www.it-ebooks.info Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide Master Microsoft App-V by taking a deep dive into advanced topics and acquire all the necessary skills to optimize your application virtualization platform Augusto Alvarez PUBLISHING professional expertise distilled BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI www.it-ebooks.info Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide Copyright © 2012 Packt Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. First published: March 2012 Production Reference: 1190312 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK. ISBN 978-1-84968-448-4 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by Stanford Murray (stanmoore@live.com) www.it-ebooks.info Credits Author Augusto Alvarez Reviewers Nicke Källén Kevin Kaminski Aaron Parker Acquisition Editor Amey Kanse Lead Technical Editor Hyacintha D'souza Technical Editors Aaron Rosario Priyanka Shah Naheed Shaikh Copy Editors Brandt D'Mello Leonard D'Silva Project Coordinator Kushal Bhardwaj Proofreader Joanna McMahon Indexers Hemangini Bari Rekha Nair Graphics Manu Joseph Valentina D'silva Production Coordinator Alwin Roy Cover Work Alwin Roy www.it-ebooks.info About the Author Augusto Alvarez is a computer geek and a fan of the latest IT platform solutions. He has been working with Microsoft TechNet and Microsoft Academics since 2006, collaborating on different technological events. He is currently working as a Sr. System Integration Consultant in Dell LATAM where he is in charge IT services delivery and quality assurance directly to the datacenter, deploying multi-vendor technologies and solutions within Microsoft, Citrix, VMWare and Open Source. These solutions deal with the major business processes used to manage the overall enterprise. The tasks involved in his work usually requires integrating hardware, processes, methodologies, software, and the customer. He has vast experience not only in App-V, but also in several Microsoft technologies for Windows Server: deployment, Active Directory, Hyper-V, virtualization solutions, clustering, System Center suite, security implementations, and so on. He has also written the rst complete reference plus step-by-step book about App-V: Getting Started with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 (ISBN 13 : 978-1-84968-126-1). You can nd out more info about him in his blog: http://blog.augustoalvarez. com.ar/ or following him on Twitter: @augustoalvarez. www.it-ebooks.info About the Reviewers Nicke Källén is an App-V MVP from Sweden. He posts as Znack on the TechNet forums, where he's consistently the most active responder on App-V topics. His focus has always been on end-user experience within migration projects for several enterprises and utilizing Microsoft Application Virtualization as a means to faster, more accurate delivery, with less interference for a more continuous experience. With over thirteen years of systems management experience, Kevin Kaminski is no stranger to the challenges enterprises can experience when managing large deployments of Windows systems. As an independent consultant, Kevin uses the opportunity to visit many diverse environments and see the challenges they face rst hand. His contributions to the community can be seen on many sites, such as the Microsoft TechNet Forums, Appdeploy.com, MyItForum.com, AppVirtGuru.com, BrianMadden.com, and the Calgary Systems Management User Group (CSMUG.ca). He has also co-authored a course and book with fellow MVP Tim Mangan. Aaron Parker is a Solutions Architect with sixteen years of experience in the IT industry. An App-V MVP, MCSE, and CCIA/CCEA, he spent the last 10 years working on server-based computing, desktop, and application deployment and virtualization. He currently resides in London, where he's involved in deployments for various clients including Fortune Global 500 companies. You can nd Aaron contributing to AppVirtGuru.com and TechNet App-V forums, or blogging at stealthpuppy.com, although he just might be snowboarding instead. 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Find out when new books are published by following @PacktEnterprise on Twitter, or the Packt Enterprise Facebook page. www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter 1: Taking a Deep Dive into App-V 7 What's new in App-V 4.6 SP1? 8 App-V components and architecture 14 Understanding App-V server components 14 App-V management server 14 App-V management system 15 App-V Streaming Server 16 App-V Management Server Console options 16 Understanding sequenced application components 19 Understanding App-V client components 22 Understanding the virtual environment 22 App-V Client Management Console 23 Understanding Global Data and User Data directory 30 Understanding the App-V client cache 37 Registry keys available in the App-V client 39 App-V deployment possibilities 41 Understanding the Full Infrastructure model 42 Understanding the ESD model 43 Comparing streaming methods 45 Understanding the Standalone model 46 Understanding the App-V client and publishing interaction 46 Understanding the publishing refresh process 47 Understanding the application launch/load process 48 AutoLoad options 49 Summary 51 Chapter 2: Sequencing in Complex Environments 53 Overview of complex sequencing 54 Applications not supported for sequencing 55 Sequencing best practices 57 www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents [ ii ] Reviewing complex applications 60 Applications that require complex sequencing 61 About the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 62 Understanding sequencing phases 63 Handling App-V Sequencer exclusions 64 Using workarounds for applications with drivers 66 Handling the virtual environment 69 Using override/merge options 70 Understanding LOCAL_INTERACTION_ALLOWED 72 Using Dynamic Suite Composition 76 Sequencing applications in DSC 77 Using the Dynamic Suite Composition tool 79 Upgrading/editing an existing application 82 Updating an application in an existing package 82 Editing the package 85 Adding a new application 86 Creating and handling package accelerators 88 What is a package accelerator? 88 Creating a package accelerator 88 Using a package accelerator 95 Reviewing package accelerators best practices 99 Summary 100 Chapter 3: Deploying Applications in Complex Environments 101 Conguring and using HTTP publishing and streaming 102 Adding the Web Server role 103 Conguring IIS options 105 Adding MIME types 107 Creating publication les 109 Conguring the App-V client 113 Conguring and using the standalone mode 115 Standalone without streaming 115 Manual conguration 116 Group Policy conguration 116 Running the application in standalone mode without streaming 118 Standalone with SMB streaming 118 Manual conguration 119 Group Policy conguration 119 Running the application in standalone mode with SMB streaming 121 Conguring SSL communications 121 Certicate prerequisites 122 Setting RTSPS communications 122 www.it-ebooks.info Table of Contents [ iii ] Conguring the App-V management server 122 Conguring the App-V Streaming Server 126 Conguring the App-V Desktop Client 129 Setting HTTPS communications 131 Conguring the web service 131 Conguring HTTPS streaming 132 Using Providers Policies in App-V 133 Understanding Providers Policies and licenses 133 Conguring and applying Providers Policies 134 Conguring and applying App-V licenses 138 Using an unlimited license 139 Using concurrent licenses 142 Using named licenses 143 Summary 144 Chapter 4: Handling Scripting and App-V Command Lines 147 What we can do with App-V scripting 148 Introducing OSD scripting 148 Understanding OSD scripting stages 149 Understanding <HREF> 151 Understanding <SCRIPTBODY> 152 Comparing <HREF> and <SCRIPTBODY> 153 Interacting within the virtual environment 154 Adding parameters to the virtual application 154 Using WORKINGDIR 155 Adding environment variables 155 Editing the virtual registry 156 Editing LOCAL_INTERACTION_ALLOWED 157 Editing TERMINATECHILDREN 158 Editing the Provider Policy 158 Interacting outside the virtual environment 159 Launching local applications 159 Starting a service 160 Checking for prerequisites before launching 160 Using App-V command lines 161 Conguring client options with SFTMIME 161 Handling virtual applications with SFTMIME 162 Handling packages with SFTMIME 165 Conguring server options with SFTMIME 170 Handling le type associations 171 Handling queries and OBJ with SFTMIME 173 Using SFTSequencer 175 Sequencing an application using SFTSequencer 176 Opening a package for upgrade using SFTSequencer 178 Handling package accelerators using SFTSequencer 178 Expand package to a local system 180 www.it-ebooks.info [...]... Table of Contents Application Virtualization Best Practices Analyzer 413 Application Virtualization 4.5 Security Configuration Roles 413 Application Virtualization Sequencing SuperFlow 414 Application Virtualization Listing tool 415 Application Virtualization Client Log Parser utility 415 Application Virtualization SFT View 416 Application Virtualization SFT Parser tool 417 Application Virtualization. .. Server App-V applications using SCVMM 2012 392 393 398 Summary 407 Understanding the available Server App-V Sequencer panes Configuring an application profile Configuring and deploying a Service template Appendix: Reviewing App-V Microsoft and Third-party Tools Microsoft tools for App-V Application Virtualization Dashboard Application Virtualization Dynamic Suite Composition tool Application Virtualization. .. Virtualization Cache Configuration tool 418 Application Virtualization MSI Compat Transform 418 Microsoft Application Virtualization DemoMate demo 419 Third-party tools for App-V 420 App-V Ping tool 420 App-V Client Diagnostic and Configuration (ACDC) tool 420 App-V USB tool 422 App-V add-on ADM 2.0 423 Application Virtualization Explorer 423 App-V Client Setup Kit 425 Application Virtualization Analyzer 425 AppV_DeployApp... Preface Microsoft' s Application Virtualization technology has been emerging as one of the main platforms in application virtualization This is mainly because more and more organizations are thinking about application virtualization as a valid implementation and also because App-V probably represents the most attractive solution App-V introduces a new and efficient way to improve operating systems and application. .. and even virtualizing server applications The Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide will start by giving readers the means to discover unfamiliar topics in App-V, as well as understanding App-V's architecture By doing so, it will provide the baseline needed before shifting to advanced topics in App-V, such as complex scenarios for sequencing and deploying applications This book details... will do our best to address it [5] www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info Taking a Deep Dive into App-V Microsoft' s Application Virtualization technology is emerging as one of the main platforms in application virtualization This is mainly because more and more organizations are thinking about application virtualization as a valid implementation and also because App-V represents probably the most attractive... operating systems and application life cycles in organizations However, if we want to maximize our investment, we must learn that every scenario and application differs from another, as does complexity With the Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide, administrators will find detailed topics for understanding App-V components, architecture, and implementation models, as well as step-by-step... the Microsoft TechNet Blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/appv/ archive/2010/05/10/pre-creation-of-server-objectsmay-yield-certain-sub-optimal-values-in-the-app-v-sqldatabase.aspx Understanding sequenced application components App-V applications do not act as normal applications and, of course, do not contain the normal files we can find in any given application Once the App-V Sequencer captures the application, ... 2012 requirements Installing SCCM 2012 Distributing the App-V Client with SCCM 2012 Using virtual applications in SCCM 2012 Creating virtual applications Deploying virtual applications Deploying applications in clients Summary Chapter 9: Integrating Server App-V with Private Clouds Server App-V Reviewing applications supported by Server App-V Differentiating between Server App-V and Desktop App-V PowerShell... some advanced options available in the App-V environment Chapter 2, Sequencing in Complex Environments: In this chapter, we will review detailed and advanced options available in the sequencing process, handling applications with unsupported configurations, and using package accelerators Chapter 3, Deploying Applications in Complex Environments: In this chapter, we will understand how to deploy applications . www.it-ebooks.info Microsoft Application Virtualization Advanced Guide Master Microsoft App-V by taking a deep dive into advanced topics and acquire all the necessary skills to optimize your application virtualization. App-V Microsoft and Third-party Tools 409 Microsoft tools for App-V 410 Application Virtualization Dashboard 410 Application Virtualization Dynamic Suite Composition tool 411 Application Virtualization. vii ] Application Virtualization Best Practices Analyzer 413 Application Virtualization 4.5 Security Conguration Roles 413 Application Virtualization Sequencing SuperFlow 414 Application Virtualization