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VDI Experience FAQ

Are there separate hardware requirements for Collector with the VDI extension enabled?

Since there is only one Collector, which is the same for VDI and non-VDI scenarios, the same hardware requirements and resource usage apply. The VDI capability of Collector comes from enabling the following parameter: DEPLOY_VDI_CLIENT_PLUGIN=1

Can I install the VDI Client Extension on a device that already has Collector installed?

There is no need to install Collector and the extension on the same device.

If you can install Collector on it, do so with the VDI parameter enabled: DEPLOY_VDI_CLIENT_PLUGIN=1

However, if you want to use the Nexthink VDI Client Extension, a lightweight agent, instead of the full range of capabilities Collector offers, you have to uninstall Collector first and then install the extension.

If Collector is already deployed at a customer site, do I have to redeploy it for VDI completely?

The VDI Client Extension is included as a default module part of Nexthink Collector starting version 25.4.1. The extension is active by default for all devices in the environment when using VDI Experience.

Older Collector versions will have to be upgraded.

Is it possible to set the Collector VDI parameter DEPLOY_VDI_CLIENT_PLUGIN=1 using the silent installer?

At the moment, the parameter can only be set using the MSI, which has a silent option for mass deployments. See the Installing Collector on Windows documentation to learn how to use the silent installer.

What new NQL data model fields does VDI Experience provide compared to the combined metrics from session.events and device_performance.events ?

VDI Experience provides the following unique metrics:

  • client_app_version

  • client_device_name

  • client_os_platform

  • client_vdi_plugin_version

  • cpu_context_switches

  • framerate

  • ica_input_bandwidth_available

  • ica_input_bandwidth_used

  • ica_input_session_bandwidth

  • ica_input_session_linespeed

  • ica_output_bandwidth_available

  • ica_output_bandwidth_used

  • ica_output_session_bandwidth

  • ica_output_session_linespeed

  • idle_duration

  • initial_program

  • last_interaction_time

  • logon_server

  • memory_available

  • memory_pages_out

  • memory_usage

  • network_incoming_errors

  • network_incoming_packets

  • network_incoming_throughput

  • network_outgoing_errors

  • network_outgoing_packets

  • network_outgoing_throughput

  • network_wan_latency

  • network_wired_link_speed

  • rdp_frame_quality

  • rdp_frames_skipped_client

  • rdp_frames_skipped_network

  • rdp_frames_skipped_server

  • rdp_send_rate

  • rdp_tcp_bandwidth

  • rdp_tcp_receive_rate

  • rdp_tcp_send_rate

  • rdp_udp_bandwidth

  • rdp_udp_receive_rate

  • resolution

  • session_state

  • system_drive_name

  • system_drive_read_throughput

  • system_drive_write_throughput

  • system_volume_usage

  • transport_protocol

  • user_input_delay

  • vm_agent_version

Where does the value of CPU -> Normalized queue length come from?

It shows the total queue length divided by the number of CPU cores. A CPU queue length higher than 2 per CPU core indicates a problem.

Currently, Omnissa Horizon is not supported. A prerequisite for using VDI Experience is to obtain enriching context data through connectors. Is there a way to manually populate these fields, for example, through an API or other means, to use VDI Experience?

Supporting Omnissa Horizon has two main components:

  • Data enrichment through an API adds details about the VDI environment’s topology, such as virtualization hosts and desktop pools.

  • The VDI Experience Dashboard requires Collector support for Horizon to provide high-granularity performance metrics.

Although these features are not yet available, both are necessary for VDI Experience and will be supported in a future release.

If I have Citrix and Omnissa and I enable VDI Experience, will Collector automatically start improved session data collection for every VDI desktop (hardware type = virtual)? In the case of Omnissa, there is no connector and no protocol information yet.

Collector does not "know" about the environment. It checks if the VM it is running on has a Citrix or AVD/CPC agent. If yes, it knows the list of metrics it can query with high granularity. Collector does not know the Omnissa metrics, therefore it will not try looking for an Omnissa agent. You will see the new events being populated for their Citrix VMs and only the legacy events for Omnissa.

If I use Citrix DaaS to manage virtual desktops running on AVD, should I also configure the AVD connector?

No, all the information VDI Experience needs is available through the Citrix DaaS connector.

Can I still monitor the contractor endpoint if I have Collector from another environment?

In certain contractor scenarios, manual activation of the VDI Client Extension is required, even if the VDI Experience license is held by the client organization.

If a contractor organization is also a Nexthink customer, and one or more of its endpoint devices connect to a client organization’s virtual infrastructure, and the client has purchased the VDI Experience license, then:

  • The contractor does not need to purchase the VDI Experience license.

  • The VDI Client Extension must be manually activated on the subset of contractor devices connecting to the client’s environment

  • This requires redeploying the Collector on those specific devices with VDI configuration enabled and setting DEPLOY_VDI_CLIENT_PLUGIN=1

Example scenario

A contractor working for Company A uses a persistent virtual desktop hosted by Company B. Both organizations are Nexthink customers. The contractor reports performance issues when using the virtual desktop to work in Company A’s environment.

This setup is fully supported and ensures data separation and privacy between the two organizations:

  • The Collector on the contractor’s device reports only to Company A’s Nexthink environment.

  • Company B (the VDI host) can see the device name, but:

    • The device does not appear in Company B’s inventory.

    • No data is displayed in Device View or other dashboards in Company B’s Nexthink environment.

The VDI Client Extension automatically detects which VDI environment the device is connected to and reports context accordingly.

When the VDI Client Extension is active in these scenarios, it complements existing performance data with:

  • Overall device-level CPU, memory, and network usage, only for the duration of the connection to the VDI environment.

  • No process-level or user-level details are collected or transmitted.

  • No sensitive or identifiable data is shared between organizations.

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