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Thursday 22 November 2012

1030 Connection Error - VDI-in-a-Box

Please check out www.kaztechsolutions.co.uk for more of my technical posts, alternately please call us on 01932 268289. 

Had an issue the other day on VDI-in-a-Box 5.1.1 where remote access was through a CAG 5.04 and i was getting the dreaded 1030 error!

Checked all the usual places to check for a 1030 error.

  • Is the STA generated from the vdiMrg in the CAG.
  • Used an SSL checker to see if the SSL was created correctly.
  • Checked that the vDesktop DHCP range is in the ICA access control list on the CAG.
  • CHecked that the correct ports are opened up on the firewall.
just to name a few.


If you log in to the vdiMgr console and go to advance properties and look under gateways ensure that you have specified the "Internal HDX gateway IP Addresses" which HAS TO point to the internal IP address of the CAG.



A way you can test if you 1030 error is because the "Internal HDX gateway IP Addresses" is wrong is by downloaded and saving the ICA file and seeing if it has been marked with the internal IP address of the vDesktops rather than with the STA.

Wednesday 7 November 2012

VDI-in-a-Box - Best Practices

Best Practices: Scale One by One

Creating the VDI-in-a-Box Grid
  • Start with one server then expand, or one image then expand
  • Scale the grid one server at a time
  • Keep host versions consistent
  • Assign static IP addresses to servers
  • Use of thin provisioning to cut down dramatically on disk space
  • Size your server using recommended best practice
  • Ensure that you can generate desktops and users can log on before adding a second or third or fourth server to the grid.
Joining servers to the Grid
  • Do not join multiple servers at the same time
  • Let the second server join, receive images, provision desktops before joining the third
Use IP addresses instead of DNS names
  • To remove the dependency on DNS
  • For setting up the hypervisor connection
  • For the vdiManager console when configuring the Grid
  • For the Active Directory User database connection
Create a base image
  • Start with an ISO to create a base published image
  • Test this base image first and use this to make additional copies for production
  • Keep image sizes small (20-30GB). Less storage space consumed
  • Create one domain administrator account for both user authentication (Active Directory) and for image syspreps
  • Minimize password changes to accounts. You can do this by creating special “Citrix” accounts
Ports
  • vdiManager <> Hypervisor | HTTP over SSL/TLS (HTTPS):443
  • vdiManager <> Active Directory | LDAP:389 | LDAP over SSL/TLS (LDAPS):636
  • Endpoint <> vdiManager | HTTP over SSL/TLS (HTTPS):443
  • Endpoint <> Secure Remote Access (CAG VPX) |HTTP over SSL/TLS (HTTPS):443
  • Desktop Receiver <> Virtual Desktop | ICA:1494 or 2598 RDP:3389

Logins and username and passwords
  • Management COnsole https://vdiMgrIPaddress/admin - Account: vdiadmin/kaviza
  • VDI-in-a-Box appliance logon (vdiMgrIPaddress) - User: kvm/kaviza123|User: root/kaviza123
  • User logon from a web browser https://vdiMgrIPaddres
  • User logon from the Java Client http://vdiMgrIPaddres/dt/vdiclient.jnlp
  • User logon from mobile devices http://vdiMgrIPaddres/dt/PNAgent/config.xml


Migrating the Datastore from SQL Express to SQL 2005 or SQL 2008

Please check out www.kaztechsolutions.co.uk for more of my technical posts, alternately please call us on 01932 268289. 

I was recently at a client that had a requirement to migrate their Datastore from an old XenApp server to the enterprise class SQL cluster, the only problem was that the Datastore was a SQL Express 2005 database and which was due to go on to a SQL 2008 instance.

Citrix offers  good pointers for migrating from Access to SQL/Oracle, Oracle to SQL, SQL to Oracle and same version SQL to SQL but nothing for SQL Express to SQL.

My saviour came in the form of Carl Webster (the accidental Citrix Admin) www.carlwebster.com.

Migrating from one database version to the other might be necessary to move the data store to a more powerful server. The best method for migrating between versions of the database is to back up and restore the database using the utilities provided by the database software vendor.
To point a Citrix XenApp Server farm to a new database complete the following steps. For the best performance, complete this procedure on the data collectors after all other servers are reconfigured.


Back up the existing farm database.

Create a new blank database on the destination SQL instance

Create a new DSN file that points to the new database:


Click Start -> Administrative Tools -> Data Sources (ODBC).

Note: What is ODBC?  This is taken from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/110093

"Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is Microsoft's strategic interface for accessing data in a heterogeneous environment of relational and non- relational database management systems. Based on the Call Level Interface specification of the SQL Access Group, ODBC provides an open, vendor- neutral way of accessing data stored in a variety of proprietary personal computer, minicomputer, and mainframe databases.
 
ODBC alleviates the need for independent software vendors and corporate developers to learn multiple application programming interfaces. ODBC now provides a universal data access interface. With ODBC, application developers can allow an application to concurrently access, view, and modify data from multiple, diverse databases."
Click the File DSN Tab.

Note:  What is the difference between "User DSN", "System DSN" and "File DSN"?  This is taken from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/213772.

User DSN: The User DSN is a data source that is user-specific. A User DSN is stored locally but is available only to the user who creates it.

System DSN: Unlike a User DSN, a System DSN is not user-specific. A System DSN is stored locally and is not dedicated to a particular user. Any user who logs on to a computer that has permission to access the data source can use a System DSN. Some programs, such as Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), require a System DSN. This DSN must be created on the server where the program is located. System DSNs are stored in the Windows registry under the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Odbc\Odbc.ini\Odbc Data sources

File DSN: The File DSN is created locally and can be shared with other users. The File DSN is file-based, which means that the .dsn file contains all the information required to connect to the data source. Note that you must install the ODBC driver locally to use a File DSN.  File DSNs are not stored in the Windows registry. The .dsn file is a text file that you can view in any text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad.

Change the Look in to C:\Program Files\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture.  The new DSN must be placed in this folder.  The IMASERVICE service is programmed to look in only this folder.

Click the Add button.

 Click on SQL Server and click Next.

Type in C:\Program Files\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture\WebsterFarmDSMF20.dsn and click Next.

Note: The DSN can be named anything as long as it has a .dsn file extension.  It does not need to contain "MF20" anywhere in the name.

Click Finish.

Enter a Description and type in the name of the SQL Server and click Next.

If a successful connection to the SQL Server is made click Next.  A common problem is the Windows Firewall is not configured to allow SQL traffic (TCP Port 1433).  To configure an instance of SQL Server 2005 to use a static port, follow the steps described in the "How to: Configure a Server to Listen on a Specific TCP Port (SQL Server Configuration Manager)" topic in SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

Note:  If SQL Server is set to use a static port, click Client Configuration, then uncheck Dynamically determine port and enter the value for the static port number.


 If the account listed in the grayed out Login ID authenticates successfully to the SQL Server, Change the default database to the new SQL Server data store and click Next

Note: One problem could be the Login ID account is not setup to access the SQL Server.

Click Finish.

Click Test Data Source.

If the message TESTS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY is shown, click OK.  Otherwise, you will need to troubleshoot the ODBC connection to the SQL Server.

 Click OK.

Your new DSN is created.  Click OK.

Run the dsmaint config command on the server with the new DSN file:

dsmaint CONFIG /user:LAB\Administrator /pwd:Password1 /dsn:"C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture\XA65LABDS.dsn"

Stop and restart the IMA Service.

Important: Restarting the IMA Service instead of restarting the server might cause the SNMP service to initiate Dr. Watson if SNMP is enabled. This error is benign.
Ensure that the server is pointing to the new data store by checking the following registry setting:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\IMA\DataSourceName
If the IMA Service started successfully, copy the new DSN file to all servers in the farm.
Run the dsmaint config command to change the IMA Service configuration on all remaining servers in the farm. 
Stop and restart the IMA Service on all servers in the farm.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Internet Explorer crashes in XenDesktop

Please check out www.kaztechsolutions.co.uk for more of my technical posts, alternately please call us on 01932 268289. 

Recently had issue in XenDesktop where IE would just randomly crash.  No event logged nothing!

Now I find there's a few ways that you can troubleshoot this problem.

Log directly in to a vDesktop and see if you can replicate the issue.
Check\Change the version of Citrix Receiver that is install on the endpoint.
Check\Change the version of flash that is installed on the endpoint.

If none of the above point you in the right direction try deleting the following regkey from the vDesktop and updating your MCS or PVS image.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\CtxHook\AppInit_Dlls\HDXMediaStreamForFlash\iexplore.exe