Application Packaging Services - AppRepack Technologies

AppREPACK Technologies is a privately-owned company offering Application Packaging and Virtualization solutions.  Our work is driven by vast expertise, advanced technology and quality focus.

You will experience your requirements being met on time, within budget and with high quality; top-class solutions at competitive prices.

We can provide services on

• Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) using Wise Package Studio / Installshield / AdminStudio
• Microsoft App-V
• VMware ThinApp
• SCCM 2007 Support

For more information, Please visit www.AppRepack.in

Limitations of App-V

1. Device Driver: Microsoft Application Virtualization does not support sequencing of device drivers thus any application which install device driver should not be sequenced.


2. Application Size: If the maximum client cache size is set for 2 GB (The max can be 64 GB), then the maximum size of application (sft file) which can be streamed on that machine is 2 GB. All applications which have the installed footprint greater than or equal to the max client size, set by the client, should not be sequenced. Also the Max application size App-V can handle is 4GB, [Q: drive has FAT file type and the max file size FAT can handle is 4GB]. This issue is discussed in more details at http://www.softgridguru.com/viewtopic.php?t=2763


3. Shortcuts: Application should have minimum of one shortcut. If no shortcuts are present then the application should be sequenced in a suite along with the application which needs it. For example if Macromedia Flash is the application in question to be sequenced then the shortcut should be pointing to the locally installed Internet Explorer


4. Middleware: Middleware applications are not a good candidate for sequencing as they can be used as a prerequisite by multiple applications, thus should be installed locally. but if multiple version of it are needed then they should be sequenced along with the application which needs them. It is always advised to have only one version of any application/middleware in the organization thus conditions for multiple versions should be avoided With Version 4.5 most of the middle-wares can be sequenced and used as secondary packages.


5. Path hard coding: The application should not have folder/file path hard coding in the application itself. Some application hard code the path of files in registry or ini file or executable. In these cases it has been found that they can be sequenced most of the time using VFS sequencing method, but extreme care should be taken while sequencing & testing these applications. Also Configuration files such as ini, conf, txt, registries etc are good places to look for the hard coding


6. Base Build Applications: Applications which are already part of base build should not be sequenced. One can sequence them but they are of no real value as they will already be present on the client machines


7. Auto Update: Application with automatic updates should not be sequenced. Sequenced application most of the time fails to properly update itself. Also allowing auto update leads to non compliance of application version. These types of applications should only be sequenced if the auto update feature can be disabled during sequencing procedure


8. Services: Services which can be started when application starts and shuts down when application main executable shuts down can be included in sequence. Services that run as their own (like boot-time services do but there are others also) are not suitable for sequencing since under App-V all application starting happens under user’s session context.  Also applications which install services which run using specific user credentials cannot be sequenced


9. COM+: Some application which uses COM+ might not work properly in virtual environment, thus this type of applications needs be tested properly


10. COM DLL: Few application which uses COM DLL surrogate virtualization, i.e. DLL’s that run in Dllhost.exe, does not work properly in App-V Environment. Thus this type of applications needs be tested properly


11. Licensing Policies: Applications with licensing enforcement tied to machine, e.g. the license is tied to the system’s MAC address, username etc. It should not be sequenced if activation cannot be done by the user at the first launch 2009 c Mayank Johri Microsoft Application Virtualization - An Introduction to Sequencing Source Files Validation 10 of sequenced application


12. Internet Explorer & Service Packs: Internet Explorer, Windows service patches and service packs cannot & should not be sequenced


13. Network Share Application: It is not a good practice the run applications from network share as they tend to violate the enterprise desktop integrity and thus known to cause integration issues. It is advised to have to entire application inside of App-V package


14. Hosts file located in “%windir%\system32\etc” cannot be sequenced and should be updated on local machine before the sequenced application is launched

VFS Sequencing

In VFS sequencing the application and its supporting applications are installed in there default location. VFS sequencing is recommended process for sequencing DSC Sequencing.

Benefits

• Applications with hard-coded path entries can only be sequenced using this method.
• This is the best solution for sequencing DSC based applications which copy files in sub-folder of base applications.

Drawbacks

• Sequenced applications run slightly slower then Q Drive based sequence
• Some applications might not work properly, especially apps which try to evaluate the launch location at the launch time.

Dynamic Suite Composition (DSC) in App-V

Generally Middleware apps are dependency for most of the apps, so we virtualize both the apps separately and add HREF attributes of dependency appl to main appl.


Process: Sequence this dependency first and revert it to clean machine. Then before starting main applications sequencing, install dependency and start sequencing process. At the end of sequencing, open OSD in notepad, add HREF attributes of middle ware appl to main appl also add one more tag MANDATORY=”TRUE” True – Interacts with middleware appl, False – does not interact with middleware

Kaviza VDI-in-a-box

VDI-in-a-box brought to you by Citrix makes desktop virtualization easy and affordable without sacrificing performance. An all-in-one software appliance with many platform and end-point options, VDI-in-a-box deploys quickly on inexpensive off-the-shelf servers, and delivers high-availability without requiring shared storage. VDI-in-a-box eliminates over 66% of VDI infrastructure costs and delivers virtual desktops for less than the cost of PCs.


For more information, visit http://www.kaviza.com/VDI/VirtualDesktopsProducts/Overview.html

VMWare ThinApp 4.6.2 released

VMWare ThinApp 4.6.2 is released and can be download at VMWare ThinApp


The ThinApp 4.6.2 release adds the following features to improve usability, performance, and provide updates:

• Multiple enhancements have been made in the ThinDirect component, and outstanding known issues addressed, to improve performance and reliability.


• ThinDirect now supports the redirection of all browser pages except a specified list of URLs, instead of only supporting the redirection of only a list of specified URLs.
  Example:
  [VirtIE6.exe]
  -www.vmware.com
  *


• New parameters have been added to the thinreg utility to enhance search and exclude functionality. See New Parameters in thinreg.exe.


• The thinreg utility can now uninstall applications without dependence on .vbs file association to run the uninstall script.


• Microsoft Office 2007 application startup times have been improved by approximately 30%.


• The IgnoreDDEMessages parameter has been added to the Package.ini file. This parameter, which is automatically set for virtualized Internet Explorer 6 packages, causes an application to ignore any DDE messages that it receives, meaning that it can be used to ensure Document Open operations always launch in the native application and not an open virtual application.

Application Virtualization

Application Virtualization is new and hi-end domain where Applications will be available to Users without being physically installed on User Desktops.


There are couple of Products from different Vendors which has Virtualization in realtime.


1. Microsoft App-V
2. Citrix XenApp
3. VMWare ThinApp
4. Cameyo