Senior Staff Engineer, Office of the CTO at Nerdio - on end user computing, virtualisation, modern device management, enterprise mobility, & automation
The independent R&D project ‘Virtual Reality Check’ (VRC) was started in early 2009 by Ruben Spruijt (@rspruijt) of PQR and Jeroen van de Kamp (@thejeroen) of Login Consultants, and focuses on research in the desktop and application virtualization market. Several white papers with Login VSI test results were published about the performance and best practices of different hypervisors, Microsoft Office versions, application virtualization solutions, Windows Operating Systems in server hosted desktop solutions and the impact of antivirus in VDI environments.
Separate to this article would be the process of creating the updated image - that could be done manually (by updating the existing master image), or by automating a new master image deployment with MDT, or any other method that you can think of.
Just as with creating the machine catalog, the PowerShell output from Studio when updating a catalog is a place to start - the code provided isn’t reusable without some effort to make it work.
Linking the Code to the UI
I’ll walk briefly through the wizards to show, in part, how the code relates to each step when updating a machine catalog via the Studio UI.
In this case, I’ve already created the machine catalog and updated my master image and created a snapshot. The hypervisor isn’t important because Citrix Studio abstracts this from the process when performing the update (I do need to be using the same infrastructure as the target catalog).
To find the snapshot to use, I’ve obtained the path to the master image and a specified snapshot via the Get-ChildItem command (on the path XDHyp:\HostingUnits<Storage Resource>). This is essentially a path/directory that I can parse - I’ve explicitly specified the master image and the snapshot to use. I need the path to the snapshot so that I can use that in the publish step for the image update.
Get-ChildItem"XDHyp:\HostingUnits\"
I can choose from a couple of rollout strategies for the image update - I can choose to update on next shutdown of the desktop, or update immediately (with a specified delay).
Start-BrokerRebootCycle is used to control the the reboot cycle, but this is called at the end of the script to ensure the update process is completed first.
Publish-ProvMasterVmImage is used to publish the image. The process can then be monitored by getting updates for the process via Get-ProvTask. I’ve opted to show a progress bar while the update is on-going before initiating the desktop reboot.
There’s plenty that the wizard does to hide the complexity of setting up a catalog from the administrator. If you attempt the same via PowerShell, what goes on under the hood is laid bare.
The Code
Below is the full code listing with comments inline that should provide some detail on the process the code follows. At this point the code provides some error checking for the most important steps. There are still some additional steps and error checking that could be integrated:
The code will get a specified snapshot from the target VM. I’ve done this to ensure I’m using the correct version of the image
Publish the image update to the catalog
Monitor the update process until completion
Start the desktop reboot cycle
At this stage, I haven’t added too much error checking, but an important step to add will be to check that the image update process was successful and rollback if it wasn’t.
#---------------------------------------------------------------------------## Author: Aaron Parker## Desc: Using PowerShell to update a XenDesktop 7.x machine catalog ## Date: Oct 27, 2014## Site: http://stealthpuppy.com#---------------------------------------------------------------------------## Set variables for the target infrastructure## ----------$adminAddress='xd71.home.stealthpuppy.com'#The XD Controller we're going to execute against$xdControllers='xd71.home.stealthpuppy.com'## Hypervisor and storage resources## These need to be configured in Studio prior to running this script## This script is hypervisor and management agnostic - just point to the right infrastructure$storageResource="HV2-EVOPro"#Storage$hostResource="Lab vCenter"#Hypervisor management## Master image properties$machineCatalogName="Windows 8 vSphere"$masterImage="Windows8*"$snapshot="VDA 7.6"$messageDetail="Your computer has been updated and will be automatically restarted in 15 minutes."$messageTitle="Help desk message"## ----------## Load the Citrix PowerShell modulesWrite-Verbose"Loading Citrix XenDesktop modules."Add-PSSnapinCitrix*## Get information from the hosting environment via the XD Controller## Get the storage resourceWrite-Verbose"Gathering storage and hypervisor connections from the XenDesktop infrastructure."$hostingUnit=Get-ChildItem-AdminAddress$adminAddress"XDHyp:\HostingUnits"|Where-Object{$_.PSChildName-like$storageResource}|Select-ObjectPSChildName,PsPath## Get the hypervisor management resources$hostConnection=Get-ChildItem-AdminAddress$adminAddress"XDHyp:\Connections"|Where-Object{$_.PSChildName-like$hostResource}## Get the broker connection to the hypervisor management## http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-broker-admin-v2-xd75/get-brokerhypervisorconnection-xd75.html$brokerHypConnection=Get-BrokerHypervisorConnection-AdminAddress$adminAddress-HypHypervisorConnectionUid$hostConnection.HypervisorConnectionUid## Set a provisioning scheme for the update process## http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-machinecreation-admin-v2-xd75/set-provschememetadata-xd75.html$ProvScheme=Set-ProvSchemeMetadata-AdminAddress$adminAddress-Name'ImageManagementPrep_DoImagePreparation'-ProvisioningSchemeName$machineCatalogName-Value'True'## Get the master VM image from the same storage resource we're going to deploy to. Could pull this from another storage resource available to the hostWrite-Verbose"Getting the snapshot details for the catalog: $machineCatalogName"$VM=Get-ChildItem-AdminAddress$adminAddress"XDHyp:\HostingUnits\$storageResource"|Where-Object{$_.ObjectType-eq"VM"-and$_.PSChildName-like$masterImage}## Get the snapshot details. This code will grab a specific snapshot, although you could grab the last in the list assuming it's the latest.$VMSnapshots=Get-ChildItem-AdminAddress$adminAddress$VM.FullPath-Recurse-Include*.snapshot$TargetSnapshot=$VMSnapshots|Where-Object{$_.FullName-eq"$snapshot.snapshot"}## Publish the image update to the machine catalog## http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-machinecreation-admin-v2-xd75/publish-provmastervmimage-xd75.html$PubTask=Publish-ProvMasterVmImage-AdminAddress$adminAddress-MasterImageVM$TargetSnapshot.FullPath-ProvisioningSchemeName$machineCatalogName-RunAsynchronously$provTask=Get-ProvTask-AdminAddress$adminAddress-TaskId$PubTask## Track progress of the image updateWrite-Verbose"Tracking progress of the machine creation task."$totalPercent=0While($provTask.Active-eq$True){Try{$totalPercent=If($provTask.TaskProgress){$provTask.TaskProgress}Else{0}}Catch{}Write-Progress-Activity"Provisioning image update"-Status"$totalPercent% Complete:"-percentcomplete$totalPercentSleep15$provTask=Get-ProvTask-AdminAddress$adminAddress-TaskId$PubTask}## Start the desktop reboot cycle to get the update to the actual desktops## http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-broker-admin-v2-xd75/start-brokerrebootcycle-xd75.htmlStart-BrokerRebootCycle-AdminAddress$adminAddress-InputObject@($machineCatalogName)-RebootDuration60-WarningDuration15-WarningMessage$messageDetail-WarningTitle$messageTitle
Comments or feedback on bugs, better ways to do things or additional steps is welcome. the code is provided as-is, so ensure you test before using in a production environment.
What may not be widely known is that you can add additional App-V publishing configuration to a XenDesktop site beyond what you see in the UI. This allows you to set publishing information per delivery group. Useful for complex XenDesktop sites such as multi-tenant environments.
Creating the App-V publishing information with PowerShell is a multi step process. You’ll need to create the publishing information with New-CtxAppVServer and then apply the configuration with New-BrokerMachineConfiguration.
Applying this in practice however may ultimately require testing the App-V management and publishing servers and ensuring that the configuration does not already exist before adding it.
So to do that, I’ve written a function that will take the App-V Management and Publishing servers as parameters, ensure that they test OK and check that the configuration does not already exist before importing the configuration into the site.
This function is fairly basic and while it does do some error checking, it could probably go a little further to ensure the configuration is applied successfully.
FunctionSet-CtxAppvConfig{<#
.SYNOPSIS
Sets new App-V publishing information in a XenDesktop site.
.DESCRIPTION
This function can be used to set or add App-V publishing information in a XenDesktop or XenApp 7.x site.
.PARAMETER AdminAddress
Specifies a remote XenDesktop controller to apply the configuration against. If omitted, the local host will be used instead.
.PARAMETER AppvMgmtSvr
Specifies a remote XenDesktop controller to apply the configuration against. If omitted, the local host will be used instead.
.PARAMETER AppvPubSvr
Specifies a remote XenDesktop controller to apply the configuration against. If omitted, the local host will be used instead.
.PARAMETER Description
Specifies a remote XenDesktop controller to apply the configuration against. If omitted, the local host will be used instead.
.EXAMPLE
Set-CtxAppvConfig -AdminAddress 'xd71.home.stealthpuppy.com' -AppvMgmtSvr 'http://appv1:8080' -AppvPubSvr 'http://appv1:80' -Description 'Created by PowerShell'
.NOTES.LINK
#>param([Parameter(Mandatory=$false,Position=0,HelpMessage="XenDesktop Controller address.")][string]$AdminAddress='localhost',[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=1,HelpMessage="Microsoft App-V Management Server address.")][string]$AppvMgmtSvr=$(throw="Please specify an App-V Management Server address."),[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=2,HelpMessage="Microsoft App-V Publishing Server address.")][string]$AppvPubSvr=$(throw="Please specify an App-V Publishing Server address."),[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=2,HelpMessage="App-V publishing configuration description.")][string]$Description=$(throw="Specify a description to apply to the App-V publishing information. Specify 'Created by Studio' to set the App-V publishing inforamtion viewed in Citrix Studio."))FunctionAdd-AppvConfig{# Add the AppV Server settings to the new specified settingsWrite-Verbose"Setting App-V Management Server to specified URI."#http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-appv-admin-v1-xd71/new-ctxappvserver-xd71.html$newAppvConfig=New-CtxAppVServer-ManagementServer$AppvMgmtSvr-PublishingServer$AppvPubSvr# Applying configuration to the siteWrite-Verbose"Saving configuration to the site."#http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-broker-admin-v2-xd75/new-brokermachineconfiguration-xd75.html$machineConfig=New-BrokerMachineConfiguration-AdminAddress$AdminAddress-ConfigurationSlotUid3-LeafName1-Description"Created by Studio"-Policy$newAppvConfig-Verbose}# Obtain FQDN from Management server URL$urlGroups=[regex]::Match($AppvMgmtSvr,'^(?<protocol>(http|https))://(?<fqdn>([^:]*))((:(?<port>\d+))?)').Groups# Test specified Management Server.Write-Verbose"Testing Management Server."If(Test-CtxAppVServer-AppVManagementServer$urlGroups["fqdn"].Value-ErrorActionSilentlyContinue-ErrorVariable$manError){Write-Verbose"Management Server tested OK."# Test specified Publishing ServerWrite-Verbose"Testing Publishing Server."If(Test-CtxAppVServer-AppVPublishingServer$AppvPubSvr-ErrorActionSilentlyContinue-ErrorVariable$pubError){Write-Verbose"Publishing Server tested OK."# Get any existing AppV configuration from the broker#http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-broker-admin-v2-xd71/get-brokermachineconfiguration-xd71.htmlIf($Config){Remove-VariableConfig}$Config=Get-BrokerMachineConfiguration-AdminAddress$AdminAddress-NameAppV*-ErrorActionSilentlyContinue$cfgMatch=$FalseIf($Config){ForEach($cfgin$Config){# Grab the AppV configuration details#http://support.citrix.com/proddocs/topic/citrix-appv-admin-v1-xd71/get-ctxappvserver-xd71.html$appvConfig=Get-CtxAppVServer-ByteArray$cfg.Policy# If the existing Management Server matches the specified Management ServerIf(($appvConfig.ManagementServer-eq$AppvMgmtSvr)-and($appvConfig.PublishingServer-eq$AppvPubSvr)){Write-Verbose"Specified config matches existing config."$cfgMatch=$True}}If(!($cfgMatch)){# Add configAdd-AppvConfig}Else{Write-Verbose"App-V configuration already exists."}}Else{# Add configAdd-AppvConfig}}Else{Write-Error"[Aborting] App-V Publishing Server test failed with: $pubError"}}Else{Write-Error"[Aborting] App-V Management Server test failed with: $manError"}}
Please ensure that you test thoroughly before using in a production environment. Comments or feedback on bugs, better ways to do things or additional steps is welcome.
Note - a very big thanks to David Wagner at Citrix (and team) for assisting with working out how to write the App-V publishing information that you see in the Studio UI. This is done by applying the description “Created with Studio” to the publishing configuration (presumably only the first configuration that you apply with that description).
in Applications on Citrix, Horizon, View, Vmware, Xenapp, Xendesktop
Is VMware Horizon View 6 RDS a viable replacement or competitor to Citrix XenApp? A competitor, most certainly. View RDS as a replacement for XenApp deserves further investigation and I recommend no assumptions be made as to the suitability of View RDS, especially if you are a current Citrix customer, or a VMware partner.
I’ve got a very simple setup in my home lab with a couple of machine running either Hyper-V or ESXi. I typically don’t have monitoring solutions running and manage each host directly, rather than part of a cluster or with SCVMM or vCenter. For Hyper-V, I try to manage it remotely via PowerShell as much as I can and so it’s handy to be able to see memory utilisation on the remote host to understand how much capacity I’ve got before powering on a VM. I’ve written a PowerShell function to return various memory stats:
Total RAM available in the host - using Get-VMHost.
Total memory in use by running VMs - by returning the running VMs and finding the current amount of RAM assigned to each VM with Get-VM. This works with dynamic memory.
Available memory to run additional VMs - using Get-Counter to gather the ‘\Memory\Available Bytes’ performance counter
How much memory is used by the system - this is calculated by adding what’s in use by VMs, to the available memory and subtracting the results from the physical RAM in the host. This is a rough calculation, but an interesting metric to view.
The function returns an array that includes each stat. Here’s an example of what the function returns. All values are in gigabytes and multiple hosts can be specified to gather details from.
Here’s the code listing for the Get-HvMem function:
FunctionGet-HvMem{<#
.SYNOPSIS
Return Hyper-V host RAM details.
.DESCRIPTION
This function returns the total available RAM, RAM in use by VMs and the available RAM on a Hyper-V host.
.PARAMETER ComputerName
Specifies one or more Hyper-V hosts to retrieve stats from.
.EXAMPLE
Get-HvRAM -ComputerName hyperv1
.NOTES.LINK
/hyperv-memory-powershell
#>param([Parameter(Mandatory=$true,Position=0,HelpMessage="Hyper-V host.")][string[]]$ComputerName=$(throw="Please specify a remote Hyper-V host to gather memory details from."))# Create an array to return$allStats=@()ForEach($computerin$ComputerName){# Create an array to contain this computer's metrics$a=@()# Get details for Hyper-V host$vmHost=Get-VMHost-ComputerName$computerIf($vmHost){# Get total RAM consumed by running VMs.$total=0Get-VM-ComputerName$computer|Where-Object{$_.State-eq"Running"}|Select-ObjectName,MemoryAssigned|ForEach-Object{$total=$total+$_.MemoryAssigned}#Get available RAM via performance counters$Bytes=Get-Counter-ComputerName$computer-Counter"\Memory\Available Bytes"# Convert values to GB$availGB=($Bytes[0].CounterSamples.CookedValue/1GB)$hostGB=($vmhost.MemoryCapacity/1GB)$vmInUse=($total/1GB)# Construct an array of properties to return$item=New-ObjectPSObject# Add host name$item|Add-Member-typeNoteProperty-Name'Name'-Value$vmHost.Name# Host RAM in GB$item|Add-Member-typeNoteProperty-Name'HostRAMGB'-Value$hostGB# In use RAM in GB$item|Add-Member-typeNoteProperty-Name'VMInUseGB'-Value$vmInUse# System used in GB$item|Add-Member-typeNoteProperty-Name'SystemUsedGB'-Value($hostGB-($vmInUse+$availGB))# Available RAM in GB$item|Add-Member-typeNoteProperty-Name'AvailableGB'-Value$availGB$a+=$item}# Add the current machine details to the array to return$allStats+=$a}Return$allStats}
Comments or feedback on bugs, better ways to do things or additional steps is welcome.
