As you plan your migration to any of Microsoft’s latest OS and Office solutions, how great would it be to get a quick and accurate assessment of how best to use our technology with the hardware and software you have today? Want to know whether your current hardware is ready for Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista? Need server consolidation and workload placement recommendations for Hyper-V or Virtual Server 2005 R2? How about an application virtualization candidate recommendation report for Microsoft Application Virtualization? With the new Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator (MAP) tool you can do that and more, all from a single box on your network - no client agent required. If you’re interested in learning more, I included the official intro and a link below:

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The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator (MAP) is the expanded version of the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment solution accelerator (WVHA). This new version of the network-wide assessment tool gives you not only the original capability of hardware inventory and assessment for desktops, but also expanded features including server migration recommendation with Windows Server 2008, virtualization workload placements for server consolidation with Hyper-V or Virtual Server 2005 R2, and application virtualization recommendations with Microsoft Application Virtualization.

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning tool is based on agent-less infrastructure scanning technology that makes it easier to set up the inventory without the requirement of installing any software agents on each machine being inventoried. In addition, this tool can generate localized desktop readiness reports in North American English, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese.

To continue reading and to download the tool, visit http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/28/the-microsoft-assessment-and-planning-solution-accelerator.aspx

Introduction

Process Monitor is a troubleshooting and data collection tool used by many systems administrators as well as Microsoft’s support organization. The goal of this post is to help you gain hands-on experience using this valuable troubleshooting tool and subsequently to facilitate progress towards resolving virtualization issues with your apps should they be encountered.

Most of the content in this document consists of three troubleshooting examples that represent three common types of issues that you may encounter. The first example provides Process Monitor basics, including the critically important filtering capabilities of the tool. The two subsequent examples further utilize the techniques described in the first example. Please note that example two and three do not repeat detailed instructions that are presented in example one. In other words, don't skip example one.

Much of the information presented here comes from various sources available via Microsoft’s public sites; it is just packaged and presented in a different way. Resource links are provided at the end of this document.

Process Monitor Defined

Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time File System, Registry and Process/Thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon. Its uniquely powerful features make Process Monitor a core utility for system troubleshooting.

The Sysinternals web site was created in 1996 by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell to host their advanced system utilities and technical information. Microsoft acquired Sysinternals in July, 2006.

Process Monitor Requirements

OS Requirements: Windows 2000 SP4 with Update Rollup 1, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 or Windows Vista

Process Monitor Enhancements over Filemon and Regmon

• Configurable boot time logging of all operations
• Non-destructive filters allow you to set filters without losing data
• Can log data to a file instead of in process virtual memory
• Configurable and moveable columns for any event property
• Advanced logging architecture scales to tens of millions of captured events, gigabytes of log data
• Monitoring of process and thread startup and exit, including exit status codes
• Monitoring of image (DLL and kernel-mode device driver) loads
• More data captured for operation input and output parameters
• Capture of thread stacks make it possible to identify the root cause of an operation
• Reliable capture of process details, including image path, command line, user and session ID
• Filters can be set for any data field, including fields not configured as columns
• Process tree tool shows relationship of all processes referenced in a trace
• Native log format preserves all data for loading in a different Process Monitor instance
• Process tooltip for easy viewing of process image information
• Detail tooltip allows convenient access to formatted data that doesn't fit in the column
• Cancellable search

Installation Instructions and Launch Experience

You do not install Process Monitor. You simply download the zip file, extract the zip file contents (EULA.txt, procmon.chm, procmon.exe) to a folder of your choice, and double click on Procmon.exe to launch the tool. When Process Monitor launches you may need to grant permission to run the tool depends on the User Account Control setting running on the computer. Process Monitor can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreads/processmonitor.mspx.

As soon as Process Monitor appears it will start capturing File, Registry, and Process/Thread information. To stop or start data capturing activity, click on the “Capture” button, shown below:

Troubleshooting Example 1 - Registry Settings Search

(Can be done on any OS that supports Process Monitor)

There are times when you want to identify where in the registry that application settings are stored. Knowing where in the registry this information is stored will allow you do things like scan all computers in the environment for a setting that should be in place. If the setting is not there on a particular computer you can target the computer for subsequent mitigation activity.

To demonstrate how Process Monitor can be used to identify where application settings are stored we will use Notepad.exe. Specifically, we want to identify where in the registry Font and Font Size settings are stored for the Notepad application.

Data Capture Steps:

1. Launch Process Monitor (procmon.exe) by double clicking it

2. Make sure Process Monitor is set to capture data; it should be by default. You can determine if Process Monitor is collecting data via the following ways:

a. Check that the “Capture” button does not have a red “X” over it. If it does have a red “X” over it simply click the capture button once to remove the “X”. This button is a toggle switch that will stop and start the capture of data.

b. Check that events are being captured by viewing status information in the lower left corner of Process Monitor. If the tool is capturing data, the numbers displayed as “Showing ‘X’ of ‘Y’ events” will be incrementing upward.

3. Launch Notepad

4. Enter some text into the Notepad document

5. Click on the Format menu and then on the Font menu item

a. In the Font window change the Font to “Batang”
b. In the Font window change the Size to “28”
c. Click on the “Ok” button

6. Save the Notepad document as Example1.txt

7. Close Notepad

8. Stop Process Monitor capture activity by clicking on the “Capture” button shown above in step 2a (the icon should now show an “X” over the magnifying glass)

At this point we have captured File, Registry, and Process/Thread activity during a Font and Font Size change in Notepad.exe in addition to all other activity occurring on the machine during the capture period. As such, we no longer need Notepad running and we do not need Process Monitor to capture any more data. That is why we closed Notepad and stopped Process Monitor from capturing additional data.

Data Review Steps:

The goal of this review is to identify where Notepad.exe stores Font and Font Size information in the registry. Process Monitor captures a lot of data in a short period of time; over a hundred thousand events can be captured in under a minute. Thankfully, the filtering capabilities of Process Monitor will allow us to quickly zone in on the data we are looking for. The real troubleshooting value of Process Monitor is realized via filtering.

1. Since we are only interested in Registry information, we will filter out File and Process information by deselecting the “Show File System Activity” and “Show Process and Thread Activity” buttons. Simply click on these buttons, which function like toggle switches.

Notice that once you deselect File and Process information, the display window only shows operations of type “Reg…” under the Operations column. You can toggle File and Process information on and off and not worry about losing any captured data. All filtering in Process Monitor is non-destructive.

2. You can filter information in two ways. One way is to filter the displayed capture data on the fly. You do this by moving over a line item in the display area and right clicking. This brings up a floating menu that allows you to “Include” and/or “Exclude" displayed data.

In this case, we know we are looking for a Process Name of Notepad.exe. So, right click over any line item that has something other than “Notepad.exe” under the “Process Name” column and select “Exclude” in the floating menu. A subsequent floating window appears that displays a list of the column names; select “Process Name” from this list. The result is that all line items with the Process Name you highlighted via right clicking disappear from the display window. Do this for several other Process Names other than “Notepad.exe”.

3. The second way to filter is to use the “Process Monitor Filter” window. This window allows you to review existing filters, remove existing filters and to add new filters. Click on the “Filter” menu on the toolbar and then on the “Filter…” menu item to launch the “Process Monitor Filter” window.

• Select “Process Name” from the Column list box
• Select “is” from the Relation list box
• Type “Notepad.exe” in the Value text box
• Select “Include” from the Action list box
• Click on the Add button
• Click on Apply and OK

The resulting displayed windows will only show registry information for Notepad.exe; still a lot of data, but we are getting closer.

4. Now, we know we are looking for some type of registry operation that sets or writes a value, specifically the Font and Font size values. So, per the instructions in step 2 above, perform on the fly filtering to exclude operations circled below:

In short, right click over “RegOpenKey”, click “Exclude”, and click “Operation”. Repeat this process for the other three operations shown above (RegQueryValue, RegCloseKey, and RegEnumValue).

5. This should leave us with a relatively small set of captured data in the display window. Scroll through the remaining data to find an Operation called “RegSetValue”; this operation sounds appropriate. So, perform on the fly filtering, by right clicking on a “RegSetValue” line item, but instead of clicking on “Exclude” click on “Include”, and then on “Operation”.

6. With only registry information for the RegSetValue operation of the Notepad.exe process showing in the display window, we have really narrowed our search down. Now, scroll through the displayed data and pay attention to the “Detail” column and the “Path” column. While scrolling through the data, you will notice a registry path that looks appropriate (HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad) and will find the word Batang associated with the IfFaceName key.

7. To go to the registry location identified under the Path column, highlighted above, right click on the path and click on the “Jump To…” menu item. The Registry Editor will open and you will find all of the format settings for Notepad including IfFaceName (Font) and iPointSize (Font Size).

8. Before closing Process Monitor reset the filters by clicking on the “Filter” menu in the toolbar and then on “Reset Filter”.

You have completed Example 1, congratulations.

Troubleshooting Example 2 – Registry Permissions

(Example must be done on a Vista machine)

Sometimes incorrect permissions on registry keys can prevent users from running an application or a utility. If permissions on a registry key are the cause of an application launch failure, uninstalling and reinstalling may not solve the problem. Using Process Monitor to identify the real cause of the application launch failure may save considerable time and frustration.

To demonstrate how Process Monitor can be used to identify what is preventing an application from launching we will use PsList.exe. PsList is a tool that lets you view detailed information about processes. You will need to download PsList to work through this example. The tool is available via the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/PsList.mspx

PsList Setup

1. Download PsList via the link above and save it to “C:\temp”; note the download is a zip file.

2. Extract the zip file contents to its default location – “C:\temp\PsTools”

Problem Setup:

For this demonstration, you need to make sure that the “Authenticated Users” group has no permissions on the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib.

1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib

3. Right click on the Perflib key and click on the “Permissions…” menu item

4. Review the list of “Groups or user names” to see if “Authenticated Users” is listed

a. If “Authenticated Users” is listed, highlight it and then click on the Remove button.
b. If “Authenticated Users” is not listed, do nothing

5. Close out of the registry editor.

Data Capture Steps:

1. Launch Process Monitor (procmon.exe) by double clicking it

2. Make sure Process Monitor is capturing data

3. Open a Command window

4. In the Command window type “C:\temp\PsTools\PsList”, without the quotes and hit Enter

Notice the result “Failed to take process snapshot on <computername>.

5. Minimize the command window and stop Process Monitor from capturing any more data.

Data Review Steps:

The goal of this review is to identify why PsList is failing to run. Process Monitor captures a lot of data in a short period of time; over a hundred thousand events can be captured in under a minute. Thankfully, the filtering capabilities of Process Monitor will allow us to quickly zone in on the data we are looking for. The real troubleshooting value of Process Monitor is realized via filtering.

At this point, we do not know where the problem resides. Unlike the Notepad example where we knew we were looking for Registry information, we will not be turning off any of the three major groups of data (File System, Registry, Process and Thread).

1. Since we know the process name we want to isolate (PsList.exe), let’s apply a filter via the Process Monitor Filter window to only show us PsList.exe.

• Select “Process Name” from the Column selector list box
• Select “is” from the Relation selector list box
• Type “PsList.exe” in the Value text box
• Select “Include” from the Action list box
• Click on the Add button
• Click on Apply and OK

2. Looking at display data we still see hundreds of events. If you look at the “Results” column you will see numerous types including a lot that are “Success”. Given that our application is failing to launch, we can safely assume that a result of Success is not what we are looking for. So, filter out all event Results that are Success via on the fly filtering. Right click over a line item that has Success under the Result column, click on Exclude, and then on Result.

3. This now leaves us with a little under one hundred events currently displayed. Manually scroll through the data and look from something that looks suspicious… You should see about five line items that have “Access Denied” under the Result column. Among all of the other events, this is most promising. So, filter out all other Result types via on the fly filtering. Right click over a line item that has Access Denied under the Result column, click on Include, and then on Result.

4. Review the details for the remaining display data. You will notice that the Operation being attempted is “RegOpenKey” and that the key in question is listed under the Path column: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib

5. Right click on the Path HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib and click on “Jump Too…”. This will open the Registry Editor and take us to the Perflib key.

6. Right click on the Perflib key, click on “Permissions…” and add “Authenticated Users” back, with Read permission. Close out of the Registry Editor.

7. Go back to the Command window and try running PsList again by typing “C:\temp\PsTools\PsList.exe”. It should now run without error.

8. Before closing Process Monitor reset the filters by clicking on the “Filter” menu in the toolbar and then on “Reset Filter”.

You have completed Example 2, congratulations.

Troubleshooting Example 3 – File Permissions

(Example must be done on a Vista machine)

Sometimes incorrect permissions on files can prevent users from running an application or a utility. If permissions on a file are the cause of an application launch failure, uninstalling and reinstalling may not solve the problem. Additionally, sometimes the errors messages generated during the application launch failure can be misleading. Using Process Monitor to identify the real cause of the application launch failure may save considerable time and frustration.

To demonstrate how Process Monitor can be used to identify what is preventing an application from launching we will use PurblePlace.exe. Purble Place is a game that comes with Windows Vista and is rated “E” for everyone.

Problem Setup:

For this demonstration, you need to make sure that the “Users” group has no permissions on the file PurblePlace.dll.

1. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Purble Place”

2. Right click on the PurblePlace.dll and click on Properties. Then, click on the Security tab and the Edit button.

3. Review the list of “Groups or user names” to see if “Users” is listed

a. If “Users” is listed, highlight it and then click on the Remove button. Then, click on the Apply and OK buttons. Lastly, close out of the Properties window.
b. If “Users” is not listed, click on the Cancel button and close out of the Properties window.

4. Close Windows Explorer.

Data Capture Steps:

6. Launch Process Monitor (procmon.exe) by double clicking it

7. Make sure Process Monitor capturing data

8. Launch Purble Place by clicking on Start, Games, and Purble Place. The following error should be generated:

This is an example of a misleading error message, because the file does exist.

9. Stop Process Monitor from capturing any more data.

Data Review Steps:

The goal of this review is to identify why Purple Place is failing to run. Based on the error message that was generated, it appears that PurblePlace.dll is missing. We will review the data Process Monitor captured to uncover the truth. Process Monitor captures a lot of data in a short period of time; over a hundred thousand events can be captured in under a minute. Thankfully, the filtering capabilities of Process Monitor will allow us to quickly zone in on the data we are looking for. The real troubleshooting value of Process Monitor is realized via filtering.

At this point, we do not know where the problem resides. Unlike the Notepad example where we knew we were looking for Registry information in the beginning, we will not be turning off any of the three major groups of data (File System, Registry, Process and Thread).

1. Since the error message specified the file name “PurblePlace.dll”, let’s apply a filter via the Process Monitor Filter window to only show us events related to it.

• Select “Path” from the Column selector list box
• Select “contains” from the Relation selector list box
• Type “PurblePlace.dll” in the Value text box
• Select “Include” from the Action list box
• Click on the Add button
• Click on Apply and OK

2. As you can see from the resulting display data under the Path column, PurblePlace.dll was found. You also see that the application is getting an Access Denied result when it tries to do a Generic Read; sounds like a permission problem and not a missing file problem.

3. Let’s go fix the permissions of PurblePlace.dll. To do this, right click under the Path column on a line that shows the PurblePlace.dll and click on “Jump Too…”.

4. Right click on the PurblePlace.dll and click on Properties. Then, click on the Security tab and the Continue button (once more depending on the machine’s User Account Control settings).

5. In the Permissions windows click on the Add button, then type “Users”, and click OK. Lastly, click on Apply and OK

6. Now try launching Purble Place by clicking on Start, Games, and Purble Place. It should run without error.

7. Before closing Process Monitor reset the filters by clicking on the “Filter” menu in the toolbar and then on “Reset Filter”.

You have completed Example 3, congratulations.

Process Monitor / Sysinternals Resources

Webcast - Advanced Windows Troubleshooting with Process Monitor: https://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032345496&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Process Monitor: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/processesandthreads/processmonitor.mspx

Process Monitor Forum: http://forum.sysinternals.com/

Windows Sysinternals: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

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As you can see, Process Monitor can not only help troubleshoot regular application related issues but is invaluable when troubleshooting sequencing issues using Microsoft Application Virtualization (aka SoftGrid).

Enjoy!

Steven Rouleau | Technical Account Manager

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/24/process-monitor-hands-on-labs-and-examples.aspx

Here's a heads-up on a Microsoft Application Virtualization KB article we recently published regarding a Java error you may receive when sequencing Vignette Business Integration Studio:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=945623
Error message when you try to sequence Vignette Business Integration Studio in Microsoft SoftGrid: "java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/oberon/ide/ConsoleStream"
Softgrid for Terminal Server EN
MDOP
EN-US

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/23/new-knowledge-base-articles-for-1-6-through-1-12.aspx

Today at the Virtualization Deployment Summit, we announced expanded support for virtualizing Microsoft Office System 2003 and 2007 using both Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 and SoftGrid Application Virtualization 4.2.  This is great news for IT professionals and information workers, because it means that any version of Microsoft Office that is still supported by Microsoft can be virtualized! Running multiple versions of Office side-by-side on the same device eases Office deployment, which keeps costs down, reduces downtime and enables mobile workers to get the same level of rich Office functionality they expect while at their desks. Additionally, delivering Office applications through Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 and SoftGrid Application Virtualization 4.2  allows companies to enable hot-desking scenarios for information workers. This means that workers can now get the rich user experience they need to get their job done from any PC in the organization, and IT professionals can more easily migrate users or replace PCs as needed.

Keep in mind that Office 2007 was not designed for virtualization, so there are some features that will not work in a virtualized environment. Find out more about best practices and limitations at www.windowsvista.com/optimizeddesktop.

Depending on the usage scenario, we recommend that customers install Office 2007 on their client machines to ensure access to all of the product features, and use virtualization for older versions of Office in cases where they need to run multiple versions of office at the same time.  Details can be found at www.microsoft.com/virtualization.

To find out more Windows Client news coming out of the Virtualization Deployment Summit, visit the Windows Vista Team Blog.

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Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/22/news-about-microsoft-office-support-of-softgrid-outlined-at-virtualization-deployment-summit.aspx

Here's a heads up on a new Knowledge Base article for sequencing Visual Studio 2005 that we published last week:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=946343
How to sequence Visual Studio 2005 in Microsoft SoftGrid
SoftGrid for Windows Desktop
EN-US

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/12/new-kb-article-how-to-sequence-visual-studio-2005-in-microsoft-softgrid.aspx

Here are the latest Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization Knowledge Base articles, hot off the presses:

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http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947666
A McAfee antivirus program may detect the Sftfsxp.sys SoftGrid file as a Backdoor-BAC Trojan horse program
Softgrid for Terminal Server EN
EN-US

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947667
You cannot use SoftGrid Sequencer to upgrade an existing 2007 Office package to 2007 Office suites Service Pack 1
Softgrid for Terminal Server EN
EN-US

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/18/new-knowledge-base-articles-for-1-27-through-2-2.aspx

Over on the Virtual World blog my buddy Justin Zarb posted an awesome write-up on his latest adventures with Dynamic Suite Composition in the Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization 4.5 beta.  If you're doing any testing with this or are just curious about how it works, you owe it to yourself to check it out:

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So it was late one weekend when I started to build my 4.5 test lab. The goal was to do it with every future technology we had. So I downloaded every beta I could possibly find..... Windows 2008 RC1 (x64 off course!), November SQL 2008 CTP, November Microsoft Application Virtualization.... and there were a few other bits also to add!

Anyway one delay lead to another and for the time being that's on hold but do expect the blog post on that environment and the gotcha's and resolutions I went through to get it up and working!

So I ended up quickly building a Windows 2003 with SQL 2005 SP2 and XP/Vista environment with the current client 4.5.0.608 build and server 4.5.0.606.

It was a really enjoyable experience, everything is up and running. I can do all the new cool features and they seem to be working well! So you should expect to see little nuggets starting to pop up!

One of the things that I was keen to get working was DSC. I wanted to see what plugin/addin I could nest into my Office 2007 suite! ......... I looked around my little office and laying on the corner of my desk in a dusty pile of CDs was a copy of TechSmiths Snagit product!

I went ahead and sequenced a fresh copy of Office 2007 on the new sequence.......

To continue reading see http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld/archive/2008/01/30/beta-4-5-getting-dynamic-suite-composition-dsc-to-work-client-build-4-5-0-608-server-build-4-5-0-606.aspx.

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/13/beta-4-5-getting-dynamic-suite-composition-dsc-to-work.aspx

Hello everyone! I thought I would drop a quick note to let you all know that we have a new trial guide option posted to the web at the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AA787491-8D08-4D2F-8960-9E9F00226C7E&displaylang=en.

The existing MS App Virtualization 4.5 Beta Trial Guide which walks the user through setting up and testing a complete streaming and virtualization infrastructure is still available at this link, however we just added a separate trial guide focused on standalone mode only. This new guide was created in response to the fields need for a simpler demonstration of the technology. These trial guides provide step by step directions for experiencing application virtualization based upon the aspects of Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 you would like to review:

• The standalone trial guide will walk you through the creation of a virtualized application and execution of the application on the client without the need to setup any infrastructure. This is the simplest trial of Microsoft Application Virtualization.

• The full trial guide walks the user through the same application virtualization capabilities as the standalone guide; however it also includes the steps to setup the publishing and streaming infrastructure options as well.

Once you have completed the setup steps from either guide, you will be able to test the benefits of Microsoft Application Virtualization in your own environment. You can continue to send out just the link above as it includes the instructions to get the beta software from Microsoft Connect and then set it up for a useful test environment.

Enjoy!

Chad Jones | Senior Product Manager

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/28/new-microsoft-application-virtualization-formerly-softgrid-4-5-beta-standalone-trial-guide-is-now-available.aspx

We received a number of questions regarding the upgrade process of the various SoftGrid components, so I thought I’d post some general guidelines and recommended best practices we usually try to follow. This information was originally compiled for a 3.2 to 4.1 upgrade scenario but the same SoftGrid Client upgrade process should apply for 4.2 as well.

Always be sure to read the release notes for the version you’re upgrading to for more information regarding special steps needed for your specific upgrade path.

This article addresses the upgrading of an existing v3.2.2.8 SoftGrid environment to version 4.1.1.302.  This article assumes that the reader has already read the product release notes:

Microsoft SoftGrid 4.1 Service Pack 1 release notes (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938497)

The following is a list of supported upgrade paths between versions:

• v4.0.x to v4.1.1.302 (SP1)
• v4.1.x to v4.1.1.302 (SP1)
• v3.2.2.8 to v4.1.1.302 (SP1)
• v3.x to v3.2.2.8

The following is the supported order in which to upgrade the various SoftGrid
components:

• Upgrade SoftGrid Clients prior to upgrading SoftGrid server
• Upgrade SoftGrid Sequencer to same version as SoftGrid client
• Newer clients are compatible with prior SoftGrid Server versions
• SoftGrid Packages compatible, there are some exceptions

Note: Only practices that have been tested and verified (i.e., work properly) are "supported". If a particular practice has not been factored into the regression test which occurs prior to product release, the practice is deemed "unsupported".

Avoid known issues by reviewing considerations below prior to performing an upgrade:

SoftGrid Client/Sequencer upgrade:

1. Perform a test upgrade on a copy of the production SoftGrid environment (server, database, content and client).

2. v3.2.2.8 SoftGrid Client (and prior) cannot be upgraded (to v4.x) or removed via SMS or GPO. The v3.2.2.8 Client can be removed via SchTask - if run under a user account in local administrators.

3. v4.x SoftGrid Clients can be upgraded to v4.1.1.302 via SMS, GPO or SchTasks.exe. SoftGrid Client Installation properties are documented in 4_0_Client_Install_Guide.pdf. See "Installation arameters" on pg 10.

4. Regardless of upgrade method a SoftGrid client upgrade to v4.1.1.302 will require a system restart.

5. Sample command line client upgrade: “msiexec /qn /i softgrid-wd-setup.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus IS_MINOR_UPGRADE=1 /L*vx c:\4.1.1.302.Upgrade.log”

6. Most properties cannot be changed by an upgrade. For example an upgrade cannot change where the product is installed. (e.g., C:\Program Files\Softricity\)

SoftGrid Virtual Application Server/Database upgrade:

1. Perform a test upgrade on a copy of production SoftGrid environment (server, database, content and client). (Note: With 4.x we are much stricter on the versioning of the SFT files and associated OSD’s, therefore it is essential you perform this test outside your production environment!)

2. Please review the sft-server.log and windows eventlogs of your production SoftGrid server environment for any issues prior to performing the upgrade.

3. Upgrades from SoftGid versions prior to v3.2.2.8 have not been fully tested. We recommend a v3.2.2.8 upgrade prior to a v4.x upgrade.

4. Presence of a v4.x sequence in the v3.x SoftGrid database will cause the upgrade to fail. In this situation remove the v4.x Sequences using the SoftGrid Server Management Console.

5. The following products have been discontinued – Softricity Zero Touch and Softricity SMS Connector (replaced by MSI utility)

Issues that may occur during an SoftGrid Virtual Application Server upgrade:

Symptom: SoftGrid Virtual Application Server upgrade fails when upgrading from v3.2.2.8.
Error: The installation program encountered an error attempting to execute a database statement. Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'package_id', table 'SOFTRICITY.dbo.APPLICATIONS'; column does not allow nulls. UPDATE fails.

Explanation: The database changed between v3.x and v4.x and now includes packages. Thus, the upgrade must import packages from Sequence files. This error occurs when
a package import fails.

Solution:
1. Remove sequences created with the v4.x Sequencer.
2. Remove Sequences with embedded spaces in the shortcut name.
3. Take out spaces which occur in shortcut names. Do this using the SoftGrid Sequencer if possible, not notepad.

==========

Symptom: The installation program was unable to create the required IIS virtual directory
Error: DCOM errors in System events for {A9E69610-B80D-11D0-B9B9-00A0C922E750} or {61738644-F196-11D0-9953-00C04FD919C1}

Solution: Grant “Network Services” local activation perms on:
- "IIS Admin Service"
- "IIS WAMREG"

==========

Symptom: Upgrade completes but there is no SoftGrid management console.

Explanation: Windows XP SP2 or Windows 2003 SP1 (or better) is required in order to install the v4.x SoftGrid Server Management Console.

Solution: Install the SGMC on a system which meets minimum requirements and connect to the SoftGrid server.

Paul Freitas | SoftGrid Support Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/03/25/softgrid-upgrade-general-guidance-and-recommended-practices.aspx

We have a couple new Knowledge Base articles that published the week of February 10.  Check 'em out:

=======

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947666
A McAfee antivirus program may detect the Sftfsxp.sys SoftGrid file as a Backdoor-BAC Trojan horse program
Softgrid for Terminal Server EN
EN-US

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947667
You cannot use SoftGrid Sequencer to upgrade an existing 2007 Office package to 2007 Office suites Service Pack 1
Softgrid for Terminal Server EN
EN-US

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/27/new-knowledge-base-articles-for-2-10-through-2-9.aspx

Hello everyone!  A lot of people have speculated that Citrix and Microsoft would be at odds over the acquisition of Softricity SoftGrid as it seemed to pit the two partners against each other over application virtualization.  However, working in conjunction with Microsoft, Citrix has just posted a new blog entry which outlines how the two products continue to interoperate, bringing the best of both solutions together to maximize the customer management experience.

http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=19235202

Microsoft also has a KB article and white paper on integrations between the two solutions:

KB931576 - How to publish a SoftGrid-enabled application in Citrix MetaFrame (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931576)

Best Practices for Integrating Microsoft® SoftGrid® Application Virtualization with Terminal Services and Citrix® Presentation Server®:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/4/f/64f5dc66-832a-4df3-baf4-3b4e7fb9e500/SGAV%20White%20Paper%20-%20Terminal%20Svcs%20and%20Citrix.pdf

Enjoy!

Chad Jones | Senior Product Manager

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/20/citrix-publishes-faq-on-microsoft-application-virtualization-and-citrix-xenapp-formerly-presentation-server-working-together.aspx

I am pleased to announce public availability of SoftGrid 4.1 SP1 and 4.2 HFRU2.

This cumulative update for SoftGrid v4.1 SP1 and v4.2 provides the latest updates to SoftGrid.  In addition to stability improvements, this update contains the following changes:

• The log level of the "Error reading from socket" message is now Debug. Therefore, the message does not appear in the Sft-server.log and the Windows event log at the default log level when you use SoftGrid Virtual Application Servers together with a hardware load balancer. 
• SoftGrid Sequencer now preserves OSD GUIDs when it opens SoftGrid v3.2 sequencings for a package upgrade.
• Intermittent "0xBE" Stop errors that occur at system start on multiprocessor computers have been addressed.

New capabilities

This update provides the following new capabilities:

• SoftGrid now supports deployment of Virtual Application .msi files that are generated by the MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization to SoftGrid clients that are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server and that have Terminal Services enabled.
• SoftGrid 4.2 HFRU2 now supports Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1).

Please Note:  The 4.1 SP1 KB article incorrectly identifies Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) as a new capability of 4.1 SP1 HFRU2.  We're in the process of changing the article now so you should see it updated soon.

SoftGrid 4.1 SP1 HFRU2 Bits: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938497

SoftGrid 4.2 HFRU2 Bits: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941408

Jim Boyles | Senior Program Manager

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/19/softgrid-4-1-sp1-and-4-2-hfru2-now-available.aspx

Hello everyone.  We are happy to announce some additional guidance on Sequencing with Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization from our friends over at Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS).  These people work day in and day out with our customers on some pretty interesting scenarios and have create this guide based on their experiences.  It covers some of the basics on how to setup a sequencing station, some Sequencing examples as well as advanced Sequencing techniques, OSD scripting and more!  You can find the document at the link below. 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=1C6A73B8-5DA8-4A1A-838B-A41CA492C488&displaylang=en

Happy Sequencing!

The SoftGrid and MCS Team

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/05/mcs-sequencing-guidelines.aspx

Are you new to Microsoft Application Virtualization (aka SoftGrid) and looking for a quick and easy way to ramp up your skills? If so then these virtual labs are a great place to start. In as little as an hour or two you can use these to evaluate and test many of the features and concepts through a series of guided, hands-on exercises. Sure you can read the guides and manuals and all that stuff (you do read all those, right?) but if you’re anything like me there’s no substitute for getting your hands dirty. Plus a little practice now using these labs can save you a ton of time troubleshooting mistakes down the road. Check them out:

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TechNet Virtual Lab: SoftGrid Application Virtualization- Sequencing (basics)

After completing this lab, you will be better able to publish an application in the SoftGrid environment, stream and test the application, and perform an active upgrade of the application.

For more information see http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032366074&culture=en-US

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TechNet Virtual Lab: Microsoft SoftGrid Virtual Application Advanced Sequencing

In this lab, you will walk-through performing a Virtual File System (VFS) installation of an application as well as a sequencing of a web-based plug-in. Before working on this lab, you should be familiar with the basic concepts of the SoftGrid environment.

For more information see http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032345999&culture=en-US

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TechNet Virtual Lab: Using Microsoft SoftGrid Sequencer to Package and Install an Application and Implement an Updated Package using Active Upgrade

After completion of this lab, you will be more familiar with performing a standard sequence of an application, publishing the application to test in the SoftGrid system, and also performing an active upgrade to the application. Before working on this lab, you should be familiar with the basic concepts of the SoftGrid environment.

For more information see http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032346000&culture=en-US

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TechNet Virtual Lab: SoftGrid Application Virtualization- Publishing

After completing this lab, you will be better able to publish an application in the SoftGrid environment, stream and test the application, and perform an active upgrade of the application.

For more information see http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032366076&culture=en-US

======

TechNet Virtual Lab: Microsoft SoftGrid General Troubleshooting

In this lab, you will learn how to troubleshoot sequenced applications using common utilities. After completing this lab you will be able to create a package troubleshooting environment, use File Monitor to repair a package that is missing file(s), and use Process Monitor to add registry keys.

For more information see http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032367800&culture=en-US

======

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/02/01/microsoft-application-virtualization-hands-on-labs.aspx

Hello All,

My name is Shelley Lau, a PM from the AppVirt team.  This is the first blog entry from the engineering team in 2008, so I thought I would start with a new year greeting (in the languages which I know). 

Happy New Year

Bonne Année 

新年快樂 / 新年快乐

…

I certainly don’t know as many languages that AppVirt 4.5 will support.  Now, even without reading title, you could probably guess today’s topic is about Globalization/Localization.   As the product team continues to enhance the products with new features and improvements, we finally have the opportunity to add globalization and localization supports, which are critical and will be available in the 4.5 release.  Our product will better fulfill the needs of our customer base worldwide.  It will help improve productivity by minimizing the language barriers and expand the deployment to reach out to non-English speaking locations in the enterprise.  Speaking from my first-hand experience, I can say that this has a great appeal to and received positive response from customers and partners in the Asia (incl. Japan) and Europe market.  For example, one of the customers I’ve been working closely with through the pilot program (TAP) in Germany has offices all over Europe and a few in Middle East.   This customer has spearheaded the deployment of AppVirt English-only 4.5 public beta to a number of branches in Europe and tried out the globalization capability.  As soon as AppVirt localized version is available, they will be in full swing to deploy AppVirt of different languages. 

In the following, I’ll highlight what this feature is and supports and what’s not.  Finally, I’ll provide a quick tip about deploying the beta version to Dutch OS.

So, you may ask, what does globalization/localization do or mean to 4.5?  In fact, they are technically different. 

For globalization, simply put, it’s to enable English version of  AppVirt install and run properly on most of non-English OS (except for certain languages, see next section).  It’s enabled by supporting UNICODE and making the product suitable for all International markets.  AppVirt is language or locale neutral and should have full support for different languages and character scripts, sorting orders, time/date/address formats, various International keyboards and global Input Method Editors (IME), and other locale settings.  This approach is called "single World-Wide binary".  In the context of AppVirt 4.5, it supports the following:

·         English or Non-English Servers can connect to Non-English Data Store regardless of language or locale setting.  For example, the French AppVirt Servers on a French server machines should be able to connect to a Japanese Data Store on the JPN SQL server successfully.

·         English or Non-English AppVirt Client can connect to English or Non-English AppVirt Server.   The communication between the Client and the Server is standardized and independent to the language of the Server or the Client.  A good example would be the mobile users scenario in which users travel with their laptops to other branch/regional offices.  Regardless of the different languages of the Server running in the offices, AppVirt client should continue receive the same expected service.

·         Sequencer can sequence applications of any supported language as long as the sequencing is done in proper system environment as per Sequencer requirements.  

·         AppVirt Server can configure and stream package sequenced by AppVirt Sequencer regardless of the language.  This means that the package generated in the sequencing process can be published to any AppVirt Server regardless of its language.  However, please note that neither the Sequencer nor the Server would enhance or alter the language support of the Application itself.  (see next section)

·         English AppVirt can interact correctly with Non-English backend infrastructure.  This means that AppVirt will handle non-English usernames, passwords, file paths, URI, FQDN, machine names

·         English or Non-English AppVirt Client can launch English or Non-English virtualized applications.  AppVirt would not negatively interfere with the ability of English and non-English applications to run on the targeted client machines.   For example, if and only if a locally installed German application can run on an English or Japanese OS, then it will also run if virtualized, regardless of the language of the Client. 

·         Server will properly handle retrieved configurations.  Meaning that Publishing Refresh (fka DC Refresh) will publish the applications correctly using the language of the application.  For example, if the application name is in Japanese, it will show up in Japanese on the user’s desktop of non-Japanese OS, assuming that the client’s OS can handle Japanese language (e.g. the font used by the OS supports Japanese).

·         Sequencer will generate a package with the MUI enablement for MUI enabled applications.  For example, when sequencing Office 2007, during monitoring, a proper language tool needs to be executed and the set of languages should be selected.  This way if the language of the OS matches one of the languages selected for Office sequencing, Office will open up in the same language.

Once the product is globalized, we localize/translate it in additional languages.  In 4.5, AppVirt is localized across 10 languages for the two servers and sequencer and 11 for the client components.  Below is a list of languages we plan to support:

·         Chinese – Simplified

·         Chinese – Traditional

·         French

·         German

·         Italian

·         Japanese

·         Korean

·         (Brazilian) Portuguese

·         Russian

·         Spanish

·         Dutch (Client only)            

For these supported languages, the text and non-text elements in the product are expected to display properly in the same languages as the OS locale setting.  In addition to text in UI components, error messages will also be translated.

What’s not

·     AppVirt is not expected to make the application localized or culture-aware if it’s not already supported. It won’t make the application to work on a culture that the application does not originally support in the locally installation.

·     Doesn’t support any complex scripts or BIDI OS or applications.  Examples of these languages are Hindi, Arabic, and Hebrew

• Doesn’t localize product names, log files, registry entries, database schema definition and Command line switches and outputs
• Doesn’t enable non-language aware applications become language aware
• Doesn’t make a language-specific application become MUI-enabled

Tips

·         If you want to deploy the Client of AppVirt  4.5 Beta on Dutch Vista (SP 1), you would set the system locale is to English or languages other than Dutch or Iberian Portuguese, and set the user locale to Dutch.  This is due to an over-localization issue in Vista SP1 and a glitch in our beta code.  Basically, Vista localized the system account name, “System”, to “Systeem” on Dutch and “Sistema” in Iberian Portugese which wasn’t meant to be localized.

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/16/globalization-localization-in-appvirt-4-5.aspx

We are pleased to announce availability of the  MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization and the SoftGrid HFRU1 release supporting it.

MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=37A9E590-4F55-44AC-93E1-36EB63A09240&displaylang=en

The MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization is a new tool designed to extend virtual application deployment in certain key scenarios. In cases where a computer running Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server is not available, the MSI Utility allows delivery of sequenced applications directly to Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Desktops and Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Terminal Services.

The MSI Utility enables the distribution of virtual applications without streaming. Instead, it uses Windows Installer to load and configure virtual applications. By leveraging this standard format, the MSI Utility achieves Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 platform version-agnostic distribution of virtual applications if supported by organizational Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) systems. As such, the MSI Utility is a stepping stone to the richer deployment options available in Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server 4.5.

The MSI Utility extends application deployment methods to a broad range of ESD systems, including Systems Management Server 2003 and System Center Configuration Manager, as well as other methods such as network shares, removable disks, and memory keys. By using an ESD system to deploy virtualized application packages to disconnected SoftGrid Application Virtualization Desktop Clients, users can run virtualized applications without connecting to a computer running Microsoft System Center Virtual Application Server.

Feature Bullet Summary:

• Deployment of virtual applications via ESD systems
• Deployment of standalone virtual applications via network shares, removable disks, and memory keys

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows XP

This release also includes support for Windows 2003 Terminal Services, which had originally been scheduled for January 2008.

SoftGrid 4.1 SP1 HFRU1 Bits

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938497

SoftGrid 4.2 HFRU1 Bits

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941408

This cumulative update for SoftGrid v4.1 SP1 and v4.2 provides the latest updates to SoftGrid. In addition to stability improvements, this update contains the following changes:

• Improvements to package upgrade when you import upgraded sequencings into the SoftGrid Server Management Console snap-in.

• Improvements to package downgrade operation.

• Improvements to nonpaged pool usage when you sequence large applications.

• Improvements when you sequence applications that use both the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 and the .NET Framework 2.0.

• Improvements to command-line parameter handling of virtualized child processes.

New capabilities

This update also provides the following new capabilities:

• Support for MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization.

• Support for SoftGrid Server components that run under WOW64 in 64-bit versions of Windows.

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck | Manageability Knowledge Engineer

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2008/01/03/the-msi-utility-for-microsoft-application-virtualization-and-hfru1-are-now-available.aspx

In previous releases of Application Virtualization, we required admins to specify an SGBrowser account during install of the server.  This account was used to READ Active Directory (AD) and resolve security groups on behalf of the user installing the Application Virtualization server.  In 4.5, we remove this limitation and no longer require this account since we’re now using Windows Integrated Authentication.

When you install an App Virt Management server, you need an account (any account) with READ Access to AD.  Chances are the account you’re using, to install the server, is in the Domain Users group so you have READ Access by default.

During the server install, you’re asked for a security group whose members will be allowed to administer the App Virt Management server and database.  This is where you enter a previously created AD  group which the user account you are installing under should be a member.  The MS App Virt server performs a READ against AD to resolve the group (using the security context of the user installing the server).  Then you’re asked what group of users are allowed to connect to the App Virt Management Server.  This is the group that’s contained in the Provider Policy.  The MS App Virt Management server, again, performs a READ against AD to resolve this group.

Ok, so now the server is up and is running under the Network Service account (changed from running as System to Network Service in 4.5).  Customers have the opportunity of changing this to an AD service account if they wish.  But let me be clear, the SERVER never uses this account to access AD.  The App Virt Management Server service account is used to access the SQL config DB.

Now, when you bring up the App Virt Management console, you add your packages.  During the ADD, you can set the AD security groups which are allowed access to this package.  If you are now administering the App Virt server with a DIFFERENT account than you used to install the server, no problem.  As long as the account your logged in with and managing the App Virt server is a member of the group allowed to administer the App Virt Management Server and has READ access to AD, you can set permissions on the packages via AD security groups.  Once the administrator sets the proper permissions on the package, we store the Security Group SID in the SQL config DB.  This becomes important when the user launches the app.

Now, when the user clicks on the icon to launch the app (after application publishing has occurred), the App Virt client sends the user’s security token to the App Virt Management server which contains ALL the security groups (listed as SIDs) the user is a member.  The App Virt Management Server will take this token and lookup in the SQL DB to see if the user is allowed access to the application.  If the SID assigned to the package in the DB is contained in the token the client is sending, the client launches the app. 

To recap.  The Application Virtualization Management Server never has to check AD (when authorizing users to access packages) since all the groups (stored as SIDs) acl’d to the packages are stored in the SQL DB.

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/12/18/what-happened-to-the-sg-browser-account.aspx

I recently worked on an interesting issue sequencing Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 and thought you might like hearing what was finally done to resolve it.  Chances are that if you try to sequence FrontPage 2003 you'll run into it, but if you see a similar issue with another application you might want to give the resolution a try to see if it works for that app as well.

Symptom: After sequencing Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, when the application is streamed to a client and a user tries to launch it, you may receive a Windows Installer pop-up window that says "Preparing to install..."  After a few moments the window goes away and FrontPage 2003 launches normally.  Here's a screen shot of the pop-up so you can see what window I'm referring to:

The annoying part is that this happens every time the application is launched!

Solution: If you have a package that exhibits this problem, follow the steps below to resolve it:

1. Install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility on the sequencer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301.
2. From the Sequencer application, open the FrontPage 2003 package using File -> Open for Package Upgrade.
3. Begin monitoring.
4. Once monitoring begins, run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility installed during step 1.
5. The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility will present a dialog box where you can select programs that were installed by Windows Installer.  Select Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 in the Installed Products list to remove the Windows Installer configuration information that is related to FrontPage.
6. Exit the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.
7. Stop monitoring.  (Note that I did not run the application at this point).
8. Advance to the Application phase and launch FrontPage.
9. If you received the error "Cannot load fpsrvutl.dll", start monitoring again and copy the fpsrvutl.dll file in Q:\frtpg2k3.v01\VFS\CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES_COMMON\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\60\BIN to Q:\frtpg2k3.v01\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11.  Note that these were the specific paths I used so although the concept will be the same, your paths may vary from my example above. 
10. Advance to the Application phase and launch FrontPage.  Once you verify that FrontPage launches correctly save your package.

At this point you can roll it out as you normally would and you shouldn't get that annoying Windows Installer window pop up every time FrontPage is launched.

John Behneman

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/12/17/windows-installer-pop-up-when-running-virtualized-frontpage-2003.aspx

I’ve mentioned SFT Explorer in the past and since I know that a lot of you are using it I want to send out an FYI that there’s a new version available.  I posted the summary and features below but for more information and to download the tool click here.  As always, this is not a Microsoft tool and as such we make no warranties or guarantee's, nor does Microsoft support the use of these tools in any way. 

=======

Summary:

You wanted to see what's inside SoftGrid package (SFT) file without using SoftGrid Sequencer?

By using SFT Explorer now you can, it will show all that's inside your SFT package. Files, folders, virtual registry, virtual services ... all! And you can optionally export selected content out of the package, to examine files more closely or to migrate virtual registry settings to another package by importing exported reg-file.

With Virtualized System View™, you can even simulate how that package would look like on your local machine when run with SoftGrid SystemGuard environment up, enabling new type of troubleshooting possibilities when you can clearly see what is virtualized against your local system and in what manner.

With filtering you can quickly find certain filetypes, individual files or to see what files constitute the launch-data for package (files belonging to Feature Block 1 section of file).

By using new Fast package loading -option, even extremely large packages are snap to open with SFT Explorer (with only loss of ability to see individual blocks per files).

Features as of now:

·  Load SFT files - even slightly broken ones
·  View internal filestructure, with regexp-based filtering
·  View virtual registry
·  View virtual services
·  Export files/folders from package's filestructure
·  Export registry entries from Virtual Registry
·  Virtualized System View for package
·  Resolve VFS mappingpaths to local directories
·  View package properties
·  View package history (for 4.x created sequences and up)
·  View Microsoft Application Virtualization (MAV) 4.5 created file/folder ACLs

SFT Explorer can be found at http://www.virtualapp.net/sft-explorer.html.

Enjoy!

J.C. Hornbeck

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/12/12/sft-explorer-1-1-now-available.aspx

If you've ever tried to virtualize Adobe CS3 then I'm betting you ran into the issue below.  Fortunately there is a way to get this to work, it just takes a couple extra steps.  We have a Knowledge Base article coming out about this issue soon but here's the meat of it in case you're battling this today:

======

Problem:

While attempting to sequence Adobe CS3 you may find that it fails with the following error:

"SystemGuard download failed (error code 53256)".

The sft-seq-log.txt also shows the following:

[08/01/2007 16:51:38 VRB VFSX] SxS: Starting SxS public-to-private assembly conversion.
[08/01/2007 16:51:38 ERR VFSX] SxSPrivateAssembly::LoadConfigFile : Load failed.
[08/01/2007 16:51:38 ERR VFSX] SxSPrivateAssembly::LoadConfigFile : Load failed.
[08/01/2007 16:51:40 WRN VFSX] SxSPE::parseUTF : Unsupported UTF format for file Q:\<WhateverMyPathIs>\FileInfo.dll (format # 3).
[08/01/2007 16:51:40 VRB RTSK] Failed to convert public SxS assemblies.
[08/01/2007 16:51:40 ERR RTSK] SystemGuard download failed (error code 53256).
[08/01/2007 16:51:40 ERR RTSK] SystemGuard download failed (error code 53256).

Cause:

The issue is caused by incompatible file manifests for these two files:

FileInfo.dll
VersionCueUI.dll

Resolution:

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Install a third party PE Explorer/Editor application. We will use this to modify the Manifests for each problematic file.

2.. Open Sequencer, set the package Suite Name and Path.

3. Click Begin Monitoring.

4. Install Adobe CS3.

5. Before you click Stop Monitoring, launch the PE Explorer/Editor application you installed in step 1. Locate each instance of FileInfo.dll and VersionCueUI.dll.

6. Open FileInfo.dll within the PE Explorer/Editor application.

7. Choose to edit resources for the file. Navigate to where you can modify Manifest information for the file.

8. There you should find the incompatible data. Copy and paste the following example of valid information for the file Manifest:

<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0"> <dependency> <dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity type="win32" name="Microsoft.VC80.CRT"
version="8.0.50608.0" processorArchitecture="x86"
publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b"></assemblyIdentity>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
</assembly>

9. Repeat steps 6, 7, and 8 for all instances of FileInfo.dll and VersionCueUI.dll.

10. Click Stop Monitoring, and choose the destination to download the virtual environment.

======

Once you complete the steps above you would continue to publish the app the same way you would any other virtual app and so long as everything else is setup correctly it should stream and run just fine. 

Hope this helps!

J.C. Hornbeck

Read more at: http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/12/03/microsoft-application-virtualization-sequencing-adobe-cs3.aspx