NetScaler Times newsletter for Week 35 - 2024
New Observability Sample Dashboards for NetScaler on Splunk.
Hello Everyone
It’s Andrew again over at Cloud Software Group. This NetScaler Times update aims to provide you with valuable pointers to keep you up-to-date! 🚀
I would greatly appreciate your continued engagement and feedback, my contact details are at the bottom of this newsletter. I say this as I sometimes make assumptions about what people know and that can lead to gaps in the notes below. :-)
Agenda for this week:
The latest firmware builds.
Security Bulletins.
Support Docs.
NetScaler Community & Labs site.
Feedback on this newsletter.
1. The latest firmware builds.
The details for the various builds have been listed below, as this helps plan for new releases in your environment. NetScaler ADC Firmware Release Cycle (7 year) will fall on all versions starting with 14.1 and all subsequent releases.
Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 will have feature releases approximately every ~8 weeks.
Year 4, Year 5, and Year 6 will have maintenance releases approximately every ~8 weeks
Year 7 will include technical support only until the End of Life (EOL) date for the firmware version. The idea is to look to move off the build at this point…
This support document has more details
Typically, the guidance for NetScaler & NetScaler Console(aka ADM) build releases is that the Management platform needs to be the same or newer than the NetScaler(s) that it manages. I typically, go with the latest for NetScaler Console, as the latest 14.1 includes all the VIP licenses as part of the build now.
The NetScaler has multiple form factors to support different environments. NetScaler is built on a single operating system with a software-based architecture, so the behaviour will be the same no matter which is used — hardware, virtual machine, bare metal, or container.
Latest Build Versions:
There is just one update this week.
Observability Sample Dashboards for NetScaler on Splunk
You can see more of what these sample dashboards offer here
Which release should I use?
The release families are designed such that 14.1 has more elements changing with each update, hence the feature phase designation. There will be less changing in 13.1, so unless you need a capability only available in the 14.1 release, the advice is to choose 13.1 for most production deployments.
End Of Sale Appliances
These appliances are End of Sale (unavailable to buy new now), they will live and run for 5 more years from 2023, so four more from this year.
EOL Appliances
Here is a table showing the significant EOL appliance events for the next 12 months. A common question about EOL is ‘Can I offer you some $ to extend this?’ Unfortunately, EOL is an absolute, there are no extensions.
Some common questions about EOL
2. Recent security bulletins
There are no big changes in the Security area this week, just a few have been modified last month. These are the latest Security articles on the support portal Knowledge Center with links and most importantly ‘release and modified’ dates. You can check for yourself with this link and then choose Common Issues - NetScaler CVEs & Security.
These are sorted by last modified date:
Security updates(modified in the last few months):
CTX677944 - Released 9 July 2024, Modified 24 July 2024 - NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway Security Bulletin for CVE-2024-5491 and CVE-2024-5492
CTX579459 - Released 10 Oct 2023, modified 15 July 2024 - Security Bulletin CVE-2023-4966 & CVE-2023-4967
CTX579459 - Released 10 Oct 2023, modified 15 July 2024 - Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-3519, CVE-2023-3466, CVE-2023-3467
CTX561482 - Released 18 Jul 2023, Modified 13 Jul 2024 Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-3519, CVE-2023-3466, CVE-2023-3467
CTX477714 - Released 9 May 2024, modified 13 July 2024 - Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-24487 & CVE-2023-24488
CTX561480 - Released 11 July 2023, modified 13 July 2024 - Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-24491
CTX564169 - Released 11 July 2023, modified 13 July 2024 - Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-24492
CTX584986 - Released 16 Jan 2024, modified 13 July 2024 -NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway Security Bulletin for CVE-2023-6548 and CVE-2023-6549
CTX677998 - Released 9 July 2024, Modified 12 July 2024 - NetScaler Console, Agent and SDX (SVM) Security Bulletin for CVE-2024-6235 and CVE-2024-6236
CTX678072 - Released 4th July 2024(🇺🇸), modified 10 July 2024 - Cloud Software Group Security Advisory for CVE-2024-6387
3. Support Docs
These are some selected Support articles on the support portal Knowledge Center
Troubleshooting Common Problems with Load Balancing
CTX108960 - Probable Reasons for the Status of a Virtual Server Being Marked as DOWN on NetScaler
CTX208544 - Troubleshooting pointers for TCP monitor showing DOWN
CTX261738 - Storefront Cannot Complete your request through a Load Balancer
CTX286594 - Common Resolutions to “Cannot Complete Your Request” Error when connecting through Load Balancer
CTX120542 - Common Causes of Uneven Load Balancing on NetScaler
CTX220374 - Token Load Balancing Method
CTX292840 - [Citrix NetScaler] Monitor DOWN with error: "No MIP/SNIP available to send the monitor probe"
Troubleshooting Common Problems with Content Switching
CTX296520 - Content Switch Virtual Server goes down when the LB VIP bound goes down
CTX218014 - How do I Configure NetScaler for Content Switching Based on User-Agent?
CTX236551 - HTTP 503 error when accessing Content Switch Vserver
CTX205295 - How Do I Configure Unified Gateway
4. Events
It looks like there are 4 webinars for August (as that last pair on the 29th are the same session, just for different time zones).
NetScaler Live Demo : Overcoming TCP/UDP limitations with superior performance and best practices with ICA over QUIC
07 August 2024, 4:00 PM 4:30 PM
Explore how ICA over QUIC addresses the challenges and limitations of ICA over TCP/UDP, offering significant performance improvements in key metrics such as Round Trip Time (RTT) and Frames Per Second (FPS). This session will provide an in-depth comparison of these protocols, demonstrating the advantages of QUIC in real-world scenarios. Additionally, discover best practices for configuring ICA over QUIC to maximise performance and reliability in your network environment.
Agenda:
Learn how ICA over QUIC overcomes the challenges and limitations posed by ICA over TCP / UDP
Performance optimisations in various parameters like RTT (Round Trip Time) and FPS (Frames Per Second).
Best practices on configuration.
The event link is here to watch on demand
Citrix Master Class: Citrix Observability Solutions
15 August 2024, 4:00 PM 5:00 PM
This Citrix Master Class will dive into the new capabilities that we have added to Citrix Director and Citrix Monitor, including new features for improved sustainability and cost optimization. We’ll also take a deep dive into uberAgent, our newest observability solution. This lightweight agent delivers insights into user experience and your environment.
Citrix observability delivers insights and data across the Citrix platform, so you can securely deliver apps and desktops anywhere. Following the conclusion of this Master Class session, participants will acquire a comprehensive understanding of:
The features and functions included with Citrix Observability
The latest and upcoming features in the Citrix Observability roadmap
How to use the new cost optimisation features to help reduce your costs and spending
The event link is here
NetScaler Live Demo : Visualize and Configure nFactor Authentication with NetScaler Visualizer Tool
21 August 2024, 4:00 PM 4:30 PM
Efficiently design, implement, and manage multi-factor authentication flows using the intuitive Visualizer tool in NetScaler. This session will guide you through creating and configuring nFactor authentication policies, ensuring a seamless and secure authentication process for your users.
In this NetScaler Live Demo, the experts will cover:
An overview of the new Visualizer tool
Configuring authentication flows using Visualizer
Viewing existing nFactor configurations in Visualizer
The event link is here
NetScaler Virtual Connect Monthly Webinar-APJ/EMEA | Aug 29
29 August 2024, 9:30 AM 10:30 AM
NetScaler Virtual Connect Monthly Webinar-Americas | Aug 29
29 August 2024, 4:00 PM 5:00 PM
The NetScaler experts will cover:
Support Assist: Slow server troubleshooting - Telling a story through ADM Analytics
GSLB New features (IP change, hotswap)
Licensing Updates
APJ/EMEA event link is here
Americas event link is here
Labs
Go here for the hands-on labs. Link
5. Feedback for this newsletter
Naturally, if something you feel should be added/removed or called out, drop me a note; Andrew.Scott@cloud.com. All mistakes are mine.
I would happily get feedback on what you could do with seeing more of or what you find hard to set up. You can get all the previous newsletters plus other articles here:
Have a great week!