Users report one or more of the following symptoms in a Citrix environment:

C. Process Explorer :  For Process-Level Deep Dive

Download Link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

1. Launch as Administrator
2. Sort by CPU or Private Bytes
3. Review:
• High CPU processes
• Private Bytes, Working set
• I/O read/write Bytes

D. Process Monitor: To Trace Disk I/O Activity

1: Download and Launch
Download Process Monitor https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

2. Run Procmon.exe as administrator.

3. When it opens, it logs all system activity. Without filters, Procmon logs millions of events.

4. Pause Procmon capture (Ctrl + E)

5. Clear Display (Ctrl + E)

6. Click Filter (Ctrl + L).

Add  below filters to display only Disk Read/Write Activity.
Operation → is → ReadFile and WriteFile

7. You can also filter by specific processes or paths.

8 Pause Procmon capture (Ctrl +E)  after the issue is reproduced for 2-3 minutes. Do not keep Procmon running for more than a few minutes as it can fill up disk space very quickly.

9. Identify File Paths
Watch for Path column — this shows full file/folder location.

10. Use Built-in Summaries 

Procmon provides aggregation views.

Go to:

Tools → File Summary

OR

Tools → Process Activity Summary

These views show:

• Total read/write bytes
• Most active process
• Files generating the most disk I/O

This helps quickly identify top disk consumers.

 STEP 4 – Capture Performance Logs (Recommended for Long term monitoring in case of intermittent Resource spike)

A. Use Performance Monitor

Create Data Collector Set using GUI

1. Launch perfmon.exe from start menu , cmd line or Win+R
2. Data Collector Sets → User Defined
3. Right Click → New Data collector Set
4. Create from a template (Recommended) →Next
5. Select “System Performance”→Finish
6. New Data Collector Set → Right click
7. Set the Maximum Size to 250 or 500 MB

     8. Performance Counter → Right click. Set the sample interval to 5 seconds and log Mode to Circular.

     9. Start the Data collector Set to begin monitoring and Stop it once the issue occurs.

    10. The log file is saved with .blg extension. Review the System Performance Report saved in C:\PerfLogs\Admin\New Data Collector Set\MachineName :

Here is an example of sample System Performance Report: 

OR

         Create Data collector set using cmd line:

B. Use PowerShell for Automated  Real Time or Periodic Capture

Local Capture Script

Get-Counter '\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time'

Get-Counter '\Memory\Available MBytes'

Get-Counter '\LogicalDisk(_Total)\% Free Space'

Get-Counter '\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Avg. Disk Queue Length'

Get-Counter '\Network Interface(*)\Bytes Total/sec'

Remote Multi-Server Capture Script

Invoke-Command -ComputerName Server1,Server2 -ScriptBlock {

Get-Counter '\Processor(_Total)\% Processor Time'

Get-Counter '\Memory\Available MBytes'

Get-Counter '\LogicalDisk(_Total)\% Free Space'

Get-Counter '\PhysicalDisk(_Total)\Avg. Disk Queue Length'

Get-Counter '\Network Interface(*)\Bytes Total/sec'

}

STEP 5 – Citrix-Specific Validation

A. Use Citrix Director/Cloud Monitor/ Citrix Studio

Check:

• • Load Evaluator Index
  • Machine CPU Usage
  • Memory Usage
  • Average IOPS and Disk Latency
  • ICA RTT
  • Network Latency
  • Logon Duration Breakdown
  • Alerts and Notifications

Please refer to the sections highlighted in Red in Citrix Director/Cloud Monitor to review the above metrics.