Device collections
Use device collections to create and manage logical groups of target devices. Creating device collections simplifies device management by performing actions at the collection level rather than at the target-device level.
Note:
A target device can only be a member of one device collection.
A device collection might represent a physical location, a subnet range, or a logical grouping of target devices. A collection might consist of all target devices that use a particular virtual disk image, and that target device collection might consist of maintenance, test, and production devices. Alternatively, three device collections might exist for a particular virtual disk: one consisting of production devices, one consisting of test machines, and another consisting of maintenance machines. In the proceeding examples, devices in a given collection are assigned to the same disk.
Depending on a sites preference, another collection use case might include the consolidation of test or maintenance devices into a single device collection. Then manage virtual disk assignments on a per device basis rather than a per collection basis. For example, create a device collection labeled Development consisting of five target devices, each one assigned to a particular virtual disk.
Farm administrators create and manage device collections, or site administrators that have security privileges to that site. Collections are also created and managed by device administrators that have security privileges to that collection.
Expanding a device collection folder in the Citrix Provisioning console’s tree allows you to view members of a device collection. To display or edit a device collection’s properties, right-click on an existing device collection in the console, then select the Properties menu option. The Device Collection Properties dialog appears. Use this dialog to view or modify that collection.
Tip:
You can perform actions on members of a device collection, such as rebooting all target devices members in this collection.
Importing target devices into a collection
The Import Target Devices Wizard allows you to import the target device information from a file. Save the target device information as a .csvfile, then import it into a device collection.
Note:
The
.csvtext file can be created with a.txtfile, NotePad.exe, or Excel. It contains one line per target device, which is formatted as:
DeviceName,MAC-Address,SiteName,CollectionName,Description,TypeWhere:
DeviceName = Name of new target device MAC-Address = MAC address of new device; such as 001122334455, 00-11-22-33-44-55, or 00:11:22:33:44:55 Type = 0 for production, 1 for test, or 2 for maintenance
Access the wizard from the farm, site, and device collection right-click menus. If it’s accessed from the site or collection, only those target devices in the import file matching the site and collection by name are included in the import list.
The wizard also provides the option to automatically create the site or collection using the information in the file, if either does not exist. There is also the option to use the default collection’s device template, if it exists for that collection.
A log file is generated with an audit trail of the import actions. For Windows Server 2008 R2, the file is located in:
C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data\\Citrix\\Provisioning Services\\log
All other Windows Server operating systems generate the log file in C:\ProgramData.
To import target devices into a collection
- In the console, right-click on the device collection, then click Target Device>Import devices. The Import Target Devices Wizard displays.
- Type or browse for the file to import. The target device information is read from the file and displays in the table. Information can include the target device name, MAC address, and optionally description.
- Highlight one or more target devices to import. If applying the collection template to the imported target devices, select the Apply collection template device when creating devices check box.
- Click Import to import the .csv text file containing target device information, into the selected collection. The status column indicates if the import was successful.
Refreshing a collection in the Citrix Provisioning console
After changing a collection, refresh the collection before those changes appear in the console. To refresh, right-click on the collection in the tree, then select the Refresh menu option.
Booting target devices within a collection
To boot target devices within a collection:
- Right-click on the collection in the console, then select the Target Device>Boot menu option. The Target Device Control dialog displays with the Boot devices menu option selected in the Settings menu. Target devices display in the Device table.
- Click the Boot devices button to boot target devices. The Status column displays the Boot Signal status until the target device successfully receives the signal, then status changes to Success.
Restarting target devices within a collection
To restart target devices within a collection:
- Right-click on the collection in the console tree, then select the Target Device>Restart devices menu option. The Target Device Control dialog displays with the Restart devices menu option selected in the Settings menu. Devices display in the Device table.
- Type the number of seconds to wait before restarting target devices in the Delay text box.
- Type a message to display on target devices in the Message text box.
- Click the Restart devices button to restart target devices. The Status column displays the restart signal status until the target device successfully receives the signal, then status changes to Success.
Shutting down target devices within a collection
To shut down target devices members within a collection:
- Right-click on the collection in the console, then select the Target Device>Shutdown devices menu option. The Target Device Control dialog displays with the Shutdown devices menu option selected in the Settings menu. Target devices display in the Device table.
- Type the number of seconds to wait before shutting down target devices in the Delay text box. Type a message to display on target devices in the Message text box.
- Click the Shutdown devices button to shut down target devices. The Status column displays the shutdown signal status until the target device shuts down. As each target device successfully shuts down, the status changes to Success.
Sending messages to target devices within a collection
To send a message to target device members within a collection:
- Right-click on the collection in the console tree, then select the Target Device>Send message menu option. The Target Device Control dialog displays with the Message to devices menu option selected in the Settings menu. Target devices display in the Device table.
- Type a message to display on target devices in the Message text box.
- Click the Send message button. The Status column displays the message signal status until the target device successfully receives the message, then the status changes to Success.
Moving collections within a site
Target devices can be moved from one collection to another collection within the same site.
To move a collection
- In the console, expand the collection, right-click on the target device, then select the Move menu option.
- From the menu, select the collection to move this target device into, then click OK to close the dialog.
In this article
- Importing target devices into a collection
- Refreshing a collection in the Citrix Provisioning console
- Booting target devices within a collection
- Restarting target devices within a collection
- Shutting down target devices within a collection
- Sending messages to target devices within a collection
- Moving collections within a site