Using Jmeter to load test a Citrix web platform

Question

We have Citrix XenApp and NetScaler and we want to load test this environment for capacity planning.

Normal use is that a user installs Citrix Receiver, which installs a plugin for his web browser (IE or Firefox), then types the server url to login through a web login form and then he can launch the desired application.

If Citrix Receiver isn't installed he cannot access the web login form which would indicate that it is not a standard web login form.

Using Jmeter proxy, I captured all the requests being sent out while performing the login operation. I try to replay the scenario but I get a "403 forbidden error". I made sure to capture cookies generated for the session as well as sending exact similar headers and data but it doesn't seem to work.

Has anyone managed to make this work Jmeter vs Citrix through web interface ?

Note: There is an ICA plugin for Jmeter but it looks like it is made as to work with a desktop Citrix client, not web.

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Our old friend Citrix. We’ve done quite a few Citrix performance tests over the years. Always technically challenging to script.

Youssef if I understand you correctly, I think your problem is that Citrix Receiver doesn't work the way you seem to think it does. It isn't a Web App, in the sense that it is communicating mouse clicks and key strokes in a form that you can usefully capture via the Jmeter proxy and then replay. The comprehensible HTTP(S) traffic just serves to set up the connection, at the end of which a Citrix ICA file containing one time only passwords is downloaded. Thereafter, the Receiver behaves pretty much as if Citrix is on the Desktop, and your load testing tool needs to do likewise.

Do let me know if that is not the issue.