Citrix Basic and Enhanced Load Profile

One of the main differences between the Citrix Basic Load Profile and the Citrix Enhanced Load Profile is that the Enhanced profile requires the LoadGen Citrix Enhanced Add-in.

This Add-in must be installed inside the Citrix Hosted Desktop, Citrix VDA, or Citrix server where the user session is running. It is not installed on the LoadGen LoadBot / Launching Agent.

The wording in the LoadGen Director interface may refer to “Add-in Agents,” but in this context this means the Citrix machines where the Enhanced Add-in must be available. These are the systems hosting the Citrix session, not the machines starting or launching the sessions.

The Add-in extends the Citrix virtual channel communication and enables additional functionality in Citrix Enhanced mode, such as:

• Control validations
• Folder and file actions
• Extended interaction with the Citrix session
• More advanced validation and automation options than Citrix Basic mode

Installation options

You can install the LoadGen Citrix Enhanced Add-in in two ways:

1. Install automatically from LoadGen Director
2. Install manually in the Citrix image or on the Citrix server

For most production environments, we recommend installing the Add-in in the golden image, through Group Policy, or through your standard software deployment tooling. This ensures that every Citrix VDA or Hosted Desktop has the Add-in available before the load test starts.

Automatic installation from LoadGen Director

LoadGen Director can install the Citrix Enhanced Add-in from the GUI. This requires network access from the LoadGen Director machine to the Citrix Hosted Desktop or VDA machines.

To install the Add-in from the GUI:

1. Open LoadGen Director.
2. Open or create your Citrix Enhanced Load Profile.
3. Go to the Citrix Enhanced tab.
4. Use the Add-in installation option shown in the interface.
5. Select the Citrix machines where the Add-in must be installed.
6. Start the installation.
7. Verify that the machines appear correctly after installation.

Required ports for automatic installation

When installing the Add-in from the LoadGen Director GUI, Windows remote access and file copy mechanisms are used. Make sure the required ports are open between the LoadGen Director and the Citrix VDA / Hosted Desktop / Citrix server.

The following ports may be required:

TCP 135   - DCE/RPC endpoint mapper
TCP 139   - NetBIOS session service
TCP 445   - SMB / Windows admin shares
UDP 137   - NetBIOS name service
UDP 138   - NetBIOS datagram service

In many secured environments, these ports are closed between management systems and Citrix servers. If these ports are blocked, the automatic installation from the GUI may fail.

In that case, install the Add-in manually or deploy it through your normal software distribution process.

Manual installation

If the required remote installation ports are not available, or if your organization does not allow remote software deployment from LoadGen Director, install the Add-in manually.

Recommended methods are:

• Include the Add-in in the Citrix golden image
• Deploy the Add-in through Group Policy
• Deploy the Add-in through software deployment tooling
• Install the Add-in manually on each Citrix server or VDA

Manual installation is often the preferred approach in enterprise environments, because it avoids the need to open SMB or NetBIOS-related ports from the Director to the Citrix servers.

Important note about Citrix Basic vs Citrix Enhanced

The Citrix Basic Load Profile does not require the LoadGen Citrix Enhanced Add-in. It uses the default Citrix virtual channels that are already available in Citrix Receiver or Citrix Workspace App.

The Citrix Enhanced Load Profile requires the LoadGen Citrix Enhanced Add-in on the Citrix machine hosting the user session. Without this Add-in, the Enhanced functionality will not be available.

Use Citrix Basic when you only need:

• Window caption validation
• Image validation
• Pixel validation

Use Citrix Enhanced when you need:

• Control validation
• Folder and file actions
• Extended Citrix session interaction
• More robust automation inside the Citrix session

Troubleshooting

If the Add-in installation from the GUI does not work, check the following:

1. Verify that the target machine is the Citrix VDA, Hosted Desktop, or Citrix server, not the LoadGen Agent.
2. Verify that the LoadGen Director can reach the target machine.
3. Verify that TCP 135, TCP 139, TCP 445, UDP 137, and UDP 138 are allowed.
4. Verify that the account used has sufficient permissions to install software on the target machine.
5. If the ports are blocked, install the Add-in manually or deploy it through the golden image or Group Policy.

If the Add-in is not installed correctly, the Citrix Enhanced profile may not be able to use control validations or other Enhanced-specific features.