Processing Options in Custom Actions

• Synchronous

Windows Installer runs the custom action synchronously to the main installation. It waits for the custom action to complete successfully before continuing the main installation.

• Synchronous, ignore exit code

Windows Installer runs the custom action synchronously to the main installation. It waits for the custom action to complete before continuing the main installation; the action can be either success or fail.

• Asynch, wait at end of sequence

Windows Installer runs the custom action simultaneously with the main installation. At the end it waits for the exit code from the custom action before continuing.

• Asynch, no wait

Windows Installer runs the custom action simultaneously with the main installation. It doesn’t wait for completion of the custom action and doesn’t check the exit code also.

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

How to resolve ICE38 Error

ICE38 ERROR

Component DesktopFolder installs to user profile. It must use a registry key under HKCU as its KeyPath, not a file.

Solution:
In the Components Tab, find the CurrentUser component, which holds all the user's information. Pick one of the registry keys (except the one set as a keypath), right click on it and select the option 'Move'.

Move that key to the component referred on the ICE error message. Go to thatcomponent, open it and find the 'new key'. Right click on the entry and select'Set as Key' option.

Windows File Versioning Rules

At the core of any installer is the actual installation of files. But determining whether to install a file is a complex process. At the highest level, making the determination depends on whether the component to which a file belongs is marked for installation. Once the determination is made that a file should be copied, the process is complicated if another file with the same name exists in the target folder. In such situations, making the determination requires a set of rules involving the following properties:

• Version
• Date
• Language

The installer only uses these rules when trying to install a file to a location that already contains a file with the same name. In this case, the Microsoft® Windows® Installer uses the following rules to determine whether to install.


Highest Version Wins — All other things being equal, the file with the highest version wins, even if the file on the machine has the highest version.


Versioned Files Win — All other things being equal, a versioned file gets installed over a non-versioned file.


Favor Product Language — All other things being equal, if the file being installed has a different language than the file on the machine, favor the file with the language that matches the product being installed. Language neutral files are treated as just another language so the product being installed is favored again.


Mismatched Multiple Languages — All other things being equal, after factoring out any common languages between the file being installed and the file on the machine, any remaining languages are favored according to what is needed by the product being installed.


Preserve Superset Languages — All other things being equal, preserve the file that supports multiple languages regardless of whether it is already on the machine or is being installed.


Non-versioned Files Are User Data — All other things being equal, if the Modified date is later than the Create date for the file on the machine, do not install the file because user customizations would be wiped out. If the Modified and Create dates are the same, install the file. If the Create date is later than the Modified date, the file is considered unmodified, install the file.


Non-versioned Files Using Companion — All other things being equal, a non-versioned file that is associated with a versioned file using the companion mechanism abides by the rules for the versioned file. The only exception is if the versioned file on the machine and the versioned file being installed have the same version and language but the companion file is missing on the machine. In this case the companion file being installed is used even though the versioned file on the machine is used.


Rules Are Global — The rules for determining when to install a file reside in one place within the installer and are global, meaning they apply to all files equally.

Windows File Protection

A common problem in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating systems has been the ability for shared system files to be overwritten by non-operating system installation programs. After such changes are made, the user may experience unpredictable system performance, ranging from application errors to operating system crashes. This problem affects several types of files--most commonly dynamic link libraries (.dll) and executable files (.exe).


In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature prevents overwriting or replacement of certain system files. Overwriting shared system files can result in unpredictable system performance that ranges from application errors to operating system crashes. System instability caused by non-standard replacement of system files has been a common problem. By preventing the replacement of these essential system files, file version mismatches are avoided, and the overall stability of the system is improved.