Guest Bloggers's Blog

Home

Syndication

Past Articles

Graphing Citrix Session use with open source tools

Written on Jan 31 2006

Filed under: Tips, Tip

15,659 views, 51 comments

by John Ferrell

In a previous article, I explained the steps taken to configure a Linux Syslog server for collecting and processing Citrix logs for weekly reporting. This article will explain how I enhance the weekly reports with graphs using MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher).

MRTG is a great tool for graphing network activity and has been adapted for graphing statistics from various server platforms, email traffic, and just about anything else you care to graph. It is easy to use and is included with several Linux distributions. MRTG is also available for Windows platforms.

Collecting the Data for the Graph

Collecting data from the Citrix servers has been an ever evolving process. WMI and SNMP are not viable options for our organization because we do not run the Enterprise Edition of Citrix. Since I also wanted to run the reporting tools on a Linux platform, I had to create my own method.

Initially I used a Perl script to login to the Citrix Web Console and pull the session count from the page. This method was viable when we had only one Metaframe XP server. When we upgraded to Presentation Server 4 and added a few more servers, I needed to develop a new method.

The second method involved a Perl script and OpenSSH. I installed OpenSSH on my dedicated Zone Data Collector. The Perl script would login to the ZDC via SSH and run the ‘qwinsta’ command against each of the servers in the farm. The output of the ‘qwinsta’ command was parsed and the result was printed for use with MRTG. While this method worked well, it had a couple of downsides: it required an identical account on each Citrix server, and the account needed administrator privileges in order to run ‘qwinsta’ on the remote servers. Ultimately, I needed a better solution.

My current method is a Windows service and a corresponding client script, both written in Python. The client script loops through a list of user specified servers collecting the current session count from the Windows service running on each server. It then totals the session count and outputs it for MRTG. With this method there is no need for special accounts and the data collection process is much faster.

Configuring MRTG

Below is a sample MRTG configuration file. The configuration file tells MRTG where to write the graphs, how the graphs should look, and where to get the data (which in this case is a Python program).

## MRTG config file for Citrix sessions: citrix.cfg
## Path to output files
WorkDir: <webroot>/citrix
## Citrix session count
Title[citrix.sessions]: Citrix Sessions
## Path to data collection script
Target[citrix.sessions]:`python <path>/CTXsvcClient.py`
Options[citrix.sessions]: gauge,growright
kMG[citrix.sessions]: ,M,G,T,P
## MaxBytes should be concurrent connection limit (license limit)
MaxBytes[citrix.sessions]:45
YLegend[citrix.sessions]: Citrix Sessions
ShortLEgend[citrix.sessions]: Citrix Sessions
Legend1[citrix.sessions]: Citrx Sessions
Legend2[citrix.sessions]:
Legend3[citrix.sessions]: Citrix Sessions
Legend4[citrix.sessions]:
LegendI[citrix.sessions]:  Citrix Sessions
LegendO[citrix.sessions]:
PageTop[citrix.sessions]: <h1>Citrix Sessions</h1>
## Make graphs a bit bigger, default is 400x100
XSize[citrix.sessions]: 600
YSize[citrix.sessions]: 200

The important parameters are ‘WorkDir’ (the path to the graphs, normally a directory within the webroot), ‘Target’ (the path to the Python script), and ‘MaxBytes’ (maximum concurrent sessions).

Note: Be sure to create the ‘WorkDir’ path before running the MRTG command.

Running MRTG

MRTG is run from the command line, using the configuration file as an argument.
<path>/bin/mrtg <path>/citrixSession.cfg

I found that I needed to prepend ‘env LANG=C’ to the command to resolve a LANG environment variable error on my system.

env LANG=C <path>/bin/mrtg <path>/citrixSession.cfg

The first few times I ran the command I received a “rateup warning.” This is normal because the MRTG data files have not yet been created. Running the command a few more times eliminates the error message. To automate the process I added an entry to the /etc/crontab file so the graphs would be updated every five minutes.

0-59/5 * * * * root env LANG=C <path>/bin/mrtg <path>/citrixSession.cfg
After 20 minutes or so you can access your MRTG graphs using your favorite web browser. This page includes daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly average graphs.

http://<servername>/citrix/citrix.sessions.html

Optionally, you can create an index page for the graphs.

<path>/bin/indexmaker <path>/citrix.cfg --output=<webroot>/citrix/index.html

The index page displays only the five minute average graph. Clicking on the graph will take you to a page with all the graphs. An example of the four graphs can be found here.

Conclusion

I include a link to the graphs in my weekly report to management. Additionally, in the event that we need an emergency maintenance window, the graphs are useful for determining when the least number of users will be impacted.

You can download a zip of all the files from the attachment at the top of this article. Included in the zip are installation notes, the source code, a compiled version of the Windows service, and the client side script. If you have any comments or questions, please send me an email.

RemoteSessions-1.01.zip

Comments

John Ferrell wrote Download corrupt

on Tue, Jan 31 2006 12:30 PM

For some reason the attachment is corrupt. Until a new one is posted you can download the zip [link=http:
John

Guest wrote RE: Download corrupt

on Tue, Jan 31 2006 4:44 PM

Something else that looks pretty neat is:

http://rrdtool.deliver3.com/gallery/jason-01.html

It seems like you could use many of the win32_ts* calls to get this information as well. I'm not sure if there are any good, bad, or ugly concepts to the various methods.

Guest wrote another option

on Tue, Jan 31 2006 5:55 PM

we use a great little free snmp extention agent snmp4ctx
http://www.wtcs.org/snmp4tpc/snmp4ctx.htm

and cacti for collecting the data into rrd
http://www.cacti.net/

works well

Guest wrote RE: another option

on Tue, Jan 31 2006 9:55 PM

Is there any way to monitor normal RDP traffic for the non-Citrix environments? (Sorry if that is an amateur question...) I've been searching on the web trying to find related info.

Thanks

John Ferrell wrote RE: another option

on Tue, Jan 31 2006 11:14 PM

If you want to graph RDP sessions, the code can be changed to do so. It is a very simple change. Send me an email; I will be glad to help.

John

Guest wrote telnet Connection to 35000

on Wed, Feb 1 2006 5:30 PM

I tried to use this tools but it seems like cannot telnet using port 35000. I get following error message. Citrix session services is running fine.

"Connection to host lost".

Thanks for the help

Guest wrote RE: another option

on Wed, Feb 1 2006 7:43 PM

I installed the tools but have problem telnet to the Citrix server using 35000 port. when i run "telnet localhost 35000" the server comes back with error.

connection lost to host.

Thanks

John Ferrell wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Wed, Feb 1 2006 9:36 PM

Sounds like it is connecting. If it was not connecting you would receive an error similar to the following:

Connecting To localhost...Could not open connection to the host, on port 35000: Connect failed

In the config file set 'debug' to true and check the qwinstaCMD path. Try connecting a few times and then take a look at the event log.

Let me know what happens.

John

Guest wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Wed, Feb 1 2006 11:11 PM

When I start the Citrix session services. I get following in application event viewer.

1. The CTXsvc service has started (CTXsvc).
2. Citrix session service - version: .07
Bind IP: 0.0.0.0
Port: 35000
Command path: u:\windows\system32\qwinsta.exe
Debug: true

When I run "telnet localhost 35000" from command prompt, I get following in application event viewer.

qwinsta:

Thanks for your help.

Beav wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 12:24 AM

Are you using the telnet command at a DOS prompt or are you using a different application?

I believe that the connection lost statement is fine since that is what I receive as well. But that message is displayed after it prints off the time and user count.

Guest wrote another nice tool based on RRDTool

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 7:30 AM

http:
To implement the whole monitoring solution including the collector, data consolidation and graphing, the following system components are required:
Windows XP, 2000 or 2003 Server for collection.
Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1
IIS 5.0 or 6.0 with ASP enabled to display results of consolidated data graphs
VBScript 5.6 to run the scripts supplied.
WMI 1.5 (only required on XP, 2000 or 2003) on target systems
Steve DV

Guest wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 10:04 AM

I am using the telnet command at a DOS prompt. I also get message that displayed after it prints off the time and user count.

But when we run CTXsvcclient.py from Linux box, the ouput display two lines with zero.
0
0
We also received E-mail stating "Could not connect (Citrix server) on port 35000.

Thanks for help.

John Ferrell wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 11:02 AM

From your Linux box telnet to the Citrix server's port:

$ telnet <citrix_server> <port>

If it works, you should get the same output you get when you run telnet locally on the Citrix server. If you cannot connect there may be something blocking traffic to the port (Windows firewall?).

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 11:18 AM

Hmmm, the service is working. If you can connect you should atleast see the current time.

This weekend I will add some more debugging code. Send me an email and I will send you an updated version.

John

Joseph Duncan wrote rrd is fun ;)

on Thu, Feb 2 2006 12:49 PM

here is what i use on my test ts
http://mpk.lowone.org/cgi-bin/rrdcgi.cgi
(wraper/ui writen by me)

i have another one for my production servers but cant give it out per policy

Guest wrote No Graph

on Fri, Feb 3 2006 8:07 AM

I did the installation just like you described it in your install.txt
The only thing is that I also got the "connection lost" message when i'm using the telnet localhost 35000 command.

When I run 'perl mrtg citrixsession.cfg' from the client it creates the html output but the mrtg graphs are empty.

Thnx
Greets,
Dennis

Guest wrote RE: No Graph

on Fri, Feb 3 2006 10:00 AM

Is this script working on non-english 2003 terminal servers?

Guest wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Fri, Feb 3 2006 10:27 AM

Finally it's working fine now. The problem was that we had Debugging enabled on Citrix servers. Now we are trying to modify htlm (citrix.sessions.html file) to insert the company's logo and other information. We noticed that the file update every time. How can me modify this default behavior.

Thank for all the help.

Guest wrote RE: No Graph

on Fri, Feb 3 2006 10:30 AM

Make sure debugg is not enable on Citrix servers.

Guest wrote Modify Citrix.session.html file

on Sun, Feb 5 2006 10:30 AM

We are trying to modify htlm (citrix.sessions.html file) to insert the company's logo and other information. We noticed that the file update every time. How can me modify this default behavior.

Thank for all the help.

Joe McGaugh wrote RE: Modify Citrix.session.html file

on Sun, Feb 5 2006 6:47 PM

i'm assuming that your trying to modify the "citrix logo" at the top left of the WI page? what version are you running?

Guest wrote RE: No Graph

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 4:02 AM

debug is set to false in ctxscv.ini
I've installed the service on two citrix boxes. Telnet test is ok.
But the mrtg graph is still empty. Did I forget something?

Guest wrote Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 5:55 AM

Ok it's almost working
When I use the telnet command the output is:

The current time: 11:44:23
Sessions: 0

It looks like it does not count the sessions because there are for sure around the 20 users connected right now.
Is it possible it has anything to do with the language of the operating system??? We are using non-english Windows 2003 servers with
citrix metaframe XP FR3.

Rudy Bauer wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 2:32 PM

I have everything working now with the expection of session count. It is reporting 0 sessions. But the graphs are pretty...
Any thoughts?

John Ferrell wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 5:38 PM

It might be the non-english version of Windows that is causing the problem. The service runs qwinsta.exe and parses the output to determine the number of sessions. Here is the code:

sessions = 0
qwinstaOut = os.popen(qwinstaCmd).readlines()
for line in qwinstaOut:
     ## Look for active ICA sessions
     if (((re.search("ICA", line, re.IGNORECASE)) and (re.search("ACTIVE", line, re.IGNORECASE)))):
          sessions = sessions + 1

Basically it is looking at each line for the strings "ICA" and "ACTIVE". Run 'qwinsta.exe' from the command line and take a look at the output. If the above strings are found within the output it *should* work.

Also, check the qwinstaCmd variable in the config file. If it is pointing to the wrong location the output will be 0.

I am working on an updated version that offers more error checking and debugging information. After I test it out for a few more days I will post it.

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 5:42 PM

Rudy,

Check the qwinstaCmd variable in the config file. If it is pointing to the wrong location the output will be 0 (qwinsta.exe probably never ran).

I am working on an updated version that offers more error checking and debugging information. I will post the new version after a few more days of testing. (If you are interested in helping to test it send me an email).

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: Modify Citrix.session.html file

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 6:31 PM

The html is updated every 5 minutes by design. When MRTG updates the graphs it also updated the html files.

One way to work around this would be to create your own page with the graphs, bypassing the MRTG generated version all together. Although, by doing so you would loose the Max and Min session values printed at the bottom of the graph.

Another option would be to modify the MRTG code; it is written in Perl. Just remove the code that prints out the html header and footer.

John

Rudy Bauer wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 6:46 PM

Thanks. Here's the output of the qwinsta.exe:

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>c:\windows\system32\qwinsta.exe
SESSIONNAME       USERNAME                 ID STATE   TYPE        DEVICE
console                                    0 Conn     wdcon
rdp-tcp                                65536 Listen    rdpwd
ica-tcp                                65537 Listen wdica
>rdp-tcp#34       Administrator                3 Active   rdpwd
ica-tcp#37        rudytst1              2 Active wdica
ica-tcp#38        rudytst2             4 Active   wdica

Rudy Bauer wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 6:50 PM

Alright, I restarted the service on the test server and now it's working.

Thanks!

Guest wrote No Session data

on Mon, Feb 6 2006 11:18 PM

I have installed everything and have MRTG running but no stats displayed on the graphs.
telnet command to server locally and remotely shows time and 0 sessions.
qwinsta path is fine. when you run it it shows all the correct details. I have tried adding /counter parameter and still does not display the session details locally or remotely.
Any ideas?

M

Guest wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Tue, Feb 7 2006 2:31 AM

In your zip file there is a directory called WindowsSource with a file ctxsvc.py
What about this file? Does it need to be copied to %program files%\CTXsvc\ on the server?

John Ferrell wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Tue, Feb 7 2006 8:53 AM

ORIGINAL: Guest

In your zip file there is a directory called WindowsSource with a file ctxsvc.py
What about this file? Does it need to be copied to %program files%\CTXsvc\ on the server?

The ctxsvc.py file is the source code for the Windows service. You only need that file if you modify the code and want to recompile.

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: No Session data

on Tue, Feb 7 2006 3:35 PM

When you enable debugging, does the event log show the output from 'qwinsta.exe'?

John

Guest wrote RE: No Session data

on Tue, Feb 7 2006 10:49 PM

Yes, event log has the details.
I reset all rdp sessions and re-connected, qwinsta shows the session details but when you query remotely it shows time ans active sessions none!
any thoughts?

Guest wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Wed, Feb 8 2006 5:43 AM

Can you please give me the commands I have to run to recompile the script?
I made a change in this part:

sessions = 0
qwinstaOut = os.popen(qwinstaCmd).readlines()
for line in qwinstaOut:
     ## Look for active ICA sessions
     if (((re.search("ICA", line, re.IGNORECASE)) and (re.search("ACTIVE", line, re.IGNORECASE)))):
          sessions = sessions + 1

I renamed ACTIVE to Actief. That's dutch
I have no experience in python so can you give me some advice?
Thnx!!!

John Ferrell wrote RE: No Session data

on Wed, Feb 8 2006 11:53 AM

Are you using Citrix? In its current form the service only looks for ICA sessions, not RDP. However, I have a new version that will work with either ICA or RDP sessions. You can download it from here:

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~jferrell/download/RemoteSessions-1.0.zip

The new version has better logging and debugging features.

Please try it and let me know what happens.

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Wed, Feb 8 2006 12:08 PM

To recompile you will need to install Python and Py2exe on your Windows system.

http://www.python.org/2.4.2/
http://www.py2exe.org/

Once you both are installed you will need to create a setup.py file that looks like this:

# setup.py
from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe
setup(service=)

You can then compile it using the following command:
<path>\python.exe setup.py py2exe

This will create a folder in the current directory, 'dist', that will contain the compiled version.

I will also create a new version in which the word "ACTIVE" can be specified as an option in the config file.

John Ferrell wrote RE: No Graph

on Wed, Feb 8 2006 12:21 PM

Run the client script from the command line:
<path>/python <path>/CTXsvcClient.py

The first number is the total session count from the servers polled. Is that number correct? If not, check the 'servers' variable within the script.

I am working on a new version with improved debugging. I hope to past it later today.

John

Guest wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Thu, Feb 9 2006 3:23 AM

Thnx for the support and i'm looking forward to your new config file!

John Ferrell wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Thu, Feb 9 2006 1:56 PM

Please try this new version. In the config file you can change the way 'active' is spelled. I also added better debugging features and support for RDP sessions, hence the name change.

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~jferrell/download/RemoteSessions-1.01.zip

Let me know if it works for you.

Thanks,
John

Guest wrote RE: Where are the sessions?

on Fri, Feb 10 2006 3:07 AM

John, it's working now! Thnx for your support.
So it was after all the word active that was messing things up over here

The new version is much better, great work!
Greets,
Dennis

John Ferrell wrote RE: telnet Connection to 35000

on Fri, Feb 10 2006 11:33 AM

Sorry for the delayed reponse.

When MRTG updates the database, it also updates the the HTML file. You might try modifying the MRTG code (it is written in Perl) to output your logo and the other information you want.

Some people on this forum have mentioned using RRDtool instead of MRTG. RRDtool does not create the HTML pages (it only collects data and generates graphs), so you could completely customize the HTML pages to you liking. I haven't had much time to play with RRDtool, but it seems a bit more complicated to use. I found some information on using MRTG and RRDtool together--MRTG collects the data and feeds it to RRDtool. Using that method you could use RRDtool to generate the graphs and then create your own custom pages.

http://www.geocities.com/paulcwilliamson/mrtg/rateup2rrd.html

Another option would be to just use the MRTG graphs (the png files in the web directory) and then create your own pages. Although you will loose some of the MRTG specific information such as Max and Min values.

John

John Ferrell wrote New version

on Wed, Feb 15 2006 12:51 PM

I have created a new version of the service and client based on the feedback I have received.

The new version adds RDP support, better error checking and debugging features, and support for non-english versions of Windows.

File can be downloaded from here:
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~jferrell/download/RemoteSessions-1.01.zip

Guest wrote RE: New version

on Mon, Feb 20 2006 10:43 AM

Is there any easy way, we can also get graphing citix sessions by servers.

Thanks for the help.

Guest wrote RE: New version

on Mon, Feb 20 2006 2:21 PM

Using my tools, the easist way would be to create multiple MRTG config files, one for each server.

Then in your crontab run each server seperately:

*/5 * * * * mrtg <path>/server1.cfg
*/5 * * * * mrtg <path>/server2.cfg

Another post in the forum suggested using RRDtool to color coordintate the graphs by server. That would also be an option. I have been experimenting with RRDtool. If/When I make some progress I will post the information.

John

Guest wrote RE: New version

on Mon, Mar 6 2006 4:48 PM

John

In server.cfg file, there is no option to put IP address. Do you mean to add IP address of the server in .Py file and create crontab for each server?

We also noticed that we can't put only one server's IP address in .Py file. If we put only one server's IP in .py file, it give the error message. But if we add two server's IP address, it runs fine.

Thanks for the help.

Guest wrote in windows

on Fri, Mar 24 2006 11:43 AM

using the PRTG ( mrtg for windows ) what would the syntax of the config file be?

John Ferrell wrote RE: New version

on Sun, Mar 26 2006 11:17 AM

Sorry for the delayed response. I forgot to check "Notify me via e-mail when someone replies" when I posted.

Are you using the new version, 1.01 (You can download it from the link at the top of the article)? In the new version I moved the servers to poll out of the .py to a config file.

So what you would do is create multiple config files for each server. The file only contains the servers FQDN or IP address.

server1.cfg
server2.cfg

If you were to run it from the command line, it would only output information from server1.

$ RemoteSessionsClient.py server1.cfg

Then create an MRTG config file for each server:

## server1 MRTG config file
WorkDir: /var/www/html/mrtg2/server1
## Citrix session count
Title: Citrix Sessions
Target:`python /usr/local/scripts/citrix/RemoteSessionsClient.py server1.cfg`
Options: gauge,growright

Then add a crontab entry for each server:

*/5 * * * * mrtg <path>/server1.cfg
*/5 * * * * mrtg <path>/server2.cfg

Utilmately, you will have a client config file (for RemoteSessionsClient.py), an MRTG config file, and a crontab entry for each server.

Do this make sense?

John

John Ferrell wrote RE: in windows

on Sun, Mar 26 2006 11:29 AM

I just downloaded PRTG. From what I can tell, PRTG does not have the ability to run external scripts to collect data. It only offers SNMP, Packet Sniffing, and Cisco Netflow as data collection options.

MRTG will run on Windows, however the installation process is not as simple as PRTG.

http://people.ee.ethz.ch/~oetiker/webtools/mrtg/doc/mrtg-nt-guide.en.html

John

Guest wrote entire environment view

on Thu, May 11 2006 1:13 PM

We have this working in our environment, but, it shows the sessions of only one server. We want to show the number of connections, per server graphically.

How can this be accomplished using the method discussed here?

Guest wrote using MRTG and SNMP (nothing more)

on Wed, May 30 2007 2:27 PM

Hello,

If you have a running server using mrtg, I only use snmp to get my connected users. (and listening sockets) No further scripts needed.

Hope this helps for some people

######################################################################
## Description statistics 1.3.6.1.4.1.3845.3.1.1.1.0 and 1.3.6.1.4.1.3845.3.1.1.3.0
## WFlisten: Winstation listening for connection (ICA)
######################################################################
Target[deimos_ica]: 1.3.6.1.4.1.3845.3.1.1.1.0&1.3.6.1.4.1.3845.3.1.1.3.0:public@deimos:
SetEnv[deimos_ica]: MRTG_INT_IP="144.128.168.101" MRTG_INT_DESCR="3Com EtherLink PCI"
Options[deimos_ica]: gauge,nopercent,growright
MaxBytes[deimos_ica]: 200
YLegend[deimos_ica]: Users
ShortLegend[deimos_ica]: Users
Legend1[deimos_ica]: Number of Users
Legend2[deimos_ica]: Number of Users
LegendI[deimos_ica]:  Max:
LegendO[deimos_ica]:  Min:

Title[deimos_ica]: Winstation listening for connection on deimos
PageTop[deimos_ica]: <H1>Winstation listening for connection on deimos</H1>
<TABLE>
   <TR><TD>System:</TD>     <TD>deimos</TD></TR>
   <TR><TD>Maintainer:</TD> <TD>Ge Janssen</TD></TR>
   <TR><TD>Description:</TD><TD>Winstation listening for connection</TD></TR>
</TABLE>

(Note: You must be logged in to post a comment.)

If you log in and nothing happens, delete your cookies from BrianMadden.com and try again. Sorry about that, but we had to make a one-time change to the cookie path when we migrated web servers.

Syndication

Recent Posts

Past Articles

Graphing Citrix Session use with open source tools

Comments