CHAPTER 6
Managing Servers and Farms
This chapter includes basic information about tools and utilities you use to manage servers, server farms, and some of the interfaces users use to access server farms. More detailed information is available from the online help for the tools.
Some tools are installed when you run the MetaFrame Presentation Server Setup. For more information, see “Installing and Upgrading to MetaFrame Presentation Server” on page 121.
Management Tools
Citrix provides a comprehensive suite of utilities for managing servers, farms, and connections. MetaFrame Presentation Server includes the Access Suite Console and the Presentation Server Console.This section provides an overview of the features of the MetaFrame Presentation Server tools.
You can install the Access Suite Console from the MetaFrame Presentation Server CD.
Note The Access Suite Console and the Presentation Server Console can be installed independently from MetaFrame Presentation Server. These consoles can be installed on 32-bit Windows workstations (Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP) from the MetaFrame Presentation Server CD. Browse the Autorun screens to the Management Consoles option.
Overview of Management Tools
Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite. This console extends your ability to manage your MetaFrame deployment by integrating consoles with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The Access Suite Console snaps into the MMC to provide a central, easy to install, and easy to use location for managing your deployment. You can monitor, view, and run reports on multiple farms at the same time using the Access Suite Console. You can use the Access Suite Console to manage your MetaFrame Presentation Server deployment from a central location. For more information, see “Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite” on page 162.
Management Console for MetaFrame Presentation Server. You can use the
Presentation Server Console to connect to any server farm in your deployment and manage every aspect of the servers and farm. For more information, see
“Management Console for MetaFrame Presentation Server” on page 168.
License Management Console. Use this console to manage and track MetaFrame Access Suite software licenses. For more information see the online help for the console and the MetaFrame Access Suite Licensing Guide.
Web Interface Console. Use this console to configure and manage the Web Interface. With the Web Interface, users can access and launch their published applcations from a Web page. For more information see the online help for the Web Interface and the Web Interface Administrator’s Guide.
Program Neighboorhood Agent Console. Use this console to configure options for users’ experience using the Program Neighborhood Agent. Users can use the Program Neighborhood Agent to connect directly to the servers on which their published applications run (without the Web Interface). For more information about the Program Neighborhood Agent Console see the Web Interface Administrator’s Guide.
Citrix Connection Configuration. Use this tool to configure the user connections that link to servers. For information, refer to the online help in Citrix Connection Configuration.
Citrix SSL Relay Configuration. Use this tool to secure communication between a server running the Web Interface and your farm. For information, see “Setting up Citrix SSL Relay” on page 179.
ICA Client Creator. Use this utility to create diskettes or disk images for installing client software.
ICA Client Update Configuration. Use this tool to manage the Client Update Database on a server running MetaFrame Presentation Server. The database contains current client software for each supported client platform and can be used to install clients when users log on to the server. For more information about deploying client software to users, see “Deploying Client Software” on page 225.
Shadow Taskbar. Shadowing allows users to view and control other users’ sessions remotely. You can use the Shadow Taskbar to shadow sessions and to switch among multiple shadowed sessions. You can also use Presentation Server Console to shadow ICA sessions. For more information about shadowing, see “Shadowing Sessions” on page 291.
Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite
The Management Console for the MetaFrame Access Suite extends your ability to manage your MetaFrame deployment by integrating consoles with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The Access Suite Console snaps into the MMC to provide a central, easy to install, and easy to use location for managing your deployment. You can use the Access Suite Console to manage your MetaFrame Presentation Server deployment from a central location.
Management functionality is provided through a number of snap-in management tools (“extensions”) that you can select when you install the Access Suite Console or at any time later. Extensions are available to help you:
• View applications, servers, and zones in multiple farms • Manage sessions across multiple farms
• Monitor the performance of your server farms • Create reports analyzing your MetaFrame deployment • Create a trace for problem analysis
You can also use the Access Suite Console to launch:
• The MetaFrame Presentation Server Console (previously called the Management Console for MetaFrame XP).
• The Web Interface Console (previously called the Web Interface Admin Tool). • The Program Neighborhood Agent Console (previously called the Program
Neighborhood Admin Tool).
• The License Management Console. For more information about the License Management Console, see the MetaFrame Access Suite Licensing Guide. You must be a MetaFrame administrator to use the Access Suite Console. Administrators can have varying levels of access to areas of server farm
management. For example, administrators may be able to manage sessions running on servers in their own geographic areas without being able to view the servers in other geographic areas.
Managing your Deployment from the Access Suite
Console
The Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite integrates consoles with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The following table shows the tasks that you can perform using the Access Suite Console, the consoles you can launch from the Access Suite Console, and what areas of your deployment you can manage with each console.
Viewing Applications, Servers, and Zones in Multiple
Farms
You can use the Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite to view the applications, zones, and servers in multiple farms in your enterprise. You can choose which farms are shown by selecting Run discovery. You need only enter the name of one server in each farm that you want to view.
Note You can add only servers running MetaFrame XP, Feature Release 3 and later.
To do this: Use this console:
Use a central location to view multiple farms and
launch the other consoles. Access Suite Console
Monitor, run reports about, and create traces for
servers in multiple farms. Access Suite Console
Manage sessions and processes on multiple farms. Access Suite Console Manage sessions and processes in a specific farm. Presentation Server Console Manage MetaFrame administrators, connection
policies, applications, printers, and servers in a farm. Presentation Server Console Manage Resource Manager, Installation Manager,
and Load Evaluators for a farm. Presentation Server Console Track and manage licenses for your deployment. License Management Console Configure the Web Interface. Some users access the
servers on which their published applications run throught the Web Interface.
Web Interface Console
Configure the Program Neighborhood Agent. Users can use the Program Neighborhood Agent to connect directly to the servers on which their published applications run (without the Web Interface).
You can view details about any farm or its applications, servers, or zones. For example, you can see all currently reported alerts or the required encryption for published applications or content. You can see the operating system version and TCP/IP address for a server, among many other items of information.
You can create custom views of farms, zones, servers, and applications by using the My Views feature. My Views allow you to create and save customized views of items in your deployment. You can then see updated information about those items at any time, without having to search for them. For example, you can group related objects in folders or you can order farms according to the frequency with which you need to access them.
You can see details about all user sessions in the server farms. You can display this information in various ways: for example, you can list sessions accessing a specific published application, sessions connecting to a specific server, or view a specific user’s sessions and applications.
Managing Sessions Across Multiple Farms
You can use the Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite to manage sessions in multiple farms in your enterprise. The tasks that you are allowed to perform depend on the selected session and your permissions as an administrator. You can perform all other server farm management tasks using the MetaFrame Presentation Server Console. If you installed this console, you can access it under
Related Tools.
Monitoring the Performance of Server Farms
A selection of performance metrics is available for the servers in a farm, and the Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite allows you to display these metrics in a highly visual way. For example, you may want to monitor farms located in different locations. In this case, you could use the My Views feature to create a custom view that groups each farm in a different part of the screen and then use a background graphic to identify each location. A suitable performance metric, such as CPU Load, displayed in your custom view, allows you to pinpoint problems quickly on any server in any location.
Creating Reports
Administrators often need to create reports that describe how various aspects of the server farms are functioning. For example, quarterly data for server uptime, CPU utilization, or application availability are commonly compared to agreed figures in a service level agreement, and the administrator is responsible for producing reports that display the required data every quarter.
The Report Center in the Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite extends the reporting capabilities in Resource Manager and allows you to easily generate reports from a variety of real-time and historic data sources. A wizard helps you select the type of report, the data to be displayed, and the schedule for running the report. You can view the status of your scheduled reports and adjust the report parameters.
The Report Center contains several report types, including:
• Application Availability report. Lists the published applications in a farm and the percentage of time when they were available, in a planned down state, and in an unplanned down state.
• Server Availability report. Lists the servers in a farm and the percentage of time when they were available, in a planned down state, and in an unplanned down state.
• Server Performance report. Displays, for the server selection, the average CPU utilization, the minimum memory available, and the maximum number of concurrent connections. The report also contains details of the most heavily loaded servers.
• Application report. Provides details of all published applications including the servers they are published on, users and groups with access to them, and any options used by clients that connect to the applications.
• Application Usage report. Shows the most frequently used applications, the number of times each application was accessed, and the maximum number of concurrent users.
• Client Type report. Shows the number of MetaFrame Presentation Server Clients for different platforms in use throughout the server farm, and presents this information graphically as a proportion of all clients in the farm.
• Server Utilization report. Identifies the servers with the highest average CPU load, and details the processes that consumed the highest CPU load.
Creating a Trace for Problem Analysis
Citrix Technical Support often needs trace log files and system information to analyze a problem. You can easily create this information using the Diagnostic Facility, which is available in the Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite. You can select modules for tracing, create the trace logs, collect system information, package the information, and FTP the package to Citrix. Wizards for each task guide you through the necessary steps.
Installing the Management Console for MetaFrame
Access Suite
MetaFrame Presentation Server does not need to be present on the computer on which you install the Access Suite Console.
Requirements
You can install the console on computers running:
• Any operating system from the Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 families
• Windows XP Professional • Windows NT Server 4.0
Before you install the Access Suite Console, be sure you meet the following requirements:
• You must have administrative privileges for the computer on which you are installing the console.
• Approximately 25MB of free hard disk space.
• Microsoft .NET Framework Version 1.1 must be installed on the computer. This software is available from the support folder on the MetaFrame Presentation Server installation CD-ROM.
• To run reports on farms with Microsoft SQL Server data stores, the computer on which you are running the Console must have Microsoft Data Access
Components (MDAC) Version 2.6 or later installed. Reports that include summary database information cannot be created without the correct version of MDAC.
• To use the Access Suite Console on Windows NT Server 4.0 you must install: • Service Pack 6 or later.
• Microsoft Management Console, which is available from the Microsoft Web site.
• The latest version of the Windows Installer, which is available from the Microsoft Web site.
• The Microsoft .NET Framework Software Development Kit (SDK) and the .NET Framework Redistributable to add Windows Management
Instrumentation (WMI). Installing the Dashboard Watcher without adding WMI makes the Access Suite Console unusable. You can download this software from the Microsoft Web site.
If you want to access additional management consoles from the Access Suite Console, be sure to meet the following additional requirements:
• The MetaFrame Presentation Server Console must be on the computer on which you are installing the Access Suite Console
• The Web Interface Console, the Licensing Management Console, and the Program Neighborhood Agent Console must be on a Web server that is available to the computer on which you are installing the Access Suite Console
To start the installation of the Access Suite Console
You install the console from the MetaFrame Presentation Server installation CD-ROM.
1. From the Autorun screen of the MetaFrame Presentation Server CD-ROM select:
MetaFrame Access Suite installations > Management consoles > Install Management Console for MetaFrame Access Suite
Follow the instructions in the wizard.
2. During the installation of the console, make sure the Presentation Server Extension is added.
Installing the Presentation Server Extension allows the console to establish contact with your deployment. You can monitor, run reports, and capture diagnostic information about your deployment only after this contact is established.
3. You can choose to add the followingnew snap-in management tools: • Report Center Extension
• Dashboard Extension • Diagnostic Facility Extension
To access the console after installation, select:
To begin managing your MetaFrame Access Suite, you must first establish contact between your deployment and the console. To do this, select Run discovery.
To add, remove, or view extensions
You can add or remove Access Suite Console extensions using the Add/Remove Snap-in function in the Microsoft Management Console.
1. Open the Microsoft Management Console and add the MetaFrame Access Suite Console using Add in the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box.
2. Select MetaFrame Access Suite Console in the Standalone tab. 3. Select the Extensions tab:
• To include all extensions make sure Add all extensions is selected. • To choose which extensions are included make sure Add all extensions is
not selected.
To uninstall the Access Suite Console
To uninstall the Access Suite Console, use Add or Remove Programs.
Management Console for MetaFrame Presentation Server
You can use the Presentation Server Console to manage any server farm in your deployment. Use the Presentation Server Console to:
• Configure server and farm settings
• Create administrator accounts and delegate tasks • Create policies for users’ connections
• View information about current sessions, users, and processes • Set up and manage printers for users
• Publish applications and monitor application usage
• Enter, activate, and assign MetaFrame Presentation Server licenses • Monitor, reset, disconnect, and reconnect sessions
• Send messages to users and shadow their sessions
Installation Manager, Load Manager, Resource Manager, and Network Manager are optional components that are installed with MetaFrame Presentation Server for Windows, Enterprise Edition. When these components are installed, additional features and functions are added to Presentation Server Console.
MetaFrame Presentation Server Setup installs the Presentation Server Console on each server in the farm by default. You can also use the MetaFrame Presentation Server CD to install the Presentation Server Console on other workstations you want to use to manage MetaFrame Presentation Server farms.
Important Earlier versions of the Presentation Server Console do not recognize settings you configure using the latest version of the Presentation Server Console.
If you run the console from devices that do not have MetaFrame Presentation Server installed, such as workstations or laptops, make sure to upgrade those devices to the latest version of the Presentation Server Console.
To use the Presentation Server Console, you must be a MetaFrame administrator. Administrators can have varying levels of access to areas of server farm