Certification Objective 5.03: Administering Use of the Citrix Management Console

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Administration of XP servers using the CMC is not restricted solely to XP sessions. Instead, the CMC can be installed on, and run from, a variety of connected workstations.

Installing the CMC

By default, the CMC is installed when MetaFrame XP is installed. However, if you are installing the CMC on a non-XP workstation or server that meets the necessary hardware and software requirements, choose the Citrix Management Console Setup option from the installation menu (shown in Figure 5-21).

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Figure 5-21: The MetaFrame XP installation setup screen

In this section, we discuss the following administrative tasks performed within the CMC:

  • Logging onto the CMC

  • Configuring server farm settings

  • Printer configuration and management

  • Publishing applications and monitor application usage

  • Licensing

  • ICA Client session management

  • Shadowing and sending messages

Exam Watch 

Remember, the CMC can be used to manage ONLY IMA-based MetaFrame XP servers, not non-IMA-based MetaFrame 1.8 servers.

Logging On to the CMC

Once you launch the CMC, you will be prompted to enter an account and password, which gives you rights to run the CMC. By default, the account you were logged in as when you installed MetaFrame XP is the only account given Citrix Administrator privileges, and thus it is the only account authorized to access the CMC. Once logged on to the CMC, you will have the opportunity to create additional accounts, called Citrix Administrators, with the right to launch and log on to the CMC. Figure 5-22 is an example of a typical CMC logon screen.


Figure 5-22: The Citrix Management Console logon screen

Exam Watch 

Remember, there is ONLY ONE Citrix Administrator account created by default during the installation of MetaFrame XP.

Configuring Farm and Server Settings

The configuration of server and farm properties is a two-fold endeavor. There are the options you select when XP is installed on the first server, as well as each extra server you add to the farm in addition to the settings. These can be configured on both the server and farm using the CMC.

Installation Options

Some configuration options are available only during installation of the XP product. These options are as follows:

  • Server farm name

  • ICA shadowing restrictions

  • Data store configuration

Operating Options

Once METAFRAME XP is installed, you can use the CMC to configure options on both the server farm and server levels. These options include management of ICA sessions, ICA display settings, zone configuration, performance, and 1.8-XP communication.

Server Farm Settings

The Server Farm node within the CMC expands, displaying the various components of the farm, such as Applications, Citrix Administrators, Licenses, Printer Management, and Servers.

By selecting the server farm within the CMC and choosing the Properties dialog box, you have the option to configure farm-wide settings. Any changes you make within the properties of the server farm will be applied to every server that is a member of the same farm. These settings will be applied when you choose OK. If you make any changes and then click Cancel, the changes are not applied to the server farm.

Five tabs are included in the GLOBAL Properties dialog box (shown in Figure 5-23).

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Figure 5-23: The GLOBAL Properties tab

  • ICA Display This tab controls the manner in which data is transmitted to the client. The default setting in this section of the server farm properties are optimized for client performance. In most cases, there will be no need to change these settings. However, if you have users who access the farm across low-bandwidth links, you may want to adjust these settings for optimal performance.  A useful tool when adjusting these settings is the Resource Limits dialog box. Here, you can scale back the amount of memory the ICA session is limited to use. In order to calculate the ICA client desktop size in KB, use the following example: an 800×600 desktop at 24 bits per pixel = 2.25MB.  If the amount of memory for the display size is exceeded, the client's session is either reduced in resolution or in color depth, depending on which option is selected from the preceding ICA Display properties.

Exam Watch 

TWCONFIG is a command-line utility to configure ICA display settings on a per-server basis. Using TWCONFIG from the command line affects only the ICA display options on the current server, not the entire farm. To set farm-wide ICA display options, use the CMC.

  • SNMP If you use an SNMP-based network management product, such as Tivoli NetView or HP OpenView, and you have the XP SNMP agent installed, you can configure the SNMP agent to send traps if the percentage of pooled licenses falls below the threshold you set in this area of the server farm properties.

  • MetaFrame Settings The Broadcast Response box within the MetaFrame settings tab allows you to configure whether data collectors and RAS servers in your server farm respond to UDP broadcasts from ICA clients.

    Choosing the Data Collectors Respond To ICA Client (UDP) Broadcast Messages check box can be useful when you have older client versions (pre-6.0) that use TCP/IP, instead of TCP/IP+HTTP, to auto-locate resources in the farm using broadcast UDP packets. Additionally, if selecting the UDP response option, you must also have Work With MetaFrame 1.8 Servers checkmarked on the Interoperability tab within the Server Farm Properties dialog box.  

    The RAS Servers Respond To ICA Client Broadcast Messages option is used when you have ICA Clients who access the network by dialing into a RAS server. Because ICA Clients communicate only with the RAS server, setting the RAS server to respond to broadcast messages allows the client to access resources within the farm from the RAS server.

  • Interoperability This tab is used to enable or disable interoperation with MetaFrame 1.8 servers within the same farm. Choosing the option Work With MetaFrame 1.8 Servers In The Farm allows MetaFrame 1.8 servers to be members of the current farm. Selecting this option also makes the Interoperability tab available to each server in the farm.

  • Zones All Citrix servers that reside on the same network subnet are members of the same zone, by default. In this tab, you can create additional zones, and rename or delete existing zones. Zones are helpful to improve performance and management in an enterprise server farm where you have geographically diverse servers in the farm. They have the ability to span subnets, and each zone contains one data collector, which is a MetaFrame server that receives information from each MetaFrame server in the zone. Additionally, data collectors act as communication gateways between zones in a server farm.

Exam Watch 

Data collectors in MetaFrame XP are similar to ICA Master browsers in MetaFrame 1.8, except that XP servers communicate with each other using TCP/IP, whereas 1.8 servers use UDP for server-to-server communication.

Exam Watch 

If there are two XP server farms configured to respond to ICA broadcast messages on the same subnet, ICA Clients will have difficulty browsing for published applications.

Printer Configuration and Management

The CMC offers administrators the ability to manage both local printers (any printer attached to a MetaFrame server) and network printers through the printer management utility within the CMC. To add network print servers to the CMC, right-click the printer management applet in the tree view and choose Import Network Print Server (shown in Figure 5-24). Once you have successfully imported your network printers, you can install and manage the appropriate printer drivers. Printer driver management features include the ability to control auto-replication and auto-update of printer drivers across the farm, a utility for noting incompatible drivers, and a mapping utility that writes directly to the wtsuprn.inf (for those of you who used the manual mapping utility in NT4 TSE). Printer Management options are displayed in Figure 5-24.

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Figure 5-24: Printer management options

Shadowing and Sending Messages

Shadowing is a useful tool allowing administrators to monitor and interact with user's sessions. Shadowing an ICA session is similar to using remote control software, like PC Anywhere. It allows the administrator to view and control by remote the full ICA session from their desktop.

When you install MetaFrame XP, you have the option to limit or disable shadowing. The options you choose during installation to enable or disable shadowing on the server are permanent and cannot be changed once MetaFrame is installed.

Sending messages from the CMC allows the administrator to send messages to users, or groups of users, to inform them of upcoming maintenance, system shutdowns, and other events. The message displays as a small dialog box within the user's ICA session.

Exercise 5-2: Shadowing a User

start example

To shadow a user perform the following steps:

  1. Log on to the CMC and highlight the server that the user is currently logged on to. (See Figure 5-25.) Right-click the user and choose Shadow from the drop-down list that appears.

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    Figure 5-25: Shadowing a user through the Citrix Management Console

  2. The Start Shadowing dialog box appears. (Figure 5-26).


    Figure 5-26: The Start Shadowing dialog box

  3. Choose the key sequence you will use to stop shadowing (shown in Figure 5-26) the user; then choose OK. The next screen you see will be the user's ICA session.

end example

Managing ICA Client Sessions

A variety of ICA client management utilities are available within the Users tab of the particular server you are viewing. The following defines and describes the use of each option available.

Disconnect

Allows the administrator to disconnect a user from their current session. The session remains open on the server and the user is able to reconnect to the disconnected session the next time they log on (provided that the server has not been rebooted).

Shadow

Allows the administrator to view and remotely control a user's session from the admin desktop. Be aware that shadowing has its limitations. For instance, your server may be configured to ask permission from the user in the ICA session before shadowing can commence. Additionally, the client device you are shadowing from must be capable of supporting the video resolution of the ICA session, otherwise shadowing will terminate.

Logoff

Logs the user off their current session and closes all associated session processes on the server. This option preserves data, as opposed to resetting sessions, which can cause data loss.

Send Message

Allows the administrator to send messages to the users while they are working in their ICA sessions. This can be valuable to remind users of upcoming system maintenance or impending system shutdowns. By default, the date and time will be displayed to users when they receive the messages sent to them within their ICA sessions.

On The Job 

It is best to always send a message out to all users on each MetaFrame server before you restart the server. This gives the user time to save their work and log off before system shutdown.

Reset

Resetting effectively deletes the session and results in loss of data for the user. Only reset a session when it is not responding or has malfunctioned. This is always the last recourse. It is best to use logoff or disconnect to manage user sessions.

Status

View or update the I/O status of a selected session. Table 5-5 displays the options within session status.

Table 5-5: Description of Session Status Options

Option

Detail

User

Name of the user account running the session

Session

Type of session, such as ICA-TCP#6, which means the client is running an ICA session over TCP/IP protocol and is connected to TCP port #6 on the MetaFrame server

I/O Status

Displays information on the rates of incoming and outgoing data to the session

Refresh Now

Updates the session information

Reset Counters

Sets the values of the I/O counters in the session to zero

Session Information

View details on the selected session. Details include client name, build number, product ID, hardware ID, address, color depth, buffers, resolution, username, encryption level, client license, server buffers, and modem name.

Licensing

The licensing tool within the CMC allows you to add server and connection licenses to your server, as well as assign licenses. It can also be used to track licensing within the server farm. License Management options are displayed in Figure 5-27.

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Figure 5-27: License management options

Using Server and Application Folders

With Citrix Management Console, you can group applications or servers in virtual folders. The grouping of applications or servers makes navigating through their console listings much easier.

By simply right-clicking either the applications or servers folders in the left pane of the CMC and choosing New Folder from the drop-down list, you can create new subfolders that allow an administrator to logically group applications and servers.

Exam Watch 

The folder structure within the Applications node is not related to, or reflected in, the folder structure for ICA Clients using Program Neighborhood.

Exercise 5-3: Creating a New Server and Application Folders

start example

Create New Server and Application folders by performing the following steps:

  1. Highlight and right-click either the Servers object or the Applications object within the CMC. Choose New Folder from the drop-down list. (See Figures 5-28 and 5-29.)

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    Figure 5-28: Creating a new server folder

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    Figure 5-29: Create New Application Folder

  2. Once you have created and named your folders, simply drag and drop the server or application into them within the CMC.

end example

Using Citrix Installation Manager

The Citrix Installation Manager (CIM) is used to install applications on multiple XP servers. There are three key components of the CIM, the CIM plug-in, which resides in the CMC console, the Installer service, which resides on target servers (which don't run on the CMC), and the Packager, which runs on a Windows NT 4.0 TSE Service Pack 5 or later, or a Windows 2000 Server running terminal services in application server mode. When the Citrix Installation Manager is loaded on your server, The Citrix Installation Manager, or CIM, plug-in is displayed in your CMC. Used to manage MSI and ADF packages and install applications on the target servers, the CIM packages are created using the packager component of the CIM on a separate, dedicated MetaFrame XP application server. The CIM plug-in in the CMC is used to manage and schedule package installations across a server farm. Figure 5-30 shows a view of the CIM plug-in within the CMC, as well as the options available.

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Figure 5-30: The Installation Manager options

start sidebar
From the Classroom-Potential Exam Questions

Although the exam will cover your knowledge of the entire MetaFrame platform, it is extremely likely you will be asked the following questions. Make sure you know the answers inside and out!

  1. What are the minimum installation requirements for the Citrix Management Console?

  2. By default, how many Citrix Administrator accounts are created during installation?

  3. Is it possible for MetaFrame 1.8 servers to be members of the same farm as MetaFrame XP servers?

  4. Is it possible to change the port that the XML service uses, and if so, what command-line utility allows administrators to do so?

  5. Can printer bandwidth allocation be set on the farm itself or only on the server properties?

-Heather Simpson, CCEA, CCA, MCSE

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CCA Citrix MetaFrame XP for Windows Administrator Study Guide Exam 70-220
CCA Citrix MetaFrame XP for Windows Administrator Study Guide (Exam 70-220)
ISBN: 0072193190
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 169

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