TruGrid RDS Manager

Summary

TruGrid RDS Manager Enterprise (RDSM Enterprise) is a management, monitoring, and analytics tool for administrators managing Remote Desktop Services and VDI environments. It provides fleet-wide visibility into host health, session state, logon performance, and RDP transport quality from a single dashboard.

Components

RDSM Enterprise consists of three components:

Component	Executable	What it does
Data Collector	TruGrid-RDSM-DC-Config.exe	Configuration manager and Windows service that collects session and performance data from all monitored hosts. Used to manage computer groups, configure access control, deploy Session Host Agents, and install the Data Collector service. Stores data in a local SQLite database. Runs on a domain-joined Windows Server
Enterprise Client	TruGrid-RDSM-Enterprise.exe	The admin dashboard. Connects to the Data Collector over HTTP (port 5743) or HTTPS (port 5744) using passthrough Windows Authentication. Self-contained executable - no installer needed. Can run on any domain-joined Windows PC
Session Host Agent (optional)	TruGrid-RDSM-Agent.exe	Lightweight Windows service installed on individual session hosts. Streams live telemetry to the Data Collector every 30 seconds. Enables logon performance phase breakdowns, Windows Security Event Log forwarding (4624 Logon, 4688 Process Creation), AgentOffline alerts, and Probe Diagnostics. Deployed via ZIP download or PsExec push from the Data Collector

Hosts without the agent are monitored via agentless WMI polling (60-second interval), which provides session counts, CPU, and memory readings but not logon performance data.

For installation, agent deployment, and upgrade instructions, see TruGrid RDSM Enterprise - Installation and Setup Guide.

Use RDSM Enterprise when you need to:

Monitor CPU, memory, and session counts across every managed host at a glance
Shadow, message, disconnect, or sign off user sessions without third-party tools
Track logon performance with per-phase breakdowns (authentication, profile load, GPO, shell startup)
Monitor RDP transport quality (round-trip time, bandwidth) across active sessions
Plan capacity using historical session trends, peak-hours analysis, and per-host resource rankings
Audit every admin action taken across the fleet

Architecture

See the Installation and Setup Guide for agent deployment instructions.

The Data Collector sits on a domain-joined Windows Server and gathers session and performance data from your RDSH or VDI hosts. It supports two collection modes:

Mode	How it works	Refresh rate
Agent-based	A Session Host Agent installed on each monitored host streams live data to the Data Collector	Every 30 seconds
Agentless (WMI)	The Data Collector polls each host via WMI	At the configured RefreshIntervalSeconds (default: 60 seconds)

Hosts with agents installed show YES in the Agent column on the Computers page. Hosts without agents show NO and fall back to WMI polling. Agent-based collection provides higher-resolution data and is recommended for production fleets.

The Enterprise Client connects to the Data Collector over HTTP (port 5743) or HTTPS (port 5744) using passthrough Windows Authentication (NTLM/Kerberos). Multiple administrators can connect to the same Data Collector simultaneously and see the same live data.

Dashboard

The Dashboard is the first screen you see after connecting. It provides a single-view fleet health summary.

Area	What it shows
Top header	Current page title (Dashboard), Live/Disconnected indicator, Light/Dark Mode toggle, About dialog
Blue update banner	Appears only when a newer build is available. Click Download to get it, or Dismiss to hide until the next version
OVERVIEW tiles	Total computers, online/offline counts, all sessions (Active + Idle + Disconnected), admins currently connected
ACTIVE / IDLE / DISCONNECTED tiles	Live session counts. Click any tile to jump to the matching filtered view in Users & Sessions
COMPUTER HEALTH list	Per-host CPU and RAM bars with session counts. Sorted by host name. Scrollable for large fleets
COLLECTOR INFO + SESSION BREAKDOWN	Right column - which Data Collector you are connected to, last refresh time, and the session-state breakdown of the entire fleet

Group filter

The sidebar includes an (All Groups) dropdown that narrows the Dashboard and every other page to one Active Directory group at a time. This is useful for multi-tenant or per-department monitoring setups.

Computers

The Computers page lists every managed host with its OS, agent status, online state, and live CPU, RAM, and session counts.

Right-click any row to issue admin actions:

Action	What it does
Restart	Restarts the host. Confirms before issuing
Shutdown	Shuts down the host
Logon Enable / Disable	Allow or block new RDP sessions on the host (drain-mode toggle)
Drain Mode	Same as Logon Disable but does not disconnect existing users - lets the host empty naturally

Agent column

YES indicates a Session Host Agent has enrolled with the Data Collector at some point, even if the agent is currently offline. NO indicates the host has never been seen with an agent - monitoring falls back to agentless WMI polling. Live online state is shown by the green/red status indicator, not the Agent column.

Users and Sessions

The Users & Sessions page lists every active, idle, and disconnected session across the fleet. Each row shows the user, host, session state, idle time, and per-session resource usage.

Click a row to select a session. Right-click for actions:

Action	What it does
Shadow	Opens an RDP shadow session - watch or take control of the user's session
Send Message	Displays a message box in the user's session
Disconnect	Disconnects the session. The user can reconnect and pick up where they left off
Logoff	Signs the user out. Unsaved work in the session will be lost
Reset	Force-terminates the session (use sparingly)

Filter and search

Use the search box at the top of the page to filter by user name or host. The state tiles on the Dashboard also pre-filter this page when clicked.

NOTE: Shadow requires the admin's account to have the matching Group Policy permission on the target session host. If you get an error opening shadow, check your Local Group Policy: Computer

Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections > Set rules for remote control of Remote Desktop Services user sessions.

Analytics

Analytics is the central monitoring feature. Eight tabs across the top let you drill into different aspects of the fleet's behavior over time.

Pick a time range at the top of the page: Last 1 Hour, Last 6 Hours, Last 1 Day, Last 3 Days, Last 7 Days, Last 14 Days, or Last 30 Days. The entire page reloads against that window.

Logon Performance

The headline tab. Shows every logon that completed in the selected time window with a per-phase breakdown.

Column	What it measures
Auth	Authentication phase. Credentials accepted to LSA done. Typically under 1 second on healthy hosts
Profile	Profile load. FSLogix mount, roaming-profile sync, or local-profile copy. Variable - can be the biggest contributor on profile-heavy hosts
GPO	Group Policy processing. Scripts, drive maps, printer redirects, security templates
Shell	Shell startup. Explorer launching, taskbar populating, UWP surfaces warming. Often the second-biggest contributor on Windows 11
Other	Anything not captured by the above phases. Should normally be small
Total	Sum of all phases - your end-to-end logon time. Targets range from sub-second to approximately 10 seconds depending on profile complexity and host class

Click any row for the Probe Diagnostics detail panel - the per-logon trace of which events the probe captured, when the helper fired, and which path was taken (fast, retry, deferred, or silent).

Prism

Prism distills the fleet's health into four executive-level tiles:

UX Score trend - are we improving?
Worst Host - the host dragging the fleet down
Slow Logon User Count - how many users are affected by slow logons
Headroom - CPU and memory capacity remaining

Session Trends

Active, Idle, and Disconnected session counts over time. Use this to spot daily cycles, weekly patterns, and outage gaps.

CPU Trends

Per-host CPU percentage over time. Up to 10 hosts can be plotted simultaneously. Use this to identify hosts that are consistently overloaded or to correlate CPU spikes with user complaints.

Memory Trends

Per-host memory percentage over time. Same multi-host plotting as CPU Trends.

Peak Hours

Average concurrent session count by hour of day. This is your capacity planning tab - it shows when your fleet is under the heaviest load and helps you size for peak demand.

Bandwidth

RDP transport bandwidth (sent and received) across active sessions. Shows both peak and average values per time bucket. Useful for identifying bandwidth-constrained sessions or validating that UDP transport is improving throughput.

Top Computers

Hosts ranked by average concurrent session count. Identifies your workhorse hosts - the ones carrying the most load.

Top Users by Resource

Users ranked by average CPU and memory consumption. Useful for identifying resource-heavy users who may need to be moved to dedicated hosts or have their application usage reviewed.

Audit Log

Every admin action is logged: connections, disconnects, logoffs, resets, shadow sessions, messages sent, restarts, shutdowns, and drain-mode toggles. Filter by time, action, or computer.

Use the Audit Log for change-management reviews and incident root-cause analysis.

Retention: Default retention is 30 days. Audit rows are stored in the Data Collector's SQLite database alongside the metrics history.

Alerts

The Alerts page surfaces threshold-based warnings when hosts or agents enter an unhealthy state. Alerts fire automatically when a condition is met and resolve automatically when the condition clears.

Summary tiles

Three tiles at the top of the page show the current state within the selected time window:

Tile	What it shows
Open	Alerts that have fired but not yet resolved. These represent active issues
Resolved	Alerts that fired and subsequently cleared on their own
Total in Window	Combined count of open and resolved alerts in the selected time range

Filter controls

Use the Open alerts only checkbox to show only unresolved alerts for active triage. The Show last dropdown filters by time window, matching the same ranges available in Analytics (Last 30 Days, etc.). Click Refresh to reload the alert table.

Alert types

Type	Fires when	Default threshold	Resolves when
AgentOffline	A Session Host Agent has not sent a heartbeat for longer than the threshold	30 minutes without heartbeat	The agent resumes heartbeating
HostMemSustained	Average memory usage on a host exceeds the threshold over a sustained window	90% average over 10 minutes	Memory usage drops below the threshold
HostCpuSustained	Average CPU usage on a host exceeds the threshold over a sustained window	90% average over 10 minutes	CPU usage drops below the threshold

Alert thresholds are not currently configurable. All alerts fire at the Warning severity level.

Alert table columns

Column	What it shows
Fired	Timestamp when the alert condition was first detected
Type	The alert type (AgentOffline, HostMemSustained, HostCpuSustained)
Severity	Alert severity level (Warning)
Computer	The affected host
User	The affected user, if the alert is user-scoped. Empty for host-level alerts
Detail	A description of the condition that triggered the alert, including the measured value and threshold
Resolved	Timestamp when the condition cleared. Empty if the alert is still open

Settings and personalization

Light Mode and Dark Mode

Toggle between Light and Dark Mode using the button in the top-right corner of any page. Your choice persists across launches.

About dialog

Click the About button (top-right) to view the current build version, the Data Collector version you are connected to, and a Check for updates now button that re-fetches the update manifest immediately.

Update banner

When a newer build is available, a full-width blue banner appears at the top of the main content area. Click Download to open the new executable in your browser. Click Dismiss to hide the banner until a newer version ships.

Switching Data Collectors

Use the Switch Data Collector button at the bottom of the sidebar to connect to a different Data Collector. The Client re-prompts for the URL.

Common tasks

Shadowing a user

Go to Users & Sessions.
Find the user using the search box at the top.
Right-click the row and select Shadow.
Your RDP client opens a shadow connection. The user may see a consent prompt depending on your Group Policy configuration.

Sending a message to a user

Go to Users & Sessions, right-click the row, and select Send Message.
Type the message and click Send. The message appears as a dialog box in the user's session.

Disconnecting a stuck user

Go to Users & Sessions, right-click the row, and select Disconnect (preserves the user's running applications).
Alternatively, select Logoff to sign them out entirely. Unsaved work will be lost.

Investigating a slow logon

Go to Analytics > Logon Performance.
Select a wider time range if the slow logon occurred some time ago.
Sort the Total column descending to surface slow logons.
Click the slow logon row and read the Diagnostics field. Look for which phase dominated the total: a 30-second Profile time points at FSLogix or roaming profile issues; a 20-second Shell time points at startup programs or antivirus scanning.

Restarting a host

Go to the Computers page, right-click the row, and select Restart.
Confirm when prompted. The action is recorded in the Audit Log immediately.

Draining a host for maintenance

Go to the Computers page, right-click the host, and select Drain Mode.
The host stops accepting new sessions but existing users can continue working until they log off naturally.
Monitor the host's session count on the Dashboard or Computers page. When it reaches zero, the host is safe to take offline.

Triaging open alerts

Go to the Alerts page and check the Open alerts only checkbox.
Review any open alerts. AgentOffline alerts indicate a host's agent has stopped heartbeating - check whether the host is offline or the agent service has stopped. HostMemSustained or HostCpuSustained alerts indicate sustained resource pressure - check the Analytics CPU or Memory Trends tab for that host to determine whether the issue is ongoing or was a transient spike.
Open alerts resolve automatically once the underlying condition clears. There is no manual dismiss action.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the same host sometimes show YES and sometimes NO for agent status?

The Agent column shows whether a host has ever reported in with an agent installed. It stays YES even when the agent is currently offline, so you can distinguish between "agent installed but not currently running" and "host has never had an agent." Live online state is shown by the green/red status indicator.

The Analytics page seems slow when I pick Last 3 Days.

Confirm that UseServerSideAnalytics is set to true in your client.cfg. With the flag enabled, 3-day queries complete in under 5 seconds. Without it, the Client has to process thousands of raw rows locally. Your admin can verify the setting in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\TruGrid RDS Manager Enterprise\client.cfg

I do not see a logon I just triggered.

The Analytics page refreshes when you change the time range or click the refresh button. Logon Performance also has a small lag (a few seconds) while the agent ships the new logon's phase data to the Data Collector. Wait 5-10 seconds and refresh.

What does Helper Silent or Helper Fallback mean on a logon row?

It means the per-session helper that measures DesktopReady could not fire for that logon. The Total falls back to a Winlogon event anchor, which under-counts the post-shell tail by 5-10 seconds. This is rare on healthy hosts. See the Deployment Guide's troubleshooting section if it occurs fleet-wide.

How do I switch which Data Collector I am connected to?

Click the Switch Data Collector button at the bottom of the sidebar. The Client re-prompts for the URL.

Can multiple administrators connect to the same Data Collector at the same time?

Yes. All Enterprise Client instances connecting to the same Data Collector see the same live data. There is no session conflict or lock-out.

What permissions does the Shadow action require?

Shadow uses native Windows RDP shadowing. The admin's account must have the appropriate Group Policy permission on the target session host.

Configure this at:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections > Set rules for remote control of Remote Desktop Services user sessions.

How long is analytics data retained?

Analytics data and audit logs are retained for 30 days by default. Data is stored in the Data Collector's SQLite database at C:\ProgramData\TruGrid RDS Manager Enterprise.

Contact

For help with installation, configuration, or troubleshooting, contact TruGrid support at help@trugrid.com or use the Chat with us option on this help center.

Updated on: 11/06/2026

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