App Volumes - AppStacks Test

AppStack is a read-only volume containing any number of Windows applications, files, folders, registry settings, and more. Multiple AppStacks can be delivered to an individual system or user. An individual AppStack can also be delivered to more than one system or user. AppStacks can be assigned to AD user accounts, groups, OUs, or computer accounts to enable delivery of applications to end users.

Administrators can combine core applications into a single AppStack, making it easy to assign applications to users through AD object assignment. Administrators can make application updates available immediately or on next login or reboot.

When a user logs in through the VMware App Volumes Manager and hosts a desktop, if an AppStack containing the applications requested by the user is not attached on time, then, the user experience in accessing the AppStack may suffer to a great extent. To improve the user experience, it is important for the administrators to keep a constant vigil on the status of the AppStacks continuously. The App Volumes AppStacks test helps administrators in this regard!

This test auto-discovers the AppStacks attached to the target VMware App Volumes Manager and for each AppStack reports the status. In addition, this test reports the number of users accessing the AppStack and the number of applications attached to the AppStack. Using this test, administrators can figure out the AppStack that is frequently accessed by the users.

Target of the test : A VMware App Volumes Manager

gent deploying the test : An internal/remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for each AppStack on the target VMware App Volumes Manager being monitored

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.
Port	The port at which the specified Host listens to. By default, this is set to 3443.
AppVol User	By default, the eG agent uses the RESTful APIs to collect the metrics from the target VMware App Volumes Manager. To be able to connect to the RESTful API, the eG agent should be configured with the credentials of a user belonging to an active directory group that is vested with the Administrators (Read only) rights. Specify the credentials of such a user in this text box. To know how to assign the Administrators (Read only) role to an active directory group, refer to Enabling the Administrators (Read only) role.
AppVol Password	Specify the password that corresponds to the AppVol User.
Confirm Password	Confirm the password by retyping it here.
WebPort	By default, in most virtualized environments, the VMware App Volumes Manager listens on port 3443 irrespective of being SSL-enabled or not. This implies that while monitoring the target VMware App Volumes Manager , the eG agent, by default, connects to port 3443 of the VMware App Volumes Manager to pull out metrics. Accordingly, the WebPort parameter is set to 3443. In some environments however, the default port 3443 might not apply. In such a case, against the WebPort parameter, you can specify the exact port at which the VMware App Volumes Manager in your environment listens so that the eG agent communicates with that port.
SSL	Set the SSL flag to Yes, if SSL (Secured Socket Layer) is to be used to connect to the target VMware App Volumes Manager, and No if it is not.
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
Status	Indicates the current status of this AppStack.		The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below: Measure value Numeric Value Disabled 0 Enabled 1 Unprovisioned 2 Note: By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current status of this AppStack. The graph of this measure however, is represented using the numeric equivalents only i.e., 0 to 2.
AppStack assignments to user	Indicates the number of users / computers accessing this AppStack.	Number	Compare the value of this measure across AppStacks to figure out the AppStack that was accessed by a maximum number of users. The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the users and the time at which the AppStack was assigned to each user.
Attachments from appstacks	Indicates the number users attached to this AppStack.	Number	Compare the value of this measure to figure out the AppStack to which maximum number of users are attached. The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the name of the users, the host name on which the user logged in, the storage location, the time at which the AppStack was attached to the user and the duration for which the AppStack is attached.
Applications from appstacks	Indicates the number of applications in this AppStack.	Number	The detailed diagnosis of this measure lists the names of the applications, version, the publisher of the application, whether the application is assignable or not and the date on which the application was created on the AppStack.