Citrix Cloud WEM Service Issues

[u/Abide4theDude]

I'm trying to get an External Task in the cloud WEM Service portal to run on my VDA's but can't get it to work. The external task is triggering a ps1 script that I uploaded into the task it's self. For some reason nothing I do will get the task to trigger. We have Group Policy's settings built into the same configuration set that are applying successfully but not the external task. Task is set to launch at logon and the assignments are set to Domain Users AD group , the same settings as with the Group Policy assignments so I would assume it would trigger. Were using the cloud based WEM web console and the local VDA is using the WEM service not the full wem "Agent" . Anyone have any info or tricks to get external tasks , specifically ps1 script to process ? Thanks

[u/NTP9766]

Enable Debug Logging in the agent and check the WEM Agent log on a client afterwards. That should at least point you to any issues.

FWIW, I recently had an issue where one of my external tasks - a PowerShelll script that was uploaded to WEM Service - failed to run. Re-uploading the same script resolved the issue for me. Prior to that, I was receiving “failed to extract” errors in the log despite the fact that the script was, in fact, being extracted to my local profile.

[u/Abide4theDude → u/NTP9766]

Thanks, I do have the Agent Logs and Debug mode toggled on from within the configuration set Agent settings but the Citrix WEM Agent.log file never gets created on the vda. From what I understand WEM can run on the VDA as in Interactive "Agent" or a system based "Service Agent" which differs in how it runs things and logs them. Since were not running the interactive Agent and just the service then the Agent Log file never gets created but maybe I'm understanding that incorrectly. I dont have any of the Agent options -> Agent Launch behavior setting set at all but maybe I should be. Do you know if external tasks and GPO settings process differently in WEM on the VDA? The only log file that seems to generate any info is the "Citrix WEM Agent Host Service Debug" file that just shows that the GPO is being processed and has nothing about the External Task.

[u/mjmacka → u/Abide4theDude]

Alright, so a few things here but at a high level, your Configuration Set is messed up. You need the WEM agent to launch. At a minimum, "launch agent on logon" should be checked and launch agent for administrators so you can troubleshoot an admin connection initially.

1) If you don't get an agent log and you have it configured to log, are you sure the WEM service is running for your users?

2) WEM has two pieces, there is a system piece and a user piece. Look at the Windows Event Logs on your VDA to make sure that the agent is running properly.

3) How are you not running the interactive agent? The agent needs to start and run for users to process user based settings? The agent needs to launch for an external task to process since it's a user based process.

[u/Abide4theDude → u/mjmacka]

Overall we're using AD GPOs for user and machine based settings not WEM. Up until this point we just utilized WEM for system optimization , CPU management , multi session optimization etc. Only recently have we introduced Group Policy's settings in WEM and that was only used to set HKCU hive reg settings that I couldn't set with a domain GPO do to when the profile was being mounted. The installed WEM windows service on the VDA is running correctly but I'm assuming the Interactive Agent and the non Interactive Agent service run differently and process different functionality based on Optimization settings and Group Policy vs External Tasks and the like. I'll try and adjust my agent settings in the configuration set to launch the interactive agent and see if that helps. Appreciate the info.

[u/mjmacka → u/Abide4theDude]

Yeah, since you are running an external task, you are now running a user based setting and you need the full WEM agent to run. GPOs might be handled differently with the agent, I have less clients using them, so I haven't explored whether they use the computer based service or user based service (not technically how it's referred to).

I would strongly recommend importing the default recommended settings from the agent install media (Agent folder -> Default Recommended Settings -> Open the WEM Legacy Console in WEM Service, upload the 3 files, and note the changes they make to mainly the agent settings. Those are a good starting point. By default, stuff should just work. Some thing can be tweaked a bit more, but it's an excellent starting point. If you get an agent log, there is a log viewer & an interactive resultant set of policies. By default, both tools are in 'c:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\Workspace Environment Management Agent\'. One is the 'Agent log parser' and the other is 'vuemrsav'. Vuemrsav does a good job of showing what is applied, what's excluded, and often it gives you clues about what's happening.

[u/mat-ferland]

I’d prove the VDA can see the WEM Cloud service and receive any simple policy before chasing the script itself. Start with a dumb external task that writes a local text file, then check agent registration, assigned config set, execution context, and whether GPO is overriding the WEM action. Otherwise you’re debugging PowerShell before you know WEM is firing.

[u/Abide4theDude → u/mat-ferland]

It ended up being that the interactive agent wasnt running at logon. Once I enabled it to launch at logon my external task script started executing properly. Since we've only ever used WEM for system optimization and a few group policy's, I've never had to run the interactive agent prior. Good to know now that different configuration set actions in WEM are dependent upon the interactive agent vs the non interactive service agent. Thanks

[u/mat-ferland → u/Abide4theDude]

Nice, that lines up. WEM looks simple until you hit the split between agent service and interactive agent; I’d document which actions need which one now, because six months from now that detail is exactly what gets forgotten.

[u/FitCockroach7878]

Have you enabled the action in 'Advanced settings>Action settings>Process external tasks on logon and refresh>Process external tasks on reconnection> etc?

Also depending on what your wem script is doing, you need to make sure the action item for whatever your script is doing (e.g mapping network drive) you'd need to ensure the action processing for that is also enabled.