POC Guide: Citrix Session Recording
Overview
This Proof of Concept guide is designed to help you quickly set up and configure Citrix Session Recording and the Citrix Session Recording Service. At the end of this Proof of Concept guide, you can record and play back user sessions from both on-premises and Citrix Cloud.
Conceptual Architecture
All Citrix Session Recording components reside in your secure resource location. The Session Recording agents are installed on either a single-session OS, multi-session OS, or Remote PC Access VDA. The Session Recording Server and the Session Recording Policy Console are installed on separate Windows servers. The Session Recording Player is installed on a workstation. The Session Recording Agent, policy console, player, and database communicate with the Recording Server. End-user devices with the Citrix Workspace app connect to the Citrix VDA, where the Session Recording Agent is installed.
Scope
In this Proof of Concept guide, you experience the role of a Citrix DaaS administrator and set up Citrix Session Recording within your on-premises Citrix DaaS resource location. You will optionally set up the Citrix Session Recording Service and connect your on-premises Session Recording servers to this service.
This guide showcases how to perform the following actions:
- Install the Session Recording administration components in your Resource Location.
- Install the Session Recording Agent on the VDA machine.
- Connect the Session Recording servers to the Session Recording Service.
- Create a Session Recording policy.
- Replay a recording with the on-premises and cloud-hosted Session Recording player.
Prerequisites
All Session Recording server components are installed on a single server for this proof-of-concept. For production environments, Citrix recommends that each component resides on separate servers. This proof of concept requires the following:
- An existing on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS Resource location.
- Download the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops v2209 Product ISO from citrix.com.
- Create one Windows 2019 Server within your Resource Location with Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Express Edition installed.
- Create one Windows VDA within your Resource Location. This VDA can either be a Windows Server or Desktop VDA.
Install Session Recording Components
The first step is to install all of the Citrix Session Recording components required on the Windows 2019 server you have created.
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Connect to the Windows 2019 server (for this POC, we connect via RDP)
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Mount Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Product ISO and run AutoSelect. Click
Start for Virtual Apps and Desktops
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Click
Session Recording
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Accept the terms of the license agreement, then Click Next
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Select
Session Recording AdministrationandSession Recording Playerthen Click Next
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Select all
Featuresand Click Next
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Enter your
SQLEXPRESS Instance Name, leave the Database Name todefault, and click Test connection. Once the Test is confirmed, enter yourSession Recording Server computer account name, then Click Next.
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Click
Test connectionOnce the test passes, Click Next.
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Review the Summary screen, then Click Install
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The machine will require a restart after the prerequisites are installed. Select Close and allow the server to reboot.
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Once rebooted, connect back to the server. Session Recording continues to install.
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Once the Session Recording install completes, Click Finish
The Session Recording server components are now installed.
Install Session Recording Agent
The next step is installing the Session Recording Agent on the Windows VDA used in this POC.
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Connect to your Windows VDA (for this POC, we connect via RDP).
- Mount Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Product ISO and run AutoSelect. Click Start for Virtual Apps and Desktops
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Click
Session Recording -
Accept the
terms of the license agreement, then Click Next -
Select
Session Recording Agent, then Click Next
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Enter the
Session Recording server name, changeProtocol to HTTP, then Click Text Connection. Once the test completes, Click Next.
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Review the Summary page, then Click Install.
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The Session Recording Agent begins to install.
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Once the Session Recording Agent install has been completed, Click Finish.
The Session Recording Agent is now installed on your Windows VDA.
Add the Windows VDA to a new Machine Catalog and Delivery Group
Add the Windows VDA to a new Machine Catalog and Delivery Group within your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops or Citrix DaaS console.
Connect Session Recording Server to Citrix Cloud (Optional)
The Session Recording service provides an advanced administration experience and simplifies deployment. It supports centralized management of server settings, policies, and playback. The Session Recording service facilitates administrative tasks by providing a unified entry point to manage and observe the Session Recording servers across your organization. The optional next step is connecting the Session Recording server that you created to the Session Recording service. Before beginning these steps, ensure that Ports 8088 and 9090-9094 are open outbound for the Session Recording Server.
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On your Session Recording Server, Log on to Citrix Cloud
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Click
Managein the Citrix DaaS tile
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Select
Manage > Session Recording
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Select
Configuration > Server Managementfrom the left navigation menu.
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Select
Create Site
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Enter the
Site nameand optionalDescription, then Click Save.
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Click the
Server connection guidelink to begin the process of adding your Session Recording Server to the service.
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Download the Session Recording cloud client software. Click Download
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To communicate with Citrix Cloud, you need to create a Secure Client for the Session Recording cloud. To configure this, open
Identity and Access Managementfrom the top left hamburger menu.
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Select
API Access
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Copy your
customer IDparameter to Notepad.
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Enter a name in the
Name your Secure Clientinput box, and Click Create Client
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Copy both your
ID and Secretand paste them to Notepad. Then Click Download, then Close.
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The Session Recording POC Secure Client is now in your Secure Client list.
- Open Command Prompt and run the following command:
msiexec /i SRCloudClientService.msi CUSTOMERID="<Citrix Cloud customer ID>" CLIENTID="<secure client ID>" CLIENTSECRET="<secure client secret>" /qn+ -
Once the Session Recording cloud client install completes, Click OK.
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Return to Citrix Cloud Session Recording Service console, and Select
Continue configuration.
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Your Session Recording Server is connected to the Citrix Cloud Session Recording service.
Configure and Enable Session Recording Policy
Once the Session Recording Server and Agent install are complete, you can now configure and enable the Session Recording policy.
Enable Session Recording on VDA
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On the Windows VDA, open Session Recording Agent Properties from the Start Menu.
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Select
Enable session recording for this VDA machine, then Click Next. ChooseYeswhen prompted for a service restart.
Configure Session Recording Server
- Connect to the Session Recording server via RDP
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Open Session Recording Server Properties from the Start Menu
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Click Add for File storage directories, then Click Browse.
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Browse to
C:/SessionRecordings, then Click OK.
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Select OK
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Select OK
- Select Yes if prompted to restart the
Citrix Session Recording Storage Managerservice.
Configure Session Recording Policy
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Open the IIS Manager on the Session Recording Server. Once open, select Sites > Default Web Site > SessionRecordingBroker, then Open SSL Settings.
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Clear
Require SSLand Click Apply.
- Close ISS Manager, then restart the IIS server.
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Open the
Session Recording Policy Console. Change Protocol toHTTP, then Select OK.
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When the Session Recording Policy Console opens, on the left navigation menu, Right-click on
Recording Policiesand SelectAdd New Policy.
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Right-click on the
New Policycreated and SelectAdd Rule
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Select
Enable session recording with notification, and Click Next.
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Click OK at the warning message.
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Select
Users or Groups, then ClickSelect Users or Groupsin the Edit the rule criteria input box.
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Click Add
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Type the name of the
AD User or Group, Select Check Names, then Click OK. (For our example, we are using a test user account we have created.)
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Click OK
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Click Next
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Provide a
name and description for the rule, ensure thatEnable this ruleis selected, then Click Finish.
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Right-click on
New Policyand Select Activate Policy.
Your Session Recording Policy is now active.
Launch a VDI Session
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Launch the Windows VDA session as the user that you have added to the Session Recording Policy. A prompt notifies the user that the session is recorded. Quickly open an application, then log off the session.
Playback Session Recording (Session Recording Server)
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Open Session Recording Player from the Start Menu.
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On the
Toolbar, select the timeframe dropdown and select In last 24 hours, then click theBinocularsicon. Find the recording of the session you just launched in the list. Select the recording file and right-click on the file and select Play.
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Your recorded session will now play as seen below:
Playback Session Recording (Session Recording service)
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Log into Citrix Cloud and go to
Session Recording Service Console. SelectRecordingsthenAll Recordings
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Click the
Playbutton on your new recording to play back your session.
Summary
This guide walked you through setting up a Citrix Session Recording Server and connecting it to the Citrix Session Recording Service. You learned how to create a Session Recording policy and playback your recorded sessions. To learn more about Citrix Session Recording and the Session Recording service, visit the following:
In this article
- Overview
- Conceptual Architecture
- Scope
- Prerequisites
- Install Session Recording Components
- Install Session Recording Agent
- Connect Session Recording Server to Citrix Cloud (Optional)
- Configure and Enable Session Recording Policy
- Launch a VDI Session
- Playback Session Recording (Session Recording Server)
- Summary