Certification Objective 6.02: Shadowing with the Shadow Taskbar

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Undoubtedly, one of the most useful features of Citrix technology is the ability to shadow an ICA session. Shadowing allows administrators to view, or even interact with a user's ICA session. When a Citrix administrator shadows a user session, the administrator and the Citrix user can both see the ICA session at the same time. Logic would dictate that the capability of shadowing an ICA session was originally intended for management and administration. Being able to shadow an ICA session certainly provides administrators with a powerful tool for dealing with those pesky users who keep calling for support, but the shadowing feature lends itself well to a number of different scenarios. Shadowing an ICA session can be the ideal solution for providing users in remote locations with training, presentations, or support.

As the popularity of the shadowing feature increased, so did the scenarios in which people used the feature. Inherently, Citrix added a more robust utility for shadowing ICA sessions known as the Shadow Taskbar. Citrix users can be shadowed from the Citrix Server Administration tool, the Citrix Management Console, or even from a command line. However, using the Shadow Taskbar provides a very easy way to shadow users with more robust shadowing capabilities. The Shadow Taskbar also has the ability to shadow ICA sessions from the console of a Citrix server, a capability that the Citrix Server Administration tool lacks.

The Shadow Taskbar (Figure 6-8) uses the ICA client that is installed on the Citrix server where the taskbar is running. When using the Shadow Taskbar, the ICA client on the server creates a separate ICA session for each user the administrator wishes to shadow. By default ICA connections are configured so that the user must grant the administrator permission to shadow his or her session. Using the Citrix Connection Configuration utility, administrators can change these options for a particular ICA connection. Administrators can control the shadowing settings for a particular ICA connection or adjust it for a particular user level. Administrators can configure the following settings for an ICA connection or an individual user:

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Figure 6-8: The Shadow Taskbar

  • Disable Shadowing By default, shadowing is enabled for all users and ICA connections.

  • Input On/Off By default, input is turned on. Administrators can set this option to Off, allowing ICA sessions to only be monitored.

  • Notify On/Off By default, notification is turned on. By setting this option to Off, Citrix users cannot deny administrators access to an ICA session.

  • Inherit user config Selecting this option tells the Citrix server to use the shadowing options that have been configured for each particular user in User Manager For Domains.

Exercise 6-2: Shadowing Multiple Users with the Shadow Taskbar

start example
  1. Log on to a Citrix server with an administrative user account and open the Shadow Taskbar.

  2. From a client workstation, create three connections to the Citrix server and log on to all three sessions with any user account.

  3. Use the Shadow button from the Shadow Taskbar to open up the Shadow Session dialog box.

  4. Locate the three ICA sessions from the list of available users in the left pane of the Shadow Session dialog box. Use the Add button to add the users to the list of shadowed users in the right pane and select OK.

  5. An ICA session should now be created for each of the three client connections, allowing you to shadow all three connections simultaneously.

  6. Right-click the Shadow Taskbar and select the option to Cascade Shadowed Sessions. This should provide you with a cascaded view of all three sessions.

  7. Right-click the Shadow Taskbar again and select the option to End All Shadowed Sessions. This will disconnect you from all sessions you are shadowing.

end example

Additional features available with the Shadow Taskbar include logging capabilities and ICA port selection. Again, these features are not available in the Citrix Server Administration tool. If logging is enabled for the Shadow Taskbar, information regarding shadowed sessions will be stored in a log file that the administrator selects. The shadow log will keep information regarding the start and finish of shadowed sessions. The Shadow Taskbar also allows administrators to select an ICA port, which may be necessary for users who are connecting to an alternate ICA port. Citrix servers listen for ICA connections on TCP port 1494 by default, but this setting can be changed to accept connections on an alternate port, such as, port 80. If this setting has been altered, administrators will have to select the alternate port to shadow users with the Shadow Taskbar.

Exam Watch 

There are multiple ways a Citrix administrator can shadow an ICA session. Don't be surprised if you see a few questions about the advantages of using the Shadow Taskbar. Remember that ICA sessions cannot be shadowed from a server console using the Citrix Server Administration tool, but the Shadow Taskbar provides this functionality.

Multiple ICA sessions can be shadowed simultaneously using the Shadow Taskbar from a single location. Shadowing multiple ICA sessions is an ideal solution for training a classroom or monitoring the actions of users. The Shadow Taskbar allows administrators to shadow Citrix users, but non-administrators can also use the utility to have shadowing capabilities over their own ICA sessions. Advanced Citrix users may need to monitor several of their own sessions simultaneously, but administrators may not want them to have access to the Citrix Server Administration tool. Using the Shadow Taskbar solves this issue by providing normal users with limited administration capabilities.

When selecting a user or a group of users to shadow, administrators are presented with a list of available users in the Shadow Session dialog box, as shown in Figure 6-9. Users are organized by server, published application, or username. Administrators can select one or more users from the left pane in the Shadow Session dialog box. Once the user or users have been selected, the Add button is employed to add the user(s) to the list of shadowed users. Likewise, the Remove button removes a user or users from the list of shadowed users. When the administrator clicks the OK button, an ICA session is created for each of the shadowed users, and the administrator is now shadowing the selected users.

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Figure 6-9: The Shadow Session dialog box

On The Job 

ICA sessions can be shadowed from the Citrix Management Console, the Citrix Server Administration tool, or even from a command line. However, you will not be able to use any of these options if you are logged on to the console of a Citrix server. Keep in mind that the Shadow Taskbar will allow you to shadow ICA sessions from an ICA client device, as well as from the console of the server.

Shadowed sessions are displayed in the form of a button that appears on the Shadow Taskbar. Administrators can move from session to session by simply clicking the desired button from the Shadow Taskbar. When shadowing multiple users, sessions can also be cascaded for easy viewing and navigation. Administrators can disconnect from a session by right-clicking the session or can disconnect from all sessions by right-clicking directly the Shadow Taskbar.



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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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