Getting Started with Citrix Management Solutions for OMS

This article serves as a tutorial to get you started with Citrix Management Solutions for the Operations Management Suite (OMS). There are several steps you must follow, from creating an Azure account to deploying and validating the management solutions. OMS manages all your data in Azure in a workspace. You can use the workspace for testing and evaluating the product, and then delete the workspace.

Citrix Management Solutions for OMS provides two management solutions to monitor Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop. Here is a quick look at the installation process:

1. Create an Azure account and log in.
2. Create a workspace for the Citrix Management Solutions.
3. Add an Automation account.
4. Deploy Citrix Management Solutions for OMS.
5. Deploy the Citrix Agent for OMS for XenApp and XenDesktop.
6. View and act on data collected.

1 Create an Azure account and log in

If you don’t have an Azure account, you can create one for free at Create your free Azure account today. The free account is valid for 30 days and can be used for evaluating the management solutions. After you have created an Azure account, log in to the Azure portal.

2 Create a workspace

To create a workspace, follow the steps below:

1. Go to a Marketplace, select New on the left menu and then click See all.
   
   
2. Select the Monitoring + Management group. In the search field, type XenApp and XenDesktop. Two XenApp and XenDesktop management solutions are displayed.
   
3. Select the Delivery Group Availability for XenApp and XenDesktop solution and click Create.
4. If there is no subscription associated with your Azure account, you should sign up for a new one now. If you have an Azure subscription, go to Step 5.

   

   Click Sign up for a new subscription and follow the instructions to create a new subscription. When you are done, you can continue with creating a workspace.

5. You are prompted to create an OMS workspace. Click Create New Workspace.

   

6. Type a name for your new workspace.
7. Create a new Resource group for your workspace. All deployed management solutions will be stored in this resource group.
8. Under the Pricing tier, select one of the three pricing plans: Free, Per Node (OMS), or Per GB (Standalone). Select Free to evaluate. The free option gives you up to 500 MB of space per day to store and retain collected data and for 7 days.
9. Click OK to create and deploy the workspace.

3 Add an automation account

The next step is to create an automation account, which is required for Citrix Management Solutions for OMS.

Type an account name and click OK to finish the deployment of the automation account.

4 Deploy Citrix Management Solutions for OMS

Now that you have created your OMS Workspace and your automation account, you’re ready to deploy the management solution.

Click Create to finish the deployment of the Delivery Group Availability for XenApp and XenDesktop solution to your workspace.

To deploy the User Logon Experience for XenApp and XenDesktop solution, follow the same steps as above. Go to a Marketplace and search for User Logon Experience for XenApp and XenDesktop management solution. For this solution, use the same workspace and automation account created earlier.

To verify that the solutions were deployed successfully, follow the steps below:

1. Open All Resources.
   
2. Select your newly created workspace and under the General section click Solutions. Both management solutions are available.

   

3. Click the Delivery Group Availability for XenApp and XenDesktop solution. In the summary window, the Performing Assessment message appears. It indicates that the solution was deployed successfully, but no data has been collected for the solution yet. To collect data, you must deploy the Citrix Agent for OMS for XenApp and XenDesktop in the XenApp and XenDesktop environment next.

   

5 Deploy Citrix Agent for OMS for Xenapp and XenDesktop

The Citrix Agent for OMS for XenApp and XenDesktop serves as a data collector for management solutions. You must deploy the agent on all Delivery Controllers in the Site.

Download the Citrix Agent for OMS for XenApp and XenDesktop here.

The first step in deploying the agent is to obtain the workspace ID and the workspace key for your OMS workspace. These properties are available in the OMS Portal:

1. Click OMS Portal on your OMS Workpace settings screen in Azure.

   

2. In the OMS Portal window, click Settings and then Connected Sources. Note the Workspace ID and the Primary Key (referred to as Workspace Key).

   

You’re now ready to install the Citrix Agent for OMS for XenApp and XenDesktop on all Delivery Controllers in XenApp andXenDesktop Site(s) you want to monitor. Repeat the following steps on all the Delivery Controllers:

1. Run the CitrixOMSAgent.exe installation package.
2. In the Agent Service Account window, provide an account that has at least read-only permissions in the XenApp and XenDesktop environment. This account must also be a local administrator on the Controller.
3. In the OMS Configuration window, type the Workspace ID and the Workspace Key obtained from the OMS portal. Keep the Connect to OMS workspace option selected.
4. Now you can test the connection to OMS by clicking Test connection. If the settings are OK, a Connection Successful message appears.

   

5. Click Install to finish the agent installation.

The agent should now be up and running. You can verify that the agent is operational by running the Check Requirements tool from “C:\Program Files\Citrix\XenDesktop OMS Agent” with the following command:
C:\Program Files\Citrix\XenDesktop OMS Agent>Support.exe /user <XenDesktopUser> /domain <DomainName>

This tool checks the agent’s connection to XenApp and XenDesktop and to OMS. All checks must pass.

6 View and act on data

Now the agents are installed and collecting data. Return to Azure to check the deployed management solutions.

Open your workspace in Azure and select the Delivery Group Availability for XenApp and XenDesktop solution. The entry tile for the solution displays the number of monitored Delivery Groups.

Open a solution by clicking the corresponding solution tile.

This solution shows the availability and the usage of the XenApp and XenDesktop Delivery Groups. For more information about using the Citrix Management Solutions for OMS, see the User Guide.

The deployed management solutions are also available through the OMS Portal. Use the Azure login account to sign in. Both Citrix solutions are accessible from the OMS Portal overview page.