White Paper

Using Citrix with LabWare LIMS

www.labware.com

LABWARE LIMS – USING CITRIX White Paper

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Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of LabWare. If there are any questions concerning this documentation, please send them to us in writing. LabWare does not warrant this document is error-free. The software described in this document is furnished under a sub-license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. It is against the law to copy software on any medium except as specifically allowed by the license or nondisclosure agreement. No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including photocopying, for any purpose without the express permission of LabWare.

Copyright © LabWare, All rights reserved.

RELEASE & CHANGE CONTROL Version 1 (April 14, 2004) of this White Paper was written by Adam Hartsell with contributions from Keith Wipprecht, Andrew Gray, Greg Johnston, James Farthing, Simon Zapata, LabWare Support Site KnowledgeTrack entries, and the Citrix Web Site.

Version 2 (March 01, 2013) of this White Paper was written by Adam Hartsell with contributions from Simon Zapata, John Perry, Christian DeFranceschi, and Nate Regouski. The goal of this release was to bring the contents up to current practices and technology.

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CONTENTS 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 42 Glossary ........................................................................................................................................ 53 Background ................................................................................................................................. 6

3.1 Server Hardware ................................................................................................................... 73.2 Server Software ..................................................................................................................... 73.3 The Citrix Client ..................................................................................................................... 73.4 Network .................................................................................................................................. 83.5 Printers .................................................................................................................................... 8

4 Installation .................................................................................................................................... 94.1 Installing LIMS via Citrix ......................................................................................................... 94.2 Publishing LIMS .................................................................................................................... 104.3 Setting the Date Format for all Citrix Users ...................................................................... 114.4 Removing a loud BEEP from Citrix installs ........................................................................ 11

5 Waters Empower ....................................................................................................................... 125.1 Hardware ............................................................................................................................. 12

6 LabWare LIMS ELN .................................................................................................................... 136.1 Hardware ............................................................................................................................. 13

7 Instrumentation ......................................................................................................................... 147.1 Network Instruments ........................................................................................................... 147.2 File based Instruments ........................................................................................................ 147.3 Citrix and Baud settings ..................................................................................................... 147.4 Mapping local COM ports ................................................................................................ 14

8 NLS Files ....................................................................................................................................... 159 Citrix Alternatives ...................................................................................................................... 1610 Citrix Architecture Diagram .................................................................................................. 17

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1 Introduction This document provides details on the installation and configuration aspects of the Labware LIMS in a Citrix environment. The information in this document is a guideline and is considered current as of the release date of the document. The goal of this document is to provide an overview of the deployment of LabWare LIMS via Citrix.

The document also provides basic pros and cons of using Citrix and different configuration options available under Citrix. The Knowledge Base section of the Citrix web site or the Forums section of the support page is both excellent areas to find answers to Citrix related questions.

This document should be used in Conjunction with the LabWare LIMS Knowledge Track (and then doing a search for “Citrix”) for maximum benefit to the reader. Many techniques described in this document are covered in greater detail in individual KnowledgeTrack documents, available on the LabWare support web site.

The master copy of this White Paper is stored on the LabWare Support Website in the White Papers section.

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2 Glossary Term Description

Citrix A software package for deploying a thin client interface. http://www.citrix.com

Waters Empower A software package from Waters for Chromatography systems. It is frequently used with Labware LIMS and often distributed via Citrix.

Bandwidth The range of frequencies, expressed in Kilobits per second, that can pass over a given data transmission channel within a frame relay network. The bandwidth determines the rate at which information can be sent through a channel - the greater the bandwidth, the more information that can be sent in a given amount of time. Usually measured in bits-per-second or kilobytes per second (remember 8 bits are in 1 byte).

Latency A measure of the temporal delay. Typically, latency refers to the delay in time between the sending of a unit of data at the originating end of a connection and the reception of that unit at the destination end. This can be determined via the “Ping” command and is usually reporting in milliseconds.

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3 Background Many Labware customers deploy LIMS via Citrix. The decision to do so will depend on several factors related to the customer’s requirements and needs. The following points are meant to assist the customer in determining if Citrix is a beneficial deployment option for you. Generally, if you desire to roll out LIMS via a WAN (such as a Global installation), and have one centralized database, Citrix is the recommended deployment method. However, this is not the only consideration for Citrix deployment. Regulated environments benefit from the robust change control and small footprint of Citrix base LIMS deployments. Each customer must decide the best deployment technique for their environment.

This section highlights advantages and disadvantages of Citrix.

Citrix Advantages: • Strict Control of the application environment and files. Nothing is maintained on the

user’s desktop, a key advantage in regulated industries.

• Extremely scalable across multiuser environments and multiple sites. Citrix servers can be added to the Citrix farm to accommodate growth in both terms of users and sites.

• Efficient use of Bandwidth (very important for Global LIMS deployments over a WAN with one database).

• Load balancing and redundancy to provide zero downtime when used in a Citrix Farm of 2 or more servers (if one server goes down the others can pick up the load), very good for 100% uptime Laboratories.

• Distinct advantages if Waters Empower is used, as validation of the Empower software only occurs once on the server, not on each client.

Citrix Disadvantages: • Additional cost in hardware, licensing, and software from Citrix.

• Expertise needed to manage Citrix server and related configuration, either by in house personnel or by an outside Citrix consulting company.

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3.1 Server Hardware To utilize the load balancing and redundancy inherent to Citrix farms customers need a minimum of two servers for Production use. This is an attractive feature for labs that need to have “zero downtime” requirement, as the multiple server setups can accommodate disruption to one server, shifting user to remaining server(s) in the farm. Additional considerations regarding hardware:

• Virtual Servers are common in LabWare LIMS Citrix installations and require no additional setup other than proper sizing of hardware to meet demand. Please reference Knowledge Track for more information:

KT00735: Comments on the use of VMware to run LabWare LIMS

• A typical server setup generally accommodates 20-30 concurrent users in a normal (non-Millennium or Empower) setup.

• In general, a greater number of smaller Citrix servers are recommended over a smaller number of larger Citrix servers, this is especially true in Virtual Machine environments.

• It is recommended that Background Servers should NOT be run on the Citrix Server since this consumes resources which would otherwise be available to end user Citrix sessions. Background Servers should be deployed on machines (may be virtual) dedicated to this role.

• Hardware information is subject to change due to changes in processing power and Citrix software

3.2 Server Software Citrix Citrix is constantly updating their product. LabWare recommends the use of the most current commercially available version of the Citrix software.

MS Office Typically MS Office will be needed if any Labware Office functionality is to be utilized.

Note: Office applications will not need to be published via Citrix; it is used by Labware in the background. For example, if you wanted to have a crystal report exported to Word or Excel you would need Office to installed (but not published). Normal licensing rules for MS Office apply.

3.3 The Citrix Client Nearly any PC can be used to run the Citrix client. Hardware requirements for the ICA Client are minimal. See the Citrix website for more information, including details about Operating Systems that support the ICA Client.

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3.4 Network Some key information regarding Network usage and recommendations:

• ICA clients are estimated to use bandwidth of about 3-20Kbps (as a rough guideline). See the Citrix website for current information on bandwidth use and requirements.

• Latency over 300ms between the client and the Citrix server may be unacceptable for users. If latency approaches or is above these levels, the recommendation would be to perform some testing under this environment to make assessments on the usability.

• Latency under 130ms between the client and the Citrix server is considered optimal.

• In corporate WAN environments the user of a “Packet Shaper” on the network can produce a better experience in high latency environments. This device is used to prioritize Citrix traffic on the WAN above other types of network traffic.

3.5 Printers Over time, printing in Citrix has been a source of concern for many users. While this process has become much better, there are still things to be aware of. This area is also constantly improving. To get the current information, please reference Knowledge Track, and in particular these pages:

KT01035: Dynamic Printer Mapping at LIMS login

KT00914: Citrix and printers 1

KT00915: Citrix and printers 2

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4 Installation Important Note: Any software installed on the Citrix server for use by clients must be properly installed so it is available to all users. This can be done several ways, including via a menu in Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. See the following link for more details: KT00603: Installing applications on a Citrix Server for all users

4.1 Installing LIMS via Citrix

Prerequisites:

• A Windows server with Citrix installed. If the technical resources are not available within your company to complete the install unassisted, Labware community members or other users on the LIMS email list will be able to help recommend appropriate resources to assist with the general Citrix installation.

• Install Microsoft Office (typically) At a minimum, you will need to complete the following on the Citrix server that will be used to publish the LabWare LIMS application:

• Install the appropriate Crystal Reports Runtime for your version of LabWare LIMS • Install the appropriate ODBC Driver and configure an ODBC connection to your

LIMS database • Copy a \lw-lims server directory with all the appropriate files for your configuration • Create a \Client folder (name of dir is your choice) that will serve as the “Working

Directory” for users when they startup LIMS. This folder MUST be read/write for ALL users. Not having correct permissions on this folder (making it read only for example) WILL result in errors when trying to start LIMS.

• LabWare PDF Support Components Recommendations:

• Each server is recommended to have a complete copy of the \lw-lims Server directory for redundancy, failover, and speed.

• Each server is recommended to have a complete copy of the \Reports directory for redundancy, failover, and speed.

• Each server is recommended to have a complete copy of the \Visual Workflows (including \Images) directory for redundancy, failover, and speed.

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Any information in the LIMS Installation Manual supersedes information here. The purpose of this information in the White Paper is to provide a framework for understanding what is needed and not be a definitive guide for installation of LabWare LIMS. Other Optional (depending on your project) Components – THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE LIST, ONLY USED FOR EXAMPLE:

• NWA Runtime and Intel JPG Library (NWA) • LabWare .NET Installation Module (ELN) • Microsoft .NET 3.5 or later (ELN) • LabWare Spreadsheet Gear Support (ELN) • LabWare TxText Control Installation (ELN) • Adobe Acrobat (PDF Worksheets) • Microsoft Word Integration Files (Word Querytag Reports) • Microsoft Excel Integration Files (Excel Querytag Reports) • iKey Token Support

4.2 Publishing LIMS It is recommended Labware LIMS be published at 32 bit color to display visual workflows, icons, bitmaps, and result entry screens properly.

It is also recommended that the “Speed Step” (aka Speed Screen) option in Citrix be turned OFF. In some cases this setting has interfered with the normal operation of LabWare LIMS. Several copies of the LIMS files may be maintained to deploy multiple environments (dev / test / prod) from the same Citrix server. The lw-lims.exe from each directory is published independently. The best case scenario is to deploy the necessary environment on separate dedicated Citrix servers. When this is not possible, special care must be taken to assure there is no overlap between the environments, including but not limited to application folders, working directories, exterior link directories (reports, visual workflows, bitmaps, etc).

In the Citrix Management Console the best practice technique to publish Labware LIMS is using the command line startup option (e.g. C:\LW-LIMS\LW-LIMS.EXE ;SN=PROD1 ;TS=1). However, care should be taken to not use the passwords in the command line as this may be a security issue, depending on who has permissions to see or configure the Citrix published application paths. Instead, by configuring the Configure > System > Server settings, the database password is set in the server.sys file, which is encrypted and stored in the server directory and will be used by all users.

More information at:

KT01083: Server.Sys and Client.Sys settings and locations for various deployment techniques

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4.3 Setting the Date Format for all Citrix Users Information on setting date and time settings is covered in the following Knowledge Track documents:

KT00500: Setting the date format when LIMS is run as a published application KT00881: Setting 24 hr time format on Citrix Server

4.4 Removing a loud BEEP from Citrix installs KT01031: Beep! - Getting rid of an annoying beep

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5 Waters Empower

5.1 Hardware Customers may choose to install both Labware LIMS and the Waters Millennium or Empower software on a single Citrix server or farm. Both Labware LIMS and Waters Empower are processor and memory intensive applications. When you run Empower through Labware you are effectively loading the entire Empower application into memory. This is not visually apparent to the user but is important to consider when determining hardware and performance requirements.

In both Labware LIMS and the Empower applications, processing takes place almost exclusively on the machine that us running the application. In the case of a non-Citrix deployment, this occurs on the client (user’s workstation). In a Citrix deployment, this occurs on the Citrix servers, and may be occurring for multiple clients consecutively. In other words, several processes of both LIMS and Empower may be running at the same time on a single Citrix server, straining the CPU and memory if not properly sized.

Additionally with Empower there is a greater need for graphics processing capabilities, relative to LabWare LIMS. This is especially true when you are using 3D data such as Photodiode Array detection. In a Citrix deployment the graphics are computed on the Citrix Server.

Some key information regarding Labware LIMS and Empower via Citrix:

• Each application will need between 100 - 200 MB per concurrent user.

• With both LIMS and Empower on the server, 20 concurrent users are generally considered a maximum number of concurrent users.

• Care should be taken to with LabWare Oracle systems to ensure an ODBC driver is available that is compatible with the installed Empower Oracle Client.

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6 LabWare LIMS ELN

6.1 Hardware LabWare LIMS used with LabWare ELN puts higher demands on the Citrix server when compared to LIMS alone. The Citrix server must have appropriate hardware to accommodate the increased load on Memory and CPU.

LabWare ELN requires a .NET framework of 3.5 or later. If any other applications that require .NET are on the Citrix server, then ensure these applications are compatible with .NET 3.5 or later.

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7 Instrumentation

7.1 Network Instruments Instruments (for example, Balances) that use a COM port are recommended to be integrated into LIMS as a Network Instrument.

For more information see the following Knowledge Track entries:

KT00676: Options for connecting serial instruments via a LanTronix device to LabWare LIMS

KT01119: Configuring Balances for Direct Entry with ELN

7.2 File based Instruments Some Citrix administrators don’t allow the local PC's directories to be mapped to the Citrix server (for security), so a separate file server is often needed as a staging area to move files to and from a local PC to the Citrix server. A mapped (or UNC) path from the file server to Citrix servers manages this fine.

7.3 Citrix and Baud settings Citrix supports Baud rates 9600 and faster, however some users have had success connecting balances at 2400 baud also.

7.4 Mapping local COM ports Two options are available: 1) Use a Login Script on Citrix:

net use com1: /d >nul: 2>&1 net use com1: \\client\com1: /persistent:no >nul: 2>&1 net use com2: /d >nul: 2>&1 net use com2: \\client\com2: /persistent:no >nul: 2>&1

2) Run a command on the local client to control com ports: You need only execute the command once; the next time you connect it will still retain the setting.

change client com1: com1: /persistent Also, make sure you have the following lines in your "wfclient.ini" file:

[ClientComm] CommPollSize=On

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8 NLS Files LabWare LIMS delivers multi-language capabilities using National Language Support (NLS) functionality and files. Understanding certain aspects of this functionality is important when considering deployment via Citrix. For further details on understanding general NLS functionality, refer to the LIMS User Guide specific to the version of the application in use at your site.

When LIMS launches, it will look in the working directory for an NLS object file (e.g. EN_nls.obj, nls.obj, ES_nls.obj, depending on version and language used). This file is a compiled dictionary of all language translations for your environment. If present, it is loaded as the current NLS language definitions. If not found, the NLS object (obj) from the server directory will be used. If the file is not present in the server or client folder, it then rebuilds the NLS by reading all nls*.txt files and compiling them to a new NLS object file, placed in the working directory.

In Citrix, this behaviour changes since the initial start-in directory (the root of the user client directories that are auto generated) is where it looks for the NLS object file and where it creates the new file when it is created automatically. However the actual user working directory is where file object is placed when creating manually (from the debug menu).

To prevent any abnormal issues with the NLS in a Citrix environment it is recommended that careful consideration be given to where the NLS file is located, its permissions, and how it is rebuilt. For the most current information on these topics, consult Labware Knowledge Track.

KT01083: Server.Sys and Client.Sys settings and locations for various deployment techniques KT00653: Citrix and NLS files KT00176: How the NLS rebuilds and recommendations for deploying it in a Citrix environment

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9 Citrix Alternatives

There are several deployment options that can be considered besides Citrix, including:

• LabWare WebLIMS Web Client: Browser & internet deployment of LabWare LIMS. • Windows Application Publishing (RemoteApp): Like Citrix, an application can be

published so that it appears to run on the local client desktop. This uses less memory than the RDS Full Windows Desktop.

• Windows Remote Desktop: Full Windows desktop but runs on the application server.

WebLIMS and Windows Application Publishing have similar hardware requirements as Citrix Published Applications Windows and Citrix full desktops use approximately the same amount of memory the LIMS Instances published in seamless mode (not full desktop).

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10 Citrix Architecture Diagram