Problem/Question

You would like to deploy Microsoft Virtualised applications (AppV)  via LANDesk Management Suite/LANDesk Security Suite (LDMS) and have full control over them.
You would like to test the concept of using virtualised applications with LDMS and the use of them in my environment.

Background

If you do not know anything about AppV or how it is used; it is highly recommended that you read and explore the following Microsoft TechNet webpages on this product
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/appvirtualization/bb508934.aspx

Here is also a good article from Microsoft on setting up a test environment to test the product (Trial Guide) This will also give you some background information on how the product works
http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/7/8/F784A197-73BE-48FF-83DA-4102C05A6D44/App-V%20%205.0%20Trial%20Guide.docx

Solution/Resolution

In this article I am going to provide two ways in which you can use the Microsoft Application virtualisation software with LDMS. The AppV product I will using is version 5 and the LDMS version 9.5 .

I will describe two methods in which you can publish an application via the software distribution component of the LDMS suite.

Here is a simplified diagram of each method and how they can be used:

Quick Reference:
Method 1
Method 2
Reconfiguration of Standalone client

The first method will be to deploy the AppV client using command switches to point it towards the AppV publishing server so that clients can receive Applications from the server which they have the rights to access.
N.B. This method(1) requires the AppV infrastructure in place to work correctly, i.e the AppV publishing server
Here is an article on the command switches for the executable for AppV Client.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713460.aspx
This scenario works best for computers that always are connected to the company WAN/LAN and can access the publishing server on a constant basis.

]

The second method is to deploy a standalone AppV client, no command switches are required as this client is not connected to any publishing server. This method needs Virtual  Apps deployed to it via LDMS to receive  the applications themselves and any updates that you make to the virtualised application.

The Virtualised application will come in the form of an Offline deployment MSI, which is created by the  AppV Sequencer, which negates the need to configure the client and have a constant connection to the Publishing server.
This automatically caches the shortcuts and application into the client ready for use.
This scenario would be ideal for users (Laptops) who need this Virtualised application at home or away from the main WAN/company network in which they cannot connect to the publishing server for authentication for the use of the product.

Each scenario has its advantages and disadvantages e.g the advantage for the first method is that any application you publish on the AppV server will be available to your chosen clients almost immediately, but they will need to be connected to the company network to do this.
With this method all AppV deployments and updates will be handled by the publishing server
Where as the second method will allow you deploy the virtualised applications offline, so users , such as laptop users or home users will able to use these applications without having to be connected to the company network. With this method all AppV deployments will be handled by the LDMS software distribution component.

Pre-Requisites
The AppV client requires some pre-requisites before it can be installed.
The pre-requisites are Microsoft .Net 4.0 Extended and PowerShell 3.0.

Download Locations:
Microsoft .Net 4.0 Extended
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=17718
PowerShell 3.0
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=34595
Please note that PowerShell 3.0 requires a reboot to complete its installation

The best way with the files above is to use the software distribution component of LDMS, using this method you can also set dependencies for the AppV client packages which I will show you how to create later in the document

Using the software distribution component deploy the above  Microsoft .Net 4.0 Extended download as a executable with the following switches for a silent and no restart install:

                                                                          /q /norestart

The executable contains both installers for 32 and 64 bit machines

To deploy the PowerShell msu package via  software distribution a batch file is the best method, here is an example script which you can use:

@ECHO OFF

REM Set the commands to run from the current directory
cd %0\..\ 

REM Processor type so the right update is installed
IF EXIST PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=AMD64
GOTO AMD64

IF EXIST PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86
GOTO  x86

:x86
START /WAIT WUSA Windows6.1-KB2506143-x86.msu /QUIET /NORESTART
EXIT

:AMD64
START /WAIT WUSA Windows6.1-KB2506143-x64.msu /QUIET /NORESTART
EXIT

Along with this script add the above PowerShell Microsoft update  files as well to the distribution package as additional files

Deployment of AppV Client and Virtualised Applications

For both scenario's you will have to set up a AppV sequencer to create the virtualised application ready for deployment, here  is a TechNet article on how to do it
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713464.aspx

From here you can create a virtualised application of your choice.
Here is a TechNet article describing the process:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713468.aspx

QR:Method1
Once you have created the virtualised application that you want to use , this is where the two different methods come into play, for the first method, create a virtualised application as normal and publish it onto the AppV server via the publishing server console. Assign the appropriate rights ,publish and your application will be available for  you on the client once the client has been refreshed.

In this example I used Firefox as my Virtualised Application.

Now this application is published you are now ready to deploy the AppV client ready for the published Virtual App.
Firstly copy the AppV client packages from the  installation ISO into your packages folder,
In the software distribution component of LDMS, create a new executable package, selecting the AppV client package.

Now add the additional files that are required for the installation of the product

Now enter the command switches that will point the AppV client to the publishing server

Here is the example of the command line switches that I used to point this towards my publishing server

/NORESTART /ACCEPTEULA /q /S1PUBLISHINGSERVERNAME=APPV2008R264 
/S1PUBLISHINGSERVERURL=http://APPV2008R264:889 
/S1GLOBALREFRESHENABLED=1 /S1GLOBALREFRESHONLOGON=1 /Log C:\LOGS\LOG.LOG

More information on the switches can be found here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713460.aspx

From here you can set up some dependencies for the installation of the AppV client package either in the form of a Prerequisites query or Dependant Package.

More information for using dependant packages can be found here :
http://community.landesk.com/support/docs/DOC-7753

Now deploy the package to client and it is now ready to use with the AppV Publishing server

QR:Method2
For the second method, instead of publishing the virtualised application on the publishing server  you will deploy the virtualised application's  .msi file which is created as part of the sequencing process outline above., along with all over of the files created for the virtualised application

Create the AppV client as outline above , with the added difference of setting the command line to only this :

/NORESTART /ACCEPTEULA /q

Once this package has been deployed it will be empty of any Applications.
To fill it with Virtualised Applications we will deploy the .msi file created earlier as part of the Sequencing process along with the other files that were created.

Open up the software distribution window and create a new msi deployment.
Point the to the main Virtualised Msi package in your packages store

Now add the additional files that are needed for this Virtual Application

As this is a msi distribution the silent and norestart switches will already be in place as default

As with the package before you can set up a dependency for this installation to only install if the AppV client is installed:

Once you have finished, deploy the standalone AppV package and the Virtualised Application .
Once this has finished deploying you now have the virtual app installed and available offline

QR:Reconfigure
Adding the standalone AppV client to the publishing server
At some point you might want to connect to the AppV standalone client to the  publishing  server so that you can push updates and applications to it via the publishing server as opposed to the LDMS core.
You can either redeploy the executable with the switches as described above or send a PowerShell  script to redirect the client towards the publishing server.
Here is an example one I used to redirect my standalone AppV client to my publishing server:

Import-Module AAppVClient
Add-AppvPublishingServer -Name APPV2008R264 -URL http:\\APPV2208R264:889
Set-AppVPublishingServer -ServerID 1 -GlobalRefreshEnabled 1 -GlobalRefreshOnLogon 1

After you have successfully deployed this , restart the client machine  for the changes to take effect.

Here is a TechNet article on the different PowerShell Commands that you can send to the AppV client to configure it remotely:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj713419.aspx

And here is an article on sending the settings to AppV clients via the GPO:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj684299.aspx

Problems/Symptoms:

Deploying an MSI Distribution package fails with this error:

Fatal error during installation

MSI error code 1603

Note: This error may also occur using a Batch File Distribution package that calls an MSI or an Executable Distribution Package where the executable is a wrapper for an MSI.

Cause:

This is a generic error message that can be caused by numerous issues. The exact cause is usually determined using the MSI log.

Fix:

If an MSI distribution package is used, the MSI logging switch (/L) is automatically passed to an MSI installation and an MSI log is created in the agent's LDClient directory. It is named after the MSI with a .log extension.

If the MSI is being called with a batch file or an executable, the /L switch must be manually added (/L*V adds verbose logging). See the following web site for more information on MSI switches:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367988.aspx

Obtain and use the WiLogUtl utility to analyze the MSI log file that is created in the clients LDClient directory. This will usually give a root cause for the failure using the info in the MSI log file.

This utility can be found in the latest Microsoft Platform SDK:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa372811(v=vs.85).aspx

I have a quick question, is there a way to force Launchpad to default to full screen?

Landesk 9.5 (no SP1)

I ran a software distribution package and checked the Wake on Lan in the schuled task.

On 3 of my subnets the MCs-XXXX and MCC-XXXX logs  had "Couldn't find subnet rep".

The log with the scheduled task name had the Subnet Rep listed.

I have removed the computer from the Multicast Domain Rep Group and re-added but it still fails.

I can ping the REP.

Any help as to what I could try next?

I've tried searching for a response to this but think that I must be missing something. I am running Landesk 9.5 and working on setting up my software distribution tasks. I would like to change the query associated with a task and seem to be unable to do so. I found a few posts for older versions of the software (http://community.landesk.com/support/thread/19744) that stated the way to remove a query is to remove the targeted devices and select "yes" to remove the associated query...I have removed all of the devices from the task but the queries were not removed. The task is currently canceled, and under all devices there are two "Unknown" devices listed. I believe these are the queries themselves as other tasks where I have only one query setup have only one "Unknown" device listed. Unfortunately whenever I try to delete "Unknown" it disappears for a brief second and then pops right back up again. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated, and if this is already mentioned in the forums somewhere I apologize for not being able to locate it.

-R

I have several computers on different LANDesk core servers running in to the same annoying problem:

After login, two TaskQueue popups appear.

At first I thought this was related to the article DOC-21980.

However, the popups were not returning after 30 seconds and the "Allow service to interact with desktop" is already disabled.

Digging deeper I found that the computers in questions had a registry key under Run which will start sdclient.exe with /E and /RunAtLogin

Running the same command from cmd.exe will make the same TaskQueue popups appear so it's very easy to reproduce.

On computers without this registry key, popups do not appear if I add the regkey or run the command manually.

Local scheduler does not contain any software distribution related tasks on either computers.

This leaves me to assume that there might be broken records in the local ldclientdb.db3 causing the problem.

I've attached a screen shot showing the two popups, the registry key and the parameters with which TaskQueue is started.

Does anyone have a clear understanding on when the "sdclient" registry key under Run is created and how the sdclient.exe /RunAtLogin works.

Will sdclient.exe /RunAtLogin indeed read the local database for jobs and if so, is there any other way to delete the jobs beside recreating it?

Currently running 9.5 SP1, I found when creating a scheduled task of a powershell distribution package, that many if not all of the 'Delivery Methods' I have under 'Policy' delivery type do not allow me to enter a software portal group. Some of the built in Delivery Methods enable this option, but all of the ones I previously created do not allow me to enter a group. Is there a setting somewhere that I am missing?

I can't seem to get this install to work no matter what switches are used. It stops at "Task queued at client for execution". I am using standard push as the delivery method. The distribution package uses local system account. Anyone know the secret?

Also since upgrading to 9.50.2.6 sp1 new systems are not found when scanning for unmanaged devices. Could these problems be related? Please bear in mind I'm a fairly new Landesk user.

Michael

I'm having trouble fully deploying a piece of software.  The software installs fine but due to the software being installed using the Local System Account as the option in the Software Distribution package it doesnt add the software to the start menu.  I thought turning the software into a batch file package i could add the xcopy command and manually copy over the folder/shortcut but this is not working. If i run the bat locally it works or if i switch the Accounts to Current User's account that works also (user is an admin)  We are removing admin access to all users so this method wont work moving forward.

Has anyone run into this issue?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Here's what i currently have in my batch:

msiexec /i G2MSetup5.8.1189_IT.msi TRANSFORMS="G2M.mst" G2MRUNATLOGON=true ALLUSERS=1 /qn

::W7 profile::

copy GoToMeeting.lnk "%USERPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\" /Y

::XP profile::

copy GoToMeeting.lnk "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\" /Y

SDCLIENT.EXE supports the following command-line parameters:
sdclient.exe /p="" [/g=] [/All] [/R] [/N] [/An] [/Ac] [/Ab] [/fui] [/msi] [/exe] [/bat] [/wsh] [/ps1] [/bw=xxx] [/E] [/lan=xxx] [/wan=xxx] [/disableclientqueue] [/runasuser] [/timeout] [/L] [/F] [/O] [/dest=] [/timeout] [/msg=""]

I am trying to create a distribution package for Autodesk 2011 for Inventor and CAD.  The package is 7.3 GB and contains 27,167 files.  The source files are stored locally on the core server.  When I try to create the package and update the package the LANDesk administrator console locks up and stays locked until I kill it with task manager.  Has anyone had success distributing packagges this large with so many files in subfolders?  If so would you mind passing along your technique?   I was also curious to see if there is a log file I can view to see if there were errors when I created the package?

Thanks,

Dan

ok soe while tryingto create a distribution package I was getting several errors of

"The remote server returned an error (404) Not Found"

and one error of

"The remote server returned an error (500) Internal Server Error"

I've found the discussion http://community.landesk.com/support/docs/DOC-21873

give the solutionof :

2. To remove the hidden segment from with the share directory where the packages are stored, place the following lines of code in the web.config file. This is the recommended solution because this only affects the web share where the software distribution packages are being stored.

I did this, and now I only get the 404 error once. But I am still getting the Error (500) message

and the package will not succeed on a push to a computer. Please assist.

Is it the consensus that the Replicator should be located near (or be) the Preferred Server? 

http://community.landesk.com/support/thread/14603

What are peoples experience with Content Replication with LD 9.5?

- Pete

I have a very simple MSI distribution for a Microsoft Outlook Add-On (the Add-On is for our email archiving service).  The MSI itself is very small and installs perfectly under LocalSystem.  The only time I get a failure is if Outlook is open.  Is there any way to formulate my distribution so that it could test for the OUTLOOK.EXE process and, if present, delay the installation.  Or even better, ONLY install the application if nobody is logged into the computer.

Thanks!

I'm using 9.5 and have several hundred Windows 8 computers listed in the console. I've got a policy supported push set up to run a software install. But everything continues to fail, even after seeing status Task Queued. Nothing ever seems to complete. I have no problems with these on Windows 7 boxes.

Has anyone run into any issues pushing to Windows 8?

Thanks....

Hi everybody,

We use LDMS 9.0 SP3, we try to find an easy and fast solution to migrate our 1000+ GPO (user-based) package script to Landesk.

Our GPO are .msi who are execute a .cmd script on network with custom actions parameters

We can migrate .msi in Landesk but there is a problem with admin rights :

In case of GPO, at execution of .msi at the opening session of the user, there is no admin rights problem because there is an auto elevation of the user to admin right. So, the script can execute setup, modify file of system, change ACL on directory, delete icon in alluser directory, etc …

In case of .msi transferred to Landesk, there is two choice to execute .msi : Execute with Landesk Admin account, or User logged in :

If we choose User logged in, script fail to execute setup, change ACL, access to alluserdirectory, etc …

If we choose Landesk Admin account, variable %USERNAME%,  %USERPROFILE%, %APPDATA%, network share, etc … are wrong.

Rewrite every script to separate the part to execute by admin account, and part to execute by logged user is real time killer. (remind 1000+ script of ten years history and probability to make script errors).

I’m looking for an easy solution to promote temporary admin, user who are executing the .msi transferred to Landesk like MakeMeAdmin (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/aaron_margosis/archive/2004/07/24/193721.aspx) but I loose silent install … and user need to know admin local password.

Other way is to force %USERNAME%, %USERPROFILE , etc … when executing package by Landesk Admin Account by how easy automatising this?

Do you have and idea? Thanks.

Is there any way to change the default icon for the Portal Manager in 9.5 SP1? The icon appears to be embedded within the .exe, so apart from deploying our own custom shortcut it doesn't appear to be possible. I really don't want to use a custom shortcut if I don't have to, I just want to use the Portal Manager options within the Agent Configuration for Portal Manager icon placement on the desktop, start menu, etc. We have not begun to deploy the SP1 agent to the majority of our workstations following our upgrade as we would like to get this sorted out before deployment.

Any ideas would be great. Thanks!

Introduction

This article is (at least) valid for LANDesk 9.5

The following error can occur when opening the properties of a Scheduled Task in the Console:

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.SoftwareDistribution.WinUI.TaskScheduler.ScheduledTaskFolder.SummaryPanel.InitScopeTextbox()
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.SoftwareDistribution.WinUI.TaskScheduler.ScheduledTaskFolder.SummaryPanel.OnLoad()
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.PanelObjectInterface.PanelObject.DoLoad(PanelManager panelManager)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.ldPropertySheet.ldPropertySheetCtrl.loadPanelObject(String classPath, Assembly currentAssembly)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.ldPropertySheet.ldPropertySheetCtrl.ParseXML(IEnumerable psList, TreeNode parent, Assembly currentAssembly, String assemblyName, Hashtable hshTab)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.ldPropertySheet.ldPropertySheetCtrl.LoadXMLFile(String sourceFile)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.ldPropertySheet.ldPropertySheetDialog.LoadXMLFile(String file)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.SoftwareDistribution.WinUI.TaskScheduler.ScheduledTaskPanelManager..ctor(TaskNode taskNode, String xmlFileName, String connectionString)
   at LANDesk.ManagementSuite.SoftwareDistribution.WinUI.TaskScheduler.TaskNode.OnProperties()

Cause

When deleting a user from the RBA and choosing the option to transfer all exisiting objects to another user, there can be problem with the transferred Scheduled Tasks, most often in the case of started Policy Delivery tasks. In the database the dbo.LD_TASK ScopeUser_Idn is NOT updated with the ConsoleUser_Idn of the new owner of the task. This results in the above error message when opening the properties of the task.

If you open the SQL Management Studio and connect to the LANDesk Database you can run the following SQL query to doublecheck.

select * from dbo.LD_TASK where ScopeUser_Idn not in (select ConsoleUser_Idn from dbo.ConsoleUser) And ScopeUser_Idn <> '0'

This will show all tasks where the ScopeUser_Idn doesn't exist anymore in the actual User Table. ScopeUser_Idn 0 seems to be valid for tasks like scheduled reports and such.

Resolution

If the results of this statement correspond with the tasks that generate an error when opening the properties, look up the ConsoleUser_IDN of the user you want to be owner of these tasks in the dbo.ConsoleUser table.

After that, run the following SQL query, replacing X with the ConsoleUser_Idn found above:

update dbo.LD_TASK SET ScopeUser_Idn=Xwhere ScopeUser_Idn notin(select ConsoleUser_Idn from dbo.ConsoleUser) And ScopeUser_Idn <>'0'

I'm trying to package an MSI that needs a property to be set at runtime.  The problem is, the property points to a file, and no matter what I do, it wont be happy unless I give it the entire path to the file.  So I found I could run the command locally from LD Cache by using, USERFILESPEC="%CD%\SELicense.dat", but this bombs when I push the install with LANDesk.  I've tried ".\SELicense.Dat".  The file is in the same directory as the MSI file.  Below are some things I've tried.

/i /norestart /qn MYTEMPLATE=4 USERFILESPEC="SELicense.Dat"

/i /norestart /qn MYTEMPLATE=4 USERFILESPEC=SELicense.Dat

/i /norestart /qn MYTEMPLATE=4 USERFILESPEC=".\SELicense.Dat"

/i /norestart /qn MYTEMPLATE=4 USERFILESPEC="%CD%\SELicense.Dat"

Nothing seems to work with LANDesk.  Any suggestions?

(Running 9.0.2)

On LANDesk 9.5 SP1, users are unable to right-click under Scheduled Tasks > My tasks and click "Create Software Distribution task.."

The options are all grayed out.  If they click directly on a Distribution package and click "Create scheduled task" It will work fine.

Is there another role or did this behavior change in LANDesk 9.5 SP1?  LANDesk Administrators can still do this but not other roles in LANDesk.

The users in question have all the rights to Software distribution in their Role.