What is Citrix?

Citrix allows you to install, publish and manage applications from one central location. These published applications
can then be securely access from anywhere in the world using any client device over any connection (ex. Web
Interface, Program Neighborhood, and Citrix Program Neighborhood Agent) using the Citrix ICA client, which
requires minimal bandwidth and can virtually be installed on any Operating System.
Some key Citrix Features:
Map Local Client Drives when establishing a connection to an Application.
Access Printers connected to the Citrix Server, Client Workstation or Network Printers when
connected to an Application.
Load Balance Applications across servers
Published Applications or Desktop
Leverage Resource Manager to view Statistical data pertaining to the Citrix Farm.
Leverage Installation Manager to deploy applications or hot fixes to other Citrix Servers in the Farm.
Provide secure connection using various levels of encryption (128 bit, 128 bit login only, 56 bit,40 bit
or Basic encryption) and SSL using Secure Gateway or SSL Relay.
2.What is Data store
Data store is the place where all static information are stored (i.e Farm configuration information ,
Published Application details, Server configurations info., Policy configuration ,Administrator
accounts, and Printer configurations details etc.)
3.What is Zone Data Collector?
Data Collector stores all the dynamic information like sessions, load and published applications in the
servers in their zones and communicates the zone information to the Data Collectors in other zones in
the farm. Data collector is whose IMA service takes on the additional role of tracking all of
the dynamic information of other Presentation Servers. This information is stored in memory
and called as dynamic store. The data store is a database on disk. The dynamic store is information
stored in memory. To look the contents of the in-memory dynamic store on the data collector, use
queryds command. QueryDS can be found in the "support\debug" folder of your Presentation Server
installation source files. To determine which server is acting as the data collector in the zone run
"query farm /zone"from the command line
4) How big a zone can get?
Its just a matter of looking at the traffic patterns. For instance, do you want one single data collector updating 1000
servers whenever you make a change to the environment (one zone), or do you want two data collectors to each
update only 500 servers (one zone).
5) When would you suggest creating new farm?
When you want the member servers talk to different datastore like a test environment;
6) What is a Data Store?
This is the place where all the static information are stored. Farm configuration information, Published Application
configurations, Server configurations, Static policy configuration, XenApp administrator accounts, and Printer
configurations) that all servers can refer.
7) How to migrate datastore database from SQL2000 to SQL2005 OR How to recover datastore
database?
Restore the DB to new server

Change mf20.dsn on all servers starting with data collectors

Restart IMA service on all servers
8) How to find out the datastore database server name?
Examine the DSN file which contains the connection details to the database.
C:\Program Files\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture\MF20.dsn
The following is an example of an MF20.dsn file from a server connecting to a remote SQL Server instance:
[ODBC]
DRIVER=SQL Server
UID=useraccount
Address=MySqlServer,1433
Network=DBMSSOCN
DATABASE=myfarmdb
WSID=MyMfServer
APP=Citrix IMA
SERVER=MySqlServer
9) How to verify Datastore DB connectivity?
To determine if a server is communicating regularly with the data store, check the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CITRIX\IMA\DataStoreFailureTime
If the value is all zeros, the MetaFrame server is communicating with the data store.
10) How often does the member servers check datastore database?
By default, every 30 minutes.
11) what happens if datastore connectivity is lost?
If the server loses its connection to the central data store, theres no limit to how long it will continue to function.
(In MetaFrame XP, this is limited to 48 or 96 hours, but that was because the data store also store license
information.) But today, the server can run forever from the LHC and wont even skip a beat if the central
connection is lost. In fact now you can even reboot the server when the central data store is down, and the IMA
service will start from the LHC with out any problem. (Older versions of MetaFrame required a registry modification
to start the IMA service from the LHC.)
12) How will you remove Citrix server from the farm?
If the server is unresponsive, remove it by right click on server in the console.
For functional server, remove it from add/remove programs
use CHFARM command
13) How will you remove citrix server from the datastore DB?
When citrix is uninstalled from the server, it cleans the entry from data store database. Additionally you can run this
command to remove the entry from Datastore DB.
DSCHECK /servername
14) How to clean up datastore database?
DSCHEK without parameters will check for consistency and clean up the database. /clean parameter can be used to
clean up specific server/application from the datastore but use with caution.
15) How do you troubleshoot printing issues?
Check print spooler service
Check printer mapping errors in event log
Check printer driver availability n compatibility
Check printer policies for over rides

16) Have you configured session printers?

Through policies.
Add the printer drivers first, map thee printer and then assign to user/group
17) What does secure gateway d0?
18) What are monitors in Netscaler?
Netscaler uses monitors to track the status of back end servers. These monitors can be http, tcp, ping etc
19) What would you do if you see a service down in Netscaler?
Try pinging the actual server from netscaler CLI and verify its responding
20) Have you configured Netscaler?
16) Can you monitor Citrix services through EdgeSight?
17) How do you configure alerts in EdgeSight?
18) How many users can you host on XenApp 6.5 vs XenApp 5.0?
19) How do you manage capacity planning?
20) What are the challenges that you have faced in current environment?
21) XML service is down. What happens?
22) XML service down on serverA which has 10 applications; can you access the applications?
23) What is Citrix XML service?
The Citrix XML server is a component of Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop thats used to enumerates available
resources and provide secure tickets for users that to use the WebInterface or CloudGateway.
XML service has two functions:

Communicating with the XenApp farm / XenDesktop zones; the XML broker

Generating and validating secure ticket to authorize users, the Secure Ticket Authority (STA)

24) How to change the port used by XML service?

By default XML service uses port 80. But citrix recommends using port 8080 inorder to avoid conflicts with IIS.
To change the port used by XML service:
In XenApp 6 and above this can be changed via Citrix policies.
In Earlier versions Use the ctxxmlss command-line utility. This can be done by unloading the Citrix XML Service
with /u, changing the port with /r<port number> and restarting the XML service.
ctxxmlss /u
ctxxmlss /r8080
An alternative method is by changing the port in the registry (and restart the Citrix XML service after changing).

Key :HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\CtxHTTP
Value: TCP Port
The value is listed in hex, you need to change the view to decimal.
25) Explain Citrix Load Levels?
The following are explanations of the load levels:
9999 : No load balancing installed
0 to 9998 : normal load level
10000! :
Application is disabled for this server
10000 :
Load is at 100%
10001 :
Out of licenses
10002 :
Indicates that no ICA connections, listener is disabled, are available on that server.
20000 :
Citrix server is unable to reach license server
26)How to recover Citrix License Server?
The Citrix servers can function without contacting the license server and it is 30-days fault tolerant, and in
Enterprise version an alert can be set with Resource Manager to send an email in case of License Server Connection
Failure. If the license server reconnects at any time in the thirty days the problem resolves itself. If the server is not
going to come back up, then the license file, digitally signed with the case-sensitive hostname of the old license
server, is the critical component. The license file, a *.lic file, can be backed up to a thumb drive separately, and
restored to a new server with the same name of the old license server, and the Citrix License server software
installed.
27)How to recover from IMA failing?
There are many reasons that the IMA Service doesnt start
1. IMA Service load time
2. IMA Service subsystem
3. Missing Temp directory
4. Print spooler service
5. ODBC configuration
6. Roaming Profile
Check the Windows Registry setting: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixIMARuntimeCurrentlyLoadingPlugin
If there is no value specified in the CurrentlyLoadingPlugin portion of the above Windows Registry entry then the
IMA Service could not connect to the data store or the local host cache is missing or corrupt.
If a CurrentlyLoadingPlugin value is specified the IMA Service made a connection to the data store and the value
displayed is the name of the IMA Service subsystem that failed to load.
If administrators see an IMA Service Failed error message with an error code of 2147483649 when starting the
Presentation Server the local system account might be missing a Temp directory which is required for the IMA
Service to run.
Change the IMA Service startup account to the local administrator and restart the server. If the IMA Service is
successful in starting under the local administrator account then it is likely that a missing Temp directory for the
local system account is causing the problem.
If the Temp directory is not present then manually create one as >Temp. For example: C:\Windows\Temp
Also verify that the TMP and TEMP system environment variables point to the temporary directory. Restart the
server to restart the IMA Service
28) What is new in XenApp 6.5?
Session Lingering
Session Pre-Launch
App Center
Load Evaluators assigned to Worker Groups or OUs instead of individual servers
Datastore and Zone information configured via GPO
Sesssion Only and Controller roles
Desktop Director web console can manage XenApp sessions
MultiStream ICA ica traffic can be split into four separate TCP streams if required
Log On control feauture to drain users
Citrix Xenapp Interview Questions And Answers:
1. What is Citrix XML Service?

The Citrix XML Service is used by clients connecting over the TCP/IP+HTTP protocol and the Web Interface for
MetaFrame Presentation Server.
The Citrix XML Service Port is used by the ICA Client for connection to the Citrix server / published application:
When TCP/IP + HTTP is selected and you specify servers in the Address List box, the client communicates with the
Citrix XML Service on a specified server for Enumeration.
2. How to change the port number?
CTXXMLSS.EXE to change the port number.
3. What Is The Main Concept Of Citrix?
Main concept of citrix is to deploy remote application to users.
4. What are different Xen app editions?

Advanced, enterprise, platinum.

5. Name few functions of each edition ?
Advanced edition: basic edition, positioning applications, getting those application out to users.
Planitum Edition: Adds password manager, edge site for monitoring citrix server, password manager provides ssl
for single sign , provides access gateway, replacing secured gateway ..Access gateway being a hardware device,
and secured gateway being a software device.
Enterprise : Adds some more functionality to xenapp.
6. What is a citrix xenapp farm?
group of xenapp servers, they can be combination of web interface servers, where the web site will allow the users
to connect into the xen app, license servers and xen app servers itself. Farm has a single data store.
7. What is a citrix xenapp Data collector?
Stores dynamic information, for each of the Zones in a farm we will have a data collector. Ex: how many users are
on a server, what the users are doing, what applications are being run.
8. What is a citrix xenapp Data store?
stores static information, farm has a single data store, data store is connected by some data connection, like sql or
Oracle.
Note: With the use for both this data collector and data store we can manage a farm.
9. What is the function of local host cache in citrix?
local host cache, available on each server. Its like a mini data base, for example if a XENAPP server losses its
connectivity to data store then it will use the information it has in its local host cache.
10. Name few citrix xenapp clients?
1. Program neighborhood agent 2. xen app web plugin
3. java clients

4. xen app plugin for hosted app 5. XenApp plugin for stream app.

11. Prerequisites for installing xenapp 6.5?

Terminal service role, Application server role
Iis role,A database, Jre 1.6.0-05 .net frame work 3.5 Visual j# .net 2.0 ,Asp.net
Visual c++ 2005 8.0 sp1.
12. What is the function of citrix xenapp Hosted apps?
Hosted app is an application that are hosted in citrix xen app servers and are accessed by clients remotely.
13. What is the function of Streamed apps?
Streamed apps comes with platinum edition and here the vdisk is provisioned by a provisioning server to target
devices
14. What is the use of appcompat?

easily move application with this app compat tool kit. Move application to xenapp,
search and anaylize, virtualize and validate
15. Name few best citrix services?
Citrix client network: which maps client drives and peripherals,Citrix cpu utilixation ,gmt/resource mgmet:
Citrix encryption service,Citrix health monitoring and recovery,Citrix IMA,Citrix licenses management console
Citrix license,Citrix ls port updater service,Print manger,Secure gate way,Streaming service,Virtual memory
optimization
Wm service
16. Architecture of ica protocol?
ICA: citrix actually replaced the terminal servers RDP with its own protocol called ICA.
Ica protocol is called thin protocol as it can run with very low bandwith connections, ica protocol is not transferring
the real data back and forth, its just updating screen updates and mouse clicks from server to client and client to
server. With ica protocol the users can print to there local printers.
17. Name few citrix xenapp port numbers?
ICA : 1494,ICA with session reliability: 2598,IMA communication: 2512
Xenapp advanced console: 2513,Tcp browsing: 1604,Xml service port shared with IIS: 80
Ssl communication: 443,Licenses management console: 8082
Licenses port: 27000,Xenapp Questions
what is a data store?
The data store is the database where servers store farm static information, such as configuration information about
published applications, users, printers, and servers. Each server farm has a single data store.
what is a data collector?
A data collector is a server that hosts an in-memory database that maintains dynamic information about the
servers in the zone, such as server loads, session status, published applications, users connected, and license
usage. Data collectors receive incremental data updates and queries from servers within the zone. Data collectors
relay information to all other data collectors in the farm.
By default, the data collector is configured on the first server when you create the farm, and all other servers
configured with the controller server mode have equal rights to become the data collector if the data collector fails.
When the zones data collector fails, a data collector election occurs and another server takes over the data
collector functionality. Farms determine the data collector based on the election preferences set for a server.
Applications are typically not published on the data collector.
what is the use of zones
A zone is a grouping of XenApp servers that communicate with a common data collector. In large farms with
multiple zones, each zone has a server designated as its data collector. Data collectors in farms with more than one
zone function as communication gateways with the other zone data collectors.
what will happen if IMA fails
if IMA service stops the communication between data store and the server not happen. new
connections can't be broked but existing connections will remain.

what will happen if data store corrupts

what is the requirement for installing xenapp6
Query command in citrix?
query [appserver | object | process | session | user] [/?]
How does Citrix load balancing work?
Difference between published applications and Published Desktops? Pros/Cons of both.
Load Evaluators in Citrix?
1. Default Load Evaluators 2. Advance Load evaluators

3. Custom load evaluators

IMA port number?How to change IMA port?

IMA port:-2512...we can change IMA port via "imaport /set" command line or via local registry.
Overview and Interview Questions on basics of Citrix
What is Citrix?
Citrix allows you to install, publish and manage applications from one central location. These published applications
can then be securely access from anywhere in the world using any client device over any connection (ex. Web
Interface, Program Neighborhood, and Citrix Program Neighborhood Agent) using the Citrix ICA client, which
requires minimal bandwidth and can virtually be installed on any Operating System.
Some key Citrix Features:
Map Local Client Drives when establishing a connection to an Application.
Access Printers connected to the Citrix Server, Client Workstation or Network Printers when
connected to an Application.
Load Balance Applications across servers
Published Applications or Desktop
Leverage Resource Manager to view Statistical data pertaining to the Citrix Farm.
Leverage Installation Manager to deploy applications or hot fixes to other Citrix Servers in the Farm.
Provide secure connection using various levels of encryption (128 bit, 128 bit login only, 56 bit,40 bit
or Basic encryption) and SSL using Secure Gateway or SSL Relay.
2.What is Data store
Data store is the place where all static information are stored (i.e Farm configuration information ,
Published Application details, Server configurations info., Policy configuration ,Administrator
accounts, and Printer configurations details etc.)
3.What is Zone Data Collector?
Data Collector stores all the dynamic information like sessions, load and published applications in the
servers in their zones and communicates the zone information to the Data Collectors in other zones in
the farm. Data collector is whose IMA service takes on the additional role of tracking all of
the dynamic information of other Presentation Servers. This information is stored in memory
and called as dynamic store. The data store is a database on disk. The dynamic store is information

stored in memory. To look the contents of the in-memory dynamic store on the data collector, use
queryds command. QueryDS can be found in the "support\debug" folder of your Presentation Server
installation source files. To determine which server is acting as the data collector in the zone run
"query farm /zone"from the command line
4.What is a Farm?
A Farm is a group of Citrix servers which provides published applications to all users that can be managed as a unit,
enabling the administrator to configure features and settings for the entire farm rather than configuring each server
individually. All the servers in the farm share a single data store .A server farm is a grouping of servers running
Citrix Presentation Server that can be manage as a unit, similar in principle to a network domain. When designing
server farms, keep in mind the goal of providing users with the fastest possible application access while achieving
the degree of centralized administration and network security that you need.
5.What is LHC?
The IMA service running on each Presentation Server downloads the information it needs from the central data
store into a local MDB database called the local host cache, or LHC. (The location of the local host cache is
specified via a DSN referenced in the registry of the Presentation Server, at
HKLM \ SOFTWARE\Citrix\IMA\LHC Data source\Data Sourmce Name
.
By default this is a file called Imalhc.dsn and is stored in the same place as MF20.dsn.)Each
Presentation Server is smart enough to only download information from the data store that is relevant
to it, meaning that the local host cache is unique for every server. Citrix created the local host cache
for two reasons:
1.Permits a server to function in the absence of data store connectivity.
2.Improves performance by caching information used by ICA Clients for enumeration and application
resolution. The LHC is an Access database (Imalhc.mdb) stored default in the path
"<Program Files>\Citrix\Independent
information:

Management

Architecture"

folder.

LHC

contained

the following

1. All servers in the farm, and their basic information.

2. All applications published within the farm and their properties.
3. All Windows network domain trust relationships within the farm.

4. All information specific to itself. (product code, SNMP settings, licensing information)
The LHC is critical in a CPS environment. In fact, it's the exclusive interface of the data store to the
local server. The local server's IMA service only interacts with the LHC. It never contacts the central
data store except when it's updating the LHC. If the server loses its connection to the central data
store, there's no limit to how long it will continue to function. (In Meta Frame XP, this is limited to 48
or 96 hours, but that was because the data store also store license information.) But today, the server
can run forever from the LHC and won't even skip a beat if the central connection is lost. In fact now
you can even reboot the server when the central data store is down, and the IMA service will start
from the LHC with out any problem. (Older versions of Meta Frame required a registry modification to
start the IMA service from the LHC.) The LHC file is always in use when IMA is running, so it's not
possible to delete it or anything. In theory it's possible that this file could become corrupted, and if
this happens I guess all sorts of weird things could happen to your server. If you think this is the case
in your environment, you can stop the IMA service and run the command "dsmaint recreatelhc" to
recreate the local host cache file, although honestly I don't think this fixes anything very often. Local
Host Cache is synchronized with the Data Store by the Zone Data Collector for every 30 minutes and it
can also be configured through registry.

6.How to Refresh the Local Host Cache?

If the IMA service is currently running but published applications do not appear correctly in ICA Client
application browsing, force a manual refresh of the local host cache by executing dsmaint refreshlhc
from a command prompt on the affected server. This action forces the local host cache to read
all changes immediately from the data store .
A discrepancy in the local host cache occurs only if the IMA service on a server misses a change event
and is not synchronized correctly with the data store.
7.What is Zone?
Zone is subset of Farm. It is a grouping of Presentation Servers that shares the common Data
Collector. Zones are very helpful in controlling traffics. It collects data from member servers and
distributes changes to all servers in the farm. A zone in the Presentation Server farm elects a zone
data collector for the zone and it is responsible to communicates between other ZDCs in the farm. It is
used to redirect the users to least busy server. The ZDC maintains all load and session information for
every server in the zone. ZDCs keep open connections to other ZDCs changes in the member servers of
a zone and are immediately propagated to the other ZDCs in the farm. Zone has server members and
one of them is ZDC (Zone Data Collectors) in each zone. These ZDCs communicate between zones.
Zones are very help full in controlling traffic. We can move the servers among the zones and
after moving the servers from one Zone to another the servers must be restarted to get settings
and configurations from the Data Store.
8.Explain Citrix Load Levels?
We can get Citrix Load levels from QSERVER /APP and QFARM /APP at the command prompt .Load
values can be in between 0-10000.
The following are explanations of the load levels:
9999: No load balancing installed ,0 to 9998:normal load level
10000! : Application is disabled for this server,,10000: Load is at 100%
10001: Out of licenses,10002: Indicates that no ICA connections, listener is disabled, are available on that
server.
A few other conditions also cause this code to be returned:
<>If logons have been disabled on the server
<>If the server is out of swap space - check load balancing administration and change page file from
2097152 to 500 on the problem server. If the application is disabled
<>If it is an anonymous application and no logons are left for anonymous users
<>For multi-homed servers, the selection for LAN adapter is All network adapters configured for this
protocol instead of a specific LAN adapter
<>Check the connection limit on all listener ports (ICA, and RDP) because this has been found to affect
the load balancing parameters and cause the 10002 load level.
<>If the connection limit has been changed from unlimited to 2, you may not be able to connect
to a published application and will get the error message: Cannot connect to the Citrix server. The
Citrix server you have selected cannot be located.
<>You may also delete and recreate the listeners for that protocol and reorganize the pagefile. If the
servers are built from a ghosted image, it may be necessary to delete the pagefile, recreate the
pagefile, and reboot the server.

9. What are the default tests available in Health Monitoring & Recovery Tool?
XenApp Health Monitoring and Recovery Tool have the following default tests.
1. Citrix IMA Service test,2. Logon Monitor test, 3. Terminal Service test 4. XML Service test
Health Monitoring & Recovery in the farm-wide configuration allows us to select the maximum
percentage of servers that HMR can exclude from load balancing. The default value is 10% of server.

10.What is Hotfix Management and how to configure Server Restart Schedule?

Hotfix Management in Access Management Console allows us to check the Hotfixes installed in the
particular server as well as compare the Hotfixes with the scope of server. But this tool will not
automatically intimate or download available Hotfixes from the Citrix website. We can configure server
restarting schedule for the servers in the XenApp farm. Right-Click the server and go to All Task. Go to
Set restart options and Set restart schedule.
10.What is the session reliability service in Windows services?
Citrix XTE Server is the Windows service for session reliability.
11. What is Installation Manager?
Installation Manager will not be in the part of Citrix installation setup. It should be downloaded from
the Citrix website and installed separately. We need to have Power Shell already installed in the
server. Install the IM component in the workstation/system you want to manage from and the IM utility
in the XenApp servers. After installing the we can access it through the Windows management
console. We can select the shared msi file path from where the application to be deployed and the
server and the time of installation. We can also schedule command-line task to install exe files or to
run some commands or queries in the servers.
12. What is Configuration logging?
Administrative Configuration Logging is the new feature in XenApp 5.0 and it can be configured in
farm-wide properties. We can store all the administrative changes in the farm. We can see the log
from the Report Center. We can clear log from the farm properties. We can configure to have
credential to clear the log.
13. How to configure Secure ICA and SSL/TSL connection in XenApp?
To configure Secure ICA, Go to Access Management Console and right click the application and go to
the properties. In the Client option select the Encryption level. This should be configured both in client
and server side. If we use XenApp client it will automatically select the Encryption type. If we
use Program Neighbourhood we have to select the proper Encryption type in the client side. We can
enforce these properties in the Group Policies or in Citrix policy in XenApp Advanced Configuration.
We can Enable the Secure ICA encryption and select the Encryption Level. If we enable SSL/TSL
connection, we should have installed Citrix SSL Relay and Server Certificate installed in the server. We
can configure this in Citrix SSL Relay Configuration Tool in Citrix Administration.
14. How to recover Citrix License Server?
The Citrix servers can function without contacting the license server and it is 30-days fault tolerant,
and in Enterprise version an alert can be set with Resource Manager to send an email in case of
License Server Connection Failure. If the license server reconnects at any time in the thirty days the
problem resolves itself. If the server is not going to come back up, then the license file, digitally
signed with the case-sensitive hostname of the old license server, is the critical component. The

license file, a *.lic file, can be backed up to a thumb drive separately, and restored to a new server
with the same name of the old license server, and the Citrix License server software installed.
15.What is "Citrix Startup License" in Citrix presentation server license management console?
The Startup license does not affect the license count. It is used to allow Citrix products to
communicate with the license server using a continuous open connection. Every five minutes the
license server and the products send a heartbeat message to each other to verify that they are
mutually communicating.
16.How to restore the data source to the new server?
To restore the data store to a different server, or just to move it to a more convenient place on the
network, the procedure is as follows:
1.place the mf20.mdb that was backed up in the proper directory:C:\ProgramFiles\Citrix\Independent
Management Architecture;
2.Create a file dsn to the new data store;
3.Run dsmaint config /user:user /pwd:password /dsn:path to dsn on the new data store server and
restart IMA;
4.Run dsmaint failover new data store server name on all the other servers in the farm and restart
IMA To create a dsn file, go to the control panel, administrative tools, of the Citrix server that holds
the new data store, and go to Data Sources (ODBC). On the tab marked file dsn, create anew file,
with Access 4.0 drivers, that is in the same directory as the mdb file is, and can be named anything,
but for convention should be mf20.dsn. on the final screen, the actual database that the dsn file is
supposed to point to must be selected. Under the select button, highlight the proper database, (not
the imalhc.mdb but the mf20.mdb) and close the utility.
17.What is CtxHide? How to solve CtxHide.exe Causing Citrix Sessions to hang on Logon?
CtxHide.exe is responsible for hiding the DOS window in which UsrLogon.cmd is running.
Workarounds
1. Remove CtxHide.exe from the appsetup key in the registry
Use the registry editor to navigate to the following value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\AppSetup
Double Click on the App Setup value and remove the CtxHide.exe entry as the example shows below. Note that your
App Setup value may contain more than the following example.
Windows Registry Editor Version 6.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"AppSetup"="CtxHide.exe UsrLogon.Cmd,cmstart.exe"
The result of removing CtxHide.exe is that users can see usrlogon. cmd running on logon
2. Swap CtxHide.exe for Runh.exe
Runh.exe has been used to hide usrlogon.cmd script from the user experience prior to Meta frame Presentation
Server 3.0. It performs the same function as CtxHide.exe. For more information on runh and to download the
executable go to:
http://thin.msterminalservices.org/runh.cfm.

Download runh.exe from the above link and place the runh.exe in the servers system32directory. In Windows
registry navigate to the AppSetup key, remove CtxHide.exe and replacewith runh. Runh will now call and hide
usrlogon.cmd.
Windows Registry Editor Version 6.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]"AppSetup"="runh
UsrLogon.Cmd,cmstart.exe"
To return to the original configuration navigate to the AppSetup value, remove runh and addCtxHide.exe.
18.What is ICA and what is the advantage of ICA?
The Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) is the communication protocol by which servers and client devices
exchange data in a server environment. ICA is optimized to enhance the delivery and performance of this exchange,
even on low-bandwidth connections.
The ICA protocol transports an applications screens from the server it is running on to the users client
device, and returns the users input to the application on the server. As an application runs on a server, Meta Frame
Presentation Server intercepts the applications display data and uses the ICA protocol to send this data (on
standard network protocols) to the client software running on the users client device.
When the user types on the keyboard or moves and clicks the mouse, the client software sends this data
to the application on the server. ICA requires minimal client workstation capabilities and includes error detection
and recovery, encryption, and data compression.
Citrix ICA protocol is used for remote application sessions between users and Presentation servers. The ICA
protocol supports TCP/IP, NetBIOS, or IPX/SPX. Citrix ICA protocol is responsible for transmitting background
information between the ICA clients and the Presentation servers, including the port mappings, drive mappings,
print jobs, and sound. Only Sends Screen Updates & Mouse/Key Board Strokes. Only 30 35 kb/sec (Printing
and File Transfer increase this) Fat Apps VS Thin Apps Ports used by ICA:
1494: ICA Protocol on TCP (TCP + HTTP) & 1604: ICA Protocol on UDP
.
19.Describe ZDC Election Process in detail?
Incase ZDC is not be available, another server in the zone can take over that role. The process of taking the role
is called ZDC election. Server Administrators should choose the Zone Data Collector strategy carefully during the
farm design itself. When an election needs to occur in a zone, the winner of the election is determined by
1. Highest version of Presentation Server first
2. Highest rank (as configured in the Management Console)
3. Highest Host ID number (Every server has a unique ID called Host ID).
When the existing data collector for Zone failed unexpectedly or the communication between a member server and
the Zone Data Collector for its zone failed or the communication between data collectors failed, then the election
process begins in the Zone. If the server is shutdown properly, it triggers the election process before it goes down.
The servers in the zone recognize the data collector has gone down and starts the election process. Then the ZDC is
elected and the member servers send all of their information to the new ZDC for the zone. In turn the new data
collector replicates this information to all other data collectors in the farm.
Note: The data collector election process is not dependent on the data store. If the datacollector goes down,
sessions connected to other servers in the farm are unaffected .The datacollector election process is
triggered automatically without administrative interference .Existing as well as incoming users are not affected by
the election process, as a new datacollector is elected almost instantaneously.
C:\ QueryHR.exe

------ Showing Hosts for "10.22.44.0" -----Host 1:---------------------------Zone Name: 10.22.44.0

Host Name: TEDDYCTX02
Admin Port: 2513
IMA Port: 2512
Host ID: 4022
Master Ranking: 1Master Version: 1
--------------------------------------- Show Host Records Completed ------- -----------------------To see the Host ID number and its version, run queryhr.exe utility (with no parameters).

Each server in the zone has a rank assigned to it. The administrator can configure such that the servers in a zone
can be ranked to make the server as the most desired to serve as the zone master or ZDC. The ties between
servers with the same administrative ranking are broken by using the HOST IDs assigned to the servers.
When a Presentation Server starts or when the IMA service starts, the IMA service starts trying to contact other
servers via the IMA protocol on port 2512 until it finds one thats online. When it finds, it queries it to find out which
server is acting as the data collector. The winner of this Zone Data Collector election is determined by the newest
version of the IMA service. We can control which server will act as data collector by keeping that server the
most up-to-date.
Data Collection Election Priority
Whichever server has the most recent version of the IMA Service running. (This may include hotfixes) and the
server with the highest preference set in the data store Basically data collectors and data store are not really
related. The data store holds permanent farm configuration information in a database, and the data collector tracks
dynamic session information in its RAM.
In addition to their primary role to provide dynamic farm information for admin consoles or for incoming connection
requests, data collectors also take part in the distribution of configuration changes to Presentation Servers in the
farm. When we make a changes in a presentation server that change is written to the local host cache of whichever
server we connected to, and then immediately replicated to the data store. Presentation Server only looks for
changes in the central data store every 30 minutes. Whenever a change is made to the data store, that change is
sent to the data collector for the zone.
The data collector then distributes that change (via IMA port 2512) to all of the servers in its zone, allowing each
server to update its own local host cache accordingly. Furthermore, if we have more than one zone, the initial data
collector contacts the data collectors in the other zones. It sends its change to them, and in turn those data
collectors forward the change to all of the servers in their zones.
Coolest part is if the change is larger than 64k, the data collectors don't send the actual change out to its zone.
Instead they send out a notification which causes the servers in the zone to perform an "on demand" sync with the
central data store. However it's rare for a single change to be more than 64k in size. The data collector election
priority settings in the management console
Presentation Server Java Management Console > Right-click on farm name>Properties > Zones > highlight server >
Set Election Preference
We can totally control which server is our data collector by manually setting the preferences in the Java console.
We can manually configure four levels of Zone's Data Collector election preference options

Most Preferred, Preferred , Default Preferred ,Not Preferred

The important thing to remember is that these preferences will be ignored if a newer server is up for election.
20.How Load Evaluator works?
QFARM /LOAD command executed in a Presentation Server farm will display all servers in the farm along with each
servers respective load value. Each and every Presentation Server generates its own score and sends this
information to the data collector in the respective zone. This score will be a decimal number between 0 and 10,000,
with zero representing a no load situation, and 10,000 indicating the particular server is fully loaded and is not
accepting any more connections. Citrix Load Management is handled by load evaluator and its simply a set of rules
that determine a particular servers score, or current load value. It is the score that determine the decisions
that distribute loads within the server farm. Load evaluators can be applied to servers and/or published
applications. If any servers in the Zone go down then Load Evaluators are used to overcome the situation. In default
XenApp installation there are Advanced and Default Load Evaluators are there.D
Default Load Evaluator includes only two rules, Load Throttling and Server User Load. Advanced Load Evaluator
includes four rules, CPU Utilization, Load Throttling, Memory Usual and Page Swaps.

21.How Zone Preference and failover configured?

Zone preference and failover can be configured from Policies. It is located in User Workspace >Connections in Citrix
Policy. You can select the server group in which order the connections are preferred. This is useful when an entire
zone goes down.

22.What is Preferred Load Balancing?

Preferred Load balancing is the feature in XenApp Platinum edition
, which allows you to configure preference for the particular users to access the applications in the XenApp farm.
We can see this in Server properties in Advanced Management Console. In Memory/CPU>CPU Utilization
Management, there will be the third option called "CPU sharing based on Resource Allotments"
To give more resources to particular application in the server, we can configure in
Application properties>Advanced>Limits and Application important
in Access Management Console. So if you set the Application importance to High, then when those application is
used by the users will get more CPU cycles than the users accessing other applications
To give more resources to the users, we can configure it in Citrix Policies in XenApp Advanced Configuration. To
enable it go to the policy properties>Service Level>Session Importance>enable, and assign preferred Importance
Level (High, Medium, Low).
Application Importance + Session Importance = Resource Allotmment.

23.What are the different Types of Citrix Load Evaluators?

1. CPU Utilization 2. Memory Utilization 3. Page Swap
4. Application User Load 5. Context Switches 6. Disk Data I/O
7. Disk Operations 8. IP Range 9. Page Faults 10. Scheduling 11. Server User Load.
24.How to recover from IMA failing?

There are many reasons that the IMA Service doesn't start
1. IMA Service load time 2. IMA Service subsystem 3. Missing Temp directory 4. Print spooler service 5. ODBC
configuration
6.
Roaming
Profile
Check
the
Windows
Registry
setting:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWARECitrixIMARuntimeCurrentlyLoadingPluginIf there is no value
specified in the
Currently Loading Plugin portion of the above Windows Registry entry then the IMA Service could not connect to the
data store or the local host cache is missing or corrupt.
If a Currently Loading Plugin value is specified the IMA Service made a connection to the datastore and the value
displayed is the name of the IMA Service subsystem that failed to load .
If administrators see an "IMA Service Failed" error message with an error code of 2147483649 when starting the
Presentation Server the local system account might be missing a Temp directory which is required for the IMA
Service to run.

Change the IMA Service startup account to the local administrator and restart the server. If the IMA Service is
successful in starting under the local administrator account then it is likely that a missing Temp directory for
the local system account is causing the problem.
If the Temp directory is not present then manually create one as >Temp.
For example:C:\Windows\Temp
Also verify that the TMP and TEMP system environment variables point to the temporary directory. Restart the
server to restart the IMA Service.
25.What is Special Folder Redirection?
Special Folder Redirection (SFR) allows for the automatic redirection of server-side Special Folders to their clientside equivalents. When a user clicks on the Documents folder in theirXenApp 5 sessions, the folder that opens will
actually be the local Documents folder. When SFRis used, all file operations will take place in the client-side folder.
SFR is only available when XenApp 5 is installed on Windows Server 2008 and also requires XenApp Plugin version
11(client).
26.What is Citrix Resource Manager?
Citrix Resource Manager (RM) is a tool that is used to manage resources on single or multiple Meta Frame servers.
RM enables the ability to collect, display, store, and analyze data about system performance, application or process
use, and user activity. RM provides real-time system monitoring, reporting of system activity, and billing reports
to charge users for use of resources using a summary database.
In XenApp5 Resource Manager is moved to Edge Sight. We cannot connect to RMSummaryreport database from
XenApp5. But still we can see some of the reports fromReport Center in Access Management Console. One of
the important reports is Policy Report.
27.What is Printer terminology in Citrix?
An administrator can configure the following types of printers for use in an ICA session:
Client local printer ,Network printer ,Server Local printer
Client Printers: The definition of a client printer depends on the ICA Client platform. On DOS-based and WinCE client
devices, a client printer is physically connected by a cable to a port on the client device. On 32-bit Windows
platforms (Windows 9x, Windows NT, and Windows 2000),any printer that is set up in Windows (these printers
appear in the Printers folder on the client device) is a client printer.

Network Printers: Printers that are connected to print servers and shared on a Windows network are referred to as
network printers. In Windows network environments, users can setup a network printer on their computers if they
have permission to connect to the print server. When a network printer is set up for use on an individual Windows
computer, the printer is a client printer on the client device.
Local Printers: Printers that are connected directly to Citrix servers are local printers within a particular server farm.
This definition includes a printer that is connected to the Citrix server that hosts a users ICA session, as well as
printers that are connected to other Citrix servers in the same server farm. If a printer is connected to a Citrix
server outside of a server farm(either the server is not a member of a server farm or is a member of a different
server farm),the server farm considers the printer a network printer, not a local printer.

28.HOw to implement Policies in Citrix?

Presentation Server policies are created by adding policy rules. Policy rules are broken down into the following
categories:
Bandwidth,Client Devices,Printing Security, User Workspace
An administrator can apply policies by filtering:
Client IP address,Users and user groups,Client names Servers ,Access Control
Once a policy is created it has to be prioritized for effective functioning. Following options are available for
prioritizing a policy
Make Highest priority ,Increase Priority,Decrease Priority,Make Lowest Priority
Citrix Policies can be configured from XenApp Advanced Configuration Console If there are any policies which
conflicts to each other, the resultant applied policies are the one with higher priority Policies Override
1. Citrix Policy

2. Group Policy

3. ICA Session Setting

4. User Object Setting.

29.What is IMA?
Independent Management Architecture (IMA) provides the framework for server communications and is the
management foundation for Meta Frame Presentation Server. IMA is a centralized management service comprised
of a collection of core subsystems that define and control the execution of products in a server farm. IMA enables
servers to be arbitrarily grouped into server farms that do not depend on the physical locations of the servers or
whether the servers are on different network subnets.
IMA runs on all servers in the farm. IMA subsystems communicate through messages passed by the IMA Service
through default TCP ports 2512 and 2513. The IMA Service starts automatically when a server is started. The IMA
Service can be manually started or stopped through the operating system Services utility.
IMA can be defined as a SERVICE, PROTOCAL and as a DATASTORE.
IMA Service: IMA Service is the central nervous system of Presentation Servers. This service is responsible for just
about everything server-related, including tracking users, sessions, applications, licenses, and server load.
IMA Data store: Which stores Presentation server configuration information, such as published applications, total
licenses, load balancing configuration, security rights, Administrator Accounts, Printer configuration, etc?
IMA Protocol: Which is used for transferring the ever-changing background information between Presentation
servers, including server load, current users and connections, and licenses in use.
Ports used by IMA:

2512: Used for Server to Server Communication

2513: Used for CMC to Data store Communication

Independent Management Architecture is a term Citrix uses to describe the various back-end components that
make up a CPS environment. In the real world, IMA consists of three components that we actually care about.
It is a database (called the IMA Data Store) used for storing Citrix Presentation server configuration information,
such as published applications, load balancing configuration, security rights, policies, printer configuration, etc.
A Windows service (called the IMA Service) that runs on every Presentation Server that handles things like serverto-server communication.
A protocol (called the IMA Protocol) for transferring the ever-changing background information between
Presentation Servers, including server load, current users and connections, licenses in use, etc.
In Presentation Server, the IMA protocol does not replace the ICA protocol. The ICA protocol is still used for client-toserver user sessions. The IMA protocol is used for server-to-server communication in performing functions such as
licensing and server load updates, all of which occur behind the scenes.
If we open IMA data store database with SQL Enterprise Manager, we'll see it has four tables:
DATATABLE
DELETETRACKER
INDEXTABLE
KEYTABLE
IMA data store is not a real relational database. Its actually an LDAP database. IMA Data Store Size 1MB per server.
We cant access the IMA data store directly through SQL Enterprise Manager. (technically you can, but if you run a
query youll get meaningless hex results.) If we try to edit any of the contents of the data store directly in the
database, it will be definitely corrupt.
Theres a tool on the Presentation Server installation CD called dsview. There is another tool called dsedit a
write-enabled version of dsview.
30.What is USRLOGON.cmd?
Whenever a user logs on to the Citrix server, the USRLOGON.CMD file runs. This file is located in %systemroot
%/system32. It is configured to run automatically when each user logs in.
This file has two functions:
1.USRLOGON.CMD creates the ROOTDRIVE variable. This variable is used by the Logon Script to identify the
user's home directory.
2.USRLOGON.CMD calls USRLOGN2.CMD. USRLOGN2.CMD runs the application scripts that fix user level problems
with certain applications.
31.How to identify Citrix License been consumed by a Device?
LMSTAT command shows a Client Hardware ID, a license has been assigned to that device. Lmstat is the license
administration command shows what licenses are assigned to which client or server. This utility is run on a license
server from a command prompt by browsing to \Program files\Citrix\Licensing\LS. The *.lic must be present in
the \ProgramFiles\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles directory that excludes the built-in citrix_startup.lic file. Lmstat prints
information that it receives from the license server but does not contact the product server.

Syntax
lmstat [-a] [-A] [-c license_file]
Open the command prompt and change the directory to \Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\LS Type: lmstat a
Example output of an lmstat -a command indicating two user machines accessing the farm and consuming two
user license assignments.
A Client with Hardware ID that consumed a Citrix license is shown in hexadecimal number like below
Hardware ID for Session 1

6f78c1bd

Hardware ID for Session 2

3a7379f6.

32.What are the commonly used Citrix commands ?

dsmaint
dsmaint config [/user:username] [/pwd:password] [/dsn:filename]
dsmaint backup destination_path
dsmaint failover direct_server
dsmaint compactdb [/ds] [/lhc]
dsmaint migrate [{ /srcdsn:dsn1 /srcuser:user1 /srcpwd:pwd1}]
[{/dstdsn:dsn2 /dstuser:user2 /dstpwd:pwd2}]
dsmaint publishsqlds {/user: username /pwd:password}
dsmaint recover
dsmaint recreatelhc
dsmaint verifylhc

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------driveremap
driveremap /drive:M
driveremap /u
driveremap /noreboot
driveremap /IME
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------dscheck
dscheck [Options] [ /full | /clean]
[ Servers | Apps | Printers | Groups | MSLicense | Folders | Licenses ]

dscheck /full Servers [Options]

Verify/Clean or Delete the server. May be left blank.
Defaults to all servers.
/Clean - Modify the data store to correct the errors.
/DeleteAll - Delete the server entries from the data store.
/DeleteMF - Delete the Meta Frame Server entry from the data store.
/DeleteComSrv - Delete the Common Server entry from the data store.
dscheck /full Apps [Options]
< AppName> - Verify/Clean or Delete the application. May be left blank. Defaults to all applications.
/Clean - Modify the data store to correct the errors.
/ServerCheck - Verify that all applications are hosted by valid servers.
/DeleteMF - Delete the Meta Frame Application entry from the data store.
/DeleteComApp - Delete the Common Application entry from the data store.
dscheck /full Printers [Options]
/purge_replications - Removes all printer replications from the data store.
/purge_client_printers - Removes all Client Auto-Create printers pending deletion from the data store.
/purge_drivers - Removes all drivers that are not associated with any servers from the data store.
dscheck /full Groups [Options]
/Clean - Removes the group object. Group Name is the relative DN from the Context.
/Clean -Removes the group from the parent group.
Use the output of DSCHECK.exe GROUPS /verify" for both Parent Group Name and Group Name.
dscheck /full MSLicense [Options]
/purge_licenses - Removes all Microsoft Licenses from the data store.
/list - Lists all Microsoft Licenses in the data store.
dscheck /full Folders
/clean - Collapse orphaned folders in the data store.
dscheck /full Licenses
/clean - Removes all corrupt licenses from the data store.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------altaddr
altaddr [/server:servername] [/set alternateaddress ] [/v]

altaddr [/server:servername] [/set adapteraddress alternateaddress] [/v]

altaddr [/server:servername] [/delete] [/v]
altaddr [/server:servername] [/delete adapteraddress] [/v]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------query
query view information about server farms, processes, servers, ICA sessions and users
query farm
shows the server name, protocol and ip address
query farm /app
shows the published applications
query farm /disc
shows the disconnected session data for the server farm
query farm /load
displays server load information
query user
displays the current connections
queryhr
is used to display info about the member servers in the farm. Executing queryhr withno parameters lists all servers
in the farm.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------chfarm
is used to change the farm membership of a Citrix server
icaport
is used to query or change the TCP/IP port number used by the ICA protocol
imaport
is used to change the IMA port used by the server
ctxxmlss
is used to change the XML service port
enablelb
is used to re-enable the server back to load balancing after it fails
twconfig
confgure ICA display settings

auditlog
is used to view the report of users logoff and logon activity. With auditlog /time wecan get time the users spent in
the servers.
33.How to Recreate the Local Host Cache?
If the IMA service does not start, the cause may be a corrupt LHC. Verify the data store isavailable before beginning
this procedure. If the data store is not available, the IMA servicefails to start until the data store is available.
Recreating the Local Host Cache after a minimum of SP1 has been installed
1. Stop the IMA service. This can be done via the command line,net stop imaservice or fromservices.
2. From the command line run:dsmaint recreatelhc
which renames the existing LHCdatabase, creates a new database and modifies the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\IMA\Runtime\PSRequired
key to
1. Settingthe value PSRequired to 1 forces the server to establish communication with the datastore inorder to
populate the Local Host Cache database. When the IMA service is restarted, the LHC isrecreated with the current
data from the data store.
3. Restart the IMA service. This can be done via the command line, net start imaservice, orfrom services.
Recreating the LHC database on servers that do not have a minimum of SP1installed
1. Stop the IMA service, if it is started. This can be done via the command line,
net stop ima service, or from services.
2. Go to %Program Files%\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture
and rename the imalhc.mdb to imlhc.mdb.bak
3 Launch the ODBC Data Source Administrator: On Windows Server, choose Control Panel > Administrative Tools >
Data Sources (ODBC).
4. Select the File DSN tab and browse to.ProgramFiles%\Citrix\Independent Management Architecture.
5. Select theimalhc.dsn file and click Configure.
6. In the Database area, click Create. The New Database dialog box appears.
7. In the Database Name box, type the name imalhc.mdb for the new local host cache database.
8. Click OK to create the database, and then click OK to close the ODBC Data Source Administrator
9. Open regedt32 and navigate to the registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\IMA\RUNTIME
and modify the value of PSRequired (REG_DWORD): 0x1
10. Restart the IMA service. This can be done via the command line,
net start ima service , or from services.
34.How to disable print drivers from automatically updating the DataStore?

When a new printer or printer driver was installed on a Meta Frame server, a substantial amount of traffic (in the
order of 8 to 10MB per second) occurred between the IMA Service and the data store the IMA Service was using.
This occurred because the IMA Service needed to update the Management Console for Meta Frame XP with the
information about the new printer or printer driver, which caused the huge amount of network traffic. To resolve this
problem, navigate to the following registry key and change the value off Disable Printer Worker Thread to 1:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\IMAPrinter
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: fDisablePrinterWorkerThread = 1
After making this change to the registry, restart the IMA Service for the change to take effect. When the registry
switch is set to 1, the IMA Service does not automatically update printer or printer driver information to
the Management Console. You need to update this information manually. To do this, click Printer Management in the
left panel of the Management Console and then double-click Update Printer and Driver.
Note: Ensure the latest MfPrintSs.dll is installed on the server.
35.How do I disable the Citrix Management Console splash screen?
There are two ways to disable the Citrix Management Console splash screen:
Add -nologo to the Ctxload.exe command line. For example, if you publish ctx load as a published application, edit
the published application and add -nologo to the end of the command line.
If you run the Citrix Management Console from the toolbar, open the ProgramFiles\Citrix\Administration folder.
Create a shortcut to ctxload. Open the properties of that shortcut and add -nologo to the end of the target box. Click
OK. Add the shortcut to the toolbar.

36.What is licenses auto-activation

License auto-activation is a benefit offered to customers purchasing meta FrameXP product through an electronic
licensing program with Citrix. License auto-activation removes theneed to activate MetaFrame product licenses via
the Citrix Activation System. With license auto-activation, Meta Frame XP product licenses purchased through an
electronic licensing program are automatically activated when they are installed on the MetaFrame XP server.
37.How to install XenApp client in command prompt and apply policies?
Run the XenAppHosted.msi in command prompt
"c:\>msiexec /a xenapphosted.msi"
This will launch "Client Packager Installation". We can create a pre-configured client package with the
answer file for the questions asked by the installer, so that we can have silent installation of the client in various
systems in the environment.
There is another way to create client installation package.
Type the command "msiexec.exe /I path/XenAppHosted.msi [Options]"
To add Group Policy to manage the client we need to add the .ADM by Citrix to the existing Administrative Template
of the Group Policy Management. This is available where Citrix Clients have been already installed. It is located in
"c:\program files\Citrix\ICAClient\Configuration\icaclient.adm"
We can manage Citrix Client connectivity by the Windows Group Policy.
38.How to change the Citrix XML Service Port on Meta frame Servers ?

Un-registering the XML Service

1. Open a Command Prompt window and run ctxxmlss /u (This command will un-register the Citrix XML service and
mark it for deletion)
2. Reboot the server
Registering the XML on a port other than sharing with IIS
1. Un-register the service using the instructions above.
2. Open a Command Prompt window and run ctxxmlss /r[Port Number]
(Notice that there is no space between the switch /r and the port number.
3. Reboot the server or open the service control manager and manually start the Citrix XML Service
Registering the XML Service to share the port with IIS on Windows Server 2003running IIS 6.0
By default when installing IIS 6.0, the virtual Scripts Folder is not created
1. Un-register the service using the instructions above.
2. Navigate to the \Inetpub folder and create a new folder with the name of Scripts
3. Open the IIS Manager MMC Snap-in
4. Right click on the Default Web Site and select New | Virtual Directory
5. Click Next
6. Under Alias: type the name Scripts and click Next
7. Under Path: type C:\Inetpub\Scripts and click Next
8. Under Allow the following permissions: make sure that the following are selected
a. Read
b. Run Scripts (such as ASP)
c. Execute (such as ISAPI applications or CGI)
9. Click Next and click Finish
10. Right click on the Scripts virtual directory and go to Properties
11. Under the Virtual Directory tab make sure that the Execute Permissions: field is set to Scripts and Executables
12. Under the Directory Security tab click on Edit under Authentication and Access Control and make sure that the
Enable anonymous access check box is checked
13. Now copy the files ctxxmlss.txt, clm.dll, wpnbr.dll to the newly create Scripts folder under the Inetpub folder.
Note: The file ctxxmlss.txt is located in the Program Files\Citrix\System32 folder and the filesclm.dll and
'wpnbr.dll' are located in the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 folder
If Microsoft IIS is installed, the administrator of the MetaFrame XP installation is given the option to install the Citrix
XML Service and share a port with IIS.

In fact, no separate XML service is running. IIS serves the XML data using an ISAPI filter namedWpnbr.dll located in
the \Inetpub\Scripts folder. To remove the Citrix XML Service functionality from your Meta Frame server, simply
rename or delete the Wpnbr.dll file.
Once the XML Service port is changed on the Metaframe Servers you will need to change NFuse or WI to point to
the new port.
39.Access Gateway vs. Secure Gateway ?
Citrix Secure Gateway provides secure access to Citrix Presentation Server from the untrusted domain. Citrix Secure
Gateway has evolved into the Citrix Access Gateway solutions. The best thing about Citrix Access Gateway
appliance is it is not a Windows based. CAG is a hardened Linux appliance whereas CSG is installed over a Windows
server. CSG can only proxy ICA traffic, but including that CAG in the DMZ to provide full SSL VPN access or more
tailored filtering of access to applications and services. CAG Enterprise edition provides High Availability, native end
point scans and load balance between several WI servers. TS Gateway from Microsoft is same as Citrix Secure
Gateway that it allows access to internal Terminal Servers from external non trusted devices through SSL
Licensing
CSG comes as a part of Presentation Server and does not require any additional licensing. The CAG uses concurrent
user licenses that are purchased separately to your Presentation Server licenses. We need to purchase the CAG
hardware as it prohibits us from running the CAG software on any devices which are not purchased from Citrix.
Presentation Server Integration
Presentation Server is not integrated into CAG as well as CSG, though they both provide an SSL relay function to
Presentation Server. User interface access to published applications is provided via Web Interface (WI) or Advanced
Access Control (AAC, a component of Access Gateway Advanced Edition). What the CAG has over the CSG is
integration with AAC. AAC makes it simple to control what users can do in their ICA sessions and what applications
are available externally. In this sense, its easier to manage application access via AAC than it is via CAG and WI or
CSG and WI alone.
Other Features
Secure Gateway does not offer any of the below advanced features of the Access Gate way such as:
SSL: this is essentially a Winsock redirector client thats improves on an L2TP/IPSec or PPTPVPN by not relying on
routes and using SSL only;
Web Application Access:
users can access internal web applications including integration with SharePoint Server;
Web-based File Share Access:
users are able to access internal file shares via a web browser with access to features such as uploading files
control. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio and PDF files can also be viewed directly in the browser without
the requirement for local applications;
Web-based E-mail:
provide users integrated access to Outlook Web Access or iNotes. Citrix also provides a custom interface which
allows the administrator to define what users can do in their session such as downloading attachments.
40.How to modify the Citrix License Port Number and Vendor Deamon Port Number ?
By default in License Server Version 11.5 Citrix License Manager Deamon communicates over port 27000 and the
Citrix Vendor Daemon runs in 7279. You should not change this port number unless you have a firewall that uses
another port number, or if this number is already in use.
Note:

In previous versions of Citrix Licensing, the port on which the Citrix vendor daemon communicated changed
dynamically. The Citrix Licensing service chose a new port every time it restarted. This can be changed. If you need
to change the port number, you must specify the new number in all license files on the server and in the firewall. By
default, no port number is listed in the license file. When the License Manager daemon does not find a port number
listed in the license file, it uses port 27000.
Citrix recommends that you back up your license files (files end with the .lic extension) before you change any port
numbers. License files are stored in "C:\ProgramFiles\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles". Citrix License Server Version 11.5
or later provides the LS Port
Updater service that monitors the MyFiles directory and replicates the port numbers in the license files for
you automatically.
To set a static number for Citrix License Vendor Daemon port
1. From the Windows Services panel, stop the Citrix License Management Console service.
2. Open the license file in notepad.exe and locate the line VENDOR CITRIX.
4. Modify the line by appending the following:
VENDOR CITRIX options=<path to the options
file> port=<port number>
Example:
VENDOR CITRIX options="C:\Program Files
\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles\CITRIX.opt" port=7950
5. Save the license file with a .lic extension.
6. Repeat Steps 2 through 5 for each license file on the license server.
7. From the Windows Services panel, restart the Citrix License Management Console service and the Citrix Licensing
service to make your Citrix vendor daemon port number changes take effect. If a TCP/IP port number is specified on
the VENDOR line, the Citrix vendor daemon may not restart until all the clients close their connections to the
vendor daemon.
8. Verify that the new Citrix vendor daemon port number is being used by looking for the lines that use the new port
number in the debug log (By default, this file is in C:\ProgramFiles\Citrix\Licensing\LS). The lines will be similar
to the following:
3:13:48 (lmgrd) Starting vendor daemon at port 27950
3:13:51 (lmgrd) Using vendor daemon port 27950 specified in license file

To change the License Manager Daemon Port Number

1. From the Windows Services panel, stop the Citrix License Management Console service.
2. Using notepad.exe, modify the SERVER line of the license file by adding a port number afterthe hostname.
For example :SERVER this_host HOSTNAME=server1 27900 or SERVER this_host ANY 27900
3. Save the file with a .lic extension.
4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each license file on the license server.

5. From the Windows Services panel, restart the Citrix License Management Console service and the Citrix Licensing
service to make your Citrix license manager daemon port number changes take effect.
6. Verify that the new Citrix license manager daemon port number is being used by looking for the line that uses
the new port number in the debug log. The line will be similar to the following:
3:13:48 (lmgrd) lmgrd tcp-port 27900
Note: Do not restart the services until all license files on the license server have the same port number. If
the License Manager daemon encounters different port numbers in the license files, the license server stops
running. The text shown above many vary slightly depending on which version of Citrix Licensing you are running
From the Citrix License server version 11.5, Citrix provides an LS Port utility
that you can use to change the port numbers in your files. If you need to change the License Server port or Vendor
Daemon port numbers, run the License Server Port utility to enter the new numbers and update the license files.
1.At the license server, open a command window and navigate to "C:\ProgramFiles\Citrix\Licensing\LS".
2.Type:lsportutil /set /lsport num /vendor num
where num is the new port number. For example, if you want to change the vendor daemon number to 24000, type:
lsportutil /set/lsport 27000 /vendor 24000
3.Restart the Citrix Licensing service.
Note: Even if you change only one port number, you must specify both of the numbers in the command. To find out
which port numbers are currently defined, type:
lsportutil /query.

41.How to clone the XenApp server?

One of the many enhancements Citrix made in XenApp v6 is that cloning a server is now much easier that it was
in previous versions. Heres a step-by-step guide, with lots of screen caps:
1. Install the updated XenApp Server Configuration Tool.
2. Run the XenApp Server Role Manager (Start All Programs Citrix XenApp Server Role Manager XenApp
Server Role Manager)
3. Select Edit Configuration
4. Select Prepare this server for imaging and provisioning:
5. On the next screen, check Remove this current server instance from the farm, and then click Next. As the
pop-up tip indicates, this will save us from having to do it manually later. The server will automatically join the farm
when you bring it back on-line.
6. On the next screen, click Apply:
7. The server runs through the items that are needed to prepare XenApp for cloning. This means that once the new
server comes on-line, it will automatically join the farm that the original server was in.
8. Back at the XenApp Server Role Manager screen, we can choose to reboot the server (which you probably dont
want to do just yet), or simply close the window and proceed with any additional tasks we may need to
perform before cloning, such as Sysprep.
9. After we have finished any additional tasks, we can shut the server down, and clone it content. When your clones
come back on-line, if they have a network connection on the correct IP subnet, they will automatically join the farm.

However (gotcha alert), if you didnt Sysprep them, they will all try to join the farm under the same machine
name the one your original server had. So if you didnt change the name of the server, its best to disconnect it
from the network, change the name and IP address, reconnect to the network, join it to the AD Domain, and then
reboot it so it can join the XenApp farm using the correct name.
42.What are different load evaluators are available in Citrix
1. Default Load Evaluators

2. Advance Load evaluators.

3. Custom load evaluators.

43. What you will check when any user is not able to launch citrix application.
a) First try to launch same application from Citrix server(on which you installed and published)
b) Try to add same application to your ID and try to launch
c) Check user permissions for that Applications
d) Verify that latest Citrix client software installed at desktop
e) Verify that user is having correct proxy settings to connect to your Citrix network (for remote users)
44.What are the different ports used in Citrix
Citrix ICA traffic uses - 1494 , client to server
LDAP Directory- TCP 389

,Citrix XML service runs on 8080

,Independent Management Architecture Services - TCP 2512, 2513

Licensing Service - TCP 27000, 27009 (configurable) ,Management Console (Using IMA) - TCP 2512, 2513
Application requests - TCP XML 80, 8080 or 443 (configurable) ,Client connections - TCP 80/443 (configurable)
Server-to-server - TCP XML 80/8080, 443 (using SSL Relay).

45.What is the difference between 2k & 2k3 terminal server licensing

Windows 2000 having 90 days Windows 2003 having 120 days.
46.What is SBC
Server-based computing (SBC) is finally achieving an accepted status as the preferred method for managed access
and delivery of applications and desktops. This is due in part, to advances in networking infrastructure, as well as
in the Microsoft Windows operating system itself.
47.What are the different ports use in Citrix
1494: This port is used by any client using the TCP protocol to communicate with the Presentation Server. You will
need to open this port on your firewall for inbound connections unless you are using some form of encapsulation or
encryption. You can change the port using the ICAPORT command but I find it to be more trouble than it is worth.
1604: Called the ICA Browser port this is a UDP port that can be used by the Program Neighbourhood to enumerate
applications. You probably won t use this though.
80: This is the default port used by the XML service and is used by clients who enumerate applications with the
TCP+HTTP or XML protocol. You will thus need to open this port on your firewall for inbound connections if clients
will be using it to locate servers. You can change the port easily enough using the CTXXMLSS command.
443: This is the default SSL. The SSL Relay will use it to secure communications between the Web Interface and
the server farm. You could also use it to secure client communication to the web Interface or use it for client
connections to the Presentation Server.

5000: The Presentation Server uses this port to communicate with the IBM Db2 server hosting the data store.
1521: This port is used to communicate with the Oracle data store.
1433: The port used to communicate with a Microsoft SQL data store.
2512: This port is used for server to server communication such as when load information is communicated. The
port used to access the data store is saved in the HKLMSOFTWARECITRIXIMAIMAPORT key on the server
containing the data store.
All other servers use the port number saved in HKLMSOFTWARECITRIXIMAPSSERVERPORT key in the registry to
access the data store. Have a look at IMAPORT to see how to change it
2513: This port is used by the Presentation Server Console when connection to a server. Have a look at IMAPORT to
see how to change it.
2598: This is the session reliability port number and needs to be opened on your firewall if the ICA Clients will be
using session reliability when communication with the server.
27000 and a random port number: This is the port used for communication between the Citrix License server and
the Presentation Servers. Remember that the Citrix vendor daemon running on the license server uses a random
port. It tracks license usage.
Port 1494. The server will respond to the client on 1494 and assign it a port number in the "high port" range (102365534)443 or 80 for Https or http.

48.What you will check when any user is not able to launch Citrix application?
1) First try to launch same application from Citrix server(on which you installed and published)
2) Try to add same application to your ID and try to launch
3) Check user permissions for that Applications
4) Verify that latest Citrix client software installed at desktop 5) Verify that user is having correct proxy settings to
connect to your Citrix network (for remote users).
49.Citrix Installation Manager - What is the requirement of Installation Manager and what kind of extension its
support
Installation Manager is a powerfull feature in Metaframe XPe that facilitates the rapid installation of applications and
other software components.
Installation manager let you install applications other software components to any or all available servers in your
farm-attended or unattended-using any metaframe XP server on the network regardless of physical location
network connection type or hardware set up. It supports extensions like ADF MSI and MSP.

============================================================
1. How do you repair the IMA local host cache?
dsmaint recreatelhc from cmd promt.
2. Why are Session Printers not recommended for slow WAN connections?
The print job is spooled across the WAN to the Citrix server and back again. It will cause an already slow link to
become slower.

3. What group policy file would you edit to add custom drive letters for the purpose of hiding them from users when
they login to a XenApp server?
User Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Explorer | "Hide these specified drives in My Computer "
and "Prevent access to drives from My Computer"
4. Client Package MSI File - How do you create a custom ICA client package using the MSI file from the Citrix
download site?
msiexec /a ica32pkg.msi This Will run the client packaging tool.
5. Java Client - A customer has a single Citrix XenApp 4.5 server with WI installed on this Citrix server. They are not
running CSG and they do not have a CAG. The Java client has been installed successfully and WI works
The XML Port is most probebly not open. Port 80 or 8080.
6. GP Processing Mode - What group policy processing mode is usually configured on group policies that are
applied to XenApp servers?
Loop back processing
7. Citrix Licensing - How the licensing works in Citrix and difference in Citrix Licensing version wise
a) First there would be product licences such as Standard/Advanced/Enterprise/Platinum edition.

b) Then you have to purchase the concurrent licensees depending on the no of users this can be downloaded from
the website .LIC file depending on the hostname of the server which is case sensitive.
8. PVS - What is PVS and why would you use it?
9. What is a ZDC and why is it recommended to have a dedicated one when there are more than 5
XenApp servers?
10. What are the console available to manage Citrix server?
Citrix Management Console Access Suite
11. What is ICA and what are the advantage of ICA
ICA - Independent Computing architecture.
it provides better compression
Transmits High-level windows display information
12. ICA vs RDP
Why is ICA that much faster than RDP ? What is the technological differences between thetwo?
RDP works only under TCP/IP while ICA works on many protocols.
ICA is a protocol developed by Citrix.RDP is developed by Microsoft.
Each performs the same virtualization channels to the end user clients.
13. Citrix Load Evaluators what are different load evaluators are available in Citrix?
1. Default Load Evaluators 2. Advanced Load evaluators

3. Custom load evaluators

14. How to implement Policies in Citrix the Citrix policy can be applied through Console Management in 3 levels
1. Farm Level

2. Citrix Server Level

3. Policy

15. What is Printer terminology in Citrix?

Citrix Printing can be configured 3 ways (types)
1. Local Printing. 2. Network Printing

3. Client Printing

Client Printer: The printer connected to the Workstation & the drivers are installed on the citrix server for printing.
Network Printer: The Printer connected to the print server & the drivers should be available on the citrix server.
Local Printer: The printer connected to locally to the citrix server & the drivers are installed for the print operation.
16. Citrix Server Installation ,What is the requirement for Citrix server installation? ,Windows 2003 Server ,Terminal
Services
Terminal Services Licenses. ,.NET ,IIS ,www ,Citrix P.S 4.0 4.5 Citrix Licenses server ,Citrix Xenapp Troubleshooting
Here are some typical troubleshooting scenarios, when dealing with a Citrix XenApp environment. This list does not
include every type of troubleshooting scenario possible; however, it can build a good foundation that can be used to
tackle other problems.
Application Streaming Seamless/Multi-Monitor 3rd Party Applications CPU Spikes
Deadlocks/Hangs Database Network Black Hole Effect XenApp Plugin (PNA) Debugging
Here are some typical troubleshooting scenarios, when dealing with a Citrix XenApp environment. This list does not
include every type of troubleshooting scenario possible; however, it can build a good foundation that can be used to
tackle other problems.
1.End user launches app from WI or PN Agent 2.RAD file is downloaded
3.RAD file launches client Application Isolation Environment (AIE) 4.RAD file instructs streaming client to download:
Manifest file | AIE rules | Application executable | Pre and post execution scripts
5.Streaming client launches executable according to instructions in manifest file and AIE rules including pre and
post execution scripts and registers with the ctxsbx.sys (redirector)
6.Application is available to user
7.Streaming Client requests additional files as required, checking first in the client cache, then if necessary,
downloading additional files from the file server

Seamless/Multi-Monitor
Multi-Monitor
An optional component
Client provides a monitor layout via thinwire channel which is shared by all process loading mmhook.dll via shared
memory
Work area change is always posted to host. This could be due to change in work area of the existing area or
change in virtual screen size due to addition /deletion of monitors.

API hooks are controlled by flags and can be customized per process. Refer to CTX115637 for various configuration
options
3rd Party Applications
Leverage the Global Flags for user-mode applications using the Gflags utility
Set 3rd party application to run under Image File Executions
Configure a debugger to invoke the application (such as WinDbg)
When the application launches, the debugger will automatically attach to the process and halt its execution!
This gives the opportunity to explore all application threads from process initialization (~*kb)
From here the internals of the application can be understood at the Native Windows API level (i.e. Which Windows
API's are being used)
Database
Always keep an updated GOOD backup of your Data Store!!!
Troubleshooting
SQL Profiler (Microsoft SQL Server)
Event Logs
API spy utility (TracePlus)
Netstat
DSCheck (always use the latest version available!!!)
Slow logons :
Understand the logon process and Identify the slowdown!
Validate via network trace that the connection between server to client is good
If the connection makes it to the server, check which processes exist
Use TaskManager and sort by session ID
Gather userdumps for each process for the slow session to try to identify any synchronization problems, such as
LPC and ALPC wait chain conditions
Ensure Terminal Services is running (svchost.exe) and that the thread count appears normal
Ensure critical Citrix processes are okay, such as IMA, CpSvc and XML
Network

Always trace both ends of the connection

Visio topology diagram
Network tracing (NetMon, Wireshark)
Winsock tracing (TracePlus)

Netstat (port status)

For session disconnects, look for the RST flag being set in trace and check devices in between
Consider current Session Reliability or ICA keep-alive settings, and any potential impact
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sync Packet (SYN)
Start of TCP session. Three way handshake (Syn, Syn-Ack, Ack).
ICA session initialisation packets are transmitted next.
Reset Packet (RST)
Something has gone wrong, TCP session failed, unhandled closure of session.
Finish Packet (FIN)
Session is been closed in a handled manner.
Push Packet (PSH)
Data is been sent to receiving process directly.
Ack Packet (ACK)
Packet was received successfully by the remote device

Citrix Configuring TCP Ports

Communi Defa
cation
ult
port

Configuration

Delivery
135
Services
Console/Ac
cess
Manageme
nt Console

Not configurable

Citrix
Relay

See Using the SSL Relay with the Microsoft Internet Information
Server (IIS)

SSL 443

Citrix XML 80
Service
Client-toserver
(directed

See Installing and Configuring XenApp

1604 Not configurable

Communi Defa
cation
ult
port

Configuration

UDP)
ICA
1494 See XenApp Command Reference for information about using
sessions
the ICAPORT command
(clients to
servers)
License
8082 See Licensing Your Product
Manageme
nt Console
Server
license
server

to 2700 In the console, open the farm or server properties page, and
0
select License Server

Server
to
Microsoft
SQL Server
or
Oracle
server

Server
server

139, See the documentation for the database software

1433
, or
443
for
MSSQL

to 2512 See XenApp Command Reference for information about using

the IMAPORT command

1) Default ICA port number?

Citrix Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol is a networking protocol that runs over TCP/IP using
registered port 1494. However, some firewalls are not preconfigured with details of the ICA protocol. Configuration
for the ICA protocol is straightforward. The ICA protocol is similar to the TELNET protocol. It uses a single port at the
MetaFrame server. The default port is 1494; you can change the port number using the ICAPORT utility.
2). what is Data Store?
It contains information about The data store provides a repository of persistent information about the farm that
Each server can reference, including the following: Farm configuration information Published application
configurations Server configurations MetaFrame administrator accounts Printer configurations Trust
relationships
3) What is Data store?

For each server farm, you need a database called a data store. Citrix Presentation Server uses the data store to
centralize configuration information for a server Farm in one location. The data store maintains information about
the servers, applications, and administrators in the server farm. Using a data store ensures a scalable and flexible
system for managing your servers.
4) How to check the data store is up or not/
Hklm\software\citrix\IMA\runtime
Righhand side value is there it means the connections is through
Next method ?
5) What is LHC (Local Host Cache)
A subset of data store information, the local host cache, exists on each server in the farm, providing each member
server with quick access to data store information. The local host cache also provides redundancy of the data store
information, if for example, a server in the farm loses connectivity to the data store. When a change is made to the
farms data store, a notification to update the local host cache is sent to all the servers in the farm. However, it is
possible that some servers will miss an update because of network problems. Member servers periodically query
the data store to determine if changes were made since the servers local host cache was last updated. If changes
were made, the server requests the changed information.
6) What is IMA? Independent Management Architecture (IMA) its a Service
Independent Management Architecture (IMA) provides the framework for server Communications and is the
management foundation for MetaFrame Presentation Server. IMA is a centralized management service comprised of
a collection of core Subsystems that define and control the execution of products in a server farm. IMA enables
servers to be arbitrarily grouped into server farms that do not depend on the physical locations of the servers or
whether the servers are on different network subnets. IMA runs on all servers in the farm. IMA subsystems
communicate through messages passed by the IMA Service through default TCP ports 2512 and 2513. The IMA
Service starts automatically when a server is started. The IMA Service can be manually started or stopped through
the operating system Services utility.
7) Purpose of the Data Collector / Zone Data Collectors:Zone data collectors are communication gateways between zones in farms that have more than one zone. Zone
data collectors communicate information used by MetaFrame Presentation Server to list available applications for
users and, when users open an application, to locate the most appropriate server on which to run the application
When resolving a users application request to the least-loaded server in the farm, a zone data collector queries the
other zone data collectors for the information it needs to identify the server with the lightest load.
8) Configuring Zones and Data Collectors
A zone data collector is a server that manages dynamic information about the servers in the zone. Each farm has at
least one zone. Zones are designed to enhance the performance of a farm by allowing Geographically related
servers to be grouped together, whether they are connected to the same network subnet or not.
9) What is Speed Screen?
Citrix has long talked up SpeedScreen Latency Reduction (or SLR for short)
Citrixs SpeedScreen Latency Reduction does two things. Firstly, (and most importantly), it provides something
called local text echo. Local text echo allows characters to appear on the ICA client devices screen the instant a
user pushes the key on their keyboard.
10) Using a RAID Environment
This section describes factors to consider if you are thinking about putting the farms data store in a Redundant
Array of Independent Disks (RAID) environment. See the table below for information about cost, performance, and
fault tolerance related to four different RAID configurations.

RAID 0 RAID 0 has no redundancy. It is striped, which means that data is divided into blocks spanning multiple
disks. RAID 0 has multiple actuators (read/write mechanisms) because of the multiple disk use. More actuators
improve read and write performance. Citrix does not recommend the use of RAID 0 for critical data, such as a server
farms data store. The savings realized from purchasing fewer disks does not typically make up for the costs
resulting from downtime and support. RAID 1 RAID 1 uses fully redundant disk mirroring. With disk mirroring, a
complete copy of one drive is maintained on another drive. RAID 1 provides high fault tolerance and can improve
read performance. However, RAID 1 writes the data twice, which can degrade write performance in single
disk/controller environments. In addition, this type of redundancy requires twice the disk space.
RAID 5 Like RAID 0, RAID 5 is striped. However, because RAID 5 adds parity to the data striping, it includes fault
tolerance. If one disk in a RAID 5 group fails, the logical disk continues to function. The parity information is used to
recreate data on areplacement disk. The loss of two disks in a group at one time cannot be sustained. RAID 5 uses
multiple disk actuators that provide improved read and write performance.
RAID 10 RAID 10 combines RAID 1 and RAID 0. It is a striped and fully mirrored set of disks. It is the best
configuration for both redundancy and performance. Because of this, it is the most expensive storage option. 11)
How to put a server into install mode, "Gui way, command line way"
12. How does Citrix load balancing work?
When a client initiates a connection to the server, a vserver terminates the client connection and initiates a new
connection with the selected server, or reuses an existing connection with the server, to perform load balancing.
The load balancing feature provides traffic management from Layer 4 (TCP and UDP) through Layer 7 (FTP, HTTP,
and HTTPS).
The NetScaler uses a number of algorithms, called load balancing methods, to determine how to distribute the load
among the servers. The default load balancing method is the Least Connections method.
A typical load balancing deployment consists of the entities described in the following figure
The entities function as follows:
Vserver. An entity that is represented by an IP address, a port, and a protocol. The vserver IP address (VIP) is
usually a public IP address. The client sends connection requests to this IP address. The vserver represents a bank
of servers.
Service. A logical representation of a server or an application running on a server. Identifies the server's IP
address, a port, and a protocol. The services are bound to the vservers.
Server object. An entity that is represented by an IP address. The server object is created when you create a
service. The IP address of the service is taken as the name of the server object. You can also create a server object
and then create services by using the server object.
Monitor. An entity that tracks the health of the services. The NetScaler periodically probes the servers using the
monitor bound to each service. If a server does not respond within a specified response timeout, and the specified
number of probes fails, the service is marked DOWN. The NetScaler then performs load balancing among the
remaining services.

5) Difference's between ica and rdp

1 Requires Windows 2000 Advanced Server or Datacenter Server.
2 Not available on Windows CE .NET thin clients.
6) You just installed X, y, z application on a Terminal Server / citrix server and the application runs fine for the
administrator but not for average Joe user. How would you go about figuring out the problem? What tools would you
use?
7) In presentation Server 4.5 what is the name of the console where you publish applications.

8) What's the name of the .CMD file that runs every time a user logs into Citrix.
USRLOGON.CMD
Whenever a user logs on to MetaFrame, the USRLOGON.CMD file is run. This file is located in %systemroot
%/system32. It is configured to run automatically when each user logs in.
This file has two functions:
USRLOGON.CMD creates the ROOTDRIVE variable. This
variable is used by the Logon Script to identify the
user's home directory.USRLOGON.CMD calls USRLOGN2.CMD. USRLOGN2.CMD runs the application scripts that fix
user level problems with certain applications.
9) What is an .ICA File, What is contained inside an ica File
File type: Citrix file or
Bitmap graphic (Image Object Content Architecture)
ICA files contain network and system settings used by several Citrix applications.
10) What is Speed Screen
11) Difference between published applications and Published Desktops? Pros/Cons of both.
Query command in citrix?
1. What is Farm?
Citrix farm is a collection of citrix servers which provide published applications to all users. It also prevent singel of
failure of all citrix servers due to load balanced capabilities.
What is the requirement for Citrix server installation?
Operating systems:
Windows Server 2003 (Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter Edition) with Service Pack 1 or 2 installed
Windows Server 2003 R2
Disk space requirements:
400MB for Citrix Presentation Server, Enterprise Edition
50MB for the Presentation Server Console
25MB for the Access Management Console
35MB for the Document Center
Terminal Services running in application mode
Java Runtime Environment Version 1.5.0_09
o

If you do not have this installed, Autorun.exe prompts to install it for you

o
Alternatively, you can cancel the installation and install JRE manually from the Support\JRE1.5 folder on the
server installation CD for Citrix Presentation Server
.NET Framework Version 2.0
o

If you do not have this installed, Autorun.exe prompts to install it for you

o
You can also install .NET Framework Version 2.0 manually from the Support\dotNet20 folder of the Citrix
Presentation Server CD or image

What is Client Lock Down

Fire up a full PN Client and go to Tools->ICA Settings-&gt;Hotkeys Tab. CTRL+ALT+DEL hotkey is Ctrl+F1. So if you
add that hotkey combo into the default.ica file in WebInt, it will give users the ability to lock their Citrix sessions by
hitting Ctrl+F1 and walk away from the thin client

What is Printer terminology in Citrix

Common Microsoft Windows and Citrix Printing Terms Defined

Citrix Printing Terms
Autoconnected Printers: Printers that are defined for users in their ICA sessions based off the list of network printers
defined on the client machine, but are connected directly to the print server. During session initialization, the server
attempts to map directly to the print server using the credentials of the user that initiated the ICA session. If the
server is unable to establish a direct connection to the location, the printer is autocreated in the session instead of
being autoconnected. When a printer is autoconnected, the print job is sent directly from the server running
Presentation Server, bypassing the client device, to the specified print server outside of the ICA session.
Autocreated Printers: Client local or network printers that appear for the user within an ICA session and use the ICA
protocol to send a print job. Autocreated printers use the ICA printer naming convention.
Autorestored Printers: A manually created client printer attached to a standard client printer port. This kind of
printer can be created by an administrator or power user running the Add Printer wizard and manually creating a
local printer that is attached to a standard client printer port. These printers are deleted when logging off and recreated when logging on.
Autoretained Printers: These are client printers that are added by the user within an ICA session through the Add
Printer wizard by browsing and connecting to printers enumerated through the client network print provider. When
re-creating a retained printer, all Citrix policies except the autocreation policy are respected. This means that
retained client printers are created exactly as the autocreation policy would have selected them. Such printers
continue to be re-created with every logon from the same client until the client printer within the session is deleted
manually or the remembered printer connection is removed from the clients properties store. On a Windows client,
the properties store can be found in the user profile under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Citrix\PrinterProperties
Client Printers: Any printer available to a user before an ICA session is launched.
oClient Local Printer: Printers that are physically connected to client devices through LPT, COM, or TCP ports.
oClient Network Printer: A network printer that appears in the Printers and Faxes folder of a client device and is
managed by a print server. This differs from a print device attached to a standard TCP/IP port.
Citrix Print Manager Service (cpsvc.exe): Provides printer management for all ICA sessions including printer policy
enforcement, driver installation, client printer port management, auto-creation of network and client printers, and
printer/port cleanup when logging off.

Citrix Universal Print Driver (UPD): A single driver that is installed and configured on the server to which an
administrator can assign to all client autocreated printers. This allows for an administrator to not have to manage,
install, and duplicate a potentially large set of third-party print drivers through the server farm.
Citrix Universal Printer: A single generic printer using the Citrix Universal Print Driver. It is mapped within each
session and is not bound to any printer defined on the client device. It is not enabled by default.
Legacy-style Client Printer Port: The printer ports used by printers created using the legacy naming convention.
Such ports are tied to the client workstation by name.
The naming convention is as follows:
<client>\<CLIENTNAME>\<PRINTERNAME>
Where <CLIENTNAME> is the name of the client workstation and <PRINTERNAME> is the name of the printer on the
client.
Standard-style Client Printer Port: The printer ports used by printers created using the standard naming convention.
Such printers are tied to the client workstation by Terminal Services session ID.
The naming convention is as follows:
<client>:<ID>:<PRINTERNAME>
Where <ID> is the session ID number of an active session and <PRINTERNAME> is the name of the printer on the
client.
Session Printers: Network printers shared by a print server that are discovered and attached through a session
printing policy.
Unmanaged Printer: Permanent printers attached to legacy client printer ports. Both the port and printer become
permanent fixtures on the server that they are created on. Whenever the specific client is not connected to the
server, the port is marked offline. However, if a session is opened from the client, the port is marked online and any
queued print jobs begin to print on the specific client printer.
7. How to use datastore for database

8. What is the difference between all citrix versions?

9. What are different load evaluators are available in Citrix
Citrix load evaluators
Many deployments of Citrix where I've had to do health checks have had their default Citrix load evaluators set for
load balancing. The default load evaluator sets the user load as 100 users per server. This can be very dangerous as
this figure has for all intents and purposes not been tested to and whilst a 100 users per server may be possible on
large powerful servers, it isn't attainable across the board.
Load evaluators on each server need to be configured to just below the stress limit. So if the servers become
unresponsive at a user load of 60 and the server can be rebooted successfully instead of at 61 users where a reboot
does nothing. Then we can assume that 60 is the stress limit for the server and using n-1 (where n is the stress
limit) would be a fair indicator for the load evaluator.
However we need to factor in transaction times to see whether they are impacted at n-1 and if they are we need to
set the load evaluator for a lower user load.
When loads on servers reach certain points, the associated infrastructure will start to struggle to meet demands put
on it. For example, the network components may not be able to deal effectively with network requests and as such
user sessions may become unresponsive.

Not knowing your stress limits on resources before going 'live' can become a total nightmare when a system is 'live'
as it may take time to locate the causes and as I've said before, 'fix it cheaply in test or pay a fortune to fix it later!'.
During one stress testing phase I found above a certain load all the servers in the farm became unresponsive. The
load on the servers was just before the server stress limits and the aggregate server load on the other associated
infrastructure was therefore very high.
So the first port of call was to check whether the servers could see the rest of the infrastructure they interfaced
with. Which was fine, next I looked at the network and eventually found out the network card on the data store
couldn't cope with the number of requests made by the Citrix servers.
This is where stress testing shows it's benefits as in most cases non functional testing is never done on a full scale
environment, that is, if the plan is to deploy 1000 Citrix servers for 25,000 users, your test environment won't be
the same size as the cost could be excessive. So the test environment in most cases is a scaled down version.
The only way to contemplate how thousands of users would affect the system, is to try to test at the stress limits
and monitor the infrastructure components. For example, using an environment a quarter of the size of the planned
primary environment and using the maximum levels of user load (n-1) per server, it's possible to get high numbers
of test users using the test environment.
By running these stress tests over several days not only would the infrastructure be able to simulate months of load
but also apply consistent levels of stress on infrastructure components.
This is the stress testing approach I used on a Citrix environment where it was determined the datastore network
cards were unsuitable. Testing using the expected loads didn't create any infrastructure issues and the Citrix
servers coped extremely well at these loads as the transaction times remained fairly consistent.
When the higher loads were applied, the datastore started to struggle. Fortunately we were able to change the
network cards during testing otherwise the higher loads would have caused a nightmare if we'd gone into
production using these types of network cards.
It's important to assess the correctness of setup including whether the right thresholds have been configured for
Citrix load evaluators.

Citrix User Policies

With User Policies, you can apply select MetaFrame settings, including shadowing permission settings, printer
autocreation settings, and client device mapping settings, to specific users or user groups. Using policies, you can
tailor your environment at the user / group level.
Policy rules have three states: Rule Enabled, Rule Disabled, or Rule Not Configured.
By default, not all rules are configured. All unconfigured rules are ignored when users log on to the MetaFrame
server. I highly recommend reducing the amount of rules set to Rule Not Configured to reduce to need to process
the policy and to speed up the logon time.
Keep with the following when creating a new Citrix Policy:
1.
Decide the purpose for the Citrix policy Why are you creating the policy and who will it affect. An example of a
policy would be to assign them common settings specific to their function, connection type or geographic location.
2.
Create the policy - You will need to define a name for the policy, assign user(s) / group(s) to the policy and set
the rules that will be the basis of the policy.
3.
Prioritize or rank your policies In order to over come user(s) / groups(s) that are members of multiple policies
you will need to configure policy priority. I highly recommend creating an Administrator policy the disables all policy
and gives full control to a select group of Citrix administrators to the top of the policy list to prevent from locking
yourself out.

In order to view the priory of Citrix Policies you set the consoles view mode to Details. Select Details on the View
menu Click the Priority section of the title bar to sort by priority.

Important! User Policy settings override all other MetaFrame XP and Terminal Services settings. However, if you
disable functionality in Citrix Connection Configuration, you cannot enable the functionality by creating user policies
How to Create a New Citrix Policy
The following details how to create Citrix User Policies
Open the Citrix Management Console, right click on the Policies section and click Create Policy
1.

Enter a name for the new policy and click OK.

2.

Adjust the policy priority by clicking up or down priory buttons located on the toolbar.

You have now sucessfully created a Citrix Policy and are ready to configure the rules and assign user(s) / group(s) to
it.
How to Configure a Citrix Policy
The following details how to configure policy rules.
1.

Double click on a Citrix Policy to open the policy properties.

2.

Click the policies that the rules you would like to set and click OK when finished.

You have now successfully configured a Citrix Policy and are ready to assign the Policy to user(s) / group(s).
How to Assign a Citrix Policy to User(s) and or Group(s)
The following details how to assign a policy to user or groups.
1.

Right click on the policy you would like to assign user and or group to and click Assign Users.

2.
Select the User(s) / Groups(s) you would like to assign to the policy and click OK. I highly recommend sticking
with group to simply policy management. However if you need to assign a user then you will need to check the
Show users checkbox.

The Citrix policy will now be assigned to the designated user(s) / group(s) next time they login to the MetaFrame
farm.

11. What you will check when any user is not able to launch citrix application.
1) First try to launch same application from Citrix server(on which you installed and published)
2) Try to add same application to your ID and try to launch
3) Check user permissions for that Applications
4) Verify that latest Citrix client software installed at desktop
5) Verify that user is having correct proxy settings to connect to your Citrix network (for remote users)
13. What is ICA and what are the advantage of ICA

14. What is Speed Screen

15. What are the query command in citrix
1)qfarm
2)querydc
3)queryds
4)queryhr
16. What are the different ports use in Citrix
Some Citrix Port Numbers
1494: This port is used by any client using the TCP protocol to communicate with the Presentation Server. You will
need to open this port on your firewall for inbound connections unless you are using some form of encapsulation or
encryption. You can change the port using the ICAPORT command but I find it to be more trouble than it is worth.
1604: Called the ICA Browser port this is a UDP port that can be used by the Program Neighbourhood to enumerate
applications. You probably won t use this though.
80: This is the default port used by the XML service and is used by clients who enumerate applications with the
TCP+HTTP or XML protocol. You will thus need to open this port on your firewall for inbound connections if clients
will be using it to locate servers. You can change the port easily enough using the CTXXMLSS command.
443: This is the default SSL. The SSL Relay will use it to secure communications between the Web Interface and the
server farm. You could also use it to secure client communication to the web Interface or use it for client
connections to the Presentation Server.
5000: The Presentation Server uses this port to communicate with the IBM Db2 server hosting the data store.
1521: This port is used to communicate with the Oracle data store.
1433: The port used to communicate with a Microsoft SQL data store.
2512: This port is used for server to server communication such as when load information is communicated. The
port used to access the data store is saved in the HKLMSOFTWARECITRIXIMAIMAPORT key on the server containing
the data store. All other servers use the port number saved in HKLMSOFTWARECITRIXIMAPSSERVERPORT key in the
registry to access the data store. Have a look at IMAPORT to see how to change it.
2513: This port is used by the Presentation Server Console when connection to a server. Have a look at IMAPORT to
see how to change it.
2598: This is the session reliability port number and needs to be opened on your firewall if the ICA Clients will be
using session reliability when communication with the server.
27000 and a random port number: This is the port used for communication between the Citrix License server and
the Presentation Servers. Remember that the Citrix vendor daemon running on the license server uses a random
port. It tracks license usage.
17. How the licensing works in Citrix and difference in Citrix Licensing version wise
18. What are the console available to manage citrix server.
Access Management Console
Presentation management console
Citrix web console

19. What is WebInterface or Nfuse

(Nfuse is the web interface of the citrix server).