Citrix Academy 2012

Maintaining the Environment

i
 Citrix Academy 2012

Table of Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
Operations and Maintenance..................................................................................................................................... 1
Citrix XenDesktop ..................................................................................................................... 2
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Periodic Tasks .............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Daily Periodic Tasks ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Weekly Periodic Tasks ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Yearly Periodic Tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Preventative Maintenance................................................................................................................................... 3
Citrix XenApp ............................................................................................................................ 4
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Periodic Tasks .............................................................................................................................................................. 4
Daily Periodic Tasks ............................................................................................................................................ 4
Weekly Periodic Tasks ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Yearly Periodic Tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Preventative Maintenance................................................................................................................................... 5
Citrix Provisioning Services....................................................................................................... 7
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Periodic Tasks .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Daily Periodic Tasks ............................................................................................................................................ 7
Weekly Periodic Tasks ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Yearly Periodic Tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Preventative Maintenance................................................................................................................................... 8

ii
 Citrix Academy 2012

Introduction
After a new XenDesktop environment has been designed and rolled out to production users, there are
ongoing tasks required to keep everything running smoothly. This document describes those periodic tasks
that are recommended to be executed to support the components of a new Citrix XenDesktop
infrastructure.

Operations and Maintenance

Monitoring the new environment enables administrators to address issues proactively. By having an in-
depth understanding of current and expected behavior of the various components, administrators are
better equipped to discover an issue before it impacts the user community.
Make sure to define the monitoring activities that administrators will perform on a periodic basis, as well
as the tools that will be used. In addition, determine which reports will be made available to
management.
A variety of built-in and customizable reports exist within the Citrix products so that administrators can
track trends, effectively plan capacity, and address auditing requirements. In addition, troubleshooting is
typically minimized when administrators fully utilize the tools integrated into the Platinum edition, as
well as other third party tools.
Citrix Consulting recommends that support staff and administrators involved in this implementation
review the product documents, articles, and guides to support, manage and administer the environment.
All of these documents are available from the Citrix Product Documentation Library
(http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/index.jsp) or on the Citrix Knowledge Base
(http://support.citrix.com).
The remaining sections of this document identify the maintenance tasks (daily, weekly, yearly and
preventative) required to support each component of the XenDesktop Platinum edition.

1
 Citrix Academy 2012

Citrix XenDesktop
The section describes the periodic tasks that are recommended to be executed to support the Citrix
XenDesktop infrastructure within the new environment.

Overview
Several tasks need to be performed to ensure a stable, scalable Citrix XenDesktop platform.
The team responsible for supporting and managing the Citrix XenDesktop infrastructure should
perform regular tasks that should be incorporated into the existing standard operating procedures.
These are usually broken down into daily, weekly or yearly tasks.

Periodic Tasks
Daily Periodic Tasks
The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenDesktop administrators on a daily basis:
Daily Tasks – Citrix XenDesktop
Checking of the event logs on all Citrix XenDesktop (Desktop Delivery
Event log checking
Controller) servers including Windows System, Application and Error logs.
Checking of the Citrix XenDesktop alerts in Desktop Studio needs to be
Citrix XenDesktop Alerts performed at least once per day to ensure no issues have occurred with the
Citrix XenDesktop environment.
Checking of Citrix XenDesktop specific application logs including the Pool
Check Citrix XenDesktop Management Logs. To assist with troubleshooting efforts, refer to
logs Comprehensive List of Event Log Messages for XenDesktop on
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX119978
Test Virtual Desktop Simulate a connection to ensure access to Desktop Groups (Pooled and
Access Assigned) is available to users.

Weekly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenDesktop administrators on a weekly basis:
Weekly Tasks – Citrix XenDesktop
Review Access Check the status of the Citrix XenDesktop Desktop Groups, Idle Pool count
Management Console and connectivity to backend hosting infrastructure.
Review the latest Citrix hotfixes and ascertain whether the XenDesktop
Hotfixes and Patches
Controller and virtual desktops require them.
Review the local installation of printer drivers on the virtual desktops, if
Printer Drivers
required for auto-creation.
Review Citrix Knowledge Review incidents logged for any common issues related to Citrix XenDesktop
Base for latest incidents on http://support.citrix.com/

2
 Citrix Academy 2012

Backup Citrix XenDesktop Perform full-data backup of the Citrix XenDesktop Datastore (could be a daily
Database task due to size of the transaction log)
Backup User Data Backup user-related file data.

Yearly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenDesktop administrators on a yearly basis:
Yearly Tasks – Citrix XenDesktop
Conduct backup tests to validate the actual restore process is functioning
Perform restore test
correctly.
Review Citrix Policies and determine whether new policies are required and
Citrix Policy Assessment
existing policies need to be updated.
Review and asses the requirement for new Citrix XenDesktop software
Software Upgrade
releases/versions.
Capacity Assessment Perform capacity assessment of the Citrix XenDesktop environment.

Preventative Maintenance
As a part of your preventative maintenance routine for your Citrix XenDesktop environment, Citrix
Xnapshot for XenDesktop should be run on regular three month intervals. This tool collects a
wealth of information about the underlying system and its configuration, such as BIOS information,
registry information, device drivers, Windows services, installed hotfixes, Citrix binaries, and Citrix
XenDesktop farm information.
Citrix recommends that the following key Microsoft Windows services be monitored on all of the
Citrix XenDesktop (Desktop Delivery Controller) servers to ensure reliability.
Citrix XenDesktop Services to be Monitored
Citrix Desktop Delivery Controller Service
Citrix Diagnostic Facility COM Server
Citrix Management Server
Citrix MFCOM Service
Citrix Pool Management Service
Citrix Services Manager
Citrix XTE Server
IPSEC Services
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Server
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
Workstation

3
 Citrix Academy 2012

Citrix XenApp
The section describes the periodic tasks that are recommended to be executed to support the Citrix XenApp
infrastructure within the new environment.

Overview
Several tasks need to be performed to ensure a stable, scalable Citrix XenApp platform.
The team responsible for supporting and managing the Citrix XenApp infrastructure should perform
regular tasks that should be incorporated into the existing standard operating procedures. These are
usually broken down into daily, weekly or yearly tasks.

Periodic Tasks
Daily Periodic Tasks
The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenApp administrators on a daily basis:
Daily Tasks – Citrix XenApp
Checking of the event logs on all Citrix XenApp servers including Windows
Event log checking
System, Application and Error logs.
All Citrix XenApp servers are rebooted on a regular basis as part of an
Reboot schedule checking automated process. Ensuring the reboot of the servers has been successful is
essential to maintain server health and performance.
Checking of the Citrix XenApp server alerts in the Access Management
Citrix XenApp Alerts Console needs to be performed at least once per day to ensure no issues have
occurred with the XenApp environment.
 Qfarm /load - to check that the load of the Citrix XenApp servers are
Suggested daily Citrix reporting correctly
XenApp commands to be
run  Qfarm /zone - to confirm that the correct Zone Data collector is assigned
 Qfarm /online - to confirm all Citrix XenApp servers are online
Test Application Access Simulate an ICA connection to ensure key applications are available to users.

Weekly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenApp administrators on a weekly basis:
Weekly Tasks – Citrix XenApp
Administration
Confirm that Citrix XenApp farm changes taken place during the previous
Configuration and Logging
week have been approved.
Reports
Citrix XenApp Commands
to be run  DSCheck.exe - verify that the contents of the datastore are still valid.

4
 Citrix Academy 2012

Review the latest Citrix hotfixes and ascertain whether the Citrix XenApp
Hotfixes and Patches
farm requires them.
Review Citrix Knowledge Review incidents logged for any common issues related to Citrix XenApp on
Base for latest incidents http://support.citrix.com/
Review the local installation of printer drivers on each Citrix XenApp server
Printer Drivers
to ensure no rogue drivers have been installed
Perform full-data backups of the following Citrix XenApp databases:
Backup Citrix XenApp  Citrix XenApp Datastore
related databases  Citrix SmartAuditor Datastore
 Citrix XenApp Configuration Logging Database
Backup User Data Backup user-related file data.
Backup Application Perform full-data backup of the Citrix XenApp application profiles used for
Profiles streaming.

Yearly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
XenApp administrators on a yearly basis:
Yearly Tasks – Citrix XenApp
Conduct backup tests to validate the actual restore process is functioning
Perform restore test
correctly.
Review Citrix Policies and determine whether new policies are required or
Citrix Policy Assessment
existing policies need to be updated.
Conduct functional Business Continuity Plan (BCP)/Disaster Recovery (DR)
Perform BCP/DR test
test to confirm DR readiness.
Assess the validity of applications. Review and asses the requirement for new
Software Upgrade
Citrix Web Interface software releases/versions.
Perform capacity assessment of the Citrix XenApp environment to determine
Capacity Assessment
environment utilization and any scalability requirements.

Preventative Maintenance
Citrix recommends that the following key Microsoft Windows services be monitored on all of the
Citrix XenApp servers to ensure reliability.
Citrix XenApp Services to be Monitored
Citrix Client Network
Citrix Diagnostic Facility COM Server
Citrix Encryption Service
Citrix Health Monitoring and Recovery
Citrix Independent Management Architecture
Citrix MFCOM Service
Citrix Print Manager Service

5
 Citrix Academy 2012

Citrix Services Manager

Citrix SMA Service
Citrix Streaming Service
Citrix WMI Service
Citrix XTE Server
Print Spooler
Server
Remote Desktop (Terminal) Services
Citrix Systems Monitoring Agent

6
 Citrix Academy 2012

Citrix Provisioning Services

The section describes the periodic tasks that are recommended to be executed to support the Citrix
Provision Services infrastructure within the new environment.

Overview
Several tasks need to be performed to ensure a stable, scalable Citrix Provisioning Services platform.
The team responsible for supporting and managing the Citrix Provisioning Services infrastructure
should perform regular tasks that should be incorporated into the existing standard operating
procedures framework. These are usually broken down into daily, weekly or yearly tasks.

Periodic Tasks
Daily Periodic Tasks
The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
Provisioning Services administrators on a daily basis:
Daily Tasks – Citrix Provisioning Services
Checking of the event logs on all Citrix Provisioning Servers including
Event log checking
Windows System, Application and Error logs.
Checking of Citrix Provisioning Server specific application logs including the
following:
Check Citrix Provisioning  Citrix Provisioning Server logs - %APPDATA%\Citrix\Provisioning
Server logs Services\logs
 Reference of PXE Error Codes -
http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120956
Check Citrix Provisioning Check the number of target devices connected to the Citrix Provisioning
Server utilization Servers and balance the load across the servers, if required.

Weekly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
Provisioning Services administrators on a weekly basis:
Weekly Tasks – Citrix Provisioning Services
Backup of Citrix Provisioning Server vDisk files (.VHD) on local and/or
Backup vDisk Image Files
shared storage.
Backup Citrix Provisioning Backup of Citrix Provisioning Server database hosted on SQL Server
Server Datastore infrastructure.
Review the latest Citrix hotfixes and ascertain whether the Citrix Provisioning
Hotfixes and Patches
Server farm requires them.
Review Citrix Knowledge Review incidents logged for any common issues related to Citrix Provisioning
Base for latest incidents Server on http://support.citrix.com/

7
 Citrix Academy 2012

Update the ‘golden’ vDisk image files and apply the following:
 Windows software updates and patches
Perform vDisk Updates  Operating system and application changes
 Anti-virus pattern and definitions updates
 Deploy updated vDisk version to target devices post update process
Review the storage utilization – used and free storage space for vDisks and
Check Storage Capacity
write cache files.
Check Auditing Reports Review the Citrix Provisioning Server Auditing Logs.
Check Network and Confirm DHCP, TFTP (or PXE, if applicable) and Streaming services are
Streaming Services functional.

Yearly Periodic Tasks

The following table outlines the necessary tasks that should be undertaken by the appropriate Citrix
Provisioning Services administrators on a yearly basis:
Yearly Tasks – Citrix Provisioning Services
Perform an archive of the Citrix Provisioning Server Audit Trail Information
Archive Audit Reports
for compliance requirements.
Update the vDisk desktop and/or server workloads (.VHD files) to reflect the
Update vDisk Workloads
current standard operating environment, if required.
Conduct backup tests to validate the actual restore process is functioning
Perform restore test
correctly.
Conduct functional Business Continuity Plan (BCP)/Disaster Recovery (DR)
Perform BCP/DR test
test to confirm DR readiness.
Review and asses the requirement for new Citrix Provisioning Server software
Software Upgrade
releases/versions.
Perform capacity assessment of the Citrix Provisioning Server environment to
Capacity Assessment determine environment utilization and scalability requirements including
server, storage and network components.

Preventative Maintenance
Citrix recommends that the following key Microsoft Windows services be monitored on all of the
Citrix Provisioning Services servers to ensure reliability.
Citrix Provisioning Services Services to be Monitored
Citrix PVS Soap Server
Citrix PVS Stream Service
Citrix PVS TFTP Service
Citrix PVS Two-Stage Boot Service
HTTP SSL (This is a service dependency for Citrix PVS Soap Server service)
DHCP Service (Located on Microsoft DHCP Server/s)

8
 Citrix Academy 2012

©2012 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix®, Access Gateway™, Branch Repeater™, Citrix
Repeater™, HDX™, XenServer™, XenApp™, XenDesktop™ and Citrix Delivery Center™ are
trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the
United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered
trademarks are property of their respective owners.