QoS Indicator for Citrix StoreFront

After the successful release of Setting user Expectations, which showed you how to add a QoS (Quality of Service) indicator to the NetScaler logon screen, I've had requests for a similar indicator for StoreFront. 

As a bonus, we will have the display auto-refresh at a custom-defined interval. We will set it to every 15 seconds, but you can very easily modify that.

Note: The code in this post has been written for StoreFront version 2203. The code may need to be tweaked for other versions of StoreFront.

All of the modifications may be done via updates within the custom directory of the site, which means that they will be replicated to all servers in the StoreFront group when you propagate. 

The following code should be added to script.js (in the custom directory):

  // QoS refresh interval
  var refreshIntervalSecs = 15;

   // QoS latency ranges - max value for range, class name for graphic, legend

   var aLatencyRanges = 

[[20,"qos-excellent","Excellent"],

[50,"qos-verygood","Very Good"],

[75,"qos-good","Good"],

[150,"qos-fair","Fair"],

[99999,"qos-poor","Poor"]];

    // image to download to calculate Time To First Byte (TTFB) 

    var testImgUrl = "custom/images/FourBars.png";

//This method calculates the time it takes for the image to load 

function checkLatency(url, callback) {

var t=[], n=2, tcp, rtt;

var ld = function() {

   t.push(+new Date);

   if(t.length > n) {

rtt=t[2]-t[1];

callback(rtt);

   }

   else {

var img = new Image;

img.onload = ld;

img.src=url+"?" + Math.random() + '=' + new Date;

   }

};

ld();

}

function displayQoS(latency) {

   // for refresh, we need to remove the current image class

   var currClass = $("#QoSimage").attr('class');

   $("#QoSimage").removeClass(currClass);

   for (i=0; i<aLatencyRanges.length;i++) {

if(latency<=aLatencyRanges[i][0]) {

var QoSclass = aLatencyRanges[i][1];

var QoSinfo = aLatencyRanges[i][2] + ' (' + latency + ' ms.)';

$("#QoSval").html(QoSinfo);

$("#QoSimage").addClass(QoSclass);

break;

}

   }

}

function RunQoS() {

  // file to use for testing, and callback routine

  checkLatency(testImgUrl, displayQoS);

}

// wait until StoreFront has been loaded

$(document).ready(function() {

   // add the QoS DIVs

   var $qos = $("<div id='QoSinfo'><a href='custom/ConnectionQuality.html'><div id='QoSimage'></div><div id='QoSRight'><div id='QoStext'>Connection Quality:</div><div id='QoSval'></div></div></a></div>");

   // Important: This selector is for StoreFront version 2203

   //                  The selector may be different for other versions of StoreFront

   $qos.insertBefore("#searchBtn");

   // run QoS ... run twice the first time to remove handshake overhead

   RunQoS(); RunQoS();

   // now set up auto refresh

   var refreshIntervalms = refreshIntervalSecs * 1000;

   window.setInterval(RunQoS, refreshIntervalms); 

});

Let's style the above (size, color, font, etc.) by adding the following to style.css (in the custom directory):

#QoSinfo {

margin-right: 100px;

width: 200px;

margin-top: 20px;

height: 40px;

color: white;

}

#QoSimage {

height: 40px;

width: 70px;

margin-top: -7px;

position: absolute;

margin-right: -50px;

}

#QoSRight {

display: inline-block;

font-size: 12px;

height: 40px;

margin-left: 77px;

}

#QoSval,#QoStext {

font-style: italic;

color:white;

font-weight: bold;

}

.qos-excellent {

background-image : url('../custom/images/FourBars.png'); 

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-position: center;

}

.qos-verygood {

background-image : url('../custom/images/ThreeBars.png'); 

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-position: center;

}

.qos-good {

background-image : url('../custom/images/TwoBars.png'); 

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-position: center;

}

.qos-fair {

background-image : url('../custom/images/OneBar.png'); 

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-position: center;

}

.qos-poor {

background-image : url('../custom/images/NoBars.png'); 

background-repeat: no-repeat;

background-position: center;

}

Notice that we added a hyperlink in the code above, so clicking on the QoS description brings up a legend of the QoS ranges. You can download that file here: ConnectionQuality.html.

 

Complete Code

You can download all of the code for the StoreFront QoS Indicator here.

Setting User Expectations - Part 3

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how to create a QoS indicator to inform the user of their expected experience before they even logon by making a few simple changes to the NetScaler. In Part 2 of the series, we added a graphical representation of the results. In this final installment, we will add a reference page that will display the various ranges of the QoS indicator to the user.

All of the graphics needed have already been created and uploaded in Part 2. We simply need to create a page that references the various ranges, and change the display into a hyperlink that when clicked, opens up the reference page.

You can download the above page here: 

https://samjacobs.sharefile.com/d-s4eaf8e876fe449afada749110b5ae48c

Let's modify the original display by adding a hyperlink to the above page. 

Make a backup of our original file: /var/netscaler/logon/LogonPoint/tmindex.html

Open up the file and search for:

QoStext.innerHTML = 'Connection Strength:<br>'+QoSrange;

Add a hyperlink to our reference page by changing the above to:

QoStext.innerHTML = '<a href="QoS.html">Connection Strength:<br>'+QoSrange+'</a>';

Then save the file. Now when you click on the text of the QoS indicator, the reference page will be displayed.

 

Complete Code Solution

You can find a complete copy of the code here.

Setting User Expectations - Part 2

 In Part 1 of this series, we discussed how to create a QoS indicator to inform the user of their expected experience before they even logon by making a few simple changes to the NetScaler. In part 2 of the series, we will add a graphical representation of the results. The strength of the connection will be represented by the number of bars in the graphic - the more bars, the stronger the connection.

The first step will be to upload the bar images which may be found here:
https://samjacobs.sharefile.com/d-s15afc8842d044e8cb6f0da39dc6e0381

into the following directory:

/var/netscaler/logon/themes/QoS/custom_media.

Next, we need to add some css to the file: /var/netscaler/logon/themes/QoS/css/theme.css.

Insert the following:

#QoSbars {
   display:table-cell;   
   min-width:70px;
   height:40px;
}

.FourBars, .ThreeBars, .TwoBars, .OneBar, .NoBars {
   min-width:70px;
   height:40px;
   background-repeat: no-repeat;
}

.FourBars {
   background-image: url("../custom_media/FourBars.png");
}
.ThreeBars {
   background-image: url("../custom_media/ThreeBars.png");
}
.TwoBars {
   background-image: url("../custom_media/TwoBars.png");
}
.OneBar {
   background-image: url("../custom_media/OneBar.png");
}
.NoBars {
   background-image: url("../custom_media/NoBars.png");
}

The above changes need to be made to the primary NetScaler node and will be replicated to the secondary node.

The final changes need to be made to the file: /var/logon/LogonPoint/tmindex.html.

After making a backup, open the file and look for the following code (that we added in Part 1):

<div id="QoSinfo">

   <div id="QoStext">&nbsp;</div>

</div>

Add the following line after the QoSinfo <div>:

<div id="QoSbars" class="ThreeBars">&nbsp;</div>

Then, scroll to the bottom of the file to find where you added the JavaScript code, and replace the entire <script> section that you added with the below. You can customize your ranges by simply changing the values in the aLatencyRanges array below. The default below says that anything 50 ms. or below is considered Excellent, 51-100 ms. is Very Good, 101-130 ms is Good, 131-200 is Fair, and 200+ ms. is Poor.

<script>

    // QoS latency ranges - max value for range, class name for graphic, legend

    var aLatencyRanges = 

        [[50,"FourBars","Excellent"],

         [100,"ThreeBars","Very Good"],

         [130,"TwoBars","Good"],

         [200,"OneBar","Fair"],

         [99999,"NoBars","Poor"]];

    

    var testImgUrl = "https://" + location.hostname + "/vpn/images/Tick32.gif";

    

    //alert ("Using image: " + testImgUrl);

    //This method calculates the time it takes for the image to load 

    function checkLatency(url, callback) {

        //alert("checkLatency()...");

        var t=[], n=2, tcp, rtt;

        var ld = function() {

           t.push(+new Date);

           if(t.length > n) {

             rtt=t[2]-t[1];

             callback(rtt);

           }

           else {

             var img = new Image;

             img.onload = ld;

             img.src=url+"?" + Math.random() + '=' + new Date;

           }

        };

            

        ld();

    }

    

    function displayQoS(latency) {

        var QoSbars = document.getElementById("QoSbars");

        var QoStext = document.getElementById("QoStext");

    

        for (i=0; i<aLatencyRanges.length;i++) {

            if(latency<=aLatencyRanges[i][0]) {

                var QoSclass = aLatencyRanges[i][1];

                var QoSrange = aLatencyRanges[i][2] + ' (' + latency + ' ms.)';

    

                QoSbars.className = QoSclass;

                QoStext.innerHTML = 'Connection Strength:<br>'+QoSrange; 

    

                break;

            }

        }

    }

        

    function runQoS() {

       checkLatency(testImgUrl, displayQoS);

    }

    runQoS();

    // end of QoS modifications

    </script>

Now when you browse to your logon page, in addition to having the connection strength is milliseconds, you will also have the strength displayed graphically.

Setting User Expectations - Part 1

One of the main gripes from Citrix administrators are clients complaining that Citrix is slow when the issue is not anything in the Citrix infrastructure, but rather at the user's endpoint. This can include issues such as the user's PC (e.g. slow or pegged CPU), or a weak Wi-Fi connection. 

In this 3-part series, I will show you how to set the user's expectations before they even log on by placing what I call a QoS (Quality of Service) indicator on your NetScaler's logon page. This is accomplished by measuring what is known as Time To First Byte (TTFB). TTFB is a metric that measures the time between the request for a resource and when the first byte of a response begins to arrive by downloading a very small file from the NetScaler.

For this series, we will be using firmware version 13.1 of NetScaler, and we will be using the RfWebUI (Receiver for Web UI) theme. The tool we will use for most of our work will be WinSCP - a free secure copy utility (https://winscp.net/eng/download.php).

In Part 1, we will get the basics of the QoS indicator done, and when finished, it should look something like this:

We begin by creating a NetScaler theme which will contain the look and feel of our customizations. The easier way to do this is by opening up a PuTTY (terminal emulation software) session to the primary node and entering:

add vpn portaltheme QoS -basetheme RfWebUI

These changes will be replicated from the primary node to the secondary node. Make sure you make these changes to the primary, or they will be removed the next time the config is synched from the primary node.

The above command will create a new theme called QoS in the following directory: /var/netscaler/logon/themes. 

Open the file /var/netscaler/logon/themes/QoS/css/theme.css and insert the following:

#QoSinfo {
   display:table-row;
   height:125px;
   width:250px;
   float:right;
   color: #fff;
}
#QoStext {
   display:table-cell;
   font-family:'Open Sans', sans-serif;
   font-size:12px;
   width:170px;
   min-height:30px;
   margin-left:10px;
   vertical-align:middle;
   padding-top:7px;
   text-align:left;
}
#QoStext a {
   color:white;
}

Then save the file.

We then need to make a backup up of the following file on the NetScaler: /var/logon/LogonPoint/tmindex.html.  Open the file. Around line 386, you should see:

<div class="logon-spacer"></div>

Add the following lines between <div class="logon-spacer"> and </div>:

<div id="QoSinfo">
  <div id="QoStext">&nbsp;</div>
</div>

This is where the QoS indicator will be inserted on the screen.

When done, it should look like this:

The final step will be to insert the JavaScript code for the Time To First Byte calculation and to insert the result into the QoStext <div> above.

Scroll to the bottom of the file and locate the following two lines:

<script src="receiver/js/ctxs.core.min.js"></script>
<script src="receiver/js/ctxs.webui.min.js"></script>

Insert the following:

    <script>
     var testImgUrl = "https://" + location.hostname + "/vpn/images/Tick32.gif";
     function checkLatency(url, callback) {
        //alert("checkLatency()...");
        var t=[], n=2, tcp, rtt;
        var ld = function() {
           t.push(+new Date);
           if(t.length > n) {
             rtt=t[2]-t[1];
             callback(rtt);
           }
           else {
             var img = new Image;
             img.onload = ld;
             img.src=url+"?" + Math.random() + '=' + new Date;
           }
        };
        ld();
    }
    function displayQoS(latency) {
         var QoStext = document.getElementById("QoStext");
         for (i=0; i<aLatencyRanges.length;i++) {
            if(latency<=aLatencyRanges[i][0]) {
                var QoSclass = aLatencyRanges[i][1];
                var QoSrange = aLatencyRanges[i][2] + ' (' + latency + ' ms.)';
                 QoStext.innerHTML = 'Connection Strength:<br>'+QoSrange; 
                 break;
            }
        }
    }  
    function runQoS() {
       checkLatency(testImgUrl, displayQoS);
    }

    runQoS();
    </script>

Then save the file. Note: if you have an HA pair, any changes to this file must be done to both NetScalers - source code changes are not replicated between the nodes.

That's it! In Part 2, we will add a graphical representation of the QoS indicator.

Citrix Application Performance Reports

 A user had the following request:

I have a Citrix XA/XD 7.15 LTSR environment and would like to write performance data for two applications (Ex: App1, App2) to an Excel spreadsheet using a Powershell script with the following information:

- Application launch and load times
- Application usage report with the number of users for a particular timespan

Please see the linked PowerShell scripts below. You will need to modify the variables $SQLServer and $SQLDBName for your environment and run the scripts as a Citrix Admin with rights to the Director Monitoring database.

Get-AppLogonDuration.ps1 - will create a report on logon duration for the specified applications for the past x days (defaults to 7).

Examples:

    >.\Get-AppLogonDuration.ps1 -days 3

    Will display information for ALL applications for the past 3 days

    >.\Get-AppLogonDuration.ps1 -apps "'Notepad','SnippingTool'" | Sort StartDate -Desc

    Will display information for the applications 'Notepad' and 'SnippingTool' for the past 7 days (default),

    and sort latest entries first

   

   >.\Get-AppLogonDuration.ps1 -days 30 | Sort LogonSecs -Desc | Select -first 10

    Will show the longest 10 logon times over the past 30 days

Get-UniqueAppCounts.ps1 - will create a report on the number of unique users executing the specified applications for the specified duration

Examples:

    >.\Get-UniqueAppCounts.ps1 -days 3

    Will display counts for all applications for the past 3 days

    >.\Get-UniqueAppCounts.ps1 -apps "'Notepad','SnippingTool'"

    Will display counts for the applications 'Notepad' and 'SnippingTool' for the past 7 days (default).

Kill a User's Citrix Desktop or Application Session

 A user asked for an easy way via PowerShell to kill a user's Citrix application or desktop session.

On one of the Delivery Controllers, save the below script as Logoff-Sessions.ps1, and execute it. 

You will be prompted for the username (entered as domain\username), and then all of the user's sessions will be listed.

You will be asked for confirmation when you make your selection before logging the session off.

Function Logoff-Session {

    # logoff a specified user's session

    asnp Citrix*

    $user = Read-Host -Prompt "Enter User Name (domain\user format)"

    if ($user -ne '') {

        $sessions = @(Get-BrokerSession | ? username -eq $user |

            Select  @{n='SessionKey'; e={$_.SessionKey}},

                    @{n='Host/Desktop'; e={$_.MachineName}},

                    @{n='Application(s)'; e={$_.ApplicationsInUse}})

        if ($sessions.count -eq 0) {

            Write-Host "Sorry ... there are no applications active for $($user)."

        } else {

            Write-Host 'Session#'.Padright(10) 'Host/Desktop'.PadRight(30) 'Application(s)'

            for ($i=0; $i -lt $sessions.Count; ++$i) {

                $sessnum = $i + 1

                Write-Host $sessnum.ToString().PadLeft(5) '    ' $sessions[$i].'Host/Desktop'.PadRight(30) $sessions[$i].'Application(s)'

            }

            $logoff = Read-Host "Which session would you like to log off (0 to exit)?"

            if ($logoff -eq 0 -or $logoff -eq '') {

                return

            }

            if ($logoff -le $sessions.Count) {

                $sessnum = $logoff - 1

                Write-Host $sessions[$sessnum].'Host/Desktop'.PadRight(30) $sessions[$sessnum].'Application(s)'

                $yn = Read-Host "Is this the session you would like to logoff (Y/N)?"

                if ($yn -eq 'Y') {

                    Stop-BrokerSession $sessions[$sessnum].SessionKey

                }

            }

        }

    }

}

Request from a forum user:

I'm running Citrix 7.15 Enterprise edition. Can I get a PowerShell script to retrieve a count of disconnected sessions and available machines in each delivery group ? I would like to send the output to a .csv file.

Here is a very simple way to accomplish this via PowerShell:

Add-PSSnapIn Citrix*
Get-BrokerDesktopGroup | Sort-Object Name | Select-Object Name, 
DesktopsDisconnected, DesktopsAvailable |
Export-Csv -Path "C:\temp\DGinfo.csv" -NoTypeInformation