How to Create a Staggered Scheduled Server Reboot Policy in XenApp 6.x

How to Create a Staggered Scheduled Server Reboot Policy in XenApp 6.x

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Article ID: CTX126043

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Description

This article describes how to create the following:

  • A Staggered Server Reboot Schedule in XenApp 6.x (if using 6.5, see more information).

  • A Worker Group for each group of servers rebooted at the same time interval.

  • A policy with the scheduled reboot settings for each Worker Group.

  • Apply and enable the policy for each Worker Group.

This policy is not applicable to Advanced Edition.


Instructions

The following instructions are based on a sample environment of 150 XenApp 6.0 servers (CTX001 to CTX150) that reboot in groups of 50, staggered by 30 minutes, beginning at 2:00 A.M., on a weekly basis. The following steps can be completed using the Group Policy Management Console (AD GPO), Group Policy Editor (local GPO), or Delivery Services Console:

  1. Create Worker Groups

  2. Create Citrix Policies

  3. Create the Citrix Policy

  4. Verify Policy Settings with the Citrix Group Policy Modeling Wizard

  5. Verify the policies

  6. Verify Policy Settings with Regedit

Create Worker Groups

  1. Start the Delivery Services Console.

  2. Right-click Worker Groups and select Create Worker Group.

  3. Type Weekly Reboot 2:00a in the Name field.

  4. Enter a description (optional).

  5. Select Farm Servers from Select source.

  6. Click Add, and select the first 50 servers (CTX001 to CTX050).

  7. Click Add and then OK.

  8. Repeat the steps 1 through 5 for the next two groups of 50 servers that restart at 2:30 A.M. and 3:00 A.M.

Create Citrix Policies

To use the Group Policy Management Console (Active Directory policies):
  1. Start Group Policy Management Console.

  2. Select an existing linked GPO or create and link a new GPO for Citrix policy.

  3. Browse to Computer Configuration > Policies > Citrix Policies.

  4. Proceed to following procedure:

To use the Delivery Services Console (IMA-based policies):
  1. Start Delivery Services Console.

  2. Click Policies.

  3. Click Computer in the policy details pane.

  4. Proceed to following procedure:

Create the Citrix Policy

To create the Citrix policies complete the following steps:

  1. Click New.

  2. Type Weekly Reboot 2:00a.in the Name field.

  3. Enter a description (optional) and click Next.

  4. Type reboot in the Search All Settings field.

  5. Scroll to Reboot Logon Disable Time and click Add.

  6. Modify the pre-defined Value, if desired, and click OK.

  7. Scroll to Reboot Schedule Frequency and click Add.

  8. Modify the pre-defined Value, if desired, and click OK.

  9. Scroll to Reboot Schedule Start Date and click Add.

  10. Modify the pre-defined Value, if desired, and click OK.

  11. Scroll to Reboot Schedule Time and click Add.

  12. Type 2:00 AM in the Time field and click OK.

  13. Scroll to Scheduled Reboots and click Add.

  14. Click Enabled and click Next.

  15. Click Add for Worker Group.

  16. Click Add and type Weekly Reboot 2:00a.

  17. Verify that Mode is Allow and Enable this filter element is checked, then click OK.

  18. Click Next and verify that Enable this policy is checked, and then click Save.

  19. Repeat the preceding steps for each additional Worker Group.

  20. Type gpupdate /force from a command prompt on one of the XenApp servers.

Policies created with the Group Policy Management Console are stored in Active Directory and are propagated to XenApp servers using group policy processing. Policies created with the Delivery Services Console are stored in the XenApp data store and are propagated to XenApp servers by the Citrix IMA service. Policy settings are stored in the registry on each XenApp server. The Citrix Group Policy Modeling Wizard can be used to verify policy settings through a resultant set of policies. Alternatively, verify the policy settings on the XenApp server using the registry editor. Both methods are described in the following procedures:

Verify Policy Settings with the Citrix Group Policy Modeling Wizard

If the Group Policy Management Console was used to create the policy:
  1. Start the Group Policy Management Console.

  2. Right-click Citrix Group Policy Modeling and select Citrix Group Policy Modeling Wizard.

  3. Proceed to the following procedure:

If the Delivery Services Console was used to create the policy:
  1. Start the Delivery Services Console.

  2. Right-click Policies and select Run the modeling wizard.

  3. Proceed to the following procedure:

Verify the policies

Complete the following steps:

  1. Click Next to continue and select Domain.

  2. Select Domain Controller (optional) and click Next.

  3. Click Browse in the Computer Configuration section and select the OU for linked Citrix Policy GPO.

  4. Select Advanced Simulation Options (optional) and click Next.

  5. In the Server Groups field, type: Weekly Reboot 2:00a.
    Note: The text entered in this field must match the Worker Group name exactly.

  6. Confirm details and click Run.

  7. Click Close to view the results.

    Note: If Use default value is selected in any of the policy settings, the value listed in the results appears as Disabled; which means that override of the default value is disabled.

Verify Policy Settings with Regedit

Caution! Refer to the Disclaimer at the end of this article before using Registry Editor.

  1. Start Regedit.
  2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Policies/Citrix/IMA/Restart Options.
    Note: The same settings are also stored under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/Policies/Citrix/IMA/Restart Options.

Environment

Caution! Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that might require you to reinstall your operating system. Citrix cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. Be sure to back up the registry before you edit it.

Issue/Introduction

This article contains information on how to create a Staggered Server Reboot Schedule in XenApp 6.X.

Additional Information

Note: This does NOT currently work with XenApp 6.5 by default. XenApp 6.5 has an error that prevents policies from applying to Worker Groups with a colon. To rectify this, choose not to use a colon (instead of 2:00am, use 2am), or install the following hotfix, which corrects the colon issue in XenApp 6.5 policy processing.

CTX142195 - Hotfix GPMx170WX64009 - For Group Policy Management Console for Windows x64 - English

Citrix Documentation - Policy Settings Reference