Overview of DABCC Basic Troubleshooting of Network Performance Issues Items that affect Slow logons Citrix Print Process Printer Auto-creation Flow (client side) Printer Auto-creation Flow (server side) Introduction to Advanced Print Manager from DABCC

(1)

Citrix Users Group

Douglas A. Brown

(2)

Agenda

Overview of DABCC

Basic Troubleshooting of Network Performance

Issues

Items that affect Slow logons

Citrix Print Process

Printer Auto-creation Flow (client side)

Printer Auto-creation Flow (server side)

Introduction to Advanced Print Manager from

DABCC

Overview of DABCC

Basic Troubleshooting of Network Performance

Issues

Items that affect Slow logons

Citrix Print Process

Printer Auto-creation Flow (client side)

Printer Auto-creation Flow (server side)

(3)

Network Performance

(4)

Issues that constitutes a “Slow Network”

What constitutes a “slow network”?

–

Slow internal network…

–

Slow logons?

–

Slow server(s)? (next webinar)

Is perception reality?

What constitutes a “slow network”?

–

Slow internal network…

–

Slow logons?

–

Slow server(s)? (next webinar)

(5)

Network Performance Issues

Get back to the basics

–

Verify the HDDs are in order through a chkdsk

–

Make sure the HDDs are kept defragged

–

Cleanup temp directories

–

Make sure there is enough HDD space available on

the system

Name resolution / DNS issues

–

DNS is very important in Active directory

environments. Verify DNS is configured properly.

–

For more information view:

–

Understanding and Troubleshooting DNS in Windows 2000 training from

Microsoft

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330511

Get back to the basics

–

Verify the HDDs are in order through a chkdsk

–

Make sure the HDDs are kept defragged

–

Cleanup temp directories

–

Make sure there is enough HDD space available on

the system

Name resolution / DNS issues

–

DNS is very important in Active directory

environments. Verify DNS is configured properly.

–

For more information view:

–

Understanding and Troubleshooting DNS in Windows 2000 training from

(6)

Network Performance Issues

Is an Anti-virus program Installed?

–

How is it configured?

–

Make sure it is NOT monitoring ALL files… This can cause extreme

slowdowns

Bad hardware?

–

Verify cables, even a CAT 5 cable can test OK but cause issues

resulting in slowness

–

Verify the network card on a slow server is not dropping a lot of

packets

–

Move the cable from one port to another or from one switch /

hub to another

TCP/IP misconfigured?

–

Verify all settings are correct in the TCP/IP settings box

Is an Anti-virus program Installed?

–

How is it configured?

–

Make sure it is NOT monitoring ALL files… This can cause extreme

slowdowns

Bad hardware?

–

Verify cables, even a CAT 5 cable can test OK but cause issues

resulting in slowness

–

Verify the network card on a slow server is not dropping a lot of

packets

–

Move the cable from one port to another or from one switch /

hub to another

TCP/IP misconfigured?

(7)

Duplex mismatch?

–

Duplex mismatch is very common in most networks

and can cause extreme slowdowns. It is highly

recommended to “hard code” all NICs and ports to

the fastest speed possible on all cards / hubs /

switches.

Duplex mismatch?

–

Duplex mismatch is very common in most networks

and can cause extreme slowdowns. It is highly

recommended to “hard code” all NICs and ports to

the fastest speed possible on all cards / hubs /

(8)

Items that affect Slow

logons

(9)

Items that affect Slow Logon Times

How long does it take your users to logon?

Items that affect Slow Logon Times

How long does it take your users to logon?

Are your end users complaining about slow

logons? (perception is reality!)

Logon times will very from company to company

and end-user to end-user

There is not a hard set rule on how fast or slow a

logon should be… The best thing we can do is

follow the following best practices and set the

proper expectations!

How do you find out how long it takes them to

truly logon?

–

Stopwatch?

–

Trust the end-user?

–

Premitech Performance Guard!

Are your end users complaining about slow

logons? (perception is reality!)

Logon times will very from company to company

and end-user to end-user

There is not a hard set rule on how fast or slow a

logon should be… The best thing we can do is

follow the following best practices and set the

proper expectations!

How do you find out how long it takes them to

truly logon?

–

Stopwatch?

–

Trust the end-user?

(10)

Slow Logon Times

What factors contribute to them?

Slow Logon Times

What factors contribute to them?

Logon times are affected by many items

below are just a few:

•

Citrix vs. Terminal Services

•

Profiles

•

Login scripts

•

Applications that are loading during logon

•

Fonts

•

Plus much, much more…

Logon times are affected by many items

below are just a few:

•

Citrix vs. Terminal Services

•

Profiles

•

Login scripts

•

Applications that are loading during logon

•

Fonts

(11)

Slow Logon Times

Based on the items that can affect an end-users logon

time an administrator needs to step through them and

follow the following best practices

Does it take the same amount of time on a TS box as a

MPS box?

Log logon events generated by: userenv.dll. This will

show you every the happens during logon.

–

For more information on how to enable logging please refer to:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;221833

Cmstart.exe is responsible for all the Citrix related

activities such as mapping printers, drives, ports, etc…

–

You can remove this executable from the Winlogon key and

launch it from a login script to improve perception of logon times

Based on the items that can affect an end-users logon

time an administrator needs to step through them and

follow the following best practices

Does it take the same amount of time on a TS box as a

MPS box?

Log logon events generated by:

userenv.dll

. This will

show you every the happens during logon.

–

For more information on how to enable logging please refer to:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;221833

Cmstart.exe

is responsible for all the Citrix related

activities such as mapping printers, drives, ports, etc…

–

You can remove this executable from the Winlogon key and

(12)

Slow Logon Times

Features of MPS to be aware of

Slow Logon Times

The following additional items are part of a

MPS login and in return could slow the

perception of logon.

–

Time zones support

– Slows down a login time

considerably. If you have end-users that will be

roaming from time-zone to time-zone then it is

best to use the Citrix Policy to enable time zone

support

–

Printers

–client printers are auto-created during

logon. Each printer will need to be analyzed and

auto-created during logon. This takes time! It is

recommended to set MPS to auto-create printers

in the background in order to allow end-user to

get to work quicker.

The following additional items are part of a

MPS login and in return could slow the

perception of logon.

–

Time zones support

– Slows down a login time

considerably. If you have end-users that will be

roaming from time-zone to time-zone then it is

best to use the Citrix Policy to enable time zone

support

–

Printers

–client printers are auto-created during

(13)

Slow Logon Times

–

Client Drives –

By default all local client drives

are auto-created during logon. Depending on the

number of client drives you will want to auto-create

only what is needed. This can be done by

auto-creating only:

–

Local drives

–

Network drives

–

CDROM

–

Floppy

–

Citrix Policies is the best way to define what

client drives are to be auto-created and from

whom.

–

Client Drives –

By default all local client drives

are auto-created during logon. Depending on the

number of client drives you will want to auto-create

only what is needed. This can be done by

auto-creating only:

–

Local drives

–

Network drives

–

CDROM

–

Floppy

–

Citrix Policies is the best way to define what

(14)

Slow Logon Times

Features of MPS to be aware of

–

COM & LPT ports –

by default MPS analyzes

and auto-connects any devices connected to

COM and or LPT ports. Unless you are using a

device requiring one of those ports then it is a

best practice to disable it.

Citrix Policies are the best way to define what

client drives are to be auto-created and from

whom.

Use the SMC Console found in the Citrix Server

SDK – www.citrix.com/cdn

–

COM & LPT ports –

by default MPS analyzes

and auto-connects any devices connected to

COM and or LPT ports. Unless you are using a

device requiring one of those ports then it is a

best practice to disable it.

Citrix Policies are the best way to define what

client drives are to be auto-created and from

whom.

(15)

Slow Logon Times

Profiles

Slow Logon Times

Profiles

A user profile exists for all users logging on

to a Terminal Services box and in most cases

slow logons are caused by large and

unmanaged profiles.

First thing you need to do is decide upon

what the best type of profile is for your

environment

–

Mandatory

–

Roaming

–

Hybrid

–

Flex

A user profile exists for all users logging on

to a Terminal Services box and in most cases

slow logons are caused by large and

unmanaged profiles.

First thing you need to do is decide upon

what the best type of profile is for your

environment

(16)

What to do about slow logon times?

Profiles

Verify the size of a users profile

Verify what information is being stored in a

profile. Some of the common items that chew

up a lot of space are:

–

Temporary Internet Files

–

Temp files

–

Desktop data

–

My Documents

Microsoft Active Directory item direction

works great for addressing these issues

(found as a GPO)

Verify the size of a users profile

Verify what information is being stored in a

profile. Some of the common items that chew

up a lot of space are:

–

Temporary Internet Files

–

Temp files

–

Desktop data

–

My Documents

(17)

Profiles

Look into 3

rd

party profile replacements:

–

Simplify Profile (RegSet) – from triCerat, Inc.

http://www.tricerat.com

–

Flex Profile – Log.In Constants

http://www.loginconsultants.nl

–

Custom solution – Citrix Consulting Services

Contact your local Citrix partner

Use Microsoft’s User’s Profile Hive Cleaner

(UPHClean) to remove stuck profiles from the

users registry

Look into 3

rd

party profile replacements:

–

Simplify Profile (RegSet) – from triCerat, Inc.

http://www.tricerat.com

–

Flex Profile – Log.In Constants

http://www.loginconsultants.nl

–

Custom solution – Citrix Consulting Services

Contact your local Citrix partner

(18)

Programs Launching at Startup

Identify applications and services being

started during logon:

–

Key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\

CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

Value: AppSetup

Data: This is a comma-separated list of executables that run

at session startup

–

Key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Value: The name of a program to run

Data: The path of the program to run

Identify applications and services being

started during logon:

–

Key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\

CurrentVersion\Winlogon\

Value: AppSetup

Data: This is a comma-separated list of executables that run

at session startup

–

Key: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

(19)

What to do about slow logon times?

Login Scripts

Login script

– Over time login scripts can

become big, cumbersome and littered with a slew

of conditionals that can slow down a users login

considerably.

It is a best practice to go through all login scripts

and consolidate what is possible and remove

what is not needed!

Fonts

– Some applications have troubles

searching for fonts by name. It will cause a big

black screen for one to up to 20 minutes. To

overcome this issue add the fonts location to the

end of the environment path.

–

;%SystemRoot%\Fonts

Login script

– Over time login scripts can

become big, cumbersome and littered with a slew

of conditionals that can slow down a users login

considerably.

It is a best practice to go through all login scripts

and consolidate what is possible and remove

what is not needed!

Fonts

– Some applications have troubles

searching for fonts by name. It will cause a big

black screen for one to up to 20 minutes. To

overcome this issue add the fonts location to the

end of the environment path.

(20)

Login Scripts

Update to the Latest Client – 6.x versions of the

ICA client are known to cause slow logons

related to user permissions. Update to the latest

client to over come this issue

Microsoft Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000

affects slow logons on both the MetaFrame XP

and 1.8 platforms.

–

The issue has been addressed with patch 824309 -

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us

;824309

Update to the Latest Client – 6.x versions of the

ICA client are known to cause slow logons

related to user permissions. Update to the latest

client to over come this issue

Microsoft Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000

affects slow logons on both the MetaFrame XP

and 1.8 platforms.

–

The issue has been addressed with patch

824309

-

(21)

A Close look at Citrix

Auto-created Printers

(22)

ICA Printing Virtual Channel

ICA

Transport

Protocol

Client Printer Mapping

Client Drive Mapping

ICA Display

Client LPT Port Mapping

Downstream Audio

ICA

Protocol

can

support

for up to

32 virtual

channels

Printing over ICA uses a unique virtual channel

(23)

Client-Defined Printer: Autocreation Process

(24)

Printer Definitions

Auto-created

(Requires the client network)

–

Locally Attached

–

Info stored in HKLM

–

Locally Defined

–

Info stored in the user’s profile

Autoconnected

–

Imported print queues assigned to users

–

Retained in the data store

Manually Mapped

–

Mapped from inside the session

–

Retained in the users’ profile

–

HKCU/Printers/Connections

Auto-created

–

Locally Attached

–

Info stored in HKLM

–

Locally Defined

–

Autoconnected

–

Imported print queues assigned to users

–

Retained in the data store

Manually Mapped

–

Mapped from inside the session

(25)

Printer Autocreation

•

Server Requests the printer

information

•

Wfica indexes and enumerates

the client’s printer information.

•

The ICA virtual channels are

used to communicate with the

server. (CTXCTL)

SD

ESC

DLT

(26)

Printer Autocreation: Client Side

The basic questions MPS needs to be

answered……

–

What port?

–

Printer name?

–

Which print driver?

Answered by Wfica(ICA client engine)

The basic questions MPS needs to be

answered……

–

What port?

–

Printer name?

–

Which print driver?

(27)

Printer Autocreation: Client Side

Printer User Interface (on local client)

–

Locally Attached

– Black Ice PDF Writer

– Canon Bubble-Jet

– Panasonic KX-P6500

–

Locally Defined

(28)

Auto-created

–

Locally Attached

–

Info stored in

(29)

Printer Autocreation: Client Side

Auto-created

–

Locally Defined

–

(30)

Printer Autocreation: Server Side

Session Initialization Autocreated Printers Allowed? Approved? OR Mapped?

Driver Match in

Registry? Silent Install? Organized Printer Data Printer Already Exist? Build Print Queue Additional Printers? End Process NO NO NO NO YES YES YES NO YES YES NO

Complete Auto-creation process!

FR2

–

A driver can only be mapped

OR restricted.

FR3 & MPS3

–

A print driver can be restricted

AND M

apped

(31)

Client informs the server what

virtual channels it supports.

Wfshell: IMA flags are checked

–

Per server or per farm restrictions

–

Check for Feature Release license

Ctxlogon:

–

Asynchronous or Synchronous

Wfshell:

–

List the client side printers

–

Get the user’s SID

–

Check user’s profile for printer info

Client informs the server what

virtual channels it supports.

Wfshell: IMA flags are checked

–

Per server or per farm restrictions

–

Check for Feature Release license

Ctxlogon:

–

Asynchronous or Synchronous

Wfshell:

–

List the client side printers

–

Get the user’s SID

–

Check user’s profile for printer info

(32)

Printer Autocreation: Server Side

Wfshell:

–

Checks to see if the printer is allowed

–

Determines if printer info resides in

Profile

–

Checks for the printer in HKLM\CCS\

Cntrl\Print\Printers

–

Calls are made to build the printer

Cdmprov.dll: Calls into

Spoolsv.exe

–

Locates the server driver

–

Checks for mapping

–

Checks for native driver

Wfshell:

–

Checks to see if the printer is allowed

–

Determines if printer info resides in

Profile

–

Checks for the printer in HKLM\CCS\

Cntrl\Print\Printers

–

Calls are made to build the printer

Cdmprov.dll: Calls into

Spoolsv.exe

–

Locates the server driver

–

Checks for mapping

–

Checks for native driver

(33)

Driver Match in

Registry?

Silent Install?

Build Print

Queue

YES

NO

YES

Cdmprov.dll: Calls into Spoolsv.exe

–

Locates the server driver

–

Registry HKLM\CCS\CNTRL\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\

Version-3\

printer model name

–

Silent Install

(34)

•

With FR3 & MPS 3.0 you can disable the silent install process

(35)

Try avoiding version-2 kernel mode drivers

Give users write access to %systemroot%\system\spool to

handle third-party printer drivers that are not 100% TS aware

NEVER install untested printer drivers on a production

server/farm

Do not install ALL native printer drivers on the server

(unneeded growth of the datastore, and will slow down logon

performance)

Use mappings when available

Use UPD when at all possible

Scheduled spooler restart and spool dir cleanup during server

reboot is fighting problem symptoms, not the problem source

Try avoiding version-2 kernel mode drivers

Give users write access to %systemroot%\system\spool to

handle third-party printer drivers that are not 100% TS aware

NEVER install untested printer drivers on a production

server/farm

Do not install ALL native printer drivers on the server

(unneeded growth of the datastore, and will slow down logon

performance)

Use mappings when available

Use UPD when at all possible

Scheduled spooler restart and spool dir cleanup during server

reboot is fighting problem symptoms, not the problem source

Best Practices on Keeping a Stable Spooler

(36)

Advanced Print Manager™

Terminal Services Printer Driver Management

(37)

Complete Printer

Driver error

monitoring and

mapping solution

Perform in minutes

what can take hours

or even days

Designed to monitor

the following

solutions:

–

Citrix® MetaFrame®

Presentation Server

–

Microsoft® Windows®

Terminal Services

Complete Printer

Driver error

monitoring and

mapping solution

Perform in minutes

what can take hours

or even days

Designed to monitor

the following

solutions:

–

Citrix® MetaFrame®

Presentation Server

–

Microsoft® Windows®

(38)

DEMO!

(39)

Terminal Services Printer Driver Management

On Sale NOW!

For sales & pricing

information please

email:

[email protected]

and or visit:

www.dabcc.com/apm

On Sale NOW!

For sales & pricing

information please

email:

[email protected]

and or visit:

www.dabcc.com/apm

To download an evaluation please

visit:

www.dabcc.com/apm

(40)

Any Questions?

(41)