Infrastructure Planning and Design Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6
Introduction:
Application coexistence continues to be a significant issue for business customers.
The task of managing the portfolio of applications in a company is a very complex process, and few tools are available to assist in this process. Some of the challenges that occur when managing applications include accommodating multiple versions of the same application as well as updating application packages.
Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) enables organizations to respond to the challenge by providing the capability to make applications available to end-user computers without having to install the applications directly on those computers.
The purpose of this guide is to present a clear and concise workflow of the decisions and tasks required to implement App-V. This guide, when used in conjunction with product documentation, will enable companies to confidently plan their App-V infrastructures.
The Appendix includes a sample job aid for recording the decisions made during the design process.
As a mentioned in my precedent post about MED-V you can download all guides from Microsoft site, but in this case I would to focus attention on virtualization technologies, in particular in this post in APP-V 4.6 that now support 64 Bit environment and application.
Virtualization Technoligies today have really changed approach in IT planning and Design and operation maintaining.
NB: This guide will not cover the mechanics (such as step-by-step directions) of delivering virtualized application packages to desktops.
You can download only document HERE...
Thanks Microsoft!
Availability of MDOP 2010APP-V 4.6 64 bits and MED-V SP1 RC
In these days was the release of the 2010 of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) Edition.
Application Virtualization (APP-V) 4.6
One of the most important components of this edition is version 4.6 for Microsoft Application Virtualization (APP-V) now also supports 64-bit systems and which was available in beta since last August.
This 64-bit version was much waiting, in particular because support for 64-bit architectures allows:
the sequencing of 64-bit native applications and their run virtualized on 64-bit systems; the sequencing of 32-bit applications and their virtualized execution is on 32-bit on 64-bit; applications virtualized with APP-V in remote Desktop Services Windows Server environment using 2008 R2 (only on 64-bit) and Terminal Server in Windows Server 2008 (in the 64-bit Edition).
There is more information about this on Blog of MDOP Microsoft Team, it’s important to read this post because there is an interesting information about MED-V SP1 RC….
http://blogs.technet.com/mdop/archive/2010/02/19/app-v-4-6-and-med-v-1-0-sp1-rc-are-here.aspx
Application Virtualization 4.5 Service Pack 1
Hi all,
now is available A new KB article is available: KB976338, there are a great news about this update.... please read all article by Softgrid Blog on Microsoft blog site
cheers
Alex
how to use ocx for win32 on win x64
Hi all,
this is a great question, how can I use an .ocx file on my Windows x64 platform if this .ocx file is not compatible with Windows for 64 bit?
It seems incredible but works!
This problem can be solved with APP-V
At the first step you need to sequence with APP-V Sequencer 4.5 this .ocx (only this component because I remember that Internet Explorer is not virtualizable)
At second step you need to ran this Virtual APP from APP-V client 4.6 (RTM will be available within the end of October) and if you use Internet Explorer 8 from Windows 7 (x64) in compatibility mode, you can see that all it's operational.
This solution obviously is not supported from Microsoft but is usefull to sove little problem about 32 vs 64 bit!
cheers
Alex
Application Virtualization 4.6 Beta is available for Download from Micorosoft Connect
From Technet site....
As 64-bit computing becomes more commonplace in the enterprise, the MDOP team has announced that App-V 4.6 be the first version of App-V to support both x64 and x86 Windows platforms and the primary focus of the release is to enable App-V to take advantage of 64-bit Windows platforms including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You will also find improvements in the App-V Sequencer such as simplifying the workflow for creating virtual applications and adding the ability to sequence true 64-bit applications. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can also use App-V 4.6 Beta and take advantage of the support for Office 2010 and 64-bit platform support.
You can try out App-V 4.6 by registering for and downloading the beta from Microsoft Connect.
Quest Software and Integration with Microsoft Virtualization solutions
Quest with the support of Microsoft has unveiled its next generation Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution, supporting the Microsoft virtualization stack including Hyper-V, SCVMM, and App-V
In this post I would dedicate some words only about APP-V integration with Quest Software “vWorkspace”
Quest vWorkspace uniquely extend and integrates Microsoft APP-V into the improved management infrastructure with regard of virtualized desktops, terminal servers by allowing you to import the enterprise sequenced applications and seamlessly integrate and delivery them to virtual machine or terminal server clients, with reducing the management and administrative overhead.
At link below it’s possible to watch a VIDEO about Quest vWorkspace integration with APP-V, You can also download the white paper about the product from Quest Site Desktop Virtualization Group (registration needed) here…
VIDEO:
http://www.vworkspace.com/aWinningPartnership/App-V.wmv
APP-V Integration with SCCM
At first I would to thanks Steve Rachui premier field engineer in Microsoft ConfigMgr/OpsMgr because have write a nice post about integration between APP-V and SCCM. Introduced as part of R2, SCCM now understands and can deploy virtualized applications. When integrated, SCCM serves the role of App-V Management Server and App-V Management Console so there is no need to install those roles from App-V - but you still need the other pieces listed above. Below an extract of the Steve’s post that it’s possible to read completely here… Virtual Apps - Configuring SCCM
The first step is to sequence the app. App sequencing is a topic all to itself and learning how to properly sequence can have challenges of its own, if you need more information about sequencing I suggest reading Microsoft Documentation at link below:
The first thing we have to do in SCCM is make sure our distribution points are enabled to deliver a virtualized app. You do that by going to any site system that is a distribution point and selecting properties on the distribution point component. From there we need to ensure two settings are enabled. First, on the general tab, make sure the ‘Allow clients to transfer content from this distribution point using BITS, HTTP and HTTPS is enabled. Continue from the source...