XenApp Farm Health Check v2

My original XenApp Farm Health Check has had great feedback, and thanks to all of you who have modified the script and supplied me with the updated code!
So, finally, version 2 of the script is now available for download. The script has not been extensively tested so please let me know if you have any problems and I will endeavour to help.
The tests performed by this script are:

   - Ping response
   - Logon enabled
   - Assigned Load Evaluator
   - Active sessions
   - ICA port response
   - CGP port response (session reliability)
   - WMI response (to check for WMI corruption)
   - Citrix IMA, Citrix XML, Citrix Print Manager and Spooler services
   - Server uptime (to ensure scheduled reboots are occurring)
   - Server folder path and worker group memberships are report for informational purposes
   - PVS vDisk and write cache file size

I schedule the script on a XenApp 6.x Controller (ZDC) to run at least once per day (7 am) where it emails an HTML report on the XenApp farm health.

Items in the script that should be customised for your environment are listed near the beginning of the script

Please download the script and provide me with some feedback. 

Citrix StoreFront SQL database creation script

Citrix StoreFront will become the standard client access point for XenApp & XenDesktop over the next couple of years replacing the venerable Citrix Web Interface. The current release of Web Interface (5.4) is the last release and the product will be retired in 2015.
StoreFront uses a SQL database to store user preferences which provides a consistent user experience across different platforms and locations. Citrix have a 10 step process for creating the SQL database which I have always found a little convoluted, so I have wrapped up the SQL commands into a single script with four variables to customise for the environment.
The high level steps to install StoreFront using my script are:

1. Install StoreFront (do not configure StoreFront yet!)
2. Create an AD group and add the StoreFront AD computer object(s) into the group
3. Edit the script and customise the @DATABASE_NAME, @MDF_FILE, @LOG_FILE and @STOREFRONT_COMPUTER_GROUP variables to suit your environment
4. Open the SQL script in Microsoft SQL Server Management and run it
5. Import an SSL certificate into IIS configure the web site for HTTPS
6. "Deploy" (configure) StoreFront.

Easy huh? Let me know if you have any issues or if you have any enhancement you would like to share (I'm no SQL expert!)

For more detail on the StoreFront configuration see the CloudGateway Entperprise POC Best Practise Guide.

Download the StoreFront DB creation script.

Citrix NetScaler or F5?

This year I have seen a large increase in the number of Citrix NetScaler projects we have been engaged on. Citrix NetScaler is a proven and simple platform for application high availability and optimisation at the network level. We see NetScalers being used primarily for load balancing with web caching and Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) also commonly being deployed.
In Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers (Oct 2012) only Citrix NetScaler, F5 and Radware are in the Magic Quadrant. In New Zealand the biggest competition to Citrix NetScaler is F5. Given we are a Citrix focused business most of our clients are running Citrix XenApp or Citrix XenDesktop so when we have a conversation around application delivery controllers the benefits of NetScaler over F5 are easier to quantify; with every edition of NetScaler comes Access Gateway Enterprise Edition so you can use one device for both application delivery/load balancing and remote access. Yes, I know F5 also have integration into XenApp and XenDesktop for remote access, but why introduce another vendor into the stack? Especially when the are questions whether remote access via F5 is supported by Citrix.
If you're already a Citrix customer, keep it simple and stick with Citrix end-to-end. That is one of Citrix's points of difference; their end-to-end product suite from client & desktop to networking to server. If you are not already a Citrix customer then the choice is more difficult. Look closely at your requirements, evaluate the products and obtain some pricing.
You can read the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Delivery Controllers report here.

5 Enterprise Alternatives to Dropbox

CIO.com has published a great overview of 5 enterprise alternatives to Dropbox, including Citrix ShareFile.

Zen: Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop become one

The rumour that Citrix will combine their XenApp and XenDesktop products into a single product (code named Excalibur) has been announced at Citrix Synergy Barcelona, and surprisingly a tech preview release will be out as soon as November 2012. This is a massive code change for Citrix as they are dropping their 10 year old Independent  Management Architecture (IMA) technology in favour of the XenDesktop style Virtual Desktop Agent (VDA) architecture. I had speculated that the next version of XenApp would support only Windows Server 2012, however I am happy to see continued support for Windows Server 2008 R2.

Citrix are also including important updates to HDX to allow superior media performance on mobile devices and over slow networks.

I expect to see changes to the Citrix licensing model as Excalibur gets closer to release date. We should see a single product license for desktop virtualisation and application delivery similar to the current XenDesktop license.
We will finally have a single management console to rule them all! I'm feeling Zen already.

UPDATE: You can download the Project Avalon Excalibur Tech preview here (MyCitrix logon required), and there is a reviewers guide here.

More Excalibur info:
What’s new in Excalibur Delivery Agents
Excalibur Architecture

Cisco recommend Citrix NetScaler

Citrix and Cisco have extended their existing partnership and as a result the Cisco ACE range will be phased out with Cisco now recommending Citrix NetScaler for Load Balancing and application delivery control. Citrix is offering a new ACE Migration Program to all global customers which includes migration tools and good product discounts.
Is this the beginning of consolidation of products between Citrix and Cisco? Will there be a similar announcement for Cisco WaaS and Citrix Branch Repeater in the future?

UPDATE: How to determine Client IP Address in XenApp 6.5

Thanks to a very helpful comment from Kahless on my previous post on this topic, I have developed a new method of obtaining the client IP address from a script running on the XenApp 6 or XenApp 6.5 server.

This only works on XenApp 6.5

This script uses the SESSIONNAME environment variable to return the ClientIP via WMI.

Function GetCTXClientIP
Set ObjShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
Dim strSessionName : strSessionName = ObjShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings( "%SESSIONNAME%" )
Dim objCTXWMIService : Set objCTXWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\localhost\root\citrix\hdx")
Dim colCTXItems : Set colCTXItems = objCTXWMIService.ExecQuery("Select ClientIP from Citrix_Sessions where StationName = '" & strSessionName & "'")
Dim objItem, ClientIP

For Each objItem in colCTXItems
ClientIP = Cstr (objItem.ClientIP)
Next

GetCTXClientIP = ClientIP
End Function