NetScaler telemetry program.
A mandatory requirement now...
Hello!
Welcome to the 4th of February 2025! What happened on this day? Looking online, the Yalta conference was a big hit according to Wikipedia…although 1945 was a while ago…
The Telemetry program overview
What about NetScaler? Today CSG will activate the enforcement of the Telemetry program. Customers with Pooled/UHMC or Platform licenses will need to send telemetry information to the mother ship.
Cloud Software Group collects telemetry data from NetScaler products to ensure license compliance and to improve its services. This data includes license entitlement, feature usage, and deployment details. As a NetScaler Console customer, there will be a requirement to upload this telemetry data either automatically or manually to stay compliant with the NetScaler telemetry program.
Why should this be important to me?
Enabling license telemetry is a requirement for receiving product support as stated in the Support Guide. Further details on this License Compliance requirement are also found in the Support Program Terms as well as the Citrix Licensing product documentation.
A big deal then.
Telemetry Upload Options:
NetScaler Console is used to gather licensing information.
Automated Mode: Enabled by default after upgrading NetScaler Console 14.1-25.53 or 13.1-53.22. This mode automatically uploads telemetry data without user intervention, as long as the required endpoints are reachable. No action is needed unless the upload fails.
Manual Mode: If automated mode is disabled, you will be required to manually download and upload telemetry data to the NetScaler Console within 30 days of your upgrade. Subsequent uploads are required every 90 days to stay compliant.
The manual mode looks to be an extra task to do. However, in some cases, there might be environments that are segmented for the World Wide Web…so getting them hooked up to an online service will be an issue.
Compliance Requirements:
You must ensure telemetry data is uploaded regularly (every 90 days) to remain compliant.
If you upgrade to a supported NetScaler version (14.1-25.53 or 13.1-53.22) by September 18, 2024, telemetry reporting must be active, either automated or manual.
If using manual mode, the first upload must be completed within 30 days of the upgrade (by October 18, 2024).
Citrix may suspend or terminate support for non-compliance.
Data Collection:
Telemetry data includes license usage, deployment information, and feature usage. Certain data may be optional, but license and feature usage data is required. The collected data is pseudonymized for security.
Citrix recommends using automated mode to simplify operations, but both options ensure compliance with the telemetry program. If you prefer, you can opt-out of optional data, but required data must always be uploaded.
For further information, Citrix provides a Telemetry FAQ.
What does it look like in the NetScaler Console?
Good Question, here is the NetScaler Console Service
NetScaler Console Service has telemetry enabled, this is by default so it is a no-brainer.
What about NetScaler Console On-premise?
There are a few more options on the on-premise version of NetScaler Console.
I went with the Automated collection option..and on the right, you can disable things..
There are also some diagnostics for the connection.
Summary
Hopefully, that was useful. I have had a few customers not know anything about this program.