Citrix Server problem with SCCM Client
Hello, We have Citrix servers with SCCM clients installed on them. We are using these servers to provide a remote access to our external users. Every day, around 9h00 AM, users are getting disconnected or their session get stuck and they cannot do anything for the next 15-20 minutes. We found out that it was the SCCM client that is causing the issue, because when we stop the SMS Agent Host service, the problem doesn't occur. We tried to uninstall/reinstall the client, but the problem reappear after a couple of days. There is no entry in the event log that could help us troubleshooting the issue. Do you have an idea what could be causing the behavior? Thank you,
July 4th, 2012 2:52pm

Hi, When I have seen this behaviour before it has at least a couple of times been WMI related, that WMI leaks memory. Have you applied all the latest WMI hotfixes? That is where I would start.. Wmi Related hotfixes: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2011/08/05/suggested-hotfixes-for-wmi-related-issue-on-windows-platforms.aspx Regards, Jrgen -- My System Center blog ccmexec.com -- Twitter @ccmexec
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July 4th, 2012 5:11pm

Check which thread of the SCCM client is causing the issue by checking which log file in \ccm\logs is active at 9am. My guess would be a software inventory cycle... check the bottom of InventoryAgent.log for the string "Action=Soft". Nick.
July 4th, 2012 6:33pm

Hi Nick and Jorgen, Thanks for your reply. I checked the logs that were modified during the time that the system freeze and there is the logs that are modify during that time: - Mtrmgr.log - StatusAgent.log - PolicyEvaluator.log These are the 3 log files modified during the time that the system freeze today. The InventoryAgent.log was modified 30 minutes before it froze and there is an entry Action=Software at the bottom of the log file. I also installed the latest hotfix on our system, so we will see if it change anything tomorrow morning. Thanks again!
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July 5th, 2012 10:11am

slightly OT: It is entirely possible you don't even need Software Inventory enabled in your environment at all. Remember, Software Inventory is really "file inventory". when you are looking for "what software is installed on a system", that is really the contents of Add/Remove Programs, which is returned via hardware inventory. Now that you know that, you may be able to justify disabling Software Inventory completely. Alternatively, if you want to selectively disable only Software Inventory on a few machines just to test if it is SINV that is causing these freezing issues (which should hopefully be resolved with the WMI hotfixes, but nevertheless...) What you could try is first, install "Roger Zanders Client Center" -- it's freely available. It's a 3rd party utility for examining a client individually. Pick on a target which freezes; and connect to it with Client Center. Once connected to an individual system, under Agent Actions, the Component tab, List Components. Then highlight the Software Inventory component, and disable it. This is obviously just for testing--to confirm to yourself that it is SINV that, if disabled, those citrix servers no longer freeze up. Once you've confirmed that--you still have decisions and choices to make. Disable sinv everywhere (which you could likely do so and be fine); or selectively disable sinv on those specific clients; or continue troubleshooting the plausible WMI hotfixes you need; or adjust the sinv rules you have so they are less agressive, or adjust the sinv schedule you have to instead of being (apparently) daily at 9am... you make it weekly or monthly on a Sunday? Daily Sinv is really quite overkill anyway--even if you decide to keep it enabled site wide. Remember... Software Inventory is really "file inventory". Very few companies really need file inventory daily. If you *really* have some kind of requirement to track individual file versions--you could do that much easier using a DCM rule instead of SINV.Standardize. Simplify. Automate.
July 5th, 2012 9:33pm

Hi Sherry, Thank you for you reply. I will have to look at the possibility to disable Software Inventory on the entire site. I already had Client Center installed on my machine, so I connect to the Citrix server and disabled the Software Inventory agent on it, last friday. However the problem occured on Saturday and on Sunday. I will continue to investigate on the problem today. Thank you!
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July 9th, 2012 9:46am

is there any thing that you could figure out in the client logs on the server. any noticable messages? AMIM MUHAMMAD KHAN | CTTCNET USER GROUP LEAD | EVENT SPEAKER, MCT, MCTS, MCITP-ENTERPRISE, MCSA http://amimkhan.wordpress.com
July 10th, 2012 8:10am

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