AWS Workspaces - Directory Test

An Amazon WorkSpace is a cloud-based virtual desktop that can act as a replacement for a traditional desktop. A WorkSpace is available as a bundle of compute resources, storage space, and software applications that allow a user to perform day-to-day tasks just like using a traditional desktop. A user can connect to a WorkSpace from any supported device using the free Amazon WorkSpaces client application, or using Chrome or Firefox web browsers. Users will connect using credentials set up by an administrator, or using their existing Active Directory credentials if you’ve chosen to integrate your Amazon WorkSpaces with an existing Active Directory domain. Once the user is connected to a WorkSpace they can perform all the usual tasks they would do on a desktop computer.

If a user is unable to connect to a Workspace or is experiencing considerable slowness when attempting to do so, that user will not be able to use the cloud resources effectively; this in turn will impact user productivity, hit revenues, and increase support costs and penalties.

To avoid this, administrators should be able to detect and resolve the unavailability/inaccessibility of Workspaces, and latencies in connecting to Workspaces, well before users complain. This is where the AWS Workspaces - Directory test helps!

This test automatically discovers the directories configured on the AWS Cloud for storing and managing information for Workspaces and users. For each directory so discovered, the test then reports the count of Workspaces in that directory in different states of activity - eg., available, unavailable, stopped, etc. This way, the test proactively alerts administrators to the abnormal state of Workspaces in a directory. In addition, the test also tracks connection attempts to the Workspaces in each directory, reports connection failures, and thus brings connection issues to the notice of administrators. The average time taken to launch sessions on the Workspaces in every directory is also reported, so that administrators can identify which directory is managing the most latent Workspaces.

Target of the test: Amazon Cloud

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each directory on the AWS cloud.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter	Description
Test Period	How often should the test be executed.
Host	The host for which the test is to be configured.
Access Type	eG Enterprise monitors the AWS cloud using AWS API. By default, the eG agent accesses the AWS API using a valid AWS account ID, which is assigned a special role that is specifically created for monitoring purposes. Accordingly, the Access Type parameter is set to Role by default. Furthermore, to enable the eG agent to use this default access approach, you will have to configure the eG tests with a valid AWS Account ID to Monitor and the special AWS Role Name you created for monitoring purposes. Some AWS cloud environments however, may not support the role-based approach. Instead, they may allow cloud API requests only if such requests are signed by a valid Access Key and Secret Key. When monitoring such a cloud environment therefore, you should change the Access Type to Secret. Then, you should configure the eG tests with a valid AWS Access Key and AWS Secret Key. Note that the Secret option may not be ideal when monitoring high-security cloud environments. This is because, such environments may issue a security mandate, which would require administrators to change the Access Key and Secret Key, often. Because of the dynamicity of the key-based approach, Amazon recommends the Role-based approach for accessing the AWS API.
AWS Account ID to Monitor	This parameter appears only when the Access Type parameter is set to Role. Specify the AWS Account ID that the eG agent should use for connecting and making requests to the AWS API. To determine your AWS Account ID, follow the steps below: Login to the AWS management console. with your credentials. Click on your IAM user/role on the top right corner of the AWS Console. You will see a drop-down menu containing the Account ID (see Figure 1). Figure 1 : Identifying the AWS Account ID
AWS Role Name	This parameter appears when the Access Type parameter is set to Role. Specify the name of the role that you have specifically created on the AWS cloud for monitoring purposes. The eG agent uses this role and the configured Account ID to connect to the AWS Cloud and pull the required metrics. To know how to create such a role, refer to Creating a New Role.
AWS Access Key, AWS Secret Key, Confirm AWS Access Key, Confirm AWS Secret Key	These parameters appear only when the Access Type parameter is set to Secret.To monitor an Amazon cloud instance using the Secret approach, the eG agent has to be configured with the access key and secret key of a user with a valid AWS account. For this purpose, we recommend that you create a special user on the AWS cloud, obtain the access and secret keys of this user, and configure this test with these keys. The procedure for this has been detailed in the Obtaining an Access key and Secret key topic. Make sure you reconfirm the access and secret keys you provide here by retyping it in the corresponding Confirm text boxes.
Proxy Host and Proxy Port	In some environments, all communication with the AWS cloud and its regions could 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 User Name, Proxy Password, and Confirm Password	If the proxy server requires authentication, then, specify a valid proxy user name and password in the Proxy User Name and Proxy Password parameters, respectively. Then, confirm the password by retyping it in the Confirm Password text box. By default, these parameters are set to none, indicating that the proxy sever does not require authentication by default.
Proxy Domain and Proxy Workstation	If a Windows NTLM proxy is to be configured for use, then additionally, you will have to configure the Windows domain name and the Windows workstation name required for the same against the Proxy Domain and Proxy Workstation parameters. If the environment does not support a Windows NTLM proxy, set these parameters to none.
Exclude Region	Here, you can provide a comma-separated list of region names or patterns of region names that you do not want to monitor. For instance, to exclude regions with names that contain 'east' and 'west' from monitoring, your specification should be: east,west

Measurements made by the test
Measurement	Description	Measurement Unit	Interpretation
Available workspaces	Indicates the number of workspaces in this directory that returned a healthy status during the last measurement period.	Number	Amazon WorkSpaces periodically sends status requests to a WorkSpace. A WorkSpace is marked Available when it responds to these requests, and Unhealthy when it fails to respond to these requests. Ideally, the value of this measure should be high.
Unhealthy workspaces	Indicates the number of WorkSpaces that returned an unhealthy status during the last measure period.	Number	Amazon WorkSpaces periodically sends status requests to a WorkSpace. A WorkSpace is marked Available when it responds to these requests, and Unhealthy when it fails to respond to these requests. Ideally, the value of this measure should be low.
Workspaces Connection attempt	Indicates the number of connection attempts made to workspaces in this directory during the last measure period.	Number
Workspaces Connection success	Indicates the number of connection attempts made to workspaces in this directory that were successful during the last measure period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be equal to the value of the 'Connection attempt' measure. If the difference between the two measures is very high, it implies that many connections have failed.
Workspaces Connection failure	Indicates the number of connection attempts to the workspaces in this directory that failed during the last measurement period.	Number	Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0. A value close to or equal to the value of the Connection attempt measure denotes many failed connection attempts, which is a cause for concern.
Session latency	Indicates the average round trip time between the WorkSpaces client and the WorkSpaces in this directory during the measure period.	Secs	This measure is reported after a user has successfully authenticated via the WorkSpaces client and the client then initiates a session. Any delay in authentication and/or session initiation can cause the value of this measure to increase. If you notice abnormal spikes in the value of this measure, then you may want to compare the value of this measure with that of the Session launch time measure to know where the latency is maximum - at the time of authentication? or during session initiation?
Session launch time	Indicates the average time for initiating sessions with the Workspaces in this directory.	Secs	If you notice abnormal spikes in the value of this measure, then you may want to compare the value of this measure with that of the Session latency measure to know where the latency is maximum - at the time of authentication? or during session initiation?
Session disconnect	Indicates the number of connections with Workspaces in this directory that were closed during the last measure period.	Number	The value of this measure also includes user-initiated and failed connections. Ideally, the value of this measure should be 0.
User connected workspaces	Indicates the number of Workspaces in this directory that had a user connected during the last measurement period.	Number	Amazon WorkSpaces periodically sends connection status requests to a WorkSpace. Users are reported as connected when they are actively using their sessions.
Stopped workspaces	Indicates the number of Workspaces in this directory that stopped during the last measurement period.	Number
Workspaces in maintenance	Indicates the number of Workspaces in this directory that were under maintenance during the last measurement period.	Number	This metric applies to WorkSpaces that are configured with an AutoStop running mode. With this mode, your WorkSpaces stop after a specified period of inactivity and the state of apps and data is saved. Amazon WorkSpaces schedules maintenance for your WorkSpaces. During the maintenance window, important updates are downloaded and installed. If you enable maintenance mode for your AutoStop WorkSpaces, they are started automatically once a month in order to download and install important service, security, and Windows updates.