Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops data source

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is available in two offerings: service and perpetual or on-premises. Citrix Analytics supports both and discovers these data sources automatically. This article walks you through the prerequisites and the procedures to enable Analytics on both the offerings.

Enable Analytics on Virtual Apps and Desktops service

You must subscribe to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service offered on Citrix Cloud. To learn how to get started with Virtual Apps and Desktops service, see Install and configure.

Before you begin onboarding the Virtual Apps and Desktops service to Citrix Analytics, review the System Requirements section, and ensure that you have completed the required tasks.

Citrix Analytics automatically discovers Virtual Apps and Desktops data sources associated with your Citrix Cloud account. To view the data sources, do one of the following:

• Click Get Started on the Analytics Welcome page.

• Click Settings > Data Sources > Security.

A site card appears on the Data Sources page. Click Turn On Data Processing to allow Citrix Analytics to begin processing data for this data source.

After you have enabled data processing, the site card might display the No data received status. This happens when the events take some time to reach the event hub in Citrix Analytics. When Citrix Analytics receives the events, the status changes to Data processing on.

Note

If the status does not change after some time, refresh the Data Sources page.

The site card displays the number of Virtual Apps and Desktops users, discovered Sites, and the received events based on the selected time period- 1 hour (1H) or 1 week (1W). Click the number of users and Sites to view them. Click the number of received events to view the events on the corresponding self-service search page. For more information, see Self-Service search for Virtual Apps and Desktops.

If no events are received for the last one hour, the Data processing on status changes to No data received. Although there might be some events received for the last one week.

Turn on or off data processing

To stop data processing, click the vertical ellipsis (⋮) on the site card and then click Turn off data processing. Citrix Analytics stops processing data for this data source.

To enable data processing again, click Turn On Data Processing.

Enable Analytics on Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites

Use one of the following methods to onboard your on-premises Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites to Citrix Analytics:

• Onboard your Sites using Workspace

• Onboard your Sites using StoreFront

Prerequisites

Before you begin the onboarding, ensure that you meet the System Requirements and the following prerequisites:

• Delivery Controller version 7.16 or later

• Director version 7.16 or later

• Receiver for Windows version 4.11 or later

• Citrix Workspace app for Windows 1808 or later

• Receiver for Mac version 12.9.1 or later

• Citrix Workspace app for Mac 1910 or later

• Citrix Workspace app for HTML5 1809 or later

• Citrix Workspace app for Chrome 1809 or later

• Citrix Workspace app for Android 1809 or later

  Note

  Citrix Workspace app for Android does not support the App.Start and the App.End events. Hence, Unusual App Usage indicator is not supported.

• Subscription to Citrix Workspace. If you want to add your Sites to Citrix Workspace, you must require a Workspace subscription. Citrix Workspace is included with new subscriptions of Virtual Apps and Desktops after December 2017, as either a trial or as a purchased service.

  Note that Virtual Apps and Desktops Essentials is not supported on Citrix Analytics.

  To purchase a Citrix Workspace subscription, visit https://www.citrix.com/products/citrix-workspace/get-started.html and contact a Citrix Workspace expert who can help you.

• Sites added to Workspace. Citrix Analytics automatically discovers the Sites added to Citrix Workspace. Add your Sites to Citrix Workspace before proceeding with onboarding on Citrix Analytics. This process is known as Site aggregation.

  Site aggregation requires you to install Cloud Connector, configure NetScaler Gateway STA servers for internal and external connectivity to Workspace resources, and then add the Sites to Workspace. For detailed instructions on Site aggregation, see Add an on-premises Site to Citrix Workspace.

• StoreFront version. If you are using a StoreFront deployment for your Sites, ensure that the StoreFront version is 1906 or later.

• Site credentials for Citrix Analytics. While configuring your Site for the Actions feature of Citrix Analytics, you have to provide the Citrix administrator credentials for your on-premises Site. These credentials should have the following permissions:

  1. Citrix administrator role: Full Administrator

  2. Active Directory: Domain Users

• Server URL for Citrix Director. Using this information, Citrix Analytics accesses the real-time data available to provide in-depth analysis of user behavior in your Site.

• Delivery Controller. During the process of configuring your Site for advanced Citrix Analytics features such as policies and actions, you have to install a policy agent on a Delivery Controller in your on-premises Site. This agent enables your Site to communicate with Citrix Analytics on port 443 (HTTPS).

  Ensure that the Delivery Controller hosting the agent meets the following requirements:

  • Supports PowerShell 3.0 or later.

  • Outbound connections on TCP port 443 (HTTPS) are allowed.

• Launch applications through only native receiver. After you have added sites to Citrix Workspace, you must use the native receiver client to access the Workspace URL and launch the applications. Citrix Analytics collects data only when applications are launched through the native receiver client.

Onboard Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites using Workspace

1. When you click Get Started on the Analytics Welcome page or navigate to Settings > Data Sources > Security, Citrix Analytics automatically discovers the Sites that are added to Citrix Workspace. The Virtual Apps and Desktops site card displays the number of discovered Sites and the users. Click the number of discovered Sites to view the Sites.

   

   If you have not subscribed to Citrix Workspace and your on-premises Sites are not added to Citrix Workspace, Citrix Analytics cannot discover your Sites. The site card displays 0 discovered sites. To add a Site to Citrix Workspace:

   1. Click + on the site card.

      

   2. On the Workspace Configuration page, click +Add Site.

      

   3. Follow the on-screen instructions to add a Site. For more information, see Add an on-premises Site to Citrix Workspace.

   4. After adding the Site, log back to Citrix Analytics and refresh the Data Sources page to view the recently added Site on the site card.

2. To allow Citrix Analytics to begin processing data for the discovered Sites, click Turn On Data Processing on the Site card and follow the prompts on the screen.

   If you have multiple Sites added to the same Workspace, Citrix Analytics processes and stores data for all the Sites in the Workspace.

3. You get a success message when Analytics is successfully enabled on all your Sites.

   

After you have enabled data processing, the site card might display the No data received status. This happens when the events take some time to reach the event hub in Citrix Analytics. When Citrix Analytics receives the events, the status changes to Data processing on.

Note

If the status does not change after some time, refresh the Data Sources page.

The site card displays the number of users, discovered Sites, and the received events based on the selected time period- 1 hour (1H) or 1 week (1W). Click the number of users and Sites to view them. Click the number of received events to view the events on the corresponding self-service search page. For more information, see Self-Service search for Virtual Apps and Desktops.

If no events are received for the last one hour, the Data processing on status changes to No data received. Although there might be some events received for the last one week.

Configure a policy agent on your Site

The Site card displays the Policy configuration incomplete message when a policy agent is not installed on your discovered Site. The policy agent enables you to use the policies and actions on your Site.

Note

The policy agent is required only for configuring policies and has no role in data transmission from your Site. After the Site is onboarded, Citrix Analytics receives data regardless of whether the policy agent is installed or not.

To install and configure a policy agent:

1. Click either Sites or Policy configuration incomplete on the site card to view to the Discovered Sites page to install the policy agent.

   

2. Click the Site that displays the Policy configuration incomplete message.

   

3. Click Continue. The Install and Configure Analytics Policy Agent wizard appears.

   

4. Click Download Agent and save the policy agent package. Install the policy agent on one of the Delivery Controllers in your Site. For high availability and reliability, Citrix recommends that you install multiple policy agents on each Site.

   Note

   Ensure your browser settings are configured to not block pop-up windows, else the policy agent might not download to your system.

   

5. After the installation finishes, click Connect to Installed Agent. The agent registers your Site with Citrix Analytics. This process might take a few minutes.

6. Enter the user name and password for your Site administrator account and then click Next. Citrix Analytics verifies your entries.

   

7. Enter your Site’s Director URL and click Next.

   

8. Review the configuration summary, verify that your Site is available for Citrix Analytics, and the policy agent is online. Click Done to close the wizard.

   

The Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site setup is completed successfully.

Add a Site

If you want to add another on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Site, do the following:

1. On the Site card, click the number of Sites to view the Discovered Sites page.

   

2. On the Discovered Sites page, click + Add more Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites to Workspace.

   

3. On the Workspace Configuration page, click +Add Site.

   

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to add a Site. For more information, see Add an on-premises Site to Citrix Workspace.

5. After adding the Site, log back to Citrix Analytics and refresh the Data Sources page to view the recently added Site on the site card.

Onboard Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites using StoreFront

StoreFront aggregates applications and desktops from Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Sites into a single store for users. Users access the desktops and applications available on the store using Citrix Workspace app on their devices and endpoints. If your organization uses an on-premises StoreFront deployment, you can configure your StoreFront servers to enable Citrix Workspace app to send user events to Citrix Analytics. The user events are processed by Citrix Analytics to provide actionable insights into user behaviors. For more information on how to configure a StoreFront deployment, see the Citrix Analytics service article in the StoreFront documentation.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

• Your StoreFront deployment must be StoreFront 1906 or later.

• The StoreFront deployment must be able to connect to the following address:

  • https://*.cloud.com

  • https://*.citrixdata.com

  • https://api.analytics.cloud.com

• The StoreFront deployment must have port 443 open for outbound internet connections. Any proxy servers on the network must allow this communication with Citrix Analytics.

• If the StoreFront deployment is hosted on a webserver that uses a web proxy to connect to the internet, the proxy for each store must be manually configured to allow outbound traffic. StoreFront does not automatically use the proxy setting of the host webserver. For more information, see Configure a StoreFront deployment hosted on a webserver that uses HTTP proxy.

• The StoreFront deployment must be accessed using one of the following clients:

  • Citrix Receiver for Web sites in HTML5-compatible browsers.

    Note

    If you are an HTML5 user, Virtual Apps and Desktops can launch events when certain configurations are enabled on StoreFront. For information about the configuration steps, see the Install article in the Citrix Workspace App for HTML5 documentation. For print-related events, additional policies must be configured on StoreFront. For more information, see the PDF Printing article in the Citrix Workspace App for HTML5 documentation.

  • Citrix Workspace app 1903 for Windows or later.

  • Citrix Workspace app 1901 for Linux or later.

Connect to a StoreFront deployment

1. On the Virtual Apps and Desktops site card, click the vertical ellipsis (⋮) and then select Connect StoreFront deployment.

   

2. On the Connect StoreFront Deployment page, click Download File to download the StoreFrontConfigurationFile.json file.

   Note

   The file contains sensitive information. Keep the file in a safe and secure location.

   

3. Copy the file to your StoreFront deployment. If you are using multi server deployment, copy the file to a server in the StoreFront server group.

4. On the StoreFront server, open the PowerShell ISE and run the following command to import the configuration settings.

   Import-STFCasConfiguration -Path "configuration file path"

   For example, if the StoreFrontConfigurationFile.json file is on the desktop, specify the command as follows:

   Import-STFCasConfiguration –Path "$Env:UserProfile\Desktop\ StoreFrontConfigurationFile.json"

5. Run the following command to verify the imported configuration settings.

   Get-STFCasConfiguration

6. If you are using multi server deployment, you must propagate the configuration settings to all the servers in the server group. Use either StoreFront management console or run the following command to propagate the settings.

   Publish-STFServerGroupConfiguration

7. After configuration is successful, log back to Citrix Analytics to view the connected StoreFront deployment. Click Turn On Data Processing to allow Citrix Analytics to process the data.

After you have enabled data processing, the site card might display the No data received status. This happens when the events take some time to reach the event hub in Citrix Analytics. When Citrix Analytics receives the events, the status changes to Data processing on.

Note

If the status does not change after some time, refresh the Data Sources page.

The site card displays the number of connected StoreFront deployments and the received events based on the selected time period- 1 hour (1H) or 1 week (1W). Click the number of received events to view the events on the corresponding self-service search page. For more information, see Self-Service search for Virtual Apps and Desktops.

If no events are received for the last one hour, the Data processing on status changes to No data received. Although there might be some events received for the last one week.

View connected StoreFront deployments

The StoreFront deployments appear on Virtual Apps and Desktops site card only if the configuration is successful. The site card shows how many StoreFront deployments have established connections with Citrix Analytics.

Click the number of StoreFront deployments on the site card to view the server groups. For example, click 1 StoreFront deployments to view the connected server or server groups. Each StoreFront deployment is represented by a base URL and a ServerGroupID.

Add or remove StoreFront deployments

To add a StoreFront deployment, click Connect to StoreFront Deployments on the Virtual Apps and Desktop page. Download the configuration file and follow the steps to configure a StoreFront deployment.

To stop the event transmission from a configured StoreFront deployment and remove it from Citrix Analytics:

1. Go to the StoreFront deployment that you want to remove from Citrix Analytics. Run the following command to remove the configuration settings from your StoreFront server.

   Remove-STFCasConfiguration

2. If you are using multi server deployment, run the following command to propagate the changes and remove the configuration settings from all the servers in the StoreFront server group.

   Publish-STFServerGroupConfiguration

3. Run the following command to verify that the configuration settings have been successfully removed. The command returns nothing if the settings have been successfully removed.

   Get-STFCasConfiguration

4. Log back to Citrix Analytics and choose the StoreFront deployment on the Virtual Apps and Desktop page. Click the vertical ellipsis (⋮) and select Remove StoreFront deployments from Analytics.

   

   Note

   You must run the specified commands on the StoreFront deployment before removing it from Citrix Analytics. If you fail to run the commands, Citrix Analytics continues to receive the events and the StoreFront deployment is added again at the next event pooling cycle.

Configure a StoreFront deployment hosted on a webserver that uses HTTP proxy

If a StoreFront is hosted on a webserver that uses a web proxy to connect to the internet, the store must be manually configured to register with Citrix Analytics. This configuration requires you to add a <system.net> section to the store web.config file. You must configure every store on the StoreFront deployment that will send events to Citrix Analytics.

There are two methods by which you can add the <system.net> section to the store web.config file:

• Set the store proxy configuration via PowerShell for one or more stores (recommended method).

• Manually add a <system.net> section to the store web.config file.

For more information on these methods, see the Configure StoreFront to use a web proxy to contact Citrix Cloud and register with Citrix Analytics article in the StoreFront documentation.

Turn on or off data processing

To stop data processing, click the vertical ellipsis (⋮) on the site card and then click Turn off data processing. Citrix Analytics stops processing data for this data source.

To enable data processing again, click Turn On Data Processing.