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Do you want to update all your old SoftGrid / App-V Packages to the newest Sequencer / Client version? Do you need to create Publishing MSIs for a bunch of packages because in the past you didn’t need them but want to use them now? Here is a simple Powershell Script that converts all existing packages within a folder structure recursively.
The new App-V Sequencer 4.6 SP1 introduces – besides new features – a set of new wizards. While in the „old“ Sequencers, basically there were three different
wizards (New; Open; Open for Upgrade), there are 7 wizards available within 4.6 SP1. To increase confusion, most of these wizards contain choices that influence the Sequencing process. Depending on those process choices, some wizard steps will be skipped.
After working with the new Sequencer for a while now I tried to figure out which wizard allows (or prevents) certain activities.
… at least that is one question that often is discussed in an App-V environment.
While monitoring an application setup with the App-V Sequencer, you will have to decide if you install the application to the C: drive (the installer’s default location) or to the Q: drive. Microsoft strongly recommends to always install to the Q: drive (an “MNT install”). However, many
applications proved to work fine after they were installed to C: (a “VFS install”).
This article discusses some of the myths and facts around that “C: vs. Q:” or “VFS vs. MNT” installations.
Note: To limit the size of that post, there is an “Extended Version” availabe as PDF at http://bit.ly/mam6oO. This PDF contains more detailed information, esp. the details to reason the table’s content.
[Update 2011-05-23: Tim Mangan blogged about an issue when Sequencing to Q: in the App-V 4.6 SP1 Sequencer. http://www.tmurgent.com/TmBlog/?p=402]
This is a loose translation of Sebastian Gernert’s blog articel “4.6 SP1 Sequencer registriert Dateien nicht richtig…” (German).
Sebastian namely thanks Jan Pfisterer and Marius Gawenda, who pointed him to that issue.
Because the new Sequencer does not require a separate hard disk partion for the Q: drive (but uses a Symbolic Link), some components (like OCX controls) may not register correctly. In their registration, they may point to the Symbolic Link’s target (on the C: drive) instead.
Different versions of Microsoft’s App-V Sequencer used to have the habit of generating non-unique (but duplicate) package GUIDs under certain circumstances. This seemed to appear if the Sequencer Software was launched before a snapshot was taken of the VM. Tim Mangan and Nicke Källen found out that a similar issue occurs (under certain circumstances) when using the new template feature of App-V SP1. However, I never faced nor heard about duplicate GUIDs in practice… And the reason might be the VM’s state while taking the snapshot.
During TechEd EMEA 2011 and – a few days later – at the German App-V User Group Meeting, Microsoft showed some features of the upcoming Service Pack 1 for Microsoft App-V 4.6, which is announced for the quarter of 2011.
You can watch the TechEd Videos. Ment van der Plas has collected them at http://www.softgridblog.com/?p=168. Also, Jurjen van Leeuwen collected some of the highlights at appvirtguru.com.
While Service Pack 1 for App-V 4.6 will significantly affect the Sequencer, there are also some changes to the App-V Client.
In order to create a persistent state of the Sequencer Workstation for App-V Sequencing, it is recommended to either use Virtual Machine Snapshots or some Hard Disk Imaging Technologies. The reason for creating such a persistent state is that Sequencing always should be performed from a “clean” workstation and imaging or using snapshots are two very fast ways to accomplish this.
The Common Sense about that persistent image is that it should reflect the “Core (Client) Image” to certain extends and also it should not have any background services active that negatively influence the sequencing process. Microsoft’s Sequencing Guide whitepaper describes that more detailed.
But what about the Sequencer Software itself: should it be installed before the image gets created – or should it be installed each time after the image has been reverted?
In the past, there was an easy answer to that question. It was caused by a special behaviour (you may call it a bug) of the Sequencer Software – and this answer was: Do not install the Sequencer before creating the image. Essentially, the reason for this advice was that the Sequencer sometimes generated equal Package GUIDs (instead of random GUIDs) – it did not do that always, but explaining that would be out-of-scope here. Therefore, the Sequencer software usually was not installed before creating the image…
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