Adobe AIR 3.x applications and App-V

AIR apps can be sequenced in App-V, however look out for one aspect which can cause problems.

AIR apps may produce encrypted files in %APPDATA%\Adobe\AIR\ELS

If these are picked in the sequencer during an application launch, then they may cause errors when tested on the client.

This was seen to occur with the Plus Two PresentiaFX 6.7 AIR application.  It cause an error:

EncryptedLocalStore internal error

App-V 5.0 launching cmd.exe in the bubble.

in App-V 4.6 you could do this
sfttray /exe cmd.exe "AppName"

"AppName" was the application name not the package name.


in App-V 5.0 the equivalent is
Method 1 (this gives you an elevated cmd windows inside the bubble)

Open an elevated powershell window then

set-executionpolicy unrestricted
Import-Module AppvClient
Get-AppvClientPackage
$package=Get-AppvClientPackage <PackageName>
Start-AppvVirtualProcess -AppvClientObject $package cmd

Method 2 (this gives you a command windows in the context of the session you launched it in)

Locate the GUID string from the folder structure below C:\ProgramData\App-V (perhaps by searching for a known file)

Select up the directory path in the explorer path windows and copy out the PackageGUID\VersionGUID string.

then cmd.exe /appvve:PackageGUID_VersionGUID

(remembering to replace the \ with a _ in the PackageGUID\VersionGUID string.)

Enabling Oracle Developer Suite 10g for Windows 7 installation

Set the setup.exe for Windows XP compatibility

Set the virtual memory for custom start and maximum levels suitable for the machine e.g. 2048Mb

edit the oraparam.ini file in the media install subfolder.  The [Windows-5.1-required] section delete the line SWAP_SPACE=1535

App-V 5.0 sequencer failures, crashes and hangs

MS Visual SourceSafe 6.0 - app-v 5.0 sequencer hangs when attempting to run setup.exe.  One workaround is to run the setup.exe program then cancel before the Application Compatibility Program prompts you that Visual Studio has compatibility issues running on this version of windows.  Then run the sequencer and run the ACMBOOT.EXE program which does the install of Visual SourceSafe 6.0.

Here is a round up of sequencer failure reasons
http://app2pack.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/possible-reasons-for-app-v-50-sequencer.html


keywords sequencer crash hang

App-V 4.6 to 5.0 changes and differences.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/appv/archive/2012/06/21/introducing-the-app-v-5-0-beta-sequencer-what-has-changed-since-4-6-sp1.aspx

• May not pick up certain kinds of shortcuts like URLs
• The MSI, compression and Security Descriptors are no longer options - they are ON.
• The appv file is zip compatible.
• The inside of the bubble does not look fully virtualised.  For example if you set an environmental variable during sequencing to the Primary Virtual Application Directory (PVAD) C:\Program Files (x86)\AppName  you will see the environmental variable in the bubble but pointing to the C:\ProgramData\Appv\<GUID>\<GUID>\Root location.  C:\Program Files (x86)\AppName cannot be browsed to but is accessible if called directly via a CD command or typed directly into an explorer window.

Later versions may address the above aspects.

Watch out for problems you thought were fixed in 4.6 coming back to get you again in version 5.0.  Here's an example.

Do not revert back to a live running VM image to create a new sequence in App-V 5.0 because the package GUID will be the SAME as any previous sequence you created from that image.  You MUST keep your VM images powered down and boot them to sequence from.  The package GUID seed is only created ONCE at boot time.

http://www.tmurgent.com/TmBlog/?p=1311

Tim Mangan on what you need to know about App-V 5
http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/timmangan/archive/2012/11/01/Mangan-on-what-you-need-to-know-about-microsoft-appv-5.aspx

MSI ProductVersion property field specs

The value of the ProductVersion property is the version of the product in string format. This property is REQUIRED.

The format of the string is as follows:

major.minor.build

The first field is the major version and has a maximum value of 255. The second field is the minor version and has a maximum value of 255. The third field is called the build version or the update version and has a maximum value of 65,535.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa370859(v=vs.85).aspx

App-V 5 Sequencing resources

Nice App-V 5 primer
including how to fix persistent "Pending restart operations detected."
https://www.niallbrady.com/2012/11/12/how-can-i-sequence-applications-using-app-v-version-5-for-configuration-manager-2012-sp1/



MS App-V 5.0 sequencing guide
http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/7/8/F784A197-73BE-48FF-83DA-4102C05A6D44/App-V%205.0%20Sequencing%20Guide.docx

MS App-V 5.0 Sequencer and Client setup
First install:
Install Security Patch Windows6.1-KB2533623-64.msu
Install Powershell 3.0 Windows6.1-KB2506143-64.msu

v5.0 SP3 requires .NET Framework 4.5.1

Disable Defender, Search, Superfetch
Disabled UAC on sequencer, enabled on client
Set Powershell execution policy to unrestricted, enabled App-V scripts
Set proxy and launched IE at least once before taking snapshot
On the snapshots with Office installed, launched all Office apps before snapping
Configured sequencer to not append version number to package file names


Scripting
http://blogs.technet.com/b/appv/archive/2012/12/10/scripting-and-embedded-scripting-for-appv-5-0-dynamic-deployment-and-user-configuration-scripting.aspx

http://www.tmurgent.com/TmBlog/?p=1154

http://www.tmurgent.com/TmBlog/?p=1635


Creating and Managing App-V 5.1 Virtualized Applications
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-desktop-optimization-pack/appv-v5/creating-and-managing-app-v-51-virtualized-applications