Getting Started with FSLogix in ControlUp

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ControlUp ships with built-in support for FSLogix, Microsoft’s advanced profile container technology. In ControlUp, you can now monitor and manage user profiles for your virtual desktop infrastructure. In addition to the standard metrics for virtual disks, you now have access to a range of new metrics specific to FSLogix. These metrics provide valuable insights into the performance and usage of your FSLogix disks, and can be used to create custom script actions or automated actions based on this information.

Prerequisites

  • ControlUp Agent installed on each machine with FSLogix installed

  • The presence of Citrix Profile Management on a VDA may cause issues with FSLogix detection, we strongly recommend to remove Citrix Profile Management from VDAs if it is not used.

    When installing the VDA you can exclude Citrix Profile Management components, either via the UI or via command line (Instructions on how to exclude these components can be found here):

    • Citrix Profile Management
    • Citrix Profile Management WMI Plug-in

Recommendation

After upgrading the ControlUp Agent, it is strongly advised to restart the machine to ensure that all changes and updates are applied correctly.

Configuration

When working with our FSLogix integration, you can decide to disable the FSLogix data collection or to change the data collection interval for Remote Share metrics.

Enable or Disable FSLogix Collection

By default, the ControlUp Agent collects FSLogix data from any Windows machine. If required, you can disable FSLogix data collection by creating a new registry key on the agent machine:

  • Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Smart-X\ControlUp\Agent
  • Value Name: DisableFSLogixCollection
  • Value Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value Data: 1

If this key is missing or set to 0, FSLogix data collection is enabled.

Change Update Interval for Remote Share Metrics

Some FSLogix metrics are updated by default every 5 minutes. You can change the update interval by creating the following registry key:

  • Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Smart-X\ControlUp\Agent
  • Value Name: FsLogixRefreshTimeInSeconds
  • Value Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value Data: 300
Note

We recommend caution when reducing FSLogix data collection intervals, it may cause reduced performance of the storage platform hosting your FSLogix containers.

For more information, see the Update Frequency column in the Metrics Overview section.

Accessing FSLogix Metrics

Web UI

Click a virtual machine that has an FSLogix disk attached. While you can already see FSLogix columns at the machine level, you will find more detailed information on your FSLogix disks when you click the FSLogix button that is displayed when a user profile is logged in to the machine.

VDI App for a virtual machine. The FSLogix columns in the table are highlighted. A 'FSLogix' button above the widgets row is highlighted.

The FSLogix disks attached to the selected machine are displayed after clicking the button.

Detailed FSLogix metrics are visible after clicking the FSLogix button.

The FSLogix overview page is divided into two sections:

  • General overview of all FSLogix disks attached to the selected machine, along with a real-time grid to drill down into the information.
  • Real-Time grid view in the FSLogix Containers section providing detailed information of the FSLogix disks.

Real-Time DX Console

There are two ways to access FSLogix from the console:

  • Double-click a machine to see active sessions on the machine and click the FSLogix Disks tab to see all FSLogix on the selected machine.
    FSLogix Disks tab highlighted in the Console.
  • Navigate to Storage > FSLogix Disks to see all attached FSLogix disks of your connected VMs
    Storage tab is currently selected in the Console displaying all FSLogix disks.

Interpreting FSLogix Metrics

In the following chapter, you will find a table containing all FSLogix metrics. While some of the metrics may not be immediately clear, more detailed information will be provided in this chapter to help clarify their meaning.

Current Size (OS)

Shows the used space of the disk volume, reported by the operating system.

Current Size

The Current Size metric shows the real size of the virtual disk. It is the difference between the disk capacity and the reported free space.
'Current size' metric displaying 5.02 GB.

The size of the virtual disk reflects the value in the Current Size metric.
Windows properties window showing a Hard Disk Image File with 5.02 GB size.

% FSLogix Size Variance

This metric shows the percentage difference between the real size of the virtual disk and the disk size reported by the operating system.

VDI App grid showing the Current size, Current size (OS), and % FSLogix Size Variance columns.

The variance in this example is 489%, indicating that the size of the container is excessively large and larger than necessary. The first container exceeds its intended size by a significant amount, using 5.02 GB on the disk instead of the expected 872 MB.

To avoid overprovisioning, a recommended solution would be to reclaim whitespace inside the disk. In our example, the disk size after reclaiming would decrease from 5.02 GB to 872 MB.

% FSLogix Disk % Empty Blocks

Empty blocks are blocks in a disk that no longer contain data, but consume space. In our example above, if the current size of the disk is 5.02 GB and the reported size by the OS is 872 MB, then the percentage of empty blocks is about 83%.

FSLogix Disk Compacted Size

Matches the value of Current Size (OS) and reflects the potential disk space that could be reclaimed by removing empty blocks (compression).

Health

The Health metric of a FSLogix disk is a general health indicator which is determined by the free space (column % Free Space) and empty blocks on the FSLogix disk (column FSLogix % Empty Blocks)

  • Warning
    • % Free Space <= 10% or
    • FSLogix % Empty Blocks >= 80%
  • Critical
    • % Free Space <= 5% or
    • FSLogix % Empty Blocks >= 90%
  • Healthy
    • All other conditions

FSLogix Disk Compaction State

This metrics shows you if the currently installed FSLogix Agent supports Disk Compaction.

  • Fully Compatible. If the FSLogix Agent is 2.9.8308.44092 or higher and the start type of the defragmentation service is Automatic or Manual.
  • Incompatible Version. If the FSLogix Agent version is lower than 2.9.8308.44092
  • Defragmentation Service Is Disabled. If the start type of the defragmentation service is disabled.

FSLogix Metrics Overview

The Machines and FSLogix Disks view allows access to FSLogix metrics. The table below provides a comprehensive overview of all FSLogix metrics, including virtual disks metrics. While some of these metrics may not be new to FSLogix, they are still included for reference.

Metric Name Description Update Frequency
FSLogix Disks
% Free Space The percentage of free space available on the disk volume Every 5 minutes
% Free Space (OS) The percentage of free space available on the disk volume, as reported by the operating system Every 3 seconds
% FSLogix Size Variance The percentage difference in current size reported by the operating system, and the correct current size which includes Empty Blocks Every 5 minutes
Avg. Disk Bytes/Read The average number of bytes read from the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Avg. Disk Bytes/Transfer The average number of bytes transferred to or from the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Avg. Disk Bytes/Write The average number of bytes written to the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Avg. Disk Queue Length Average number of read and write requests queued for the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Avg. Disk Read Queue Length Average number of read and write requests queued for the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Avg. Disk Write Queue Length Average number of write requests queued for the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Capacity The total storage capacity of the disk volume Every 5 minutes
Current Disk Queue Length The number of outstanding requests on the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Current size The current size of the disk volume Every 5 minutes
Current size (OS) The current size of the disk volume, as reported by the operating system Every 3 seconds
Disk KBps The rate kilobytes are transferred to or from the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Disk Name The name of the logical disk volume During logon
Disk Read KBps The rate kilobytes are read from the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Disk Reads/sec The rate of read operations on the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Disk Transfers/sec Disk Transfers/sec is the rate of read and write operations on the disk. (Disk Transfers / sec performance counter) Every 3 seconds
Disk Write KBps The rate kilobytes are written to the logical disk Every 3 seconds
Disk Writes/sec The rate kilobytes are written to the logical disk Every 3 seconds
File System The file system using which the disk volume was formatted Every 3 seconds
Free Space The amount of free space available on the disk volume Every 5 minutes
Free Space (OS) The amount free space available on the disk volume, as reported by the operating system Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Disk % Empty Blocks Percentage of empty blocks in the disk, if the disk is thin provisioned compacting removes the empty blocks and reduces the disk size on the share Every 5 minutes
FSLogix Disk Compacted Size The potential size the disk can be with empty blocks reclaimed Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Disk Mount End The time FSLogix completed the disk mount During logon
FSLogix Disk Mount Start The time FSLogix began to mount the disk During logon
FSLogix Disk Mount Total Time The time taken by FSLogix to mount the disk During logon
FSLogix Disk Type FSLogix container type, Profile or Office During logon
FSLogix Path The remote path where the FSLogix disk is hosted During logon
Health The current health of the disk volume Every 3 seconds
Machine Name of the machine the disk belongs to
Office Log File Size The current size of the FSLogix Office log file Every 3 seconds
Profile Log File Size The current size of the FSLogix profile log file Every 3 seconds
Split IO/Sec The rate at which I/Os to the logical disk were split into multiple I/Os Every 3 seconds
Thin Provisioned Indicates whether thin provisioning is enabled for the virtual disk Every 3 seconds
Machine
FSLogix % Enforced App Masking Rules* Percentage of local App Masking rules enforced on the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix % Healthy Office Containers* Percentage of FSLogix Office containers in a healthy state Every 3 seconds
FSLogix % Healthy Profile Containers* Percentage of FSLogix Profile containers in a healthy state Every 3 seconds
FSLogix % Successful Disk Compaction Events* Percentage of successful compaction events in the past 24 hours Every 3 seconds
FSLogix App Masking Enforced Rules Number of enforced App Masking Rules Every 3 seconds
FSLogix App Masking Health Health of your FSLogix App Masking, available States are Healthy/Unhealthy Every 3 seconds
FSLogix App Masking Rules Number of App Masking Rules Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Average Mount Time* The calculated average mount time for all sessions using FSLogix Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Cloud Cache Paths (Office) Path(s) used for FSLogix Cloud Cache Office Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Cloud Cache Paths (Profile) Path(s) used for FSLogix Cloud Cache Profile Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Container Count* Number of FSLogix containers currently in use Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Disk Compaction Compatibility Which (if any) prerequisite components are not set up correctly to support FSLogix Disk Compaction Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Disk Compaction State VHD Disk Compaction ensures your users FSLogix containers remain as small as possible, it is enabled by default and is recommended in all deployments Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Health The health of FSLogix on the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Last Updated Date of the last FSLogix version change Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Container Count* Number of FSLogix Office containers currently mounted to the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Container Maximum Size Maximum size for FSLogix Profile Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Container Path Path used for FSLogix Office Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Container Provisioning Type The provisioning method of the profile container, possible values are Thin (container uses the minimum space and grows as required) or Thick (container is a fixed size) Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Container Volume Type Virtual Disk type used by FSLogix Office Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Containers Average Mount Time* Average mount time of FSLogix Office Containers for FSLogix Disks on the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Office Containers State FSLogix Office Containers enabled state Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Container Count* Number of FSLogix Profile containers currently mounted to the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Container Maximum Size Maximum size for FSLogix Profile Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Container Path Path used for FSLogix Profile Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Container Provisioning Type The provisioning method of the profile container, possible values are Thin (container uses the minimum space and grows as required) or Thick (container is a fixed size) Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Container Volume Type Virtual Disk type used by FSLogix Profile Containers Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Containers Average Mount Time* Average mount time of FSLogix Profile Containers for FSLogix Disks on the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Profile Containers State FSLogix Profile Containers State Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Service Status of the FSLogix service Every 3 seconds
FSLogix State The state of FSLogix on the machine Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Total Container Size* The calculated total size of FSLogix containers (used space) Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Total Disk Compaction Events* FSLogix Disk Compaction events Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Total Office Container Size* The calculated total size of FSLogix Office containers (used space) Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Total Profile Container Size* The calculated total size of FSLogix Profile containers (used space) Every 3 seconds
FSLogix Version Installed version of FSLogix Every 3 seconds
* From version 9.0, can be used in dashboards at any folder level.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does it support monitoring of RW difference disks?
A: At this time RW differencing disks are not supported, full support is on our roadmap.

Q: The FSLogix columns for Mount Time and Path are shown as N/A or blank.
A: Mount Time and Path are calculated at logon. Currently, we do not perform a redetect if the session was running when the agent was restarted or upgraded. To see those values, the session would need to be logged off/on.