riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module Installation Guide

: June 3, 2024
: riverbed

Table of Contents

Overview
Deployment Overview
Documents / Resources

SteelCentral™ AppResponse
AppResponse Release 11.12.0
Citrix Analysis (CXA) Module
Installation and Configuration Guide
Version 11.12.0 November 2021

Overview

The Citrix Analysis (CXA) module is an optional feature module for SteelCentral AppResponse appliances. The CXA module delivers end-to-end network performance monitoring of Citrix activity in your network.
The CXA module requires its own feature license to be present on the hosting AppResponse appliance.
An ASA module feature license is a prerequisite for installing a CXA module license, as shown in this example of the AppResponse Licensing page.

Licrensing riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis
Module

Important Caveats

The CXA module supports XenApp versions 6.5 and later, and XenDesktop versions 7.X and later. Earlier major versions of XenApp and XenDesktop are not supported.
The CXA module is compatible with Aternity Agent version 11.0.1 and later. Earlier versions of the Aternity Agent are not supported.
Citrix servers on the back end must be added as preferred IP addresses to avoid them being topped out.
The CXA module is not supported on virtual AppResponse appliances that run on ESXi, and in AWS or Azure cloud.

Deployment Overview

Your deployment of the CXA module will consist of the following:

Aternity agents (v11.0.1 or later) running on your XenApp/XenDesktop servers/virtual desktops.
One or more AppResponse hardware appliances (each with an active CXA module license) that receive performance information from Aternity agents.
A SaaS-based or on-premise Aternity management server that manages the Aternity agents and collects end user experience (EUE) information from them.
The Aternity agents send Citrix-focused network performance information to AppResponse and send EUE information to the Aternity management server. These are shown as the green and dark red data feeds, respectively, in the sample deployment diagram below.

riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module - fig

Step 1: Installing and Configuring Aternity Management Server
The Aternity management server is available as SaaS or on-premise. You don’t need to install anything in your environment if you use Aternity SaaS. For information on how to install an on-premise Aternity management server, see https://help.aternity.com/bundle/console_install_guide_z_server_local/page/console/topics/agent_ig_install_1pc.html. This step must be completed before you install Aternity agents on your Citrix servers.

Step 2a: Installing and Configuring Aternity Agents for Aternity OnPremise (see Step 2b for
Aternity SaaS)
1. If you are using Aternity on-premise, download the Version 11.0.1 Agent software from the Riverbed support site:
https://support.riverbed.com/content/support/software/steelcentral- ap/aternity/agent.html
2. Once you have downloaded the agent software, you will need to make two modifications to the .bat file you will be using to install the agent. For XenApp, edit the Server.bat file. For XenDesktop, edit the VDI.bat file. For each:

The AGGREGATION_SERVERS parameter should be set to the hostname of your on-premise Aternity management server.
Add the following additional parameter to the .bat file:
APP_RESPONSE_URL=protocol://,where: – “protocol” is either HTTP or HTTPS – “AR11_address” is a valid AR11 IPv4 address or DNS name Note: The edited .bat file must reside and be executed on the targeted Citrix host. The .bat file must be run from an elevated command prompt. To do so, type “cmd” in the Windows search box, right-click on the command prompt option, select Run as Administrator, and, finally, from the elevated command prompt, execute the .bat file.

3. After you’re done with the preceding edits to downloaded agent software, follow the install and setup instructions at the following link: https://help.aternity.com/bundle/console_install_guide_z_server_local/page/console/topics/agent_ig_install_overview.html

Step 2b: Installing and Configuring SteelCentral Agents for Aternity SaaS (See Step 2a For Aternity On-Premise)
Send an Email to Aternity-SaaSAdmin@riverbed.com to request an account if you do not already have one. You should have received an Email with information about your Aternity SaaS account. Follow the steps below once you have your Aternity SaaS account.

Log in to your Aternity SaaS account.
Your Aternity SaaS account provides a preconfigured agent for mass deployment, accessible via Agent Download.
Click on Agent Download from the wheel icon at the top right of the screen; make certain to choose the Version 11.0.1 agent for Mass Deployment.
Once you have downloaded the agent software, you will need to make a few modifications to the .bat file you will be using to install the agent. For XenApp, edit the Server.bat file. For XenDesktop, edit the VDI.bat file.
Add the following additional parameter to the .bat file: APP_RESPONSE_URL=protocol:// , where:
“protocol” is either HTTP or HTTPS
“AR11_address” is a valid AR11 IPv4 address or DNS name
Note: The edited .bat file must reside and be executed on the targeted Citrix host. The .bat file must be run from an elevated command prompt. To do so, type “cmd” in the Windows search box, right-click on the command prompt option, select Run as Administrator, and, finally, from the elevated command prompt, execute the .bat file.
After you’re done with the preceding edit to downloaded agent software, follow the install and setup instructions at the following link:
https://help.aternity.com/bundle/console_install_guide_z_server_local/page/console/topics/agent_ig_install_overview.html

Step 3: Configure Aternity Agents for AppResponse CXA (Applies to Aternity On-Premise and SaaS)

Click Configuration > Integration Settings and enable the integration with AppResponse.
Click Security > License Provisioning. Click Edit Limits and increase the number of Virtual App Server Licenses to the number of Citrix devices (XenApp servers or XenDesktop VDIs) you want to monitor.
Install the Aternity Agent on each XenApp server and XenDesktop VDI.
A few minutes after agent installation, verify that the agents have been discovered automatically in Aternity. Click on Agent Administration from the wheel icon at the top right of the screen. The state of each should be “Active,” and the connection for each should show “Reporting.”
In Aternity, search for the hostname using the search box. Verify that you can see every Citrix server on which you installed an agent in the preceding steps. Select the host of interest and you will then navigate to the Troubleshooting page for that particular host. From the context menu at the left of the hostname, you can select Navigate in AppResponse to navigate to the Citrix Server Insight in AppResponse for the selected host.

Step 4: Configure the CXA Module On the AppResponse Appliance
The following configuration steps should be followed after you have installed and configured an AppResponse (hardware) appliance that will run the CXA module. If you don’t have an AppResponse appliance set up already, refer to the AppResponse 11 Installation Guide for your appliance model for installation instructions.

Verify in AppResponse (go to Administration > CXA Module) that the CXA module is available and enabled (this should be so, if a proper license has been installed).
If you upgraded your AppResponse appliance to version 11.8, you must make sure that you explicitly allocate disk space to store CXA performance data. You can verify this by viewing Administration > Storage Configuration, and clicking Data/Space Allocation in the Storage Configuration tab. Modify the allocation of the primary System/Data Volume, if necessary (see below). If you are using a fresh installation of version 11.8 (that is, you have not upgraded to 11.8 from an earlier version), this is not necessary.
The AppResponse appliance must be able to communicate with Aternity agents running on your Citrix servers. Configuring this communication is described in “Step 5: Configuring Communication Between AppResponse and Aternity Agents”. The CXA module combines information it receives from Aternity agents and the performance data it calculates from the packets it analyzes. In order for this to work correctly, the packets sent to the AppResponse appliance must include the packets exchanged between your Citrix servers and all the back-end servers they talk to, e.g., file servers, web servers, DB servers, Internet gateways etc.
Enable integration with Aternity; go to Administration > Integration: Integration Links, and look for the Aternity entry on the Riverbed Links tab. Populate the fields with information corresponding to your Aternity host. Note that your Aternity account ID can be found in the BACCT value (BACCT=nnn) included in the Aternity host’s URL.
If all of the configuration steps above have been completed, you should be able to see Citrix performance data in various CXA Insights.

Step 5: Configuring Communication Between AppResponse and Aternity Agents

Decide whether you want the Aternity Agent and AppResponse to communicate via HTTP or HTTPS. We strongly recommend HTTPS.
If you prefer HTTP, enable HTTP in the AppResponse web UI. To do this, go to Administration > System Settings: General, and click the Web Server Settings tab, and change the setting for HTTP Access to Enabled.
If you prefer HTTPS, create a new self-signed certificate or import an existing self-signed or Certificate Authority certificate. To do this in the AppResponse web UI,
– Click Administration > System Settings:General, and go to the Web Server Setting tab.
– Click Replace in the Certificate section and select either Add Your Own (for importing an existing self-signed or CA certificate) or Generate (for generating a new self- signed certificate).
– If you are using a self-signed certificate, select the IP address or DNS name of your AppResponse management interface for the certificate common name.
– Export the self-signed certificate (copy the content of the PEM section) and install it (register it as a trusted root certificate authority) on each monitored device (the device hosting the Aternity Agent).
– If you are using a CA certificate, verify that each CA is already registered as a trusted root certificate authority on each monitored device, and, if not, install the CA certificate, using same steps as for a self-signed certificate.
– If you do install new certificate(s) on the monitored device, the agent must be re-started.
Do this in the web UI at Administration > System Settings: General, then click the Web Server Settings tab. Click Replace in the Certificate section, and select Add Your Own (for an existing certificate) or Generate (for a new certificate) in the Specify Certificate dialog. Export the certificate, install it on each SteelCentral Agent, and register it in the Microsoft trusted store. Refer to http://www.sqlservermart.com/HowTo/Windows_Import_Certificate.aspx if you’re not familiar with this process.
Make certain that the AppResponse appliance and the monitored devices on which you installed SteelCentral Agents all use NTP and have their time synched to the same time server.

Viewing Citrix Data
The CXA module furnishes the AppResponse web UI with several useful drilldowns for viewing Citrix data.
The Navigator provides a Citrix Analysis group that provides access to a variety of Citrix data. riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module - fig
2 In addition, several Citrix-specific Insights are provided:

The Citrix Servers Insight. Click Insights > Citrix: Citrix Servers.

riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module - fig 4

The Citrix Users Insight. Click Insights > Citrix: Citrix Users.

riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module - fig 5

The Citrix User Sessions Insight. Click Insights > Citrix: Citrix User Sessions.

riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module - fig 6

Citrix Analysis (CXA) Module Installation and
Configuration Guide

Documents / Resources

| riverbed SteelCentral Citrix Analysis Module [pdf] Installation Guide
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