Citrix Provisioning

Offline database support

The Offline Database Support option allows Provisioning Servers to use a snapshot of the Provisioning Services database if the connection to the database is lost.

Note: This option is disabled by default and is only recommended for use with a stable farm running in production. It is not recommended when running an evaluation environment or when reconfiguring farm components ‘on the fly’. Only a farm administrator can set this option.

When offline database support is enabled on the farm, a snapshot of the database is created and initialized at server startup. It is then continually updated by the Stream Process. If the database becomes unavailable, the Stream Process uses the snapshot to get information about the Provisioning Server and the target devices available to the server; this allows Provisioning Servers and target devices to remain operational. However, when the database is offline, Provisioning Services management functions and the Console become unavailable.

When the database connection becomes available, the Stream Process synchronizes any Provisioning Server or target device status changes made to the snapshot, back to the database.

Considerations

The following features, options, and processes remain unavailable when the database connection is lost, even if the Offline Database Support option is enabled:

  • AutoAdd target devices
  • vDisk updates
  • vDisk creation
  • Active Directory password changes
  • Stream Process startup
  • Image Update service
  • Management functions; PowerShell, MCLI, SoapServer and the Console

Enabling Offline Database Support

  1. In the Console tree, right-click on the Farm, then select Properties. The Farm Properties dialog appears.
  2. On the Options tab, select the Offline Database Support check box.
  3. Restart Stream services.
Offline database support