I added a Powershell module to XATools that can be used to publish a desktop to every server in a XenApp farm.  The same technique could be used for published applications.

You’ll need a “template application”.  In the demo, I’m using a published desktop.

Leave the server list blank.

Disable the application.

Add the user accounts for the helpdesk (or admins) that use the published application for testing a particular server.

Configure advanced settings as needed.

Now that you have a template you can use Powershell to publish a desktop for each server.

Enable the applications as needed.

Where’s the code?
I’m trying to collect and consolidate my Powershell scripts into modules. The code for this script is included in the XATools Powershell module.

Function New-XAPublishDesktop()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
    [string]$ServerName,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$TemplateName
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    Add-PSSnapin Citrix* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    foreach($Server in $ServerName)
    {
      $app = Copy-XAApplication -BrowserName $TemplateName
      $app = Add-XAApplicationServer -InputObject $app -ServerNames $Server
      $NewDisplayName = $Server.ToUpper()+" Desktop"
      $app = Rename-XAApplication -BrowserName ($app).BrowserName -NewDisplayName $NewDisplayName
      $app
    }
  }
}

I added a Powershell module to XATools that measures XenApp session latency by zone. Users with extremely high latency will distort the data.

Where’s the code?
I’m trying to collect and consolidate my Powershell scripts into modules. The code for this script is included in the XATools Powershell module.

Function Measure-XAZoneLatency()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
               ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
    [string]$zoneName=""
  )
  BEGIN
  {

  }
  PROCESS
  {
    foreach($zone in $zoneName)
    {
      $XASessions = Get-XAServer -ZoneName $zone -OnlineOnly | Get-XASession
      $XASessionCounters = $XASessions | Where-Object {(Test-XAActiveICASession -XASession $_)} | Get-XASessionCounter -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
      $XASessionCounters = $XASessionCounters | Where-Object {(Test-XALatencyValue -Value $_.AverageLatency)}
      $XASessionCounters = $XASessionCounters | Where-Object {(Test-XALatencyValue -Value $_.LastLatency)}
      $XASessionCounters = $XASessionCounters | Where-Object {(Test-XALatencyValue -Value $_.LatencyDeviation)}

      $AverageLatency = $XASessionCounters | Measure-Object -Property AverageLatency -ave -max -min
      $LastLatency = $XASessionCounters | Measure-Object -Property LastLatency -ave -max -min
      $LatencyDeviation = $XASessionCounters | Measure-Object -Property LatencyDeviation -ave -max -min

      $obj = New-Object PSObject
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name ZoneName -Value $zone

      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name AverageLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $AverageLatency.Average)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MinAverageLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $AverageLatency.Minimum)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MaxAverageLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $AverageLatency.Maximum)

      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name AvgLastLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LastLatency.Average)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MinLastLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LastLatency.Minimum)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MaxLastLatency -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LastLatency.Maximum)

      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name AvgLatencyDeviation -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LatencyDeviation.Average)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MinLatencyDeviation -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LatencyDeviation.Minimum)
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name MaxLatencyDeviation -Value ("{0:N2}" -f $LatencyDeviation.Maximum)

      $obj

    }
  }
}
Function Test-XAActiveICASession()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
               ValueFromPipeLine=$true)]
    $XASession
  )
  BEGIN
  {

  }
  PROCESS
  {
    [boolean]$result = $true 

    if($XASession.State -ne "Active")
    {
      $result = $false
    }

    if(-not $XASession.SessionName.StartsWith("ICA"))
    {
      $result = $false
    }

    if($XASession.Protocol -ne "Ica")
    {
      $result = $false
    }
    return $result
  }
}
Function Test-XALatencyValue()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [long]$Value
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    $badValues = @(4294967295)
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    [int]$minValue = 0
    [boolean]$result = $true

    foreach($badValue in $badValues)
    {
      if($Value -eq $badValue)
      {
        $result = $false
      }
    }

    if($Value -lt $minValue)
    {
      $result = $false
    }
    return $result
  }
}

I wrote a Powershell module that displays active and disconnected session counts every 30 seconds.

I used this module earlier this year to monitor a XenApp farm when our office was closed due to weather. A large portion of the staff had to work from home so it helped determine when additional servers needed to be enabled to handle the extra users.

Install the Citrix XenApp commandlets, import XATools.psm1 and run “Start-XASessionCounter”.

Start-XASessionCounter

Script Output

Where’s the code?
I’m trying to collect and consolidate my Powershell scripts into modules. The code for this script is included in the XATools Powershell module.

Function Start-XASessionCounter()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [int]$UpdateInterval=30,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [boolean]$showPeak=$true
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin Citrix* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    $global:peakActiveSessions = 0
    $global:peakASTime = ""
    $global:peakDisconnectedSessions = 0
    $global:peakDSTime = ""
    $global:peakTotalSessions = 0
    $global:peakTSTime = ""
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    while($true)
    {
      Get-XASessionCount
      if($showPeak)
      {
        Write-Host "`nPeak Active Sessions: $global:peakActiveSessions @ $global:peakASTime"
        Write-Host "Peak Disconnected Sessions: $global:peakDisconnectedSessions @ $global:peakDSTime"
        Write-Host "Peak Total Sessions: $global:peakTotalSessions @ $global:peakTSTime"
      }
      Start-Sleep -seconds $UpdateInterval
    }
  }
}
Function Get-XASessionCount()
{
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin Citrix* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    $dateTime = Get-Date
    $sessions = Get-XaSession
    Clear-Host
    $active =  ($sessions | ? {$_.State -eq "Active" -and $_.Protocol -eq "Ica"}).Count
    $disconnected = ($sessions | ? {$_.State -eq "Disconnected" -and $_.Protocol -eq "Ica"}).Count
    $total = ($sessions | ? {$_.Protocol -eq "Ica"}).Count
    if($active -gt $global:peakActiveSessions)
    {
      $global:peakActiveSessions = $active
      $global:peakASTime = $dateTime.ToString()
    }
    if($disconnected -gt $global:peakDisconnectedSessions)
    {
      $global:peakDisconnectedSessions = $disconnected
      $global:peakDSTime = $dateTime.ToString()
    }
    if($total -gt $global:peakTotalSessions)
    {
      $global:peakTotalSessions = $total
      $global:peakTSTime = $dateTime.ToString()
    }
    Write-Host $dateTime
    Write-Host "`nActive Sessions: $active"
    Write-Host "Disconnected Sessions: $disconnected"
    Write-Host "Total Sessions: $total"
  }
}

I’ll demonstrate how the module can be used to assign random 32 character strings to PVS target devices.

It might come in handy if you’re following the Symantec KB article for configuring SEP with PVS target devices.

You can find the article here:

How to prepare SEP clients on virtual disks for use with Citrix Provisioning Server

** Disclaimer: I do not use the technique documented in the Symantec KB article to make SEP work on PVS target devices. I’m using the article to demonstrate the Powershell module.

** Symantec’s batch script has an error: The batch script on Symantec’s website has a typo and should be modified before use.

Here’s the line with the problem.

del /f %hwidFolder%\sephwid.xml

You can correct the problem by adding “/Q”.

del /q /f %hwidFolder%\sephwid.xml

** The paths in Symantec’s batch script should be modified based on the target device OS – x86 or x64.

Now let’s concentrate on assigning random 32 character hwids to the target devices with a custom Powershell module and the Citrix Provisioning Server Powershell commandlets.

Install the Provisioning Server Powershell snapin.

Custom Powershell module – PVSTools.psm1

Function Convert-MCLI()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    $results,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    $TreatResultsAsValues=$false,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    $addName="",
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    $addValue=""
  )
  if($TreatResultsAsValues)
  {
    $strArr = @()
    $str = ""
    foreach($line in $results)
    {
      if($line.StartsWith("Record #"))
      {
        if(-not ($str -eq ""))
        {
          $strArr += $str
        }
        $str = ""
      }
      elseif(-not $line.StartsWith("Executing:"))
      {
        if($line.Contains(":"))
        {
          $name = $line.SubString(0,$line.IndexOf(":")).Trim()
          $value = $line.SubString($line.IndexOf(":")+1,($line.Length)-($line.indexof(":"))-1).Trim()
          if($str.Length -gt 0)
          {
            $str += ",""$name=$value"""
          }
          else
          {
            $str = """$name=$value"""
          }
        }
      }
    }
    if(-not ($str -eq ""))
    {
      $strArr += $str
    }
    $obj = New-object PSObject
    if($addName.Length -gt 0)
    {
      $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name $addName -value $addValue
    }
    $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name devicePersonality -value $strArr
    $obj
  }
  else
  {
    $objs = @()
    foreach($line in $results)
    {
      if($line.StartsWith("Record #"))
      {
        if(-not ($obj -eq $null))
        {
          $objs += $obj
        }
        $obj = New-object PSObject
      }
      elseif(-not $line.StartsWith("Executing:"))
      {
        if($line.Contains(":"))
        {
          $name = $line.SubString(0,$line.IndexOf(":")).Trim()
          $value = ($line.SubString($line.IndexOf(":")+1,($line.Length)-($line.indexof(":"))-1)).Trim()
          $obj | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name $name -Value $value
        }
      }
    }
    if(-not ($obj -eq $null))
    {
      $objs += $obj
    }
    $objs
    return
  }
}
Function Get-PVSDevicePersonality()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
               ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
               ValueFromPipeLine=$true)]
    [string]$deviceName=""
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin mcli* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    foreach($device in $deviceName)
    {
      $cmd = "mcli-get -t devicepersonality -p ""deviceName=$device"""
      $results = Invoke-Expression -Command $cmd
      Convert-MCLI -results $results -TreatResultsAsValues $true -addName "deviceName" -addValue $device
    }
  }
}
Function Get-PVSDevice()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
               ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
               ValueFromPipeLine=$true)]
    [string]$deviceName=""
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin mcli* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    foreach($device in $deviceName)
    {
      if($device.Length -gt 0)
      {
        $cmd = "mcli-get -t device -p ""deviceName=$device"""
      }
      else
      {
        $cmd = "mcli-get -t device"
      }
      $results = Invoke-Expression -Command $cmd
      Convert-MCLI -results $results
    }
  }
}
Function Add-PVSDevicePersonality()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
               ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
               ValueFromPipeLine=$true)]
    [string]$deviceName="",
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$Name,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$Value,
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [boolean]$Overwrite=$true
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin mcli* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    $Name = $Name.toLower()
    foreach($device in $deviceName)
    {
      $devicePersonality = (Get-PVSDevicePersonality -DeviceName $device).devicePersonality
      $newPersonality = ""
      foreach($nvpair in $devicePersonality)
      {
        if(-not $nvpair.tolower().startswith("""name=$Name"""))
        {
          if($newPersonality.Length -gt 0)
          {
            $newPersonality += ","
          }
          $newPersonality += $nvpair
        }
        elseif($nvpair.tolower().startswith("""name=$Name""") -and (-not $Overwrite))
        {
          Get-PVSDevicePersonality -DeviceName $device
          return
        }
      }
    }
    if($newPersonality.Length -gt 0)
    {
      $newPersonality += ","
    }
    $newPersonality += """name=$Name"",""value=$Value"""
    $cmd = "mcli-setlist -t devicepersonality -p ""deviceName=$device"" -r $newPersonality"
    $results = Invoke-Expression -Command $cmd
    Get-PVSDevicePersonality -DeviceName $device
  }
}
Function Remove-PVSDevicePersonality()
{
  param
  (
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
               ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
               ValueFromPipeLine=$true)]
    [string]$deviceName="",
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [string]$Name
  )
  BEGIN
  {
    #Uses Citrix MCLI Powershell snapin
    Add-PSSnapin mcli* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  PROCESS
  {
    $Name = $Name.toLower()
    foreach($device in $deviceName)
    {
      $devicePersonality = (Get-PVSDevicePersonality -DeviceName $device).devicePersonality
      $newPersonality = ""
      foreach($nvpair in $devicePersonality)
      {
        if(-not $nvpair.tolower().startswith("""name=$Name"""))
        {
          if($newPersonality.Length -gt 0)
          {
            $newPersonality += ","
          }
          $newPersonality += $nvpair
        }
      }
    }
    if($newPersonality.Length -gt 0)
    {
      $cmd = "mcli-setlist -t devicepersonality -p ""deviceName=$device"" -r $newPersonality"
      $results = Invoke-Expression -Command $cmd
    }
    else
    {
      $cmd = "mcli-setlist -t devicepersonality -p ""deviceName=$device"""
      $results = Invoke-Expression -Command $cmd
    }
    Get-PVSDevicePersonality -DeviceName $device
  }
}
Function New-PVSGuid()
{
  return ([guid]::NewGuid()).ToString().Replace("-","").ToUpper()
}

Save the custom Powershell module as PVSTools.psm1.

Import the Powershell module.

Use the Powershell module to assign a random “hwid” to target devices.

Get-PVSDevice | % {Add-PVSDevicePersonality -deviceName $_.deviceName -Name "hwid" -Value (New-PVSGuid)}

Or use the Powershell module to remove the hwid.

Get-PVSDevice | Remove-PVSDevicePersonality -Name "hwid"

Key features:
Optimize the behavior of the installer by including silent installation, preserialization, multilingual, and custom setup choices
Remove previous versions of Acrobat and Reader
Suppress the EULA, registration prompts, and the Getting Started window
Customize key application preferences — turn off automatic updates, add and set default job options, and customize collaboration and security settings
Remove shortcuts from the desktop and the Start menu
Edit each Adobe Acrobat application’s registry and installer tables
Customize file attachment handling within PDF files, including specifying which file types you want to block
Add or edit files that will be installed, including customized JavaScript or plug-ins
Preconfigure Acrobat Connect and disable it
Preconfigure and lock Enhanced Security settings
Deploy custom Portfolio navigators
Add or remove custom redaction code sets

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3993

Provisioning Services 6.0 adds new features that enhance your ability to manage and deploy shared vDisk images.

Try deleting the “Local” and “LocalLow” directories in the mandatory profile’s appdata folder.

I’ve never had a problem with setting the registry value to “–1” until today.  Several virtual desktop customers reported they could not connect to new clusters using “Veritas Cluster Manager – Java Console”.  The customers explained that the application would launch but nothing would happen after clicking File, New Cluster.

I found you can get additional logging if you launch ClusterManager.exe from the command line and “redirect” the output.

I reviewed the log file and found an error message with an illegal argument exception.

A quick search on Symantec’s website and I found an article that documented the exact problem users were reporting.

The article says to set the blink rate to “none” but I found this does not fix the problem.  I manually set the blink rate to 1200 with AppSense EM at user logon and the application now works.