How to Enable Continuous CDF Tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0

This article describes how to enable continuous CDF tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0.

Requirements

CDFMonitor

Background

With the introduction of Provisioning Services 7.0, the Provisioning Services logging mechanism has changed from persistent log files to CDF tracing. Provisioning Services no longer logs streaming event to a log file. You must configure CDF tracing to capture persistent logging for determining the root cause of a problem.

Procedure

To enable continuous CDF tracing in Provisioning Services 7.0, complete the following procedure:

  • Download the Provisioning Services specific configuration file from this article.
  • Extract the files to the C:cdfmonitor folder.
  • Replace the CDFMonitor.exe.config that comes with CDFMonitor with the one downloaded from this article.
  • Open a command line interface and open the C:cdfmonitor folder.
  • Run the following command:
    cdfmonitor.exe /installservice

    CDFMonitor runs as a service that persists even after the server restarts. Continuous CDF trace is then captured on all modules. The trace file will grow to 100 MB in size and will rotate between five files. The moment the CDFMonitor service is restarted, a new CDF trace file is created.

Download

You can read more instructions and download the special CDFMonitor.exe here.

NetScaler Insight Center 2.0

Citrix has released version 2 of the NetScaler Insight Center on May 21st 2013.

NetScaler® Insight Center is a high performance collector which provides end-to-end user experience visibility.

With this release we extend the Insight visibility offering from Web traffic (Web Insight) to HDX traffic(HDX Insight) analytics.

It will now collect ICA AppFlow records generated by NetScaler ADC appliances and populate analytical graphs over Layer 3 to Layer 7 statistics. The HDX Insight will provide in-depth analysis over real time and historical data across last 5min (real time) and last one hour, one day, one week, one month as historic data.

HDX Insight will give a bird’s eye view over all the HDX Users, Applications, Desktops and will even provide a view from Gateway level information. It will also showcase the SSL VPN license usage over the time. Based on the use cases the administrator can drill down and identify the pain points from any of these dashboards giving them a perfect visibility and troubleshooting solution. Continue reading “NetScaler Insight Center 2.0”

HDX Monitor 3.0 tool released

HDX Monitor 3.0 is a helpful monitoring and diagnostic tool for HDX components.

Background

HDX Monitor 3.0 tool provides detailed information about the various HDX technologies, their performance, and diagnostics information. The following are the HDX technologies covered by this tool:

  • Thinwire (Graphics)
  • Direct 3D (Graphics)
  • Media Stream (aka RAVE)
  • Flash
  • Audio
  • USB Devices
  • Mapped Client Drives (CDM)
  • Branch Repeater
  • Printer
  • Client
  • Smart Card
  • Scanner
  • System

Prerequisites

  • XenApp 6.5 or greater or XenDesktop 5.5 or greater.
  • This tool may be installed on any machine on the same domain as the target system including the XenDesktop VDA or XenApp Server.

Download

Download the tool here.

Microsoft releases AD Replication monitor

The Active Directory Replication Status Tool (ADREPLSTATUS) analyzes the replication status for domain controllers in an Active Directory domain or forest.

Overview

The Active Directory Replication Status Tool (ADREPLSTATUS) analyzes the replication status for domain controllers in an Active Directory domain or forest. ADREPLSTATUS displays data in a format that is similar to REPADMIN /SHOWREPL * /CSV imported into Excel but with significant enhancements.
Specific capabilities for this tool include:

    • Expose Active Directory replication errors occurring in a domain or forest. .
    • Prioritize errors that need to be resolved in order to avoid the creation of lingering objects in Active Directory forests.
    • Help administrators and support professionals resolve replication errors by linking to Active Directory replication troubleshooting content on Microsoft TechNet. .
    • Allow replication data to be exported to source or destination domain administrators or support professionals for offline analysis.

Continue reading “Microsoft releases AD Replication monitor”

Citrix HDX monitor 2.0

Hi guys,

Citrix has released version 2.0 off their HDX monitor December 29th of last year. Here’s a little bit of info what this tool can do and at the end there’s a link to the download page.

The HDX Monitor 2.0 tool is used to validate the operation and configuration of key features of XenDesktop’s and XenApp’s HDX stack including the latest HDX MediaStream for Flash and HDX RealTime features. Consequently, this tool can also help you diagnose and troubleshoot HDX issues. For example, it detects when multimedia redirection is in use and if your endpoint device supports it. It also can tell you what audio codec you are using and its bitrate. Continue reading “Citrix HDX monitor 2.0”

Windows Server: Proactive Windows Server Maintenance

All too often, server maintenance is an afterthought. It ends up being the steps we take in the wake of a disaster or as part of a reactive troubleshooting effort. By considering maintenance tools and techniques through a proactive lens, however, you can address potential issues before they become problems. You have considerable opportunities to save time, money and, most importantly, headaches. Continue reading “Windows Server: Proactive Windows Server Maintenance”

HyperV_Mon updated release

HyperV_Mon is a free tool for monitoring and diagnosing performance issues with Hyper-V.

After prompting from a user with a lot more processors then the test systems here, I updated the HyperV_Mon tool to handle resizing in general, and to adjust the root partition processor display.  This new version is a minor release (1.8.0).

In the works will be a version 2.0 that will look at 2008 R2 with SP1 changes.  This should come out in Q1 of next year.

Click on the image to jump to the tools section of the TMurgent website Continue reading “HyperV_Mon updated release”