Tag: Windows Search
Citrix Profile Management: VHDX-based Outlook cache and Outlook search index on a user basis.
Behaviour prior to Profile Management 7.18
There have been two Outlook-related performance challenges with Citrix Profile Management.
To best explain, we’ll take a user that has an existing Profile Management 7.17 profile and launches published Outlook (or opens Outlook in a desktop session). Outlook has been configured to use the Outlook .OST cache. The location of the file is typically:
C:Users<user>AppDataLocalMicrosoftOutlook<email address>.OST
In Outlook cached mode, the OST file can be very large, so there is a significant overhead if the OST file is part of Profile Management logon/logoff synchronization.
Actions in Outlook, such as sending/receiving mail result in changes to the Outlook search index database. This data is stored in the Windows search index database: Windows.edb.
This is a machine-based file, which means it holds search index data for all users logging onto the machine. If a user launches an Outlook session (or opens Outlook in a desktop session) on a VDA machine that they haven’t access previously or haven’t accessed for a while, the Outlook search index has to be rebuilt in Windows.edb. Outlook searches have to wait until re-indexing finishes. The location of the Windows search index database is typically: C:ProgramDataMicrosoftSearchDataApplicationsWindowsWindows.edb
We can see this design in the image below:
Behavior using VHDX-based Outlook cache and Outlook search index on a user basis
The Profile Management 7.18 release introduced a feature to address these Outlook-related performance challenges.
To explain we’ll use the same user as above, but logging on to a 7.18 version VDA for the first time.
During the Profile Management logon, the user’s Outlook-related search index is split out of the Windows search index database (Windows.edb) and written to a VHDX file created at:
PathToUserStore<User_information>VHD<Platform>OutlookSearchIndex.vhdx
The remote VHDX file is then mounted locally in the user’s local profile at:
C:Users<user>AppDataRoamingCitrixSearch.vhdx
From this point, the user has their own profile-based version of the Outlook search index database. Within the Search.vhdx mount-point folder, the Outlook search index database is named < userSID>.edb
The Outlook .OST file is converted into a VHDX file and stored at:
PathToUserStore<User_information>VHD<Platform> OutlookOST.vhdx
The remote VHDX file is then mounted locally in the user’s local profile at (default):
C:Users<user>AppDataLocalMicrosoftOutlook.vhdx
During the Outlook session, changes to the Outlook search index and Outlook .OST are made directly to their respective VHDX files over SMB.
The feature also requires additional registry settings to be created. Read the Registry Changes section for further information.
When the user logs off the session, both VHDX files are unmounted from the local profile. Because the VHDX files had been mounted over SMB, no synchronization is required at Profile Management logoff. The additional registry settings are synchronized to the user’s profile store (or before if the Active Writeback Registry feature has been enabled).
Feature Enhancements introduced in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 1808
The Profile Management 1808 release Outlook search index feature supports groups explicitly excluded through the Profile Management Excluded Groups policy as well and groups implicitly excluded through the Profile Management Processed Groups policy (see Feature Limitations for further information).
This release also introduced support for Windows 10 1803.
Feature Limitations
Related:
How to Configure Files and Folders to be Available Offline on ShareFile Desktop App for Windows
You can make files and folders available offline. To make a file or folder available offline, right-click the item and choose the Make Available Offline option. When working offline, you can find the Offline Files section by clicking the navigation drop-down as shown below. Offline files have a green icon to the right of the file name.
You may view and edit these files, but changes made to these documents will not be uploaded to ShareFile when a connection is reestablished. When accessing an offline file, you will be prompted to “download” the file to a location on your computer. When a file is made available offline, a copy of the file is stored and encrypted locally, then retrieved from that location when you “download” the file. The Desktop app is not communicating with the web application during this process.
Related:
Error – “Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook Window”
Disabled Windows Search Indexing for any outlook items.
METHOD 1
1. To resolve this issue, add the following key to the Registry to prevent indexing of any Microsoft Outlook items
Root: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Data type: REG_DWORD
Key: SoftwareMicrosoftWindowswindows SearchPreferences
Value name: PreventIndexingOutlook
Value data in Hex: 0x00000001
Restart the Outlook client and Windows Desktop Search Service.
METHOD 2
While Outlook is still running, open Control Panel, find Index Options and open it. Then click Modify button and uncheck Microsoft Outlook from the list and click OK.
METHOD 3
Enable the below GPO to Prevent Indexing Microsoft Office Outlook.
Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsSearchPrevent Indexing Microsoft Office Outlook.
Related:
Search Service fails to start, error 0x80071a91 / 6801
The search service fails to start or routinely crashes with errors that look like this:
Windows Search Service failed to process the list of included and excluded locations with the error <20,0x80071a91, “”>
The Windows Search Service has failed to create the new search index. Internal error <10,0x80071a91, Failed to save Crawl Scope Manager changes>
The Windows Search service terminated with the following error:
Transaction support within the specified resource manager is not started or was shut down due to an error.
You may also see a reference to error 6801. 80071a91 is “Transaction support within the specified resource manager is not started or was shut down due to an error.” These are all the same error.
The solution to fix this within an individual machine appears to be to run CMD as Administrator and do this:
cd C:WindowsSystem32ConfigTxR
attrib -r -s -h *
del *
If you identify this as a problem in an individual layer, you might be able to do the same there. Stop the Search Service (if present at all), delete the TxR files, and then finalize before allowing Search to start again.
If the TxR folder is not present, make sure you create one before starting the service again.
Related:
CVE-2017-15969 – PG All Share Video 1.0 allows SQL Injection via the PATH_INFO to search/tag …
Related:
How do I save the SQL history from the desktop nco_config client?
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[1]: /answers/storage/temp/18006-screenshot544.jpg
Related:
Event ID 7068 — Windows Search Service Integrity
Event ID 7068 — Windows Search Service Integrity
Updated: January 12, 2009
Applies To: Windows Server 2008 R2
The Windows Search service indexes information about the contents of your hard disk to facilitate your searches, making them much faster and more accurate.
Event Details
Product: | Windows Search |
ID: | 7068 |
Source: | Microsoft-Windows-Search |
Version: | 7.0 |
Symbolic Name: | EVENT_INDEXER_REG_ERROR |
Message: | The registry cannot be read, possibly because the registry keys for this index are missing. You may have to delete and recreate the index %1. |
Resolve
Manually rebuild the index
To perform this procedure, you must have membership in Administrators, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.
To delete the catalog and rebuild the index:
- Click Start and then click Control Panel.
- In Classic View of the Control Panel, double-click Indexing Options.
- Click Advanced.
- If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.
- On the Index Settings tab, click Rebuild.
- Click OK.
Verify
To verify that files are being indexed:
- Click Start and then click Run.
- In the Run dialog box, type notepad.exe. Notepad should open.
- Type an unusual keyword or phrase in the new document, and then save the file to your My Documents directory or to another directory that is being indexed.
- Click Start, and then type your new keyword or phrase in the Search box. The file you created using Notepad should appear in the Search Results window.
Related Management Information
Windows Search Service Integrity