HOSTS file entries don't apply in bubbles

Applications do not use the hosts file directly.  The hosts file is read by the TCP/IP subsystem which is running OUTSIDE the bubble.

Putting HOSTS files in the bubble and setting to override in an attempt to set name resolution will NOT work.

Formatted Text

When using formatted text strings to reference other items within an MSI install table be aware of case.  A reference to [#filename.txt] is not the same as [#Filename.txt]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa368609(v=VS.85).aspx

This page refers to the correct method to write an environmental variable into a registry key.

e.g. [%environmentvariable]

Certificate Installation

The following command installs a certificate to the specified store on the local machine.  In this case the .cer file and certmgr.exe were in the same folder.

certmgr.exe -add -c certificatefilename.cer -s TrustedPublisher -r localMachine

I tried lots of variations but was unable to get certmgr.exe to delete a certifcate from a store using various parameters after the -del switch

Certutil.exe is a server utility but it does work on clients as well.  Example usage adding and removing certificates from stores is:
Adding:
certutil -addstore Root certificatefilename.cer
or
certutil -addstore TrustedPublisher certificatefilename.cer
Removing - first find the certificate serial number by viewing it withing the certificate management gui. Provide the serial number to the command line
certutil -delstore Root SerialNumber
certutil -delstore TrustedPublisher SerialNumber

Certutil.msc for user certs

certlm.msc for machine certs

Use this command to discover the Certificate Authorities CAs

certutil.exe

or

certutil.exe -config - -ping

Simfund Client - MSI Package

A main installation executable creates a temp folder containing the installation resources including an MSI.  An Installshield engine is also installed at this time.  Within the temp folder is an si_install.txt file which gives hints on how this can be installed silently.  Attempting to create a direct transform of the MSI file for installation was not possible which seemed to be due to the interoperation of the simfundclient.exe (setup.exe) and the vendors MSI custom actions.  Certain choices during the installation can be set to copy (possibly large amounts of) data from a network location to the client.  This can cause the installation to take a long time.

MSCI Barra Aegis - App-V error

MSCI Barra Aegis 4.2 is a vendor application that has an MSI installation.  It is not well designed software though, and among other things writes settings into the win.ini file.

We attempted to create an App-V package for this software as initially it appeared to be a good sequencing candidate.  Problems occured however, during runtime and the operation of its graphics generation.  When installed normally certain operations would generate graphical representations of data within the application.  A "graphics engine" called GSW32.exe gets installed to C:\Windows\Syswow64 (W7 64-bit) and is called upon to generate graphics.  It launches as a process in the background and the process closes again afterwards.  When running within the bubble the application failed to launch the GSW32.exe and caused the error shown: "Graph Control" "Failed to open Graphics Server".  It was possible to workaround the problem  by prelaunching the GSW32.exe process however this was not a viable solution because the GSW32.exe did not shut itself down when the application was closed.  This meant that the bubble persisted in perpetuity.  Post run scripts were unable to manage the shutdown of the GSW32.exe process.  Other options were attempted such as providing GSW32.exe in the application folder and ensuring paths were correct but no solution was found.

Genesys ActiveX Interface for Desktop Tookit 7.2.000.00 on Windows 7 64bit

Sounds straighforward but the install can easily break.  The quality of the MSI is debatable.

The media was composed of
setup.exe
setup.msi
setup.cab
read_me.html
ip_description.xml

Copy the media to a folder on the C:
Set the setup.exe for Windows XP SP3 compatibility.
Run the setup.exe
Choose both installation feature options (documentation and libraries)
Change the Destination Folder to C:\Program Files (x86)\GCTI\ActiveX Interface for Desktop Tookit, in this step it is important to add the (x86) piece in otherwise a failure occurs.

Lotus Notes 8.51 Eclipse Fixpack5

The fixpack5 setup.exe is a common Installshield type exe that calls a fix.msi.  The command line for the exe can be constucted as follows to pass the required MSI parameters properly

setup.exe /s /v"/qb-! /l*v %temp%\fixpack5.log"

note the quotes enclosing the parameters after the /v.

Alternatively calling msi directly can also work with the following

msiexec /i fix.msi /qb-! SETUPEXEDIR=<folder containing setup.exe> /l*v %temp%\fixpack5.log