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staserver - STA Server Availability

Note: All examples assume environment variables are set:

export NETSCALER_HOST=192.168.1.10
export NETSCALER_USER=nsroot
export NETSCALER_PASS=nsroot

See Environment Variables for details.

Monitor Secure Ticket Authority (STA) server availability for NetScaler Gateway.

Basic Usage

Check all STA servers

check_netscaler -C staserver

Output (OK):

OK: 2 STA servers available

Output (WARNING):

WARNING: 1 STA server unavailable (sta02.example.com)

Output (CRITICAL):

CRITICAL: All STA servers unavailable

What are STA Servers?

Secure Ticket Authority (STA) servers:

  • Validate authentication tickets for XenApp/XenDesktop
  • Required for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops access through NetScaler Gateway
  • Multiple STAs provide redundancy

Advanced Usage

Filter by vServer

Check STA servers for a specific VPN vServer:

check_netscaler -C staserver --filter "vpn_gateway_vserver"

Check specific STA server

check_netscaler -C staserver --filter "^sta01.example.com$"

Exclude test STA servers

check_netscaler -C staserver --limit "^test-"

STA Server States

The check monitors STA server availability through NetScaler's staauthid binding:

States:

  • Available/Reachable = OK
  • Unavailable/Unreachable = WARNING/CRITICAL
  • All servers down = CRITICAL

Binding Types

STA servers can be bound:

  • Globally - Available to all VPN vServers
  • Per vServer - Specific to one VPN vServer

The check retrieves both binding types.

Common Use Cases

1. Monitor all STA servers

check_netscaler -C staserver

2. Check production STA servers only

check_netscaler -C staserver --filter "^prod-"

3. Monitor specific VPN vServer's STAs

check_netscaler -C staserver --filter "vpn_prod"

4. Exclude development STAs

check_netscaler -C staserver --limit "^(dev-|test-)"

Status Logic

  • OK: All STA servers are available
  • WARNING: One or more STA servers unavailable (but not all)
  • CRITICAL: All STA servers unavailable
  • UNKNOWN: Cannot retrieve STA server data

Exit Codes

  • 0 (OK) - All STA servers available
  • 1 (WARNING) - Some STA servers unavailable
  • 2 (CRITICAL) - All STA servers unavailable
  • 3 (UNKNOWN) - Cannot retrieve STA server status

Tips

  • Deploy at least 2 STA servers for redundancy
  • Monitor both global and vServer-specific STA bindings
  • Use --filter to focus on production STAs
  • STA server availability is critical for Citrix Virtual Apps/Desktops access
  • Unavailable STAs will cause authentication failures
  • NetScaler polls STA servers periodically
  • Check should correlate with Citrix infrastructure monitoring
  • STA servers are typically Citrix StoreFront or Delivery Controller servers