Hi All

Please find the tested scenario for how to migrate the NetSCaler VPX from Xen to Vmware HyperVisor.

There is 2 node of NS in HA mode. 1st node X (primary) and another node Y (Secondary).

Action for X node:-

1. Login to Primary X

2. goto HA settings --> Select Primary node -->select Stay primary and select stay primary when another node is unstable

3. click on the Secondary node Y --> Select stay secondary

Action for Y Node:- we will migrate the Y node to Vmware solution.

1. Login to Server via SFTP

2. Take the backup of NSconfig folder

3. note down the IP Address

4. take the snapshot

5. Break HA

6. Down the Y node on XenServer

7. Powerup the Node on Vmware new one

8. configure the IP Address

9. Connect via SFTP

10. overwrite the Nsconfig folder data from old NS device

11. Reboot the NS device

12. upgrade the license file with the new hostname

13. All Reboot

14. All the settings will be same as the old node

15. verify the configuration 

16. ADD to HA

17. configure the normal HA settings

18. do the load failover and testing

All will work as normal and perform the same action for X node then.

Action for Y node:-

1. Login to Primary Y

2. goto HA settings --> Select Primary node -->select Stay primary and select stay primary when another node is unstable

3. click on the Secondary node X --> Select stay secondary

Action for X Node:- we will migrate the X node to Vmware solution.

1. Login to Server via SFTP

2. Take the backup of NSconfig folder

3. note down the IP Address

4. take the snapshot

5. Break HA

6. Down the X node on XenServer

7. Powerup the Node on Vmware new one

8. configure the IP Address

9. Connect via SFTP

10. overwrite the Nsconfig folder data from old NS device

11. Reboot the NS device

12. upgrade the license file with the new hostname

13. All Reboot

14. All the settings will be same as the old node

15. verify the configuration

16. ADD to HA

17. configure the normal HA settings

18. do the load failover and testing

Migration is complete with Zero downtime.

Thanks

Amit Gupta (Webmaster)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amit-kumar-gupta-5321a527

Symptoms or Error

A black screen is dispalyed when trying to launch a desktop on XenDesktop 7.6. In Connection Center we cannot even see a session getting generated with that black screen.

Solution

Editing AppInit_DLLs with MFAPHOOK64.DLL resolved the issue.  remove the long patch and put MFAPHOOK64.DLL only .

Problem Cause

The MFAPIHOOK64.DLL was not loaded properly. Loading it directly to the registry resolved the issue.

Source :- https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX209311

Thanks

Amit 

Hello ,

please check the VM configuration if you are using ESX 6.5 version.

1. Ensure there is no Sata controller selected for CD drive and move to IDE

2. remove the SATA controller from VM and try to boot afterward.

it should work after making change.

Thanks

Amit 

Hello,

We need to ensure there is no hidden nic on Master vdisk otherwise it will fail while creating Vdisk 

please refer to Citrix article.

https://support.citrix.com/article/CTX133188

Thanks

Amit 

Hello ,

Here are the well tested steps to do the reverse imaging from PVS vdisk to Physical VMs.

1. Boot your target device to the vDisk you want to reverse image with additional disk attached (same size or larger than the vDisk).

2. Make sure the new disk is visible in Windows Disk Management and mounted as a drive (i.e. D:\).

3. Use BNImage or XenConvert to copy the vDisk to the added drive (both tools are located under C:\Program Files\Citrix\Provisioning Services).

4. Make sure the new volue is set to Active in Disk Management.

5. Set the device to boot from Hard Disk in the PVS console.

6. Boot the device to Hard Drive by manually changing the boot order in BIOS.

7. Remove any antivirus software (Reboot).

8. Remove PVS target device software (Reboot).

9. Update hypervisor tools if necessary (Reboot).

10. Install latest PVS target device software (Reboot).

11. Run the PVS Imaging Wizard (System will reboot automatically and will continue to finish the conversion process). Before reboot change the boot order in BIOS to Network boot.

12. Switch the device to boot from vDisk in the PVS console (in Private or Maintenance Mode).

13. Install Antivirus software.

14. Finished.

Thanks

Webmaster

Amit Gupta

Hi All

please find the basic NS command.

IPs (SNIP, VIP, MIP)

show ip

Features
show feature

Modes
show ns mode

Want is all?
show info
this will give you NetScaler’s model, NSIP, config data, features and modes

License and Licensed Features
show license

Running configuration
show run | more

Show me the current NetScaler firmware version

show version

What’s your hostname
show hostname

Show me your hardware details 
show hardware

Show me your interfaces
show interface -summary

Show me the SSL Summary
stat ssl

Show me the HA node configuration
show node

Want more data:-
# sysctl -a netscaler | more

NetScaler “Task Manager”
shell top

Uptime
# uptime

Networking Stuff
Routing table
show route

IPs (SNIP, VIP, MIP)
show ip

ARP table
show arp

VLANs
show vlan

Ping, Traceroute, Telnet
# ping
# traceroute
# telnet

Load Balancing (LB)
LB Virtual Servers
show lb vserver <vserver_name>
show lb vserver | more shows all virtual servers

LB services
show service <service_name>

LB service groups
show servicegroup <servicegroup_name>

LB monitors
show monitor <monitor_name>

Persistent sessions
show persistentsessions

Authentication

VPN (including NetScaler Gateway) Virtual Servers
show vpn vserver

Detailed VPN virtual server configuration including bound policies, portal theme, bookmarks, STAs, etc.
show vpn vserver <vpnvserver_name>

Authentication sessions
show aaa session

Authentication statistics
show aaa stats

Statistics
System
stat ns
stat cpu
stat interface

Entities
stat lb vserver
stat cs vserver
stat service

Protocols
stat ssl
stat dns
stat http

Others

Authentication Troubleshooting – Monitor Authentication Attempts in Real-Time
Switch to the shell prompt:
shell
Start the debugging process:
cat /tmp/aaad.debug

Perform the authentication process that requires troubleshooting, such as a user logon attempt.
Monitor the output of the cat aaad.debug command to interpret and troubleshoot the authentication process.
Stop the debugging process with Ctrl + Z.

You can run the following command to record the output of aaad.debug to a log file:
cat aaad.debug | tee /var/tmp/<debuglogname.log>

Check Policy Hits
Run the following command from the shell prompt of the appliance to view the real-time hits on:

Authentication policies and session policies applied on the NetScaler Gateway virtual server:
nsconmsg –d current –g pol_hits

Rewrite policy bound at a global level or to a load balancing, content switching, or NetScaler Gateway virtual server:
nsconmsg –d current | egrep –i rewrite

Responder policy bound at a global level or to a load balancing, content switching, or NetScaler Gateway virtual server:
nsconmsg –d current | egrep –i responder

Webmaster

Amit Gupta