Citrix states in their article: CTX210141

CTX210141 - Tips for Troubleshooting PeopleSoft Issues on WinFrame/MetaFrame

This document was published at: http://support.citrix.com/kb/entry.jspa?externalID=CTX210141

Document ID: CTX210141, Created on: Aug 2, 2000, Updated: Apr 23, 2003

Products: Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 for Microsoft NT 4.0 Server Terminal Server Edition, Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 for Microsoft Windows 2000, Citrix WinFrame 1.8

This document is a compilation of technotes from PeopleSoft's Web site

Citrix (http://www.citrix.com/) provides products that facilitate Thin Client/Server Computing. Citrix products allow Windows applications to be run on a shared server and accessed from a variety of clients (Windows and non-Windows). The Citrix client connects to a multiuser version of Windows NT and talks to the Windows application using a proprietary protocol called ICA.

PeopleSoft customers have been using Citrix technology along with our products since before PeopleSoft 6. This document provides background information about the relationship between PeopleSoft and Citrix.

Citrix and PeopleSoft 6

The Version 6 release of our Windows client is a 32-bit application that performs two-tier transaction processing. The Citrix WinFrame server is certified for use with PeopleSoft 6 applications. There are several good reasons for using Citrix as a part of PeopleSoft 6 implementations, including improved network utilization for PeopleSoft clients in Wide Area Networks (WANs). The messages between the Citrix client and the WinFrame server use less network bandwidth than the SQL conversation between the PeopleSoft two-tier client and the database.

• Highly secure PeopleSoft client. The Citrix client receives windows paint messages as opposed to applications data. There is no PeopleSoft executable available for hacking on the Citrix client.

• MAC access to PeopleSoft.

• X-Terminal access to PeopleSoft.

• Windows 3.1 access to PeopleSoft 6. This 32-bit application can run on a WinFrame server and be accessed by a Win 3.1 client with the Citrix client software.

• Web access to PeopleSoft.

Many PeopleSoft 6 customers included Citrix as a part of their PeopleSoft implementations. The primary reason for including Citrix was to improve response times over WANs.

Citrix and PeopleSoft 7

In PeopleSoft 7, we introduced a three-tier processing option for the Windows client and a Web client in addition to the two-tier Windows client. The Windows client is still a 32-bit application. The Web client is written in Java and also requires a 32-bit client.

PeopleSoft 7 requires Windows NT 4. PeopleSoft 7 applications require the next version of Citrix software, MetaFrame, running on a Microsoft Windows Terminal Server.

When MetaFrame and the Windows Terminal Server are available we will certify them for PeopleSoft 7.x applications. Even though the introduction of the three-tier Windows client addresses WAN performance and the introduction of the Web client addresses Web access to PeopleSoft, there are still several good reasons for using Citrix with PeopleSoft 7 applications:

• Non-Windows and non-Win32 client access to PeopleSoft. If you have Win3.1, Windows CE, Mac, or UNIX clients, you can run PeopleSoft 7 applications on them with Citrix MetaFrame. PeopleSoft expects to get Mac support for the Web client but this will not be for 100% of the panels and not for tools.

• Highly secure client. PeopleSoft three-tier transaction processing is very secure but there is still an executable running on the client that can be tampered with. With Citrix there is no PeopleSoft executable running on the client workstation.

• Very low bandwidth (phoneline) access to PeopleSoft. With three tier transaction processing, PeopleSoft provides a high performing and scalable solution for WANs. However, most enterprises have users who need to access the system across very low bandwidth lines. As you get down to phone line access for individual users, the Citrix solution provides better response times, especially for more complex transactions.

In summary, even though we've introduced technology in PeopleSoft 7 that overlaps some of the benefits our users received through Citrix in PeopleSoft 6, we expect that there will continue to be a role for Citrix technology as a part of PeopleSoft implementations.

These utilities and the WinFrame for PeopleSoft 6 document can be downloaded from the PeopleSoft FTP server. Use either FTP or a Web browser. Here's how to get this information:

1. ftp://ftp.peoplesoft.com
2. ftp-->outgoing-->dhamilto-->citrix-->wfpaper <---to get the WinFrame for PS 6 document
3. ftp-->outgoing-->dhamilto-->citrix-->wfutils <---to get the WinFrame Support Utilities

You can also find these utilities on Citrix's Web site (http://www.citrix.com/). Here's how:

Go to Support, HTML Interface, Click Search: type peoplesoft and click the Search button. Click 10/10/97.
PeopleSoft Shareware Utilities for Automation Processes.

FYI. These are shareware utilities and unsupported by PeopleSoft.

Compatibility:

What versions of Citrix WinFrame, MetaFrame, and Microsoft Windows Terminal Server (WTS) are certified with what versions of PeopleTools?

Support for Citrix WinFrame products ended with PeopleTools 6.x.

PeopleSoft no longer supports Windows NT 3.51 clients on PeopleTools 7.x and later releases.

For PeopleTools releases 7.x and 7.5x, PeopleSoft certifies Microsoft Windows Terminal Server (WTS).

Citrix MetaFrame is a third-party product installed on a Windows Terminal Server machine that greatly enhances the capabilities and usability of Windows Terminal Server. We have certified MetaFrame 1.0 and plan to certify MetaFrame 1.8. We will continue to certify Windows Terminal Server. There is NO reason for customers not to use MetaFrame. It works fine running the PeopleSoft client.

What are the PeopleSoft requirements for a MetaFrame client?

There are none. The requirements for a MetaFrame client come from Citrix, not PeopleSoft.

Troubleshooting

Problem

Installed the Budget Explorer on Citrix server and it runs OK with a single user. However, when two connections are made to Budget Explorer, the following error message is received

"psdlink-you attempted to open a database that is already opened exclusively by user "psadmin" on machine "psmi." Try again when the database is available."

Solution

The Budgets Explorer was not tested with Citrix and was not designed to work that way. It was always anticipated that it would be installed on each user's desktop.

The customer was able to work around this "problem" by making multiple copies of the Budgets Explorer database in each Citrix MetaFrame client's home directory.

Incident
R-RERDEM-2A89F response from development:

"Budgets Explorer is not meant to be run using Citrix MetaFrame. Support of the delivered features of Budgets/Budgets Explorer will be provided but any issues related to operating in a Citrix MetaFrame environment will not be supported."

Therefore, GSC will support the delivered features; however, if assistance is needed for issues related to operating Budgets and Budgets Explorer in a Citrix MetaFrame environment, I would suggest contacting our Professional Services Group (PSG).

Question: When logging on the database using Citrix WinFrame, the cache files are recreated every time. This is slowing down performance. How can the cache files be redirected?

Answer: Create a home directory on the WinFrame server for each user (that is, c:usersusername). The first time users log on via PeopleSoft, they will have about 65 files in their home directory. When they log off and log on again, only two files will be recreated.

NOTE: Set the Cache Files Directory in Configuration Manager to the full UNC path if there are any issues with drive mappings.

Question: Why do multiple instances of the Process Monitor get loaded when initiating each new request?

Answer: If you are running on a Windows NT machine loaded with Citrix WinFrame, we discovered that this product appears to be modifying the OS-managed list of active processes on the system, by prefixing each process name entry in the performance-related registry entries with the process ID for that instance. This prevents the Process Scheduler from matching on the Process Monitor's process name (pspmd); therefore, it cannot tell that an earlier instance of the Process Monitor is still loaded and proceeds to reload another instance. This issue has been forwarded to Citrix for their resolution.

Problem

Customer can print to the default printer but when he tries to print to another printer, the print job goes to the default printer.

Resolution

Global Support does not support Citrix WinFrame other than sending these docs. Refer to Account Manager and WinFrame vendor Citrix. Citrix is a company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida that markets several products for remote connectivity. One of their products is WinFrame, which is being used increasingly by our customers as well as internal groups. This memo will help you understand a little bit more about Citrix and WinFrame as it relates to PeopleSoft.

There are two main components of WinFrame, the server and the client. The WinFrame server is a hybrid extension of Microsoft Windows NT server Version 3.51. The WinFrame product is not an add-on, but a fully installable operating system. You do not need to install Windows NT first, nor do you need a Windows NT license. Each base WinFrame license has a minimum of 15 users with it. The client software piece may be freely distributed - the server maintains the licenses.

The corporate demo system is based on the WinFrame technology. There are currently four WinFrame servers in this environment, along with a common file server.

When you install a WinFrame server for the first time, there are several differences from a basic Windows NT Server install. The basic operating system requires more physical space than Windows NT Server usually does. The PeopleSoft standard of 300MB for a Windows NT Server boot partition is not enough for a WinFrame server; it needs 700MB. There is a choice when setting up the WinFrame server to rename the boot drive to the letter M instead of C as the default. This is done so that the user can map his share drive to drive C when connecting to the WinFrame server.

In the corporate demo system, we use a common file server for all the user shares, which look like our common M: drives. Here is where the user swap files are located along with all the Ini files that enable a user to have a "private" view into the PeopleSoft application.

The directory structure of the user's drive C would look something like the following:

The WinFrame server has the PeopleSoft applications on drive N. All of these files are shared as read only. The user can write only to drive C. In a single WinFrame server environment, drive C could be located on the WinFrame server itself. Any global enviroment variable settings must be made from the Control Panel or from within a Bat file that sets the user's environment and then calls Pstools.exe.

The basic tuning that must be done on the WinFrame server is to change the default Control Panel, System, Tasking setting to Equally Responsive. Maximize the Control Panel, Network, Server setting for applications.

The system sizing parameters for PeopleSoft application servers should be within the following:

Processor RAM Typical Concurrent Users
Pentium 100 128MB 1-8
Pentium 133x2 256MB 9-15
Pentium 133x4 512MB 16-30
For more information about sizing, see the WinFrame Concepts and Planning Guide, pp. 16

Through initial testing in the corporate demo environment, it has become clear that the PeopleSoft applications perform best using the WinFrame remote dialup client instead of the RAS client. Also the 32-bit client performs better than the 16-bit client in both dialup and network modes. Use only 28.8 modems throughout the system, along with high performance serial concentrators (Digiboard). When using the network mode, use only TCP/IP.

More Information

Printing to a Local Client Port Using WinFrame

Printing on a WinFrame Client, printing locally, takes a tremendous amount of time. To a file it's fine. This is a known issue by Citrix. In the mean time, print to a file, then print the file. The 32-bit version of SQRW running on the Citrix machine does not have this problem. Customer could install 32-bit SQR for Windows NT.

Printing Locally on Citrix

This is applicable when running PeopleSoft in a WinFrame environment and applies to any SQR. When I run an SQR, and I want to direct my output to the printer, what is the proper format for entering the printer I want to use in the SQR panel?

You need to install Service Pack 4 from Citrix. (Now there is also a service pack 5 from Citrix)
There is also a printer server option from Citirx.

A customer did the following in order to get the SQRW printing through Citrix:

Applied a hotfix from the Citrix site (WF160506.EXE) and instead of using LPT1 with the -f flag, used the
-f//Server name/queue name.

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We process in English for the most part, but want to create invoices in Japanese. Do we need to do this on a Japanese language operating system or is there a tool that will allow us to do this on an English operating system?

We would like verification that we must have a Japanese Windows machine in order to enter data in Japanese into an English-based PeopleSoft application.

Correct - you will need Japanese Win95/98 or Windows NT 4.0. Several third-party Japanese emulators are available that will run on English Windows (UnionWay, WinMASS etc.), but none of these have been tested or certified with PeopleTools, and a couple have proved very problematic in the past.

We intend to use Citrix technology - do we need to have a separate Citrix server that has a Japanese operating system installed on it?

Correct. However, I don't believe Citrix has a Japanese product available for Windows NT 4.0 yet. I may be wrong here, but you should definately check with Citrix.
If the server is running a Japanese operating system and Citrix version, you may be able to get away with English Windows clients because all the input method and font work is happening on the server. Again, check with Citrix first.

We need verification on printer configurations required to print Japanese invoices.

You don't need any special printers for Windows-based print jobs in Japanese (nVision, Crystal, Cognos etc.) If you will be printing Japanese characters from SQR, you will need a printer that has Japanese fonts and that supports Shift-JIS input. I strongly recomment HP's Japanese line of LaserJets. These are very easy to get in Japan, but very hard to source from the US.

Are there any special issues/concerns we need to be aware of to ensure data integrity when using related language tables?

Make sure you're running PT7.53 - it has several major fixes to help maintain related information correctly, especially when dealing with EFFDT data.

We really need guidance on how to get the overall technical infrastructure in place to handle input and printing of Japanese characters, now that it appears PeopleSoft's related language tables are working.

Start by checking out http://tl-japan/global. It has a bunch of information. Next, decide what sort of output you're looking for - SQR or Windows-based. When you know this, let me know and I can give you more guidance. If you're using Citrix, this will probably be your biggest issue in Japanese. Will they consider a Japanese three-tier solution? You will also need to be very careful with database character set settings. Check the HW/SW guide's Character Set appendix for more information.

Resolution Detail

Problem

Windows Terminal Server/WTS/MetaFrame/Citrix: problems building record via Application Designer. Getting an error "Cannot open files."

Solution

This turned out to be a permissions issue with the m:temp (a Citrix default) directory. They created a subfolder called 3e under m:temp. When Citrix clients are building projects via Application Designer, a subfolder called m:temp3e is created.

This is not a PeopleSoft feature and I was unable to duplicate this problem. I referred the customer to Microsoft and Citrix.

Problem

Configuration Manager: Change to "Initial Window" setting is lost after Citrix log off / log on. As long as the user is in the Citrix session, it saves the change in memory but when the user logs off and logs back on, the change has been lost.

Solution

This is a Citrix security feature determined in the mandatory profiles. Users of mandatory profiles cannot permanently change their profiles. Although a user with a mandatory profile may be able to change the per-user settings during one session, these changes are not uploaded to the user's profile when the user logs off. When the user logs on again, the profile's original settings are re-established. In a PeopleSoft/WinFrame environment, mandatory profiles can be used, but there must be an individual .Man profile for each user. The reason for this is that the location of specific user files is on a per-user basis. It is best to use the .Usr profiles in these environments.

Issue

They are receiving a "can't load or register customer control" error when attempting to install PeopleSoft on the Citrix server.

Resolution

Use the Citrix command "change user /install," install Peoplesoft, then run "change user /execute." See the PeopleSoft 6 for WinFrame Installation Guide for more detail.

Resolution Detail

Summary
Problem Description

When users are accessing Citrix either across the network or on the Citrix console, seemingly random Dr. Watson errors occur.

Findings

If PeopleTools needed to create a file in a directory and no Windows NT permissions existed to allow that operation to complete, a Dr. Watson error would immediately follow the "No permissions" error. The same symptoms could apply if the swap files for a user are not owned by the user or incorrect permissions are set. Two users updating the same set of swap files will eventually result in an access conflict and a Dr. Watson error. The only error we encountered during a test with four concurrent users was an expected one when all four users tried to create an SQL file in Data Designer to alter a table. The result, as anticipated, was that one user was successful, the others received error messages, and two crashed with Dr. Watson errors.

Suggestions

If Windows NT security settings on files and directories are corrected and the users' environments are reviewed to ensure that users always creates files in their own unique directories, the incidence of Dr. Watson errors decreases dramatically or reduces to zero.