Microsoft Azure is moving really fast and 29 datacenters around the world is now online. I was in Japan some weeks ago (week 14) and did a presentation at E2EVC on NV series and how easy it is to build Virtual machines with NV-series. At that time I demonstrated live heavy graphics application such as Autodesk Revit, Navisworks running from Azure SE Asia (Singapore) with RDP10 to my Microsoft Surfacebook in Japan on hotel wifi and it worked actually really good. Some weeks later I was home in Denmark, I was preparing my speech for Azure Bootcamp in Aarhus, Denmark. I noticed that a new datacenter in Japan West (Osaka) and Japan East (Tokyo, Saitama) have gone “Operational” and more specific Japan East (Tokyo, Saitama) now was live with Azure NV6, NV12, NV24. This is really awesome and I had to try it out.

To summary up, Microsoft have made their datacenter in Japan East (Tokyo, Saitama) online some weeks ago offering NV-series (NV6,NV12,NV24) this is great for customers in Japan getting low latency from their cities to Azure GPU enabled visualization instances. 

What is Microsoft NV-series

The NV instance are optimized and designed for remote visualization, streaming, gaming, encoding and VDI scenarios utilizing frameworks such as OpenGL and DirectX, customers can use Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2012 and further virtualize with session sharing technologies such as Microsoft RDS / Citrix XenApp and do GPU sharing from Azure NV instances. 

NV6 instance is one half physically GPU NVIDIA Tesla M60 (GRID)
NV12 instance is 1 physically GPU NVIDIA Tesla M60 (GRID)
NV24 instance is 2 physically GPU NVIDIA Tesla M60 (GRID)

Below visual diagram highlights what technical ressources you get of each instance.

Limitations of NV-series:

Please notice that the NV-series SSD disk are available on temp disk (d: drive)  and NV-series VMs do not support VM disks that are backed by Azure premium storage. The primary disk (c: drive) is HDD data disk which is limited of 500 IOPS.

NVIDIA GRID vGPU is not supported with NV-series.

How to create a Microsoft NV-instance

When creating an NV-series VM using the Azure portal, on the Basics blade, select a VM disk type of HDD. To choose an available N-series size, on the Size blade, click View all.

When instance is started up you have to install the NVIDIA drivers for Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2012r2 here 

Where is Microsoft NV-series available

Microsoft NV6, NV12, NV24 is now available in following datacenters

• East US(Virginia)
• North Central US(Illinois)
• South Central US(Texas)
• West Europe (Amsterdam)
• South East (Singapore)
• NEW Japan East (Tokyo, Saitama)

Below is a visual diagram I have made of the NV series availability in the 6 new datacenters around the world.

Price pr hour example of Microsoft NV6

Below is a price example I have done with NV6 in all 6 datacenters with a hourly usage or with 1 month usage.

The price difference is not big but its important to understand if you design NV series in multiple datacenters. The cost is different.

Want help with NV-series

If you are interested in trying out Azure NV-series I highly recommend you try it out, if you are interested in getting help you are always welcome to reach out to me for my professional services. 

Source

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/datacenters/how-to-choose/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/regions/services/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-n-series-general-availability-on-december-1/

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/n-series-driver-setup

Citrix XenApp Essentials is now available on Microsoft Azure.

Citrix XenApp Essentials is replacing Microsoft Azure RemoteApp and customers can now benefit the technology from Citrix in a simplified portal on Azure to deliver published apps to any device from any Azure datacenter.

New offerings with XenApp (On-Premises, Cloud and Azure ONLY)

Below gives you an overview on how you can deploy Citrix XenApp Essentials On-Premises, in any Cloud and the new Microsoft/Citrix offering XenApp essentials in Azure ONLY.

Below gives you a visual understanding on the new offerings from Microsoft and Citrix with their new cloud offerings XenApp Essentials in Azure.

Prices for XenApp Essentials in Azure

Min amount of users to use XenApp Essentials is 25 users.

$12.00 per user per month for XenApp Essentials Service, including Citrix NetScaler Gateway Service for secure access and 1 GB data transfer per user per month.

Users added today will be charged at the a prorated rate of $0.39 for the remainder of the current month. This amount will be charged immediately.

$6.25 per user per month for Microsoft Remote Access fee to use XenApp Essentials Service without purchasing a separate RDS CAL for this workload. Contact your Microsoft representative to bring your own RDS CAL.

Users added today 30th March 2017 will be charged at the a prorated rate of $0.20 for the remainder of the current month. This amount will be charged immediately.

Microsoft Azure

Citrix XenApp Essentials is today now available in all Azure datacenters around the world, this is amazing, and you can now build fast a solution, there is no wait time to buy servers, on Azure its ready to be used, you just need a creditcard 🙂

How do I find Citrix XenApp Essentials on Azure

Goto https://portal.azure.com and login with your Azure ID/pwd, under ressources click add and search for Citrix, then you will see the XenApp essentials service offering.

How do I deploy XenApp Essentials

The following graphic shows the flow of deploying XenApp Essentials.

XenApp Essentials – System Requirements

The following are the requirements to install and configure XenApp Essentials Service after you purchase the service from the Azure Marketplace.

Microsoft Azure

To provision and deploy resources in Microsoft Azure correctly, you need the following:

• An Azure account.
• An Azure subscription.
• An Azure Active Directory global administrator account in the directory associated with your subscription. The user account must have Owner permission for the Azure subscription to use for provisioning resources.

For more information about how to set up an Azure Active Directory tenant, see How to get an Azure Active Directory tenant on the Microsoft website.

• Use the Azure Resource Manager to:
  • Deploy resources such as virtual machines, storage accounts, database, and virtual network.
  • Create and manage the resource group that is a container for resources you want to manage as a group.

Note

XenApp Essentials Service supports configuring machines by using Azure Resource Manager only.

Citrix Cloud

You must have a Citrix Cloud account to configure XenApp Essentials Service.

Important

XenApp Essentials Service creates Cloud Connector virtual machines automatically.

Compatibility

XenApp Essentials supports the following web browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Internet Explorer

Users connect to their apps by logging on with Citrix Receiver. XenApp Essentials Service supports the current version of Citrix Receiver for each user device operating system.

You can download the latest version of Citrix Receiver from the Citrix website.

Deploying XenApp Essentials Service

Citrix Cloud hosts the XenApp Essentials Service. The XenApp Essentials offers secure access to virtual Windows apps. This service is based on XenApp and XenDesktop technology. The service includes StoreFront and the NetScaler Gateway Service along with core management services.

Your app workloads run in your Azure subscription.

The following diagram shows an architectural overview of a basic XenApp Essentials Service cloud deployment:

You can also allow users to connect to your on-premises data center. Connections between the Azure cloud and your on-premise data center occur through a VPN connection. Users connect through XenApp Essentials to your license server, file servers, or Active Directory over the VPN connection.

Known Issues

The XenApp Essentials Service has the following known issues:

• Creating the machine catalog fails if the virtual machine size is not available for the selected region. To check the virtual machines that are available in your area, see the chart at Products available by region on the Microsoft website.
• You cannot create and publish multiple instances of the same app from the Start menu at the same time.
  For example, from the Start menu you publish Internet Explorer. Then, you want to publish a second instance of Internet Explorer that opens a specific website on startup. To do so, publish the second app by using the path for the app instead of the Start menu.
• XenApp Essentials Service supports linking a subscription by using an Azure Active Directory user account. XenApp Essentials does not support Live.com authenticated accounts.
• Users cannot start an application if there is an existing Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) session on the VDA. This behavior only happens if the RDP session starts when no other users are logged on to the VDA.
• You cannot enter a license server address longer than server.domain.subdomain.
• If you perform multiple sequential updates to capacity management, there is a possibility that the updated settings will not properly propagate to the VDAs.

Set up a Microsoft Azure Account

Perform the following tasks in Microsoft Azure before setting up the connection in Citrix Cloud:

1. Create an Azure subscription.
2. Create a user in Azure Active Directory who is a global administrator for the subscription.

NoteYou must create the global administrator account in Azure Active Directory.

After you create your Azure account, you can prepare your Azure subscription.

Prepare Your Azure Subscription

When you prepare your Azure subscription, you configure the following:

• Create a resource group and provide the following details:
  • Resource Group name
  • Subscription name
  • Location
• Create a virtual network in the resource group and provide a name for the network. You can leave all other default settings.
• Create a when you create the master image.
  Note: A premium storage account is not supported.
• Use an existing or create a domain controller. If you create a domain controller, do the following:
  • Use the A3 Standard or any other size Windows Server 2012 R2 virtual in the Resource Group and virtual network. This virtual machine becomes the domain controller. If you plan to create multiple domain controllers, create an availability set and put all the domain controllers in this set.
  • Assign a private static IP address to the network adapter of the virtual machine. You can assign the address in the Azure portal. For more information, see Configure private IP addresses for a virtual machine using the Azure portal on the Microsoft documentation website.
  • [Optional] Attach a new data disk to the virtual machine to store the Active Directory users and Groups and any Active Directory logs. For more information, see How to attach a data disk to a Windows virtual machine in the Azure portal. When you attach the disk, select all the default options to complete the wizard.
  • Add the domain controller virtual machines private IP address to the virtual network DNS server. For more information, see Manage DNS servers used by a virtual network (Classic) using the Azure portal (Classic).
  • Add a public DNS server in addition to the Microsoft DNS server. Use the IP address 168.63.129.16 for the second DNS server.
  • Add the Active Directory Domain Services role to the domain controller virtual machine. When this step is complete, promote the domain controller virtual machine to a domain controller and DNS.
  • Create a forest and add some Active Directory users. For more information, see Install a new Active Directory forest on an Azure virtual network.

If you prefer to use Azure Active Directory Domain Services instead of a domain controller, use the following guidelines. Citrix recommends reviewing the Active Directory Domain Services Documentation on the Microsoft website.

• Create an Azure Active Directory and give it a unique name.
• Create a classic virtual network to enable Domain Services.
  When you create the classic virtual network, choose an IP address range that is different from the one you use with the XenApp and XenDesktop Service. You need two IP addresses and can use the /24 range.
• Enable the Azure Active Directory Domain Services by switching to the classic portal. Navigate to the Active Directory node and open the new Azure Active Directory domain.
• Enable the domain services for the directory.
  When you complete this step, the DNS name and virtual network appear automatically. Ensure that the values are correct.
  When you save the settings, it can take 30 minutes to an hour to set up Domain Services.
• When provisioning Domain Services is complete, a new section titled IP ADDRESS appears. Refresh the page until you see two IP addresses.
• Add a subnet IP address for the Azure virtual network.
• Update the DNS settings for the Azure virtual network.
  Edit the properties on the virtual network. Ensure that you enter both IP addresses created in a previous step.
• Create an administrative group in the new Azure Active Directory domain. Use the following guidelines:
  • Create the group with the name AAD DC Administrators. The group must have this name.
  • Configure the DNS settings before adding users and groups.
  • Add members after creating the group.
• Create a Resource Manager virtual network. Ensure that the deployment model you use is set to Resource Manager. Locate the Resource Manager virtual network in the same region as the classic virtual network.
• Peer the Resource Manager virtual network to the classic virtual network. Peering connects the two virtual networks to the same region in Azure. After peering the networks, the two networks appear as a single virtual network. When you peer the two networks, ensure that you select the classic virtual network.
• Add DNS servers to the Resource Manager virtual network. When you configure the DNS servers, type the IP address of the Azure Active Directory Services. Ensure that you type both IP addresses that appear in the Domain Services section on the Configure tab of your directory.

Prepare Your Master Image

You can use one of the following two images in your deployment:

• Your own master image with your applications installed.
• A Citrix-prepared image.

Important

Citrix does not recommend using a Citrix-prepared image for production deployments.

When you prepare the master image, the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) installs on the image automatically. The VDA software enables the following:

• Registers the machine with the XenApp Essentials Service.
• Establishes and manages the connection between the machine and the user device.
• Verifies that a Citrix license is available for the user or session.
• Applies any configured policies for the session.
• Communicates session information to the XenApp and XenDesktop Service through the broker agent included in the VDA.

VDAs are available for Windows server and desktop operating systems. VDAs for Windows Server operating systems allow multiple users to connect to the server at one time.

For more information, see Configure VDAs.

Note

The VDA for Windows desktop operating systems is not supported in XenApp Essentials Service.

Prepare a Master Image

You create the master image by using the Azure Resource Manager. When you prepare your master image, the steps you must take in the Azure portal are:

1. Log on to the Azure portal.
2. Create a Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 2016 server virtual machine.
   You can also use existing server virtual machines. When you use existing machines, you can use the resource group, virtual network, and storage account associated with the machine. The storage account is where you create the virtual hard disk (VHD).
   Note: Create the VDA template with standard (non SSD) storage. Also, do not join the VDA to a domain.
3. Connect to the virtual machine after you create it and when it is running.
   Important: Do not run Sysprep on the image.
4. Install the applications on the virtual machine. The apps are available to your users when they log on with Citrix Receiver.
5. Download the server OS VDA on the virtual machine from the XenApp and XenDesktop Service download page.
6. Install the VDA on the virtual machine. When prompted for the Delivery Controller address, select Let MCS configure.
7. Skip the installation of Citrix Receiver and App-V. Use the default settings for the remainder of the configuration steps.
8. Restart the VDA and complete the VDA installation steps by following the instructions on the page.
9. Test starting the applications to ensure that the configuration is correct.
10. Shut down the virtual machine.

When you create the virtual machine, the VHD is created in the storage account you specified. When you upload the master image, you must specify the storage account location in the XenApp Essentials console.

Link Your Azure Subscription

In the Citrix Cloud, you link your XenApp Essentials Service to your Azure subscription.

To link your Azure subscription

1. Log on to the Citrix Cloud for XenApp Essentials Service.
2. On the Manage tab, click Subscriptions.
3. Click +Add Subscription.
   The Azure portal opens.
4. Log on to your Azure subscription by using your global administrator Azure credentials.
5. Click Accept to allow XenApp Essentials Service to access your Azure account.
   XenApp Essentials service enumerates the subscriptions available in your account.
6. Select the subscription you want to use and then click Link.
   Return to the XenApp Essentials Console to see the subscription in a linked state.

After you link your Azure subscription to XenApp Essentials, upload your master image.

To upload the master image

1. Log on to the Citrix Cloud for the XenApp Essentials Service.
2. On the Manage tab, click Master Images.
3. Click Add Image.
   The Add an image page opens.
4. Specify the location of the VHD by selecting the following:
   1. Subscription
   2. Resource group
   3. Storage account
   4. VHD location
   5. Region
   6. Name for the master image.
5. Click Save.
   When you save the image, XenApp Essentials Service verifies the master image.
   After verification, the image appears on the Master Images > My Images page.

Create Catalogs

A catalog is similar to collections in Azure Remote App. A Citrix XenApp Essentials Service catalog lists apps and resources that you can share with users on any device.

XenApp Essentials Service catalog uses a simpler approach to the combination of a machine catalog and a Delivery Group.

Note

XenApp machine catalog and Delivery Group creation workflows are not available in XenApp Essentials Service.

When you add a catalog, you configure the following:

• Create a name for the catalog.
• Link your Azure subscription to the catalog.
• Join the catalog to the domain.
• Choose a master image.
• Select the capacity and manage the cost of the apps.

Before you start creating your catalog, ensure that you have your Azure Active Directory credentials and your subscription ID available.

To create a catalog

1. Log on to citrix.cloud.com.
2. Select the XenApp and XenDesktop Service.
3. On the Manage tab, click Catalogs, and then click +Catalog.
4. On the Add a Catalog page, in Pick a Name, type the name of the catalog, select Domain Joined, and then click Save.
5. In Link your Azure subscription, provide your Azure subscription details. You can use a subscription you created previously or link a new Azure subscription. To use an existing subscription, do the following:
   1. In Subscription Name, select the subscription from the list.
   2. In Resource Group (Region), select the resource group to which the Azure subscription belongs. Use the resource group you created when you prepared your Azure subscription. XenApp Essentials Service creates Cloud Connectors in the resource group.
   3. In Virtual Network, select the virtual network to which the Azure subscription belongs.
      The virtual network is the same one you configured when you prepared your Azure subscription. Ensure that the virtual network can reach your domain controller by using the DNS entries
   4. In Subnet, select the subnet to which the Azure subscription belongs and then click Save.
6. Under Join local domain, enter the following:
   1. In Fully Qualified Domain Name, type your organizations domain name.
   2. In Organizational Unit, type the OU to which users belong.
      For example, OU=Essentials,DC=citrix,DC=com.
      Note: Adding the OU is an optional step.
   3. In Service Account Name, type the account that by using permissions to join a machine to a domain and create machine accounts.
   4. In Password and Confirm Password, type the password and then click Save.
7. In Choose master image, do one of the following:
   1. Select Link an existing image and then do the following:
      1. In Image Name, select the image.
      2. Click Save.
   2. Select Import a new image and then do the following:
      1. In Subscription, choose the subscription.
      2. In Resource Group, choose the group.
      3. In Storage Account, choose the account
      4. In VHD, choose the location of the virtual hard disk.
      5. In Image Name, provide a name for the master image and then click Save.
8. In Select Capacity and Manage Cost, do the following:
   1. In Pick compute, select a worker role.
      The worker role defines the resources used. When you specify a worker role, XenApp Essentials Service determines the correct load per instance for you. You can use one of the options in the list or create your own custom option. The session count is used as a scale metric.
   2. In Select scale settings, do the following:
      1. Set the minimum number of running instances. XenApp Essentials Service ensures that the minimum of virtual machines are powered on all the time.
      2. Set the maximum number of running instances. XenApp Essentials Service does not go beyond this number of virtual machines.
      3. [Optional] If you want a different number of virtual machines running during peak times, select I want to set a schedule for peak time. Then, specify the following:
      • Days of the week for the peak time
      • Start and end times for each day
      • Time zone
      • Minimum number of running instances
9. In Set idle or disconnected session time-out, set the time for when the session ends.
   User sessions end automatically if the session remains idle or is disconnected for the specified time period. Shorter time-out values allow unused VDAs to power off and save costs.
10. Click Save.

After you configure your catalog, click Start Deployment to start catalog creation. This step can take 1-2 hours. If you specified many virtual machines, creating the catalog can take a longer time.

When the previous step is complete, you can publish apps and assign users and user groups. You need at least one published application and one user assigned to complete creating the catalog.

To update or add applications, update the virtual machine that you used to create the catalogs master image.

To update the master image

1. Power on the master image virtual machine.
   Powering on the virtual machine does not affect the master image installed in Microsoft Azure.
2. Install any updates or applications to the virtual machine.
3. After installation, shut down the virtual machine.
4. In the XenApp Essentials Service console, add the new image that includes the path to the virtual machines VHD image.

To update a catalog

1. On the Manage tab, click Catalogs.
2. Click the ellipsis in the catalog that you want to update, and then click Update Catalog Image.
3. Select either Link an existing image or Import a new image. Enter the information that is appropriate for your choice.
4. In Time until automatic log-off, choose the amount of time before the session ends.
   When you start the update of the master image, users can continue to work in XenApp Essentials until the processing is complete. Then, users receive a warning message to save their work and close applications. After closing all active sessions on the VDA, the update finishes on that VDA. Then, if users do not log off in the amount of time given, the session closes automatically.
5. Click Update to start updating the master image.

Publish Apps

After configuring your catalog, you can publish apps for your users. The image you installed includes apps that you can publish.

To publish apps

1. Log on to the Citrix Cloud for the XenApp Essentials Service.
2. On the Manage tab, click Catalogs.
3. Click the ellipsis in the catalog for which you want to publish apps.
4. Click Manage Publishing.
5. On the Apps tab, click Publish Apps.
6. In the Publish Apps for <catalog name> page, select the apps for publishing.
7. When done, click Publish.
   The Apps tab appears by using the list of published apps.

After you publish apps, you can add users and groups.

Add Users and User Groups

1. Log on to the Citrix Cloud for XenApp Essentials Service.
2. On the Manage tab, click Catalogs.
3. Click the ellipsis in the catalog for which you want to add users.
4. Click Manage Users.
5. On the Users tab, click +Add Users.
6. In the Assign Users for <catalog name> page, in Domain, choose the domain.
7. In the search box, type the name of the user or user group.
8. Repeat step 7 until you’ve added all users and groups.
9. Click Assign Users.
   The Users tab appears by using the list of published apps.

StoreFront and NetScaler Gateway in XenApp Essentials Service

The XenApp Essentials Service in Citrix Cloud hosts a StoreFront site for each customer. After you create the catalog, the StoreFront site is created automatically. The StoreFront URL appears under the catalog details. Hosting StoreFront in the cloud means that you do not have to deploy or maintain StoreFront. Citrix keeps StoreFront current in the cloud.

To allow users secure access to their published apps, XenApp Essentials Service uses NetScaler Gateway Service. This service does not need any configuration by you. Each user is limited to 1-GB outbound data transfer per month. You can purchase a 25 GB add-on from the Azure Marketplace. The charge for the add-on is on a monthly basis.

Monitoring the XenApp Essentials Service

To monitor the overall performance of the Citrix XenApp Essentials Service for Azure, do the following:

1. Navigate to the XenApp and XenDesktop Service.
2. Click the Monitor tab.
3. Click the Catalog that you want to monitor.
   You can view information on sessions, logon duration, in addition to other information.
4. You can choose a session and do the following tasks:
   1. Disconnect the session.
   2. Log off from the session.
   3. Send a message

You can click each session to view extra details about the session such as processes, applications running, and more.

Getting Help

If you have problems with XenApp Essentials Service, open a ticket by following instructions in How to Get Help and Support.

XenApp feature comparison

 

Source

http://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-cloud/xenapp-and-xendesktop-service/xenapp-essentials.html

https://www.citrix.com/global-partners/microsoft/resources/xenapp-essentials-faq.html

https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/Australia-2017/INF431

https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/reference-material/xa-xd-deployment-options-feat-comp-matrix.pdf

Hi All

Its time to update your NVIDIA GRID K1, K2, M10, M6, M60 environment.

NVIDIA have released new drivers for NVIDIA GRID 4.2 for March 2017.

New in this Release:

• NVIDIA GRID 4.2 has multiple fixes that improve memory management and NVFBC optimizations that ensure that surface allocations in the Frame Buffer are managed more efficiently to increase stability. The latest release includes frame buffer residency optimizations. Now, during high-memory pressure situations where there is a lack of or high competition for frame buffer, users remain resident-in.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes
• Support for Citrix XenServer 7.1
• Support for the following Linux guest OS versions:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3
  • CentOS 7.3
  • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Important notes – Note: XenServer 7.1 is the last XenServer release supported on GRID K1 and K2. Citrix XenServer 6.2 is no longer supported.

Whats new in vGPU 367.92-369.95

NVIDIA have released a new version of vGPU 367.92-369.95 for NVIDIA GRID  (K1, K2, Tesla M6, M10 and M60 platform)

Included in this release is

• NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager versions 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 6.5 SP1
• NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager versions 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 7
• NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager versions 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 7.1
• NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager version 367.92 for VMware vSphere 6.0 Hypervisor (ESXi)
• NVIDIA GRID Virtual GPU Manager version 367.92 for VMware vSphere 6.5 Hypervisor (ESXi)
• NVIDIA Windows drivers for vGPU version 369.95
• NVIDIA Linux drivers for vGPU version 367.92.

Important:

The GRID vGPU Manager and Windows guest VM drivers must be installed together. Older VM drivers will not function correctly with this release of GRID vGPU Manager. Similarly, older GRID vGPU Managers will not function correctly with this release of Windows guest drivers

Windows Guest OS support in vGPU 369.95

GRID vGPU 369.95 supports following Windows release as a guest OS

• Microsoft Windowss 7 (32/64bit)
• Microsoft Windows 8 (32/64bit)
• Microsoft Windows 8.1 (32/64bit)
• Microsoft Windows 10 (32/64bit)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Linux Guest OS support in vGPU 367.92

GRID vGPU 367.92 supports following Linux distributions as a guest OS only on supported Tesla GPUs
Import: GRID K1/K2 do not support vGPU on Linux guest os.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0-7.3
• CentOS 7.0-7.3
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
• Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Guide – Update existing vGPU GRID Manager (Hypervisor)

GRID vGPU Manager 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 6.5

If you have a NVIDIA GRID K1, K2, M6, M60 vGPU GRID manager installed in Citrix XenServer. Upgrade with one of below methodology:

Methodology 1 – the manual way “No GUI”

Upgrading an existing installation of the NVIDIA driver on Citrix XenServer 6.5, use the rpm -U command to upgrade:

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-6.5-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

If you have NVIDIA GRID TESLA M10 / M6 / M60

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-6.5-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

The recommendation from NVIDIA is to shutdown all VMs using a GPU. The machine does continue to work during the update, but since you need to reboot the XenServer itself, it’s better to gracefully shutdown the VMs. So after your VMs have been shutdown and you upgraded the NVIDIA driver, you can reboot your host.

[root@localhost ~]# xe host-disable
[root@localhost ~]# xe host-reboot

Methodology 2 – the “GUI” way

Select Install Update… from the Tools menu
 Click Next after going through the instructions on the Before You Start section
 Click Add on the Select Update section and open NVIDIA’s XenServer Supplemental Pack ISO

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-6.5-367.92.x86_64.iso ”

If you have NVIDIA GRID M10/ M6/M60 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-6.5-352.83.x86_64.iso ”

Click Next on the Select Update section
 In the Select Servers section select all the XenServer hosts on which the Supplemental Pack should be installed on and click Next
 Click Next on the Upload section once the Supplemental Pack has been uploaded to all the XenServer hosts
Getting Started
 Click Next on the Prechecks section
 Click Install Update on the Update Mode section
 Click Finish on the Install Update section

After the XenServer platform has rebooted, verify that the GRID package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules.

Validate from putty or XenCenter CLI

run lsmod | grep nvidia

Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the GRID physical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command, which should produce a listing of the GPUs in your platform:

Check driver version is 367.92, if it is then your host is ready for GPU awesomeness and make your VM rock.

GRID vGPU Manager 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 7

If you have a NVIDIA GRID K1, K2, M6, M60 vGPU GRID manager installed in Citrix XenServer. Upgrade with one of below methodology:

Methodology 1 – the manual way “No GUI”

Upgrading an existing installation of the NVIDIA driver on Citrix XenServer 7, use the rpm -U command to upgrade:

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-7.0-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

If you have NVIDIA GRID TESLA M10 / M6 / M60

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.0-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

The recommendation from NVIDIA is to shutdown all VMs using a GPU. The machine does continue to work during the update, but since you need to reboot the XenServer itself, it’s better to gracefully shutdown the VMs. So after your VMs have been shutdown and you upgraded the NVIDIA driver, you can reboot your host.

[root@localhost ~]# xe host-disable
[root@localhost ~]# xe host-reboot

Methodology 2 – the “GUI” way

Select Install Update… from the Tools menu
 Click Next after going through the instructions on the Before You Start section
 Click Add on the Select Update section and open NVIDIA’s XenServer Supplemental Pack ISO

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-7.0-367.92.x86_64.iso ”

If you have NVIDIA GRID M10/ M6/M60 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.0-352.83.x86_64.iso ”

Click Next on the Select Update section
 In the Select Servers section select all the XenServer hosts on which the Supplemental Pack should be installed on and click Next
 Click Next on the Upload section once the Supplemental Pack has been uploaded to all the XenServer hosts
Getting Started
 Click Next on the Prechecks section
 Click Install Update on the Update Mode section
 Click Finish on the Install Update section

After the XenServer platform has rebooted, verify that the GRID package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules.

Validate from putty or XenCenter CLI

run lsmod | grep nvidia

Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the GRID physical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command, which should produce a listing of the GPUs in your platform:

Check driver version is 367.92, if it is then your host is ready for GPU awesomeness and make your VM rock.

GRID vGPU Manager 367.92 for Citrix XenServer 7.1

If you have a NVIDIA GRID K1, K2, M6, M60 vGPU GRID manager installed in Citrix XenServer. Upgrade with one of below methodology:

Methodology 1 – the manual way “No GUI”

Upgrading an existing installation of the NVIDIA driver on Citrix XenServer 7.1, use the rpm -U command to upgrade:

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-7.1-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

If you have NVIDIA GRID TESLA M10 / M6 / M60

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uv NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.1-367.92.x86_64.rpm 
Preparing packages for installation...

The recommendation from NVIDIA is to shutdown all VMs using a GPU. The machine does continue to work during the update, but since you need to reboot the XenServer itself, it’s better to gracefully shutdown the VMs. So after your VMs have been shutdown and you upgraded the NVIDIA driver, you can reboot your host.

[root@localhost ~]# xe host-disable
[root@localhost ~]# xe host-reboot

Methodology 2 – the “GUI” way

Select Install Update… from the Tools menu
 Click Next after going through the instructions on the Before You Start section
 Click Add on the Select Update section and open NVIDIA’s XenServer Supplemental Pack ISO

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-xenserver-7.1-367.92.x86_64.iso ”

If you have NVIDIA GRID M10/ M6/M60 select following file:

“NVIDIA-vGPU-xenserver-7.1-352.83.x86_64.iso ”

Click Next on the Select Update section
 In the Select Servers section select all the XenServer hosts on which the Supplemental Pack should be installed on and click Next
 Click Next on the Upload section once the Supplemental Pack has been uploaded to all the XenServer hosts
Getting Started
 Click Next on the Prechecks section
 Click Install Update on the Update Mode section
 Click Finish on the Install Update section

After the XenServer platform has rebooted, verify that the GRID package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules.

Validate from putty or XenCenter CLI

run lsmod | grep nvidia

Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the GRID physical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command, which should produce a listing of the GPUs in your platform:

Check driver version is 367.92, if it is then your host is ready for GPU awesomeness and make your VM rock.

GRID vGPU Manager 367.92 for VMware vSphere 6.0

To update the NVIDIA GPU VIB, you must uninstall the currently installed VIB and install the new VIB.

To uninstall the currently installed VIB:

1. Stop all virtual machines using 3D acceleration.
2. Place the ESXi host into Maintenance mode.
3. Open a command prompt on the ESXi host.
4. Stop the xorg service by running the command:/etc/init.d/xorg stop
5. Remove the NVIDIA VMkernel driver by running the command:vmkload_mod -u nvidia
6. Identify the NVIDIA VIB name by running this command:esxcli software vib list | grep NVIDIA
7. Remove the VIB by running the command:esxcli software vib remove -n nameofNVIDIAVIBYou can now install a new NVIDIA GPU VIB
8. Use the esxcli command to install the vGPU Manager package:

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2 select following file:

[root@lesxi ~] esxcli software vib install -v /NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-VMware_ESXi_6.0_Host_Driver_367.92-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib

If you have NVIDIA GRID TESLA M10 / M6 / M60 select following file:

[root@lesxi ~] esxcli software vib install -v /NVIDIA-vGPU-VMware_ESXi_6.0_Host_Driver_367.92-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib

After the ESXi host has rebooted, verify that the GRID package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules.

[root@lesxi ~]# vmkload_mod -l | grep nvidia 
Preparing packages for installation...

Validate

run nvidia-smi

Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the GRID physical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command, which should produce a listing of the GPUs in your platform:

Check driver version is 367.92, if it is then your host is ready for GPU awesomeness and make your VM rock.

GRID vGPU Manager 367.92 for VMware vSphere 6.5

To update the NVIDIA GPU VIB, you must uninstall the currently installed VIB and install the new VIB.

To uninstall the currently installed VIB:

1. Stop all virtual machines using 3D acceleration.
2. Place the ESXi host into Maintenance mode.
3. Open a command prompt on the ESXi host.
4. Stop the xorg service by running the command:/etc/init.d/xorg stop
5. Remove the NVIDIA VMkernel driver by running the command:vmkload_mod -u nvidia
6. Identify the NVIDIA VIB name by running this command:esxcli software vib list | grep NVIDIA
7. Remove the VIB by running the command:esxcli software vib remove -n nameofNVIDIAVIBYou can now install a new NVIDIA GPU VIB
8. Use the esxcli command to install the vGPU Manager package:

If you have NVIDIA GRID K1 / K2 select following file:

[root@lesxi ~] esxcli software vib install -v /NVIDIA-vGPU-kepler-VMware_ESXi_6.5_Host_Driver_367.92-1OEM.650.0.0.2494585.vib

If you have NVIDIA GRID TESLA M10 / M6 / M60 select following file:

[root@lesxi ~] esxcli software vib install -v /NVIDIA-vGPU-VMware_ESXi_6.5_Host_Driver_367.92-1OEM.650.0.0.2494585.vib

After the ESXi host has rebooted, verify that the GRID package installed and loaded correctly by checking for the NVIDIA kernel driver in the list of kernel loaded modules.

[root@lesxi ~]# vmkload_mod -l | grep nvidia 
Preparing packages for installation...

Validate

run nvidia-smi

Verify that the NVIDIA kernel driver can successfully communicate with the GRID physical GPUs in your system by running the nvidia-smi command, which should produce a listing of the GPUs in your platform:

Check driver version is 367.92, if it is then your host is ready for GPU awesomeness and make your VM rock.

Update existing vGPU Driver (Virtual Machine)

When the hypervisor vGPU GRID manager is updated next is updating the Virtual Machines vGPU driver.

• 369.95_grid_win8_win7_32bit_international.exe
• 369.95_grid_win8_win7_server2012R2_server2008R2_64bit_international.exe
• 369.95_grid_win10_32bit_international.exe
• 369.95_grid_win10_server2016_64bit_international.exe
• NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-367.92-grid.run (only available with M10/M6/M60)

The vGPU driver for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 is available with NVIDIA GRID vGPU download. This is available for both K1/K2/M10/M6/M60

The vGPU driver for Linux is only available for vGPU with following Tesla GPU M10/M6/M60

Update your Golden Images and reprovisioning the new virtual machines with updated vGPU drivers, if you have stateless machines update vGPU drivers on each.

#HINT – Express upgrade of drivers is the recommended option according to the setup. If you use the “Custom” option, you will have the option to do a “clean” installation. The downside of the “clean installation” is that it will remove all profiles and custom settings. The pro of using the clean installation option is that it will reinstall the complete driver, meaning that there will be no old driver files left on the system. I most of the time recommends using a “Clean” installation to keep it vanilla 🙂

#HINT (Citrix XenDesktop 7.6-7.11 customers)

The NVIDIA GRID API provides direct access to the frame buffer of the GPU, providing the fastest possible frame rate for a smooth and interactive user experience. If you install NVIDIA drivers before you install a VDA with HDX 3D Pro, NVIDIA GRID is enabled by default.

To enable NVIDIA GRID on a VM, disable Microsoft Basic Display Adapter from the Device Manager. Run the following command and then restart the VDA: Montereyenable.exe -enable -noreset

If you install NVIDIA drivers after you install a VDA with HDX 3D Pro, NVIDIA GRID is disabled. Enable NVIDIA GRID by using the Montereyenable tool provided by NVIDIA.

To disable NVIDIA GRID, run the following command and then restart the VDA: Montereyenable.exe -disable -noreset

#HINT (Citrix XenDesktop 7.12/7.13 customers)

The NVIDIA GRID API provides direct access to the frame buffer of the GPU, providing the fastest possible frame rate for a smooth and interactive user experience. If you install NVIDIA drivers before you install a VDA with HDX 3D Pro, NVIDIA GRID is enabled by default.

To enable NVIDIA GRID on a VM, disable Microsoft Basic Display Adapter from the Device Manager. Run the following command and then restart the VDA: NVFBCEnable.exe -enable -noreset

If you install NVIDIA drivers after you install a VDA with HDX 3D Pro, NVIDIA GRID is disabled. Enable NVIDIA GRID by using the NVFBCEnable tool provided by NVIDIA.

To disable NVIDIA GRID, run the following command and then restart the VDA: NVFBCEnable.exe -disable -noreset

Source

GRID K1/K2 – sources

Download vGPU 352.83-354.80 for XenServer 6.5 for GRID K1 / K2 here

Download vGPU 352.83-354.80 for XenServer 7.0 for GRID K1 / K2 here

Download vGPU 367.92-369.95 for XenServer 7.1 for GRID K1 / K2 here

Download vGPU 367.92-369.95 for vSphere 6 for GRID K1 / K2 here

Download vGPU 367.92-369.95 for vSphere 6.5 for GRID K1 / K2 here

Tesla M10/M6/M60 – sources

vGPU Grid Manager + Drivers are only available to customers and NVIDIA NPN partners for M10/M6/M60.

Download if you are a NPN partner

Download if you are a GRID M10, M6, M60 customer

vGPU 367.92-369.95 for XenServer 6.5 for Tesla M10 / M6 / M60

vGPU 367.92-369.95 for XenServer 7 for Tesla M10 / M6 / M60

vGPU 367.92-369.95 for XenServer 7.1 for Tesla M10 / M6 / M60

vGPU 367.92-396.95 for vSphere 6 for Tesla M10 / M6 / M60

vGPU 367.92-396.95 for vSphere 6.5 for Tesla M10 / M6 / M60

Other Sources

NVIDIA blog – https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2017/03/10/nvidia-grid-march-2017/ 

HPE m710x & Citrix – Next gen engineer workstation

What is the m710x?

Which HPE appliance can you add the m710x in

Now HPE has a new server catridges available and a new appliance that targets a new business opportunity for SMB/medium customers. Previously you needed to buy a Moonshot 1500 solution that was a 4.3 U chassis, where you could add up to 45 server cartridges. This have changed and new offerings are now available from HPE. These include Edgeline. HPE Edgeline EL1000 Converged IoT System support one HPE Proliant server cartridge and HPE Edgeline EL4000 Converged IoT System, which support up to four HPE Proliant server cartridges. This is great for business that would like CPU/GPU/Fast storage and IO in small capacity but require fast performance. These appliances are also built for IoT systems. This means that HPE Edgeline is a more accessible solution for companies no matter their size or demand.

Testing Methology

I have been testing the m710x with Citrix XenDesktop 7.9 HDX 3D Pro and Windows 10 anniversary edition. I tested several applications from Autodesk, PTC, Siemens and Rheino.

The goal was to show the user experience how it is compared to NVIDIA GRID, which is industry standard of GPU enabled desktop/apps. This is not a benchmark measuring time to load, its simply testing the user responsiveness of one connection which is m710x (2GB video memory) vs NVIDIA GRID K2 K260Q profile (2GB video memory).

Test Setup

To the left the HPE m710x and to the right HPE DL 380Gen9 with NVIDIA GRID K2

Latest OS + GPU driver + VDA at that current time was installed on HPE m710x

Latest Hypervisor + OS + vGPU driver + VDA at that current time was installed on HPE DL 380Gen9

The GPU driver what is seen inside GPU-Z.

Use case and user profiling CAD applications

Latest CAD applications from Autodesk was used such as AutoCAD, Revit, 3DSMax, VRED, Showcase, Fusion360 and Siemens FeMap, Rheino and PTC Creo.

Methodology

This is the methodology I use. I am not using any automated scripts or software to simulate mouse moment, I am using a manual process so the human eye can judge the user experience.

Below video shows the user experience on the left the m710x and on the right the NVIDIA GRID k260Q profile.

User experience with Autodesk AutoCAD 2017 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Fusion 360 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Fusion 360 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Revit 2017 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Revit 2017 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Inventor 2017 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Inventor 2017 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Showcase 2016 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Autodesk Showcase 2016 on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Siemens FeMap on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with Rheino on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

User experience with PTC Creo on m710x vs NVIDIA GRID K2 – K260Q

Summary of keyfindings with m710x for mainstream CAD requirements.

• m710x works great and reduces the complexity of having virtualising with a hypervisor and having to virtualise a GPU, plus  it reduces the cost and you get bare metal performance. The advantage with intel is that the GPU instructions are send directly in the chip as CPU/GPU is 1 chip and GPU is not going through a PCIexpress board.
• To install OS, Apps for persistent its recommended using Microsoft SCCM or RES Automation Manager, and if you would like to have a simplified image strategy Citrix Provisioning is the preferred option for HPE Moonshot, which also can do caching in memory and fallback to storage this could potentially speed up the IOPS even more than M.2.
• Its recommend doing an assessment to see if you are below 2GB frame buffer to take advantage of the m710x, many companies that uses CAD is below this as of now, but if you required more GPU memory then NVIDIA/AMD is a better choice as they have Quadro/GRID that can give 3GB+ and above video memory+ lots of compute. The m710x can open 4Gb models but then it will put 1GB in CPU/GPU and 1GB in memory and 2GB in pagefile, where NVIDIA would put all in their GPU memory. This is why its recommended using assessment software such as UberAgent to understand how much GPU you are currently using.
• User experience is king with HPE m710x, the cartridge with Windows 10 anniversary update and Citrix XenDesktop 7.9 HDX 3D Pro is ready for CAD vendors such as Siemens, PTC and Autodesk.
• Applications performance is great, fast and no graphics elements are lost. Graphics are smooth, responsive and acceptable.
• The performance of the CAD applications in these test are equal with Intel P580 vs GRID K2 K260Q.
• Elements such as loading large files, zoom-in, rotating, working in layers and rendering works great with HPE m710x.
• The new HPE m710x catridge is ready for mainstream CAD requirements.

I highly recommend you test your own models as above is samples I have found and customer data is always different, some samples are smaller others are larger.

How to get Involved – HPE Global Innovation Labs

Partner and customer engagement, interaction, assessment and colloboration on solution development and applications.

HPE can help with

• Build, testing and pre-validation of Edgeline systems and end-to-end solutions
• Integrated real-life “Edge Experience Zones“ to interact with and highlight industry applications
• On-site access or secure remote access
• Datacenter connectivity and testing

Try here https://www.hpe.com/us/en/servers/global-innovation-lab.html

Poppelgaard.com – Professional Services

Above article is written myself as an independent blogger/consultant and the results of the testing of the CAD applications was accomplished by Thomas Poppelgaard and sponsored by HPE. The methodology are as is and samples can be required if the readers would like the material to reproduce the same results.

if you are interested in testing your applications on the ProLiant Server Catridges – please dont hesitate to contact me a thomas@poppelgaard.com
I can also help with above value added tasks plus much more 🙂

Source

recommended articles to read about the new Moonshot/Edgeline productline

HPE Proliant server cartridge m510 and m710x building blocks for Citrix

HPE Moonshot Reinvented

HPE have released new server cartridges m510 and m710x for HPE Moonshot and Edgeline. These new server cartridges are the first units that have built-in HPE iLO, so customers can easy manage each server cartridge.

Moonshot cartridge building blocks for Citrix workloads

Below chart describes what HPE Moonshot/Edgeline current strategy is for GPU enabled apps and desktops with Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp.

Below chart describes which GPU enabled HPE Proliant server cartridges that can be used.

Interesting results is that density increases dramatically from m710p to m710x.

If companies requires non GPU enabled compute the m510-16 is a interesting server cartridge for Citrix XenApp

Let’s look at the details of the two new server catridges.

m510 cartridge – hardware specifications

This server catridge is a beast, it have up to 16 core and 128GB memory and is also Windows Server 2016 ready 🙂

 M510 Citrix XenApp Office Worker with LoginVSI

Below shows some benchmark Citrix have accomplished with LoginVSI, interesting is that they get:

168 XenApp sessions per m510. <1/2 watt per session! 

above chart is made by Tony Sanchez from Citrix

The average amount of users for Knowledge worker workloads Login VSI max was around 138 with 145 users being active at the time of the test. The baseline of 780 was consistent with  additional tests that were repeated. The High Scalability policy template was applied to the desktop group for all Login VSI users.

These test was made by Citrix internally, please read the blog here.

CPU performance of the m510 during the 145 user test. The max CPU utilization was around 93%

during the peak of the test without fully saturating the processor.

m710x catridge – hardware specifications

This server catridge is a beast, it have latest skylake core and 64GB memory and is also Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and even RHEL, Ubunto ready 🙂

Then its also ready to be virtualized with Citrix XenServer and VMware vSphere and KVM, I will later blog how its working with these hypervisors.

M710x Citrix XenApp Knowledge Worker with LoginVSI

Below shows some benchmark Citrix have accomplished with LoginVSI, interesting is that they get:

67 XenApp Knowledge sessions per m710x

These test was made by Citrix internally, please read the blog here.

Hardware Summary of HPE ProLiant m510 and m710x

I hope the above gives you a pretty good idea on where Moonshot & Edgeline is going – and this is just for Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp. I will cover how its used with Octoblu another time.

How to get Involved – HPE Global Innovation Labs

Partner and customer engagement, interaction, assessment and colloboration on solution development and applications.

HPE can help with

• Build, testing and pre-validation of Edgeline systems and end-to-end solutions
• Integrated real-life “Edge Experience Zones“ to interact with and highlight industry applications
• On-site access or secure remote access
• Datacenter connectivity and testing

Try here https://www.hpe.com/us/en/servers/global-innovation-lab.html

Poppelgaard.com – Professional Services

if you are interested in testing your applications on the ProLiant Server Catridges – please dont hesitate to contact me a thomas@poppelgaard.com
I can also help with above value added tasks plus much more 🙂

Source

Citrix Blogs – X Marks the Spot: XenApp, XenDesktop & XenServer with Intel Xeon & HPE Moonshot!

Citrix Blogs – We Choose to Go to the Moon!