The D-Spot (The Deployment Spot)

Hotfix Package 3 is available for AppV 4.6 Service Pack 1.

It fixes an issue with the “Save As New Package” feature in the sequencer.

Here is the full changelog:

• You run the Application Virtualization Client on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. When you try to start a virtualized application from a network location, such as a UNC path or a mapped network drive, you receive an application error message that states that a .dll file could not be found.
• When you try to run an Open Software Description (OSD) file that contains a batch script from a content share, you receive a “04-00000020″ error message.
• The Application Virtualization Client service may take a long time to start and may result in slow startup performance in certain computer configurations.
• The Save As New Package option of the Application Virtualization Sequencer does not correctly update the virtual registry.
• When a virtualized application calls the Windows API LoadLibrary function, the application does not work correctly in the App-V 4.6 SP1 Sequencer. This issue occurs only when the LoadLibrary function uses a parameter that has a trailing period (.) at the end of the module name.

This hotfix applies to both client & sequencer. Because AppV hotfixes are cumulative, each new hotfix release contains all the hotfixes that were included with the previous hotfix packages.

Hotfix 3 is available at Microsoft: KB2571168.

I just had an issue with an App-V shortcut not picked up by the client. In the SFTLOG.TXT file the following errors exist:

[xx/xx/2011 xx:24:42:784 OMGR ERR] {tid=C10:usr=xxx}

The Application Virtualization Client cannot use the OSD file specified because the GUID attribute for the CODEBASE element changed (rc xxxxxx04-00001004).

[xx/xx/2011 xx:24:42:799 SWAP WRN] {tid=C10:usr=xxx}

Could not load OSD file \\xxx\xxx\xxx.003\xxx.osd

[xx/xx/2011 xx:24:42:799 AMGR INF] {tid=C10:usr=xxx}

The app manager could not create an application from ‘\\xxx\xxx\xxx.003\xxx.osd’ (rc xxxxxx44-00001004).

According to the last log file entries this is a typical issue where the OS VALUE tag in the OSD file is missing. But this wasn’t the case because I cleared all OS VALUE’s from the OSD file.

My second thought was a legacy OSD file floating around the Softgrid cache. But after setting the State key to zero and rebooting the machine the issue still exists. But I kept walking this path, because the first log entry was about GUID attributes that has been changed (04-00001004). But especially because the issue started after performing an Active Upgrade of the sequence.

So I decided to clear all caches using these methods:

• Removed the App-V user cache (%appdata%\SoftGrid Client)
• Cleared the system cache again with the State key
• Removed the registry folder from Microsoft\SoftGrid\4.5\Client\Applications\<ApplicationName>

Rebooted the machine and BAM, I got my long awaited shortcut!  Probably a previous OSD version was floating around in the AppV User Cache.

Today Microsoft announced the release of MDOP 2011, which includes App-V 4.6 SP1.

What is changed and improved in this Service Pack?

• Package Accelerators: This is the biggest improvement in SP1. Instead of creating sequencing recipes using Word, Microsoft is introducing an easier method called Package Accelerator. Microsoft is also contributing, what we used to call, Recipes. A package accelerator for MS Project 2010 is currently available. In April a package accelerator for Office 2010 will see the daylight! And last but not least, Microsoft is working with Adobe to release package accelerators for Adobe products!
• Read only cache (for remote desktop services & VDI).
• The sequence process is redesigned, easier to use.
• Licensing for cloud applications.

Looking forward to play with this new version!

While browsing Microsoft Technet, and especially Technet Edge, I stumbled upon some new App-V learning material.

Apart from the basics, if I may believe the titles of these tutorials, also some advanced topics are mentioned.

Ideal for a rainy sunday afternoon: Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Virtual Labs.

We needed to have Access 2010 delivered through App-V on the same computers where Office 2010 Standard was published to. Office 2010 needs the Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V to activate, this was already up and running on our client computers.

If we streamed Access 2010 next to Office 2010 Standard, Access launched and asked for a Product Key:

I thought the Office Software Protection Platform must take action here, and contact our KMS Server to obtain a license, but it didn’t behave like that. The Office Software Protection Platform (osppsvc) service is responsible for the activation. This service is installed by the Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V.

After going through Technet and some forums, I finally got it all together and found the solution:

The KMS activation is done when installing the Deployment kit for App-V. To use Access 2010 and Office 2010 Standard together, the Deployment Kit for App-V needs to be installed with the STANDARD and ACCESS parameters combined. These Licensing Flags can be used on the command line separated by a space:

OffVirt.msi ACCESS=1 STANDARD=1 /qb REBOOT=REALLYSUPPRESS

To verify which actions the OffVirt.msi installer exactly did, use the logfile parameter and check the logs:

OffVirt.msi ACCESS=1 STANDARD=1 /qb REBOOT=REALLYSUPPRESS /l*v c:\temp\OffVirt.log

If the ACCESS=1 parameter wasn’t set, you’ll get this in the logfile;

MSI (s) (E0:E0) [17:11:35:989]: Skipping action: Access_KMS_Client (condition is false)

When you did set the ACCESS=1 licensing flag;

MSI (s) (40:58) [17:29:32:699]: Doing action: Access_KMS_Client

Going through the logs makes everything clear. Combining the OffVirt.msi parameters makes sense!

We had serious performance issues with our virtualized Office 2010. First launch could take up to 6 minutes, while Feature Block 1 was only about 100MB!

Because only Office 2010 was having this slow first start (and autoload), we blame our sequence, the App-V infrastructure or the application itself. But neither of these were the cause of the problem.

What got our attention was the Network utilization, it only reaches 2%. While this wasn’t an issue at all with other App-V applications. Streaming other applications goes fast and uses up to 95% of the available network bandwidth. But Office 2010 was sequenced with the 4.6 RTM version of the Application Virtualization Sequencer. Most other applications were sequenced with App-V sequencer 4.5.

Since version 4.6 the blocksize is fixed at 64KB, there is no way to change this with the GUI sequencer.

I managed to change the blocksize with the trail version of SFT Encoder. Once the blocksize was changed from 64 to 32K, Office 2010 launches ten times faster! However this isn’t a permanent solution for the slow launch. We don’t want to convert all newly sequenced packages with SFT Encoder!

So the reason why only Office 2010 suffered form this slow first start was because it was the only large package sequenced with version 4.6. Other packages made with sequencer 4.6 where to small to notice the slow launch.

A colleague of mine changed the network card speed from 1GBit/Full Duplex to 100Mbit/Full Duplex. With this setting changed, packages created with sequencer 4.6 are streaming fast like it should.

Maybe it’s a networking issue (switches?), maybe a network card setting misconfiguration (teaming?) .. to be investigated. But at least our 4.6 sequences are streaming fast again!

Thanks to Madelinde Walraven for the help with this issue!

To be continued!

A couple of weeks ago I created an AppV Tutorial for a customer. This tutorial is focused on the creation of a package with the AppV Sequencer 4.6, the import of a package in the AppV Management Console and the use of the package at the client side with the AppV Client.

AppV Tutorial

Cheers!

When working with AppV I encountered a problem today when refreshing the AppV Client Management Console (sftcmc.msc). The virtual application was visible in the list of Applications but when launching it I received this error:

Error code: xxxxxx-xxxxxx39-0000010B

Solution:

• Open the .osd file of the package.
• Go to the following line <WORKINGDIR>%your_personal_input_here%</WORKINGDIR> (in my case: <WORKINGDIR>%CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES%\ARIVOT~1\WFLASH~1\</WORKINGDIR>)
• Edit this line to: <WORKINGDIR/>

After an App-V Server upgrade from Application Virtualization Server 4.5.1.15580 to 4.5.2.17140 we encountered the following error:

The Application Virtualization Client could not launch ApplicationName.

The package requested could not be found in the system data store or the files associated with this package could not be found on the server. Report the following error code to your System Administrator.

Error code: XXXXXX-XXXXXX0A-20000194

After some deep digging we found out that the App-V Management Server Installer set the CONTENT_DIR back to the default value! As we don’t use the default content dir C:\Program Files\Microsoft System Center App Virt Management Server\App Virt Management Server\content we found our problem.

Solve this by manually change the registry key  SOFTGRID_CONTENT_DIR (in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SoftGrid\4.5\Server) to your current Content location (for example \\servername\contentdir).

This kit will help you complete a Proof of Concept (PoC) at your organization, at a customer or get familar with some Microsoft products in a lab environment.

Allowing you to quickly evaluate the new Microsoft desktop technologies, including Windows 7, Office 2010, Internet Explorer 8, and Application Virtualization (AppV) with Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack technology.

It will also familiarize you with some of the important deployment tools provided by Microsoft to assist with your broader deployment efforts. This PoC isn’t meant to be comprehensive training mechanism but rather an introductory set of modules to familiarize you with tools and technologies.

Included in the package:

• Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP)
• Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT)
• Microsoft Office Migration and Planning Manager (OMPM) (A tool to assess and upgrade Office versions and files, like macro compatibility for example)
• Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
• Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial image
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
• Office 2010 with Application Virtualization (App-V)

In short, a package that any consultant arriving on a mission around Windows 7 should have.

Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=26301cd1-cc72-4dd8-819e-12ef48322743