. When the portal opens, click on the Subscriptions option (as indicated by Figure 1). Figure 1 : Clicking on the Subscriptions option Figure 2 that appears next will list all the subscriptions that have been configured for the target Azure AD tenant. Locate the subscription that is being monitored in the list, and check the value displayed for that subscription in the Subscription ID column. Figure 2 : Determining the Subscription ID Copy the Subscription ID in Figure 2 to the text box corresponding to the SUBSCRIPTION ID parameter in the test configuration page.
Tenant ID	Specify the Directory ID of the Azure AD tenant to which the target subscription belongs. To know how to determine the Directory ID, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft AVD Broker Using Azure ARM REST API
Client ID and Client Password	To collect the required metrics, the eG agent requires an Access token in the form of an Application ID and the client secret value. If a Microsoft Azure Subscription component or a Microsoft Azure Active Directory component is already being monitored, then an Application would have already been created for monitoring purposes. The Application ID and Client Secret of such an application can be specified here. However, if no such application exists, then you will have to create one for monitoring the AVD broker. To know how to create such an application and determine its Application ID and Client Secret, refer to Configuring the eG Agent to Monitor a Microsoft AVD Broker Using Azure ARM REST API. Specify the Application ID of the created Application in the Client ID text box and the client secret value in the Client Password text box.
Proxy Host	In some environments, all communication with the Azure cloud be routed through a proxy server. In such environments, you should make sure that the eG agent connects to the cloud via the proxy server and collects metrics. To enable metrics collection via a proxy, specify the IP address of the proxy server and the port at which the server listens against the Proxy Host and Proxy Port parameters. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the eG agent is not configured to communicate via a proxy, by default.
Proxy Username, Proxy Password and Confirm Password	If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy Username and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box.
Log Analytics Workspace Name	Typically, to consolidate log entries, correlate log data, and perform complex analysis, a host pool's logs are often sent to one/more Log Analytics Workspaces. By default, the Log Analytics Workspace Name parameter is set to All. This indicates that the test reads log data from all Log Analytics Workspaces configured for the target subscription, by default. However, if you want the test to use only those Log Analytics Workspaces to which a host pool's logs are sent, then provide the names of these workspaces here as a comma-separated list. To determine the names of the workspaces, do the following: Login to the Microsoft Azure Portal, and click on Host Pools to view the configured host pools. Select any of the host pools displayed therein by clicking on it. Next, keep scrolling down the left panel of the page that then appears, until the Diagnostic Settings option (under Monitoring) become visible. Click on Diagnostic Settings to proceed. The diagnostic settings that pre-exist (if any) for the chosen host pool will then appear. If any of the existing diagnostic settings have already been configured with Log Analytics Workspaces, then the Log Analytics workspace column of that list will display these workspace names. You can configure the LOG ANALYTICS WORKSPACE NAME parameter of this test with any of these workspace names. If required, you can even configure this parameter with two/more workspaces displayed here, as a comma-separated list However, If the Log Analytics workspace column is blank for all the existing diagnostic settings, it is a clear indication that the host pool's logs are yet to be configured to be sent to any Log Analytics Workspace. In this case therefore, you should create a new diagnostic setting for the target host pool where a Log Analytics Workspace is configured as the destination for the logs. To achieve this, follow the procedure detailed in Configuring the Host Pool Logs to be Sent to a Log Analytics Workspace.
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, 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.

Measures made by the test:
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Active connections	Indicates the number of connections currently active on this host pool.	Number	This is a good indicator of the connection load on a host pool. Compare the value of this measure across host pools to know which host pool is currently overloaded with connections.
Total started connections	Indicates the total number of connections that were started on this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who started the connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the connection type (whether desktop or remote application), client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total connection connections	Indicates the total number of connected connections to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who initiated the connected connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the connection type (whether desktop or remote application), client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total completed connections	Indicates the total number of connections to this host pool that were completed during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who initiated the completed connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the connection type (whether desktop or remote application), client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total failed connections	Indicates the total number of connections to this host pool that failed during the last measurement period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0. If a non-zero value is reported, then use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know more about the connection failures. The detailed analytics will reveal which user's connection failed, when, from which client was the user connecting, and where - i.e., on which session host - did the failure occur. This information will help administrators troubleshoot the failure quickly. From these detailed metrics, administrators can also determine what type of connection failed, and from which client type, version, and operating system was the user connecting when the failure occurred. These records, when studied historically, will provide administrators with useful pointers to the root-cause of frequent failures (if any).
Total UDP connections	Indicates the total number of UDP connections to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who initiated the UDP connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the connection type (whether desktop or remote application), client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total desktop connection activities	Indicates the total number of desktop connections to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who initiated the desktop connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total remote app connection activities	Indicates the total number of remote application connections to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who initiated the remote app connections, when, from where - i.e., from which client, and which session host orchestrated the connection. Other details such as the client type, client version, and client operating system can also be gleaned from the detailed statistics.
Total unique user sessions	Indicates the total number of distinct users who connected to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know who the unique users are.
Total unique client OS	Indicates the total number of distinct client operating systems that were connected to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know from which unique client operating systems users connected.
Total unique client versions	Indicates the total number of distinct versions of client that were connected to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to know from which unique versions of clients users connected.
Total unique client types	Indicates the total number of distinct client types from which users connected to this host pool during the last measurement period.	Number	Use the detailed diagnosis of this measure to known which unique types of clients are connecting to the host pool.