Windows Processes - AVD Test

How often should the test be executed.

The host for which the test is to be configured.

The default port is NULL.

In the Process text box, enter a comma separated list of names:pattern pairs which identify the process(es) associated with the AVD being considered. processName is a string that will be used for display purposes only. processPattern is an expression of the form - *expr* or expr or *expr or expr* or *expr1*expr2*... or expr1*expr2, etc. A leading '*' signifies any number of leading characters, while a trailing '*' signifies any number of trailing characters. For example, to monitor the Word and Powerpoint applications on a system, in the PROCESS text box, enter officeProcess:*winword*,*power*, where * denotes zero or more characters.

Note:

The Process parameter supports process patterns containing the ~ character.

To determine the process pattern to use for your application, on Windows environments, look for the process name(s) in the Task Manager -> Processes selection.

Also, while monitoring processes on the session host / AVD, if the Wide parameter of this test is set to Yes, then your process patterns can include the full path to the process and/or the arguments supported by the process. For instance, your processpattern specification can be as follows:

Terminal:C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost -k DcomLaunch,Remote:C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs

To save the time and effort involved in such manual process specification, eG Enterprise offers an easy-to-use auto-configure option in the form of a View/Configure processes button that is available next to the Process text box. Refer to Windows Processes - AVD Test to know how to use the auto-configure option.

By default, the eG agent uses perfmon to search for the processes that match the configured patterns. Accordingly, the Wide parameter is set to Noby default. Typically, a process definition in Windows includes the full path to the process, the process name, and process arguments (if any). Perfmon however scans the system only for process names that match the configured patterns – in other words, the process path and arguments are ignored by perfmon. This implies that if multiple processes on a Windows host have the same name as specified against processpattern, then perfmon will only be able to report the overall resource usage across all these processes; it will not provide any pointers to the exact process that is eroding the host’s resources. To understand this better, consider the following example. Typically, Windows represents any Java application executing on it as java.exe. Say, two Java applications are executing on a Windows host, but from different locations.

If java.exe has been configured for monitoring, then by default, perfmon will report the availability and average resource usage of both the Java applications executing on the host. If say, one Java application goes down, then perfmon will not be able to indicate accurately which of the two Java applications is currently inaccessible. Therefore, to enable administrators to easily differentiate between processes with the same name, and to accurately determine which process is unavailable or resource-hungry, the eG agent should be configured to perform its process searches based on the process path and/or process arguments, and not just on the process name – in other words, the eG agent should be configured not to use perfmon.

To achieve this, first, set the Wide parameter to Yes. This will instruct the eG agent to not use perfmon to search for the configured process patterns. Once this is done, then, you can proceed to configure a processpattern that includes the process arguments and/or the process path, in addition to the process name. For instance, if both the Remote Access Connection Manager service and the Terminal Services service on a Windows host, which share  the same name – svchost - are to be monitored as two different processes, then your processpattern specification should be as follows:

Terminal:C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost -k DcomLaunch,Remote:C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs 

You can also use wildcard characters, wherever required. For instance, in the above case, your processpattern can also be:

Terminal:*svchost -k DcomLaunch,Remote:*svchost.exe -k netsvcs

Similarly, to distinctly monitor two processes having the same name, but operating from different locations, your specification can be:

JavaC:c:\javaapp\java.exe,JavaD:d:\app\java.exe

Note:

• Before including process paths and/or arguments in your processpattern configuration, make sure that the Wide parameter is set to Yes. If not, the test will not work.
• If your processpattern configuration includes a process path that refers to the Program Files directory, then make sure that you do not a include a ~ (tilde) while specifying this directory name. For instance, your processpattern specification should not be say, Adobe:C:\Progra~1\Adobe\AcroRd32.exe.