10 FSLogix Profile Containers Best Practices

FSLogix Profile Containers is a powerful tool for managing user profiles in a virtualized environment. It helps to reduce the amount of storage space needed for user profiles, as well as improve the performance of applications and desktops.

However, FSLogix Profile Containers can be complex to configure and manage. To ensure that you get the most out of FSLogix Profile Containers, it is important to follow best practices. In this article, we will discuss 10 FSLogix Profile Containers best practices that you should follow.

1. Use a dedicated share for FSLogix Profile Containers.

When using FSLogix Profile Containers, it’s important to have a dedicated share for the containers. This is because when multiple users are accessing the same container, there can be conflicts and performance issues. By having a dedicated share, you can ensure that each user has their own unique container, which will help prevent any potential conflicts or performance issues. Additionally, this will also make it easier to manage the containers since they will all be in one place.

2. Do not use the same share for multiple purposes, such as user profiles and VHDs.

When using the same share for multiple purposes, it can lead to performance issues and data corruption. This is because FSLogix Profile Containers are designed to be used with a single purpose in mind – user profiles. When you use the same share for both user profiles and VHDs, there is an increased risk of conflicts between the two types of files, which can cause data loss or corruption.

Additionally, when using the same share for multiple purposes, it can also lead to decreased performance due to the extra load on the server. To ensure optimal performance, it’s best to keep your shares dedicated to one type of file only.

3. Create separate shares for each purpose.

When you create separate shares for each purpose, it allows you to easily manage the permissions and access rights of users. This is especially important when dealing with sensitive data or applications that require specific user privileges. By creating separate shares, you can ensure that only authorized users have access to the data they need.

Additionally, having separate shares makes it easier to troubleshoot any issues that may arise. If a problem occurs in one share, it won’t affect the other shares, so you can quickly identify and resolve the issue without impacting the entire system.

4. Enable SMB encryption on your file server.

SMB encryption is a security feature that encrypts data sent over the network between your file server and client computers. This helps protect sensitive information from being intercepted by malicious actors, as well as ensuring that only authorized users can access the data.

Enabling SMB encryption on your file server also ensures that FSLogix Profile Containers are secure when they are stored on the server. Without this extra layer of protection, attackers could potentially gain access to user profiles and steal confidential data.

5. Enable NTFS compression on the folder that contains the profile containers.

NTFS compression helps reduce the size of the profile containers, which in turn reduces the amount of disk space they consume. This is especially important when using FSLogix with virtual desktops, as it can help conserve valuable storage resources. Additionally, NTFS compression can also improve performance by reducing the time needed to read and write data from the profile container.

To enable NTFS compression on a folder, simply right-click on the folder and select Properties. Then, click Advanced and check the box next to Compress contents to save disk space. Click OK to apply the changes.

6. Ensure that the file server has sufficient disk space to accommodate all of the profile containers.

When a user logs in, FSLogix Profile Containers will create a profile container on the file server. This container stores all of the user’s data and settings, including their documents, desktop items, application settings, etc. If the file server does not have enough disk space to accommodate these containers, then users may experience slowdowns or even errors when logging in.

To ensure that your file server has sufficient disk space for FSLogix Profile Containers, you should regularly monitor the amount of free disk space available. Additionally, you should consider setting up an alert system so that you are notified if the disk space drops below a certain threshold.

7. If you are using roaming profiles with FSLogix Profile Containers, do not enable Offline Files.

When Offline Files is enabled, the user’s profile data is cached on the local machine. This can cause conflicts with FSLogix Profile Containers because the two technologies are trying to manage the same files in different ways. Additionally, if a user logs into multiple machines, they may end up with conflicting versions of their profile data due to the caching.

To avoid these issues, it’s best to disable Offline Files when using FSLogix Profile Containers. Doing so will ensure that all profile data is stored and managed within the container, eliminating any potential conflicts or confusion.

8. If you are using Citrix UPM or AppSense EM, disable it before deploying FSLogix Profile Containers.

When UPM or EM is enabled, it will try to manage the user profile and can cause conflicts with FSLogix. This can lead to issues such as slow logons, missing files, and other problems. To avoid these issues, make sure you disable UPM or EM before deploying FSLogix Profile Containers.

It’s also important to note that if you are using Citrix App Layering, you should not use FSLogix Profile Containers. Instead, you should use Citrix User Profile Management (UPM) for managing user profiles.

9. When configuring Group Policy settings for FSLogix Profile Containers, configure them in Computer Configuration rather than User Configuration.

When Group Policy settings are configured in User Configuration, they will be applied to each user’s profile container when the user logs on. This can cause performance issues as the policy settings must be applied every time a user logs on.

By configuring the Group Policy settings in Computer Configuration, the settings will only need to be applied once and will remain consistent for all users who log onto the machine. This helps improve performance by reducing the amount of processing that needs to occur during login.

10. Configure the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Profiles\VhdTimeoutInMS = 10000 (decimal)

This registry key is used to set the timeout value for FSLogix Profile Containers. This setting determines how long a user’s profile container will remain mounted after they log off, before it is automatically unmounted and deleted from the system. By default, this value is set to 0 (zero), which means that the profile containers are never unmounted or deleted.

By setting this value to 10000 (decimal) milliseconds, you can ensure that any unused profile containers are automatically unmounted and deleted after 10 seconds of inactivity. This helps keep your systems running efficiently by freeing up resources that would otherwise be tied up with inactive profiles.