Best Practices to Get the Most Out of Your Citrix VIrtual Apps and Desktops Deployments
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Over the years, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environments have become more sophisticated. New features and functionalities have been added to the Citrix stack, many new technologies are supported now, and there are new deployment options such as Citrix Cloud. We at eG Innovations are bringing together 3 distinguished Citrix CTPs – George Spiers, David Wilkinson and Dennis Span – to talk about some of the most common questions heard in the field regarding Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops implementation and management. Learn about: • How to configure Profile Management policies • How to support Office 365 users in Cached Exchange Mode • Optimization tips for Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 • Tips for using App Layering, WEM, Office 365, Google Chrome, and more
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Best Practices to Get the Most Out of Your Citrix VIrtual Apps and Desktops Deployments
- 1. 1 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Best Practices to Get the Most Out of Your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Deployments ─ An eG Innovations Webinar ─ Lessons From The Field. Wisdom from Citrix Gurus.
- 2. 2 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Webinar Logistics • Moderator: Vinod Mohan – Sr. Product Marketing Manager, eG Innovations • Questions are welcome through the course of the webinar – Use the questions panel on the GoToWebinar chat client to type in your queries • This webinar is being recorded – You will receive a link to the recording in a few days
- 3. 3 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Know Your Speakers George Spiers David Wilkinson Dennis Span Three Eminent Citrix Technology Professionals @WilkyIT@JGSpiers @DennisSpan
- 4. 4 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Agenda GS Office 365 Profile Management Optimization & Sealing Google Chrome App Layering WEM
- 5. 5 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com eG Innovations and Citrix • Leading provider of Citrix performance monitoring solutions – Purpose-built for Citrix environments – Helps diagnose & troubleshoot performance problems – Used in some of the largest Citrix deployments in the world • Citrix technology partner since 2003 • Certified Citrix Ready for all products in the Citrix stack • Citrix itself uses eG for monitoring their global tradeshow event infrastructures
- 6. 6 © 2019 Citrix 1. Tips & Best Practices Office 365 DW
- 7. 7 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – 3 Main Challenges 1.Outlook Cache OST DW 2.OneDrive for Business 3.Outlook Search
- 8. 8 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – Products • Choose the right product! • Citrix App Layering • Office 365 User Layer • User Layer • Citrix User Profile Management (7.18 or above) • Other 3rd Party solutions • Microsoft/FSLogix, Ivanti Workspace, Liquidware, Vmware UEM etc.. • Understand the limitations of each! DW
- 9. 9 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – Outlook (Cached Exchange Mode) • Limit OST Size • Reduce the Sync Period • Reduces the Local storage required DW
- 10. 10 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – Outlook (Cached Exchange Mode) • Network / Storage Impact • Field test show 300+ IOPS required for initial cache creation • Average of 5 Write IOPS / 8 Read IOPS per User! DW • Permissions • Ensure appropriate access is granted to VHD(x) directory as this may be above and beyond the normal permissions required for Citrix UPM.
- 11. 11 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – Outlook (Search) • Why? • End User Experience is key! • Rebuilding your search index takes time and resources from your VDA DW • Search Service • Ensure Windows Search Service is started, and set to automatic (Not Enabled by Default in WS2012) • Provisioning Services Device Optimization Tool disables this service, remember to re-enable Before After
- 12. 12 © 2019 Citrix Office 365 – OneDrive for Business • Enable Files on Demand • 1TB per user, usually more than that • Only sync’s the files used • Citrix Files Personal Cloud Connector • Enable Files on Demand DW
- 13. 13 © 2019 Citrix 2. Tips & Best Practices Profile Management GS
- 14. 14 © 2019 Citrix Profile Management – General Tips • Keep the profile as small as possible. Exclude, exclude, exclude! • Folder Redirection • Exclude AppDataLocal • Enable default exclusion lists Logon impact: 1000 logons per week + 10sec increase = 2.7hrs per week GS
- 15. 15 © 2019 Citrix Profile Management – General Tips • Container based technologies (VHDX) • Captures your complete profile through profile disk • Microsoft acquisition of FSLogix & WVD • Monitor your profile servers closely • A logon is a sensitive process – lack of resource will slow logons GS
- 16. 16 © 2019 Citrix Profile Management – General Tips • Start Menu Tile. Understand it! • Default layout, allow change or not, partial changes! • Capturing Profile changes • Windows Server 2016 • Windows 10 1803 onwards • (captured by default in latest CPM version) GS
- 17. 17 © 2019 Citrix Profile Management - Large File Handling/Profile Containers • No need to cache large files/folders to the VDA, CPM creates a symbolic link • Avoids caching or streaming the file/folder to the desktop • Large Files supported in CVAD 7.16 and above • Profile Container supported in CVAD 1903 and above GS
- 18. 18 © 2019 Citrix Profile Management – Logon Exclusion Check • Exclude unwanted files and folders from caching to the desktop ever again • Reduce profile bloat after initial deployment • Proactively keep on top of user profile size to combat logon time increases GS
- 19. 19 © 2019 Citrix 3. Tips & Best Practices Optimizations & Image Sealing DS
- 20. 20 © 2019 Citrix Operating System Citrix VDA Anti-Virus Visual C++ Runtimes Applications SealingOptimization .Net Framework Citrix Receiver Citrix UPM Citrix Target Device Image Preparation – The Different Phases DS
- 21. 21 © 2019 Citrix Optimizations – Why do It! Better performing desktops Lower logon times Lower RAM, CPU, IOPS consumption Increased user density GS
- 22. 22 © 2019 Citrix Optimizations – The Result! Before After 30 Second Reduction on Logon times! GS
- 23. 23 © 2019 Citrix 3. Optimizations – Under the Hood Services Scheduled Tasks UWP Apps Registry Tweaks BrancheCache Location Notifications Zune Video Disable First Logon Animation Fax Scheduled Defrag Windows Alarm Change Power Plan to High Performance Xbox Live Game Save RegIdleBackup Zune Music Hide hard error messages Offline Files XblGameSaveTask Xbox App Disable crash dump creation “The act of making an operating system as effective as it can possibly be”. GS Miscellaneous Optimizations Disable Active Setup Run NGEN.exe Disable System Recovery Disable Data Execution Prevention (DEP)
- 24. 24 © 2019 Citrix Optimizations – Available Methods Optimizations Citrix Optimizer v2 Scripts by George Spiers OS Supported URL WS2012 R2 https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-server-2012-r2-optimisation-script/ WS2016 https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-server-2016-optimisation-script/ W10 1709 https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-10-1709-optimisation-script/ W10 1803 https://www.jgspiers.com/windows-10-1803-optimisation-script/ Scripts by David Wilkinson OS Supported URL WS2012 R2 WS2016 WS2019 W10 1607 -> 1809 https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX224676 https://dennisspan.com/creating-a-custom-template-for-citrix-optimizer/ https://dennisspan.com/citrix-optimizer-custom-template-windows- server-2016/ OS Supported URL WS2016 https://wilkyit.com/2017/04/28/citrix-xenapp-and-windows-server-2016- optimisation-script/ W10 1607/1703 https://wilkyit.com/2017/05/08/citrix-xendesktop-and-windows-10- optimisation-script-2/ Templates by Dennis Span GS
- 25. © 2019 Citrix Outside the Image Additional (logon) Optimizations DS
- 26. 26 © 2019 Citrix • Use as few as possible • Avoid duplicate settings in multiple policies • Try to avoid WMI filters and LDAP-based Item-Level Targeting filters • (Optional) Use a different product to manage your user settings, such as (WEM) DS Other Recommended Optimizations Group Policies
- 27. 27 © 2019 Citrix Computer Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / System / Group Policy Group Policies – Speed Up Logons Computer Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / System / Logon DS
- 28. 28 © 2019 Citrix Computer Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / System / Scripts Group Policies – Logon Scripts Computer Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / System / Group Policy DS
- 29. 29 © 2019 Citrix Scripts, Drive Mappings, Anti-Virus & More… Scripts for end-users (logon scripts, scheduled tasks, run keys, AD) • Scripts have a negative impact on user logon times • Keep your scripts to a minimum or avoid scripts by moving functions to other tools (e.g. move drive mapping to Workspace Environment Manager or Group Policy Preferences) • Refactor existing scripts (e.g. use “if” statements, “where” clauses, avoid LDAP queries, etc.) Anti-virus exclusions (on TechZone) https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/tech-zone/build/tech-papers/antivirus-best-practices.html Go easy on drive & printer mapping. Make them persistent if possible. Optimize your profile solution DS
- 30. 30 © 2019 Citrix Sealing… …is about de-personalizing and cleaning the image in order to create a generic image suitable for deployment to multiple machines DS
- 31. • Reset Windows Update ID • Reset Performance Counters • Reset anti-virus settingsDelete ghost devices • Delete locally cached profiles • Delete Windows Update software distribution folder • Delete Windows event logs • Flush DNS / clear ARP cache • Rearm operating system once • Rearm Microsoft Office once Base Image Script Framework (BIS-F) Main author and developer: Matthias Schlimm (CTP) - @MatthiasSchlimm Download: https://eucweb.com/download-bis-f Documentation: https://eucweb.com/docs DS
- 32. 32 © 2019 Citrix 4. Tips & Best Practices App Layering GS
- 33. 33 © 2019 Citrix App Layering – General Tips • Machine OS Tools do not need to be upgraded in the OS Layer after upgrades. • Use the Export/Import feature to export and import layers to a secondary ELM, for example a testing or backup ELM appliance. • If running ngen /update before finalizing a layer, you may run into bug. • Modifying NTUSER.DAT in multiple layers will NOT work. • Do not create users or groups in any layer other than the OS layer. GS
- 34. 34 © 2019 Citrix App Layering – General Tips • When creating a Directory Junction, under Server Address, enter the domain name. • When upgrading the ELM, use Snapshots as a roll back option. GS
- 35. 35 © 2019 Citrix App Layering – Elastic Layers Elastic Layers are mapped to a users session at logon. • Citrix recommend that the Elastic Layer file share runs off a file server with a 10GB network connection VDA, and uses SMB3. • Make sure the share is highly available. • App Layering 4.14 loads Elastic Layers after logon by default. GS
- 36. 36 © 2019 Citrix App Layering – Elastic Layers Elastic Layers are mapped to a users session at logon. • Don’t depend on the Elastic Fit feature – perform your own testing! • Office 2016 cannot be used as an Elastic Layer. • You can re-use Application layers with a new OS Layer, but it comes with risk! GS
- 37. 37 © 2019 Citrix 5. Tips & Best Practices Google Chrome DW
- 38. 38 © 2019 Citrix Is Google Chrome Supported on Citrix? Yes! DW
- 39. 39 © 2019 Citrix Publishing Chrome "C:Program Files (x86)GoogleChromeApplicationchrome.exe" --allow- no-sandbox-job --disable-gpu-sandbox No longer required since Chrome version 58 "C:Program Files (x86)GoogleChromeApplicationchrome.exe" DW
- 40. 40 © 2019 Citrix Publishing Chrome Disabling Citrix API hooks (for 32-bit Chrome on 64-bit Windows only) Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixCtxHook Value: ExcludedImageNames (REG_SZ) Data: chrome.exe,nacl64.exe How to Disable Citrix API Hooks on a Per-application Basis https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX107825 DW
- 41. 41 © 2019 Citrix Disable Chrome Cleanup to Prevent Server Crashes Google Chrome Software Reporting Tool (Cleanup Tool): C:Users%UserName%AppDataLocalGoogleChromeUser DataSwReporter%ToolVersion%software_report_tool.exe DS
- 42. 42 © 2019 Citrix Deploying Chrome Extensions Using Group Policy Download the Chrome bundle for Windows (https://cloud.google.com/chrome- enterprise/browser/download/) and copy the ADMX files to the Group Policy central repository (%logonserver%sysvol%domain%PoliciesPolicyDefinitions). https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx DS
- 43. 43 © 2019 Citrix Deploying Chrome Extensions Using Group Policy manifest.json DS
- 44. 44 © 2019 Citrix Reducing Chrome Resource Consumption DS
- 45. 45 © 2019 Citrix • Add a GPU to your physical server Reducing Chrome Resource Consumption • Citrix Workspace Environment Manager’s CPU and Memory management • Using an extension that suspends inactive tabs (such as “The Great Suspender”) DS
- 46. 47 © 2019 Citrix Reducing Chrome Resource Consumption • Citrix Browser Content Redirection (BCR) DS • On the VDA • Chrome version 66 + • CVAD 7.15 CU3 (LTSR) or CVAD 7.16 (CR) and higher • On the local client • Citrix Workspace app 1808 and higher
- 47. 48 © 2019 Citrix 6. Tips & Best Practices Workspace Environment Manager (WEM) WEM Logo? GS
- 48. 49 © 2019 Citrix WEM – The Purpose Group Policies Logon Scripts Drive Mapping Printer Mapping 40 – 80 seconds Without WEM GS
- 49. 50 © 2019 Citrix WEM – The Purpose 15 – 25 seconds WEM Agent With WEM GS
- 50. 51 © 2019 Citrix WEM – CPU Management • Enable CPU Spikes Protection & Enable Intelligent CPU Optimization • Helps protect the user experience by lowering the priority of process if it exceeds the CPU Usage limit. • Repeat offenders are penalized by less CPU priority GS
- 51. 52 © 2019 Citrix WEM – Memory Management Idle Session without WEM Idle Session with WEM GS
- 52. 53 © 2019 Citrix Summary: Key Takeaways GS Understand the technologies that are available to help with your Office 365 deployments Design your user profile solution with profile size and logon times in mind. Understand the settings that can help deliver an optimised profile solution Perform optimisations and sealing on your gold images to benefit from lower hypervisor resource consumption and a better user experience For a successful App Layering deployment, understand the best practices and limitations of the product When deploying Google Chrome, there are several best practices to reduce resource consumption, manage extensions and reduce crashes WEM can lower CPU/RAM resource and offer lower logon times by shifting Group Policy processing to an after-logon set of tasks
- 53. 54 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Synthetic and Real User Experience Citrix and Supporting Infrastructure End-to-End Performance Correlation Reports, Analytics, Machine Learning Monitor Every Layer, Every Tier For End-to-End Visibility Pinpoint Root Cause of Problems for Troubleshooting Right-size & Optimize for Maximum Performance Measure All Aspects of Citrix User Experience 1 2 3 4 How eG Innovations Helps Citrix Customers
- 54. 55 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com
- 55. 56 © 2019 Citrix© eG Innovations, Inc. | www.eginnovations.com Thank You! Contact eG Innovations for more information on Citrix monitoring: www.eginnovations.com info@eginnovations.com George Spiers David Wilkinson Dennis Span @WilkyIT@JGSpiers @DennisSpan
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Engage Audience “How many people are using Office365 or on the journey?” Well I began this journey also 3 years ago now and have been through many products when then there was very little choice/options available. So I’ll now cover tips & Best practises from the field when deploying Office365 Speaking: DW
- First to give some context to the Tips/Best Practises, what are the challenges of deployment Office 365 in a citrix deployment? Particularly in a non-persistent/pooled environment. Outlook Cache OST location , traditionally Outlook was Online mode in citrix environment when Exchange are nearby. Now the recommendation is Cache which means we need to place the OST file in close proximity to the Workload.. We all remember the days that PST causes havoc on Citirx environment! Right! 2. OneDrive for Business - OneDrive allows you to store up 1TB of data as part of the subscription , how do you access this data, where does it get stored! 3. Outlook Search – searching your mailbox is a key user experience expected, How do we address this in non-persistent/pooled image when the search database is machine based. Well, these I’ll discuss in the next few slides how are overcome these challenges!
- Bullet 1: Thankfully the past 18month has really opened the products available to address these challenges. Choose the right product, each product will cover different elements of Office365. Not everyone will use the full range of products within Office365 so choose wisely App Layering Office365 User Layer : Will cover Outlook OST Cache, No OneDrive, No Outlook Search Index App Layering User Layers: Will cover Outlook OST Cache, Windows Search Index, OneDrive for Business User Profile Management: Will cover Outlook OST, Outlook Search Index but not OneDrive for Business. Citrix Profile Management 1811 solves some bugs originally found in version 7.18 “The right solution is the solution that meets your business needs and delivers a excellent End User Experience” Understand the Limitation of each product (i.e no concurrent logons, only support 32-bit version of outlook.) Speaking: DW
- Bullet 1: Limit OST Size Allowing all of your mailbox to be fully downloaded to the cache would be very expensive for your local storage requirement. Exchange Online Mailbox’s has a minimum of 50GB size limit depending on license type, unlike the good old days of Local IT limiting users to 1GB/5GB. Reducing the time period you sync mail will help you identify the local cache storage requirements. Speaking: DW
- Bullet 1: Consider staging your initial cache creation when rolling out your solution as a high number of users will create large amount of IOPS. Outlook Cache access to VHD(X) based solutions require on average 5 write IOPS / 8 Read IOPS per user. Remember this is only an average and performance testing should be performed at the storage level to fully understand the impact Bullet 2: Permissions , this is key. Ensure your VHD(X) directory has sufficient permissions are it may be over and above normal profile permissions. Bullet 3: Citrix/Microsoft recommends using Cache Exchange Mode with an Office365 to deliver the most optimal user experience. Speaking: DW
- Bullet 1: Why do you need Outlook Search! As mentioned in an earlier slide the end user experience rains supreme. Any slight adjustment Bullet 2: Make sure you search service is in the right state for indexing to work, Windows 2012 R2 – Ensure that you install the “Windows Search” feature an make sure the Service is Enabled Windows Server 2016/2019 – Ensure you Enable the “Windows Search” service as by default Windows 8 & Windows 10 – This service is enabled & running by default so no need to adjust any of the Images: As you can see the before result, where outlook is currently indexing your inbox items, The after reflect a newly logged in session without outlook launch where the search indexing roamed with the user and no indexing is required! Speaking: DW
- Bullet 1: Enabling the “Files on demand” setting with OneDrive allows only files being accessed to be downloaded upon request allowing most frequent files to be on local cache and un-accessed/un-used . This will help reduce the size of the VHD’s & ultimately the size of the on-premises storage required. Bullet 2: Don’t forget with Citrix Files(aka sharefile) there is a personal cloud connector which allows you to access Bullet 3: Speaking: DW
- Speaking: GS
- Bullet 1: The more you redirect, the less your profile size will be. More files = longer logon times Less files = less storage used. Less activity on file servers. Bullet 2: If you operate across multiple locations, having the file server and profiles closer to user location will improve the experience. Route users to home datacenter using technologies such as Zones/GSLB. They connect to a desktop in their home datacenter. Use Active Directory attributes to map user to their home profile server. ##ADAttribute## (\\LondonFS.domain.com) Speaking: GS
- Bullet 1: Consider VHD(x) profile solutions to capture the full profile. Microsoft User profiles disks initially kicked of the trend for profile disks but through the years other vendors have excelled in this field. Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) now uses profile container based on FSLogix to deliver a first class experience for Office365 Bullet 2: Ensure the file servers are closely monitored and ensure that the system resources and causing a bottleneck (i.e disk IOPS, Network etc) thus impacting on the users logon time. Users patterns should be identified (i.e 9AM start for all call centre staff) and accommodated in your infrastructure. I have experienced this Bullet 3: If experiencing slow logons, try adding UserProfileManager.exe to your Anti-Virus process trusted list. You can also try things such as turning off the Windows Search service and disabling other sophisticated virus checking features, and virus checks on Speaking: GS
- Bullet 1: Understand the kind of start menu you want. Do you want your users to be able to adjust/edit and have a personalized menu or do you want to toe the corporate line and everyone get the same, or have a hybrid approach! Bullet 2: Ensure your profile changes are captured, and this depends based on operating system. Windows Server 2016 - Ensure you add the following folder in CPM Windows 10 1803 onwards the start menu has slightly changed and an update to date version of CPM will automatically capture these setting, but for other profile management solutions out there here are the folders: Speaking: GS
- Rather than cache a large file to the VDA, we can just have CPM create a symbolic link to it. This is pretty much like redirected folders at a file level. Support for one active session at a time. Not everyone uses streaming. Streaming if used may cause bad performance/delays when fetching a large file. Speaking: GS
- Example: Skype for Business administrator enables client-side logging for multiple users or the entire organization. Log files begin to fill up in each users profile, causing logon slowness. Citrix administrator needs to remove them. Citrix administrator previously would need to depend on PoSH scripts and such to remove these files from the profile store. Add AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office\Lync\Logs to the “Exclusion list – directories” policy and set the Logon Exclusion Check policy appropriately. You can exclude files also using the “Exclusion list – files” policy setting. CPM 5.7 originally allowed you to exclude file/folder from synchronization. CPM 5.8 allows you to do the same or delete files/folders from store. Speaking: GS
- Engage Audience & Ask “How many of you optimise your images”? DW/GS – So Dennis , what are the different phases of Image Preparation Speaking: DW
- One thing that all our environments have in common is that we all have workers and we need an image for this Let’s take a quick look at the various components that make up an image and where optimization fits in Optimization and sealing are two different things Speaking: DW
- Better performing desktops Lower logon times Less RAM, CPU consumption, IOPs consumption and so on Better user density (users per server) Example of before and after image optimization. The numbers can be lower, by reducing Group Policy complexity, implementing technologies such as WEM and Profile Management, increasing desktop hardware specifications etc. Speaking: GS
- Better performing desktops Lower logon times Less RAM, CPU consumption, IOPs consumption and so on Better user density (users per server) Example of before and after image optimization. The numbers can be lower, by reducing Group Policy complexity, implementing technologies such as WEM and Profile Management, increasing desktop hardware specifications etc. Speaking: GS
- We want our desktops to be better performing. Fine tuning them is what it takes. We disable unneeded services and scheduled tasks, remove UWP apps and then make registry edits to fine tune the image. Miscellaneous optimizations: Disable all 32 and 64-bit Active Setup items to prevent them from running at first user logon. The main reason here is not to speed up user logon times (since Active Setup only runs one-time (when a new profile is created for the user), but rather because Active Setup only runs in desktop sessions and not when a user starts a published application. This may lead to inconsistencies between user profiles. Another reason to disable Active Setup is to prevent untested or unwanted configurations to occur. As an administrator you want a high level of control over user configurations. Run NGEN.exe (twice, both for 32 and 64-bit): this optimization pre-compiles .NET assemblies instead of using the just-in-time compilation using NGEN.exe. This is relatively slow. Takes about 2 minutes on a clean Windows Server 2016 server. Disable System Recovery recommended by Citrix in the Windows 10 Optimization Guide (https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX216252). This optimizations uses PowerShell to run the command "bcdedit.exe /set recoveryenabled no". Turn off Data Execution Prevention (DEP) recommended by Citrix in the Windows 10 Optimization Guide (https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX216252). This optimizations uses PowerShell to run the command "bcdedit.exe /set recoveryenabled no". Speaking: GS
- A lot of the optimization tools and scripts overlap and perform the same optimizations. Some are more aggressive than others. Make sure to test these in your own test environment before releasing to production, and have a small subset of users use optimized desktops before releasing to everyone. When using the Citrix Optimizer, there is no need to use the PVS Target Device Optimization Tool on your Target Devices. Speaking: GS
- Speaking: DS
- Speaking: DS
- Allow asynchronous user Group Policy processing when logging on through Remote Desktop Services Asynchronous processing speeds up logon times. Always for the network at computer startup and logon Speeds up logon times. The only thing to consider is that Folder Redirection, in case this is used, may require two logons. This is only the case when the Folder Redirection Group Policy Extensions is used. If you use registry values this is not the case. To disable “always wait for the network…” the policy “Allow asynchronous user Group Policy processing…” must be enabled Read up on asynchronous and synchronous group policy processing, background refresh, etc. Speaking: DS
- In case logon scripts are used in your environment make sure to run them asynchronously if possible. Asynchronous means that the logon script does not delay the start of the desktop (the main explorer.exe processes). Otherwise the desktop is only shown to the user after all logon scripts have finished. Speaking: DS
- Always optimize your script as much as possible, especially if they run at user logon. Any action within a logon script should only run when absolutely necessary. No action should unnecessarily delay the user logon. Avoid LDAP queries since these delay user logon. Make drive and printer mapping persistent if possible. Also here counts that both drive and printer mapping should not unnecessarily delay the user logon. Make sure that the drive that is being mapped actually exists and that the backend storage performs optimally. Otherwise there will be a delay. Anti-virus exclusions: make sure to check the list of anti-virus exclusions as well as anti-virus configurations on TechZone Optimize your profile solution (e.g. enable profile streaming in UPM). Do not activate „active-write“ back. Speaking: DS
- An image must be sealed so it can be used as a generic image for multiple machines Speaking: DS
- Various examples of sealing BIS-F performs all of the important sealing tasks. BIS-F can be configured using a custom Group Policy template (ADMX). Other advantages of BIS-F are: Format Write-Cache disk (one-time) Perform an anti-virus full scan Offline defragmentation (especially important for PVS because results in significant write-cache savings). Also, defragmenting is not supported on versioned vDisks. Speaking: DS
- Speaking: GS
- Point 1: A common misconception I hear is that when upgrading the ELM you also have to upgrade the Machine OS Tools in the OS Layer. You don’t. Only upgrade if you need to make use of new scripts that ship with the newer OS Tools version. The newer App Layering drivers are injected into an image at the time of publishing. Point 2: Export/Import can be a way to replicate your primary appliance with another Point 3: There is a current bug where if you have caching enabled on a Connector that you use for Layer creation, running ngen /update fills the Packaging Machine’s write disk space. All space is consumed. Turn off caching as a workaround. Citrix are aware of this bug. Point 4: You may want to edit NTUSER.DAT directly in a Layer so that certain registry keys are present for every user logging on to the layer. These could be registry keys specific to the Application layer you are creating for example. Keep in mind that if you edit NTUSER.DAT on multiple layers, the changes do NOT merge. They overwrite. I suggest using WEM or GP Preferences to continue modifying the user registry hive. Point 5: The OS layer is the only layer that can write to the SAM (Security Account Manager) database. Speaking: GS
- Point 1: Entering the FQDN will allow the ELM to use any Domain Controller under your domain. I’ve come across deployments that only point at one DC, or customers have configured load balancing for this purpose. Point 2: Snapshots are how Citrix will recommend you roll back to a previous version if the upgrade fails. Point 3: A common misconception I hear is that when upgrading the ELM you also have to upgrade the Machine OS Tools in the OS Layer. You don’t. Only upgrade if you need to make use of new scripts that ship with the newer OS Tools version. The newer App Layering drivers are injected into an image at the time of publishing. Speaking: GS
- Intro: Elastic Layers allow you to hot-add applications to particular user sessions during user log on. Elastic Layers are packaged applications that store themselves in a VHD file. As a user logs on, the VHD is mounted to the user’s desktop and the application is presented. Point 1: SMB3 is available in Server 2012 R2 and above. Point 2: DFS can be used for a highly available file share. Point 3: Beginning App Layering 4.14, Elastic Layers load after logon. This change is aimed at reducing logon times. Note that not all applications will work with this change. So, Compatibility Mode can be enabled to return to the previous behavior of loading an Elastic Layer during logon. If you are using the classic method, Elastic Layers will add to your logon times. Point 6: Mention that you could use an Application layer across different OS layers. Speaking: GS
- Intro: Elastic Layers allow you to hot-add applications to particular user sessions during user log on. Elastic Layers are packaged applications that store themselves in a VHD file. As a user logs on, the VHD is mounted to the user’s desktop and the application is presented. Point 1: SMB3 is available in Server 2012 R2 and above. Point 2: DFS can be used for a highly available file share. Point 3: Beginning App Layering 4.14, Elastic Layers load after logon. This change is aimed at reducing logon times. Note that not all applications will work with this change. So, Compatibility Mode can be enabled to return to the previous behavior of loading an Elastic Layer during logon. If you are using the classic method, Elastic Layers will add to your logon times. Point 6: Mention that you could use an Application layer across different OS layers. Speaking: GS
- Speaking: DS
- Yes! Google Chrome is indeed supported on Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop and CVAD. This was not always clear in the past, but Google Chrome has been added as a Citrix Ready product. Speaking: DW
- When Publishing chrome through Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktop, The command line parameters --allow-no-sandbox-job --disable-gpu-sandbox is no longer required (since version 58 of Chrome, the current version of Chrome is 74. The path to the Chrome.exe is the same for both the 32-bit and 64-bit installer. Speaking: DW
- Have you ever got this message when launching a published Chrome session. Two Chrome processes should be excluded from the Citrix API hooks (https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX226044) This only applies when installing the 32-bit version of Chrome on a 64-bit operating system. The process NACL64.exe starts an instance of the Native Client (in 64-bit mode). The Native Client is a sandbox for rending compiled C and C++ code in a secure and efficient manner within the web browser. When the 64-bit version of Chrome is installed on a 64-bit version of Windows, there is no need to start this process. Speaking: DW
- Story: In my environment we had unexpected server crashes/blue screen, debug files narrowed the cause to chrome software reporting tool causing issues. Here is how you resolve that happening in your environment. The Chrome bundle for Windows includes the ADMX templates. Copy these ADMX files to your Group Policy central repository. Speaking: DS
- Two importants facts: Chrome extensions can be installed using Group Policy Chrome extensions are installed per-user Point 1: the Chrome bundle for Windows includes the ADMX templates. Add the ADMX files to the Group Policy central repository. Point 2: copy these ADMX files to your Group Policy central repository Point 3: determine the extention ID and the update URL Speaking: DS
- The easiest way how to retrieve the extension ID and update URL is to manually download and install the extension on a test machine. The extension ID can be found on the extensions tab. Also, the name of the extension’s folder in the user profile is the same as the extension ID. This folder contains a file called ‘manifest.json’ which contains the extension’s update URL. Speaking: DS
- Speaking: DS Google Chrome comes with its own Task Manager. The task manager shows the memory and CPU usage of each individual process, tab and extension.
- Speaking: DS Point 1: many applications nowadays include native support for GPUs. Chrome does as well. Point 2: CPU and Memory management features can help with high resource consumption, at least in the rebalancing of resources between users. Point 3: use an extension that suspends inactive tabs
- Chrome also includes a tab suspending feature call Tab Discarding. This feature was introduced in September 2015, but has been experimental ever since. Speaking: DS
- Point 1: BCR can also be used in XD 7.15 LTSR! A Chrome extension is required on the side of the VDA (not the local client). Also in this case the extension can be installed using a Group Policy as explained in the previous slides. Speaking: DS
- Engage Audience “Who is implementing WEM?” “Who is thinking about Implementing WEM in the next 6 month?” We are now going to go through a number of reasons your need to implement WEM In your environment! Speaking: GS
- One of the main purposes of WEM is to reduce the time it takes to process a user logon. Traditionally in a non-persistent environment Group Policy settings are applied over and over again during logon. With WEM, the majority of settings can be applied after the user logs on. This presents the user with a positive perception that logons are quicker, as WEM then builds the user’s environment. Speaking: GS
- One of the main purposes of WEM is to reduce the time it takes to process a user logon. Traditionally in a non-persistent environment Group Policy settings are applied over and over again during logon. With WEM, the majority of settings can be applied after the user logs on. This presents the user with a positive perception that logons are quicker, as WEM then builds the user’s environment. Speaking: GS
- CPU Management: Enable CPU Spike protection to ensure that one process does not overconsume and affect the performance of end users. It lowers the priority of a process that exceeds the specified values of Usage limit. It does not actually prevent CPU from reaching 100% but certainly helps to provide a smooth experience for the end users. Speaking: GS
- Working Set Optimization: Idle applications tend not to give RAM back. WEM can take excess RAM back in a non-intrusive way from applications that have not been used for a certain period of time, allowing that RAM to be used elsewhere for other active users and processes on the system. WEM calculates the amount of RAM used by a process, and the least amount of RAM required. If a process falls below the “Idle State Limit (percent)” value for the amount of time defined under “Idle Sample Time (min)”, WSO kicks in and does its thing. In this example I have been using Internet Explorer with a couple of tabs open, and left it idle. Even when left idle, 345MB of RAM is consumed. On the right you can see how WEM has recovered the excess RAM, almost 50%! This results in better performing sessions for other active users and offers better user density per server. We are making better use of the resource we have. You can exclude specific processes from Working Set Optimization. Citrix don’t advise setting “Idle State Limit (percent)” to any value higher than 5%. Doing so will cause WEM to be too aggressive on processes that may be active. Speaking: GS
- Working Set Optimization: Idle applications tend not to give RAM back. WEM can take excess RAM back in a non-intrusive way from applications that have not been used for a certain period of time, allowing that RAM to be used elsewhere for other active users and processes on the system. WEM calculates the amount of RAM used by a process, and the least amount of RAM required. If a process falls below the “Idle State Limit (percent)” value for the amount of time defined under “Idle Sample Time (min)”, WSO kicks in and does its thing. In this example I have been using Internet Explorer with a couple of tabs open, and left it idle. Even when left idle, 345MB of RAM is consumed. On the right you can see how WEM has recovered the excess RAM, almost 50%! This results in better performing sessions for other active users and offers better user density per server. We are making better use of the resource we have. You can exclude specific processes from Working Set Optimization. Citrix don’t advise setting “Idle State Limit (percent)” to any value higher than 5%. Doing so will cause WEM to be too aggressive on processes that may be active. Speaking: GS