603D: The Ultimate
XenDesktop 5.x
Troubleshooting Workshop
Fred Donovan
Senior Support Product Manager
Rene Alfonso
Architect, Technical Support
May 2012
Session Topics
Brief Architectural Review
XenDesktop Troubleshooting
 Lab
VDA High Availability Mode
 Lab
XenDesktop 5.x Database
 Lab
Personal vDisk Troubleshooting
 Lab
Next Generation Support: TaaS
Brief Architectural Review
XenDesktop
The XD DDC Core Architecture
4.x
XenDesktop 5.x
Controller Services
HTTP
80, 443
WI
Pool
Machine
Manager
Creation
XML
Broker
Service
IMA
Machine
Identity
Licensing
DDC
Servers
8080 4.x
80 5.x
PC)
Desktop (VM or blade
PortICA
Service
Svc
License
Server
ADO
Data
Store
ICA
1494
PortICA
Drivers
2512
Domain
Controller
VDA
Workstation
(VM or blade PC)
Workstation
(VM
or blade PC)
Controller
AD Identity
Service
Configuration
Host
VM Host
CGP Svc
CGP
2598
Client
(via AG)
Broker Services
XenDesktop 4:
XenDesktop 5:
443
80
SSL
XML
443
80
IMA
CDS
Pool
Management
Broker Service
Database
Management
XML
components
Hosting
Management
PowerShell
SDK
VDA
Management
Licensing
New Desktop Delivery Controller (XD5.x)
• IMA Service is replaced by various
.NET services communicating over
Windows Communication Foundation
(WCF)
• New relational SQL database
• No controller to controller
communication  each controller
talks to the database
SQL
Database
DDC1
DDC2
Controller 5.x Roles & States
• Controllers no longer hold state information;
it is now located in the database
Controller
#1
• No Local Host Cache
• Hypervisor connection maintained by one
controller
(Get-BrokerHypervisorConnection)
Controller
#2
Database
High-level Service-Oriented Architecture
Desktop Studio
Desktop Director
WinRM
(WMI)
PowerShell
WCF
SDK available for automation
Desktop Delivery Controller
Configuration
Service
Host Service
Broker Service
Machine
Creation
Service
AD Identity
Service
Virtual Desktop
Machine
Identity Service
SQL
Server
VDA Registration (CTX126704)
Allows
Broker to
control VDA
3 Strikes before VDA is placed in
Maintenance Mode
(MaxFailedRegistrationsAllowed)
After a period of time (20 Min)
unsuccessfully registered VDA
shutdown
(MaxRegistrationDelayMin)
Power
Management
Open TCP
Ports
VDA Registry Based Registration
VDA initiates
initiates communication
communicationover
overWCF
WCFand
andprovides
providesits
itsSID
SID
VDA
VDA
BrokerVerifies
verifies Computer
computer AD
AD Object
object
Broker
Brokerthen
then communicates
communicates directly
directly to
to VDA
VDA
Broker
Broker
Brokerverifies
verifiesthe
theVDA
VDAinin database
database
sends
and sendsand
configuration
information
information
Registration
Success
Results
Registration
completes
successfully
Controller
Broker service and VDA registration (XD5.x)
• Registry based VDA registration from ListofDDCs registry key on the
VDA
Registration Types:
• Uses WCF/
Soft Connection
– sets up minimal
Brokering
ping support
Protocol
to maintain heartbeat
Hard – fully configures the VDA with desktop group membership
• Validates VDA, test call-back and writes state into database
• VDA broker service role handles launch sequence, status updates
and session control
Under The Hood: VDA Registration (Active Directory)
DDC Server
VDA
WCF
VDA
Desktop
Service
DDC
 Service looks up VDA computer account
 Service starts and looks up the farm OU in
the registry
 DDC checks that computer account (SID) is
valid in AD
 Service queries DC for all Service Connection
Point objects (DDCs) in that OU
 Service selects one DDC at random, looks
up DDC computer account and initiates a
connection through WCF
Broker
Service
LDAP
 Controller initiates WCF connection to VDA
(using peer IP address and Kerberos ticket)
 OS retrieves Kerberos ticket for DDC
 Controller validates that caller is
member of “Controllers” group, and
sets configuration
 DDC service receives connection (Kerberos
prevents man-in-the-middle)
 Connection succeeds and VDA is
marked registered
AD
CDF Tracing and
CDF Control
Introduction to Citrix Diagnostic Facility Tracing
What is CDF tracing?
• A unified debug tracing system integrated into various Citrix products
XenDesktop, XenApp, Receiver
• It is high performance tracing, supported by the Microsoft OS (ETW)
• It allows various components, such as DLL’s, EXE’s and drivers to be
traced
• A single architecture that an Engineer can leverage to troubleshoot
problems
Introduction to CDFControl (CTX111961)
• A GUI based CDF trace capture and analysis tool was developed
• Expert Control Feature
Expert Control
• Expert Control finds the messages that are *meaningful*
• Known issues are automatically flagged
• Knowledge Base articles are automatically launched
XDPing Tool (CTX123278)
• Can be run on both the DDC and VDA to troubleshoot registration
issues
• Used to collect data related to basic components
• Will verify if the components are working correctly
• Verify Domain Membership
• Network Interfaces
• WCF Endpoints
• Services
• DNS lookup
• Time difference between machine and Domain Controller
Troubleshooting Tips for VDA Registration Issues
• Check Domain Membership /Time Synchronization
• Check value under
HKLM\Software\Citrix\VirtualDesktopAgent\ListOfDDCs
• Check Citrix Desktop Service warnings and errors
• Look under Error Details for the exact condition
• Get-BrokerDesktop -MachineName DOMAIN\MACHINE
• LastDeregistrationTime LastDeregistrationReason VALUES
• See CTX117248 for details
Lab #1
VDA Registration
Troubleshooting
Lab Environment
URL http://training.citrixsynergy.net/
Class Code: <Provided by Instructor>
Requirements Latest Citrix ICA Client
Citrix Scout / XD Collector (CTX130147)
Push button easy data collection system
• Makes data collection and upload push button easy
• Integrates data collected by Scout with the Citrix Tools as a Service
(TaaS) backend
• Simplifies data collection & analysis
HDX Monitor 2.x (CTX123058)
• VDA User Experience Monitoring
• Diagnostics
• Configuration
• Performance
• Remote VDA Monitoring 2.x
• Available for XD5.x XA 6.x
Lab #2
HDX Monitor
XD PowerShell SDK
• XenDesktop 5 built on PowerShell
• Desktop Studio PowerShell Tab
• Citrix Developer Network
• http://www.citrix.com/cdn
• Code Share
• SDK Documentation
Checking Broker State
PowerShell for troubleshooting
• Add-PSSnapin citrix*
• Get-BrokerServiceStatus
Returns OK if broker service is responding to requests
• Get-BrokerDBConnection
Displays SQL connection information
• Get-ConnectionLog *New in XD 5.6
Displays user connection history both success and failures
Lab #3
PowerShell
XenDesktop 5.x VDA High Availability Mode
ICA
File
Dedicated
Virtual
Desktop
ICA Ports
1494
2598
VDA Registration
SQL
Database
Controller1
Controller2
XenDesktop 5 HA Mode (CTX127392)
• VDA can operate in high availability mode if all controllers fail in a
XenDesktop 5 site
• Dedicated Desktops Only
• Registry enabled –
HighAvailability REG_DWORD 1
• Configurable time period (default 5 minutes)
• Must register with controller within 30 days
• Prompt for password EnforceAutoLogon
REG_DWORD 0
HA Mode Demo / Lab
• Citrix Desktop Service
• Event ID 1014 controller communication failure
• Event ID 1012 controller communication success
• CDF Trace Event (on VDA)
• CdsWorkerAgent:2:1:Register FAILURE: HighAvailabilityActive = True,
InHighAvailabilityMode = True, _firstRegistrationAttemptTime = xx/xx/xxxx xx:xx:xx,
HighAvailabilityRegistrationTimout = 00:05:00
• ICA File
• http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx127392
Lab #4
VDA HA Mode
XenDesktop 5.x
Database Overview
Support Database System Requirements
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 (SP1 supported)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 w/SP1 or later
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express Edition
(on media, SP1 supported)
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 (see CTX132438)
• Supported Databases For Citrix Products CTX114501
Database sizing information (1 of 2)
• It’s important to consider DB sizing during initial setup of an environment
• Sizing depends on several factors
• # of registered VDAs
• # of connected sessions
• Connection rate
• # of managed desktops
• # of provisioned desktops
Database sizing information (2 of 2)
• A formula from the test teams has produced the following data CTX127939
Provisioned Desktops
Using MCS
5,000
10,000
20,000
Unmanaged Desktops
Per Worker (KB)
14,500
29,000
58,000
Per Session (KB)
25,500
51,000
102,000
Per Connection (KB)
840
1,680
3,360
Per AD Account (KB)
9,000
18,000
36,000
Per MCS machine (KB)
9,700
19,400
38,800
59
117
233
Approx. Total (MB)
5,000
10,000
20,000
Per Worker (KB)
14,500
29,000
58,000
Per Session (KB)
25,500
51,000
102,000
Per Connection (KB)
840
1,680
3,360
Approx. Total (MB)
40
80
160
Database schemas
• Schemas are a type of container used to organize database objects and
permissions
• Multiple SQL schemas exist in the database
ADIdentitySchema
Chb_Config(broker)
Chb_State (broker)
ConfigurationSchema
DesktopUpdateManagerSchema
HostingUnitServiceSchema
MachinePersonalitySchema
• Schemas map to the Windows services on the Controller
How controllers connect to the DB
Controller
2
Controller
1
SQL Login
domain\Broker1$
DB User
domain\Broker1$
SQL Login
domain\Broker2$
DB Roles
Tables + SPs
XD5 Database
SQL Server Instance
DB User
domain\Broker2$
Database Security (CTX127998)
• SysAdmin rights needed for special administrative operations
• Each database user maps to database roles with specific rights to
corresponding objects • ADIdentitySchema_ROLE
• DesktopUpdateManagerSchema_ROLE
• Chr_Broker
• HostingUnitServiceSchema_ROLE
• Chr_Controller
• MachinePersonalityServiceSchema_ROLE
• ConfigurationSchema_ROLE
Database Activity
• Live session state held in database, including registration info
• One transaction per desktop for health ‘ping’
• Default period 30 seconds per desktop
• Small # of transactions per desktop launch
• Automatic database clean-up (purge stale records)
• Controller health heartbeat
• Loss of database access = dead broker
• No heartbeat  other brokers will take over responsibilities
Database Maintenance
and Troubleshooting
Monitoring SQL Connections
BrokerService
Controller SQL Connections
Citrix.ADIdentity.SdkWcfEndPoint
SQL Activity Monitor
Citrix.Configuration.SdkWcfEndPoint
Citrix.MachineCreation.SdkWcfEndPoint
Right Click SQL Server
Activity Monitor
Citrix.Host.SdkWcfEndPoint
Citrix.Identity.SdkWcfEndPoint
Performance Counters
• Database Avg Transaction Time
• Database Connected
• Database Transaction/sec
• Database Transaction Error/sec
• Brokered Sessions
Managing the transaction log (1/2)
• A transaction log is the recording
of all changes performed against
a database
• Recovery model options
• Simple – Reclaims log space but can only recover
to the last backup (default option for XD5
database)
• Full – Can recover to any point in time but
requires the most disk space
Managing the transaction log (2/2)
• Average transaction log sizing formula
• A VDA with no activity generates approximately 62KB of transaction log data
per hour
• # of VDAs X 24 Hours X Approx. 62KB of data
• 100 VDAs X 24 Hours X 62KB = 145MB
• Set the log to a fixed size and backup the log when it reaches 50%.
• Place the log on a separate physical disk
• http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX126916
SQL Maintenance Plans
• Database Integrity
• Index Maintenance
• Update Statistics
• Database Backups
XDDBDiag (CTX128075)
• Overview
○
Command line tool
○
Performs database consistency check on data
○
Collects diagnostic Information

Site Information

VDA Information

Current Connections / Connection Log

Hypervisor Connections

Policy Information

Desktop Groups

Controller Information
XDDBDiag (CTX128075)
• Usage
○
XDDBDiag 2.1 Citrix Support
○
To connect to a local SQL Express database use [local] switch
○
XDDBDiag [local]
○
To pass database connection settings via command line
○
Command line Parameters [windows] [SQL server] [SQL Database]
○
New SQLStats
– Database Backup History
–SQL Connections
–SQL Version
Lab #5
General Database
Troubleshooting
XenDesktop 5.6
Personal vDisk
Troubleshooting
Pooled
Standard
Desktop
Pooledwith
Desktop
Personal vDisk
A personal vDisk is created for each
provisioned virtual machine. During
initial session launch that VM is assigned
to a single user.
User Environment
User Data
User personalization (settings and installed
applications) are stored in the personal vDisk that
is merged with the base VM image during session
launch.
User
Settings
User
Installed
Applications
Profile Management
Citrix Personal vDisk
Common Base Image
OS
Corporate
Installed
Applications
Citrix Personal vDisk
Drive Location
On base VM
as the P: Drive
On Hypervisor
as <vm_name>_pvdisk
52
Drivers and Components
Components
Drivers
Ivm.sys
Ivmvhd.sys
CtxPvd.exe
CtxPvdSvc.exe
Ivmboot.sys
Ivmpnp.sys
PvDWMI.dll
VhdTool.exe
These drivers load at system boot time and are
responsible for applying the virtualization logic
These components handle the initial inventory
and image updates as well as VHD management
and performance statistics
53
Personal vDisk Process Flow
Inventory Process of
Base VM
Pooled Desktop Start-Up
(Initial or Image Update)
Personalized
Desktop
Virtual Logic Application
54
Desktop Director and Personal vDisk
• Desktop Director includes helpdesk-facing
PvD metrics and support
◦ % of application area in use / total size
◦ % of user profile area in use / total size
◦ PVD reset
• PVD reset allows the helpdesk to reset the
application area while leaving the user’s
data intact:
◦ Similar to “reset to factory default”
◦ Useful when user installed applications are causing
problems with the desktop image
55
Log Files
PvD maintains logs in the base of the
volume attached to the VM
• Run ctxpvd.exe –log to create a single
PVDLOGS folder created under the %temp%
directory
Review IvmSupervisor.log …
• Located in the root of the P: drive
• Windows event logs may also be helpful
Lab #6
Personal vDisk
Troubleshooting
TaaS Preview
Session Take Away
Critical Tool Matrix for XenDesktop CTX129149
PowerShell SDK CTX127254
See CTX107572 For a Complete List of All Citrix Support Tools
XenDesktop 5.x Database Sizing and Mirroring Best Practices CTX127939
How To Move an Existing XenDesktop 5.x Database CTX128365
PvD FAQ CTX131553
Lab Environment Login
Launch your browser and type
http://training.citrixsynergy.net
Your session code is:
“session code”