Virtualization by Davis: “Release: PHD Virtual Backup 6.1” plus 17 more

Release: PHD Virtual Backup 6.1
Paper: Deploying a Hypervisor using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter in a Dell Active System Manager Environment
Technotes: SAP GUI 7.20 Performance Problems and Graphical Distortion when run in an ICA Session
Paper: Microsoft Server 2012 for Dell Converged Blade Data Center: Reference Architecture
Paper: Dell DVS Reference Architecture for Windows Server 2012 v1.1
The Remote PC Service Explained
Let’s talk Client Virtualization : Part 1 – User Scenarios
Red Hat Signs Americas Distribution Agreement with Avnet Embedded
How a VSA provides scalable storage by sacrificing disk capacity
The database you have selected in not a report server database.
Enterprise application delivery options: A panel discussion
Need more time to submit a Synergy speaker proposal? You’re in luck! Deadline extended to Dec. 9
App-V 5.0 Client PowerShell Deep Dive
Conversion of Spaces to _ on mapped drives in AppV 5
How to access the virtual drive of appv client in xp
Dublin Business School empowers its students with virtual desktop technology
[APP-V] Office2010
GeoLite City as NetScaler location database

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:24 AM PST

PHD Virtual has released version 6.1 of its product Backup. This version is the follow-up of version 6.0 which was released in august this year. PHD Virtual Backup is a Virtual Appliance which is capable of backing up both VMware vSphere and Citrix XenServer environments. The product integrates into the console of XenCenter or the vSphere client to offer a single pane of glass.

Version 6.1 provides the following new functionality:

Rollback Recovery, allows you to restore only the virtual disk changes on top of an existing VM
Full/Incremental backup mode for PHD Instant Recovery for VMware. PHD instant recovery is able to start a VM using the data that resides on the backup target, after which you can use Storage vMotion or PHD Motion to move the VM's storage to production storage
Reporting enhancements: Export job history and data protection risk management report
The ability to copy Backup Schedules (Job Copy)

Labels: PHD Virtual, Release

Paper: Deploying a Hypervisor using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter in a Dell Active System Manager Environment

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:46 PM PST

Dell has released a paper titled: "Deploying a Hypervisor using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter in a Dell Active System Manager Environment" The paper which contains 14 pages details configuration of a Dell PowerEdge M1000e chassis with a Management Template in Active System Manager, and then deploying a hypervisor to one or more of its blade servers using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter. The paper assumes you have Dell Active System Manager and the Dell Management Plug-in already in place in your environment.

Active System Manager can configure blade servers for many different kinds of operating system deployments. An administrator creates a Deployment Template that includes system variables for a specific set of custom-defined configurations to meet the needs of a deployment environment, and then applies that template to a server.

After the server is configured, an administrator can use the Dell Management Plug-in to deploy a hypervisor to the bare metal blade server, connect the server to vCenter, and then apply a host profile to take advantage of custom hardware and network configurations.

Labels: Dell, Paper

Technotes: SAP GUI 7.20 Performance Problems and Graphical Distortion when run in an ICA Session

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 03:23 AM PST

Technotes: SAP GUI 7.20 Performance Problems and Graphical Distortion when run in an ICA Session

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SAP GUI 7.20 Performance Problems and Graphical Distortion when Running in an ICA Session (more)

Paper: Microsoft Server 2012 for Dell Converged Blade Data Center: Reference Architecture

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:44 PM PST

Dell has released a paper titled: Microsoft Server 2012 for Dell Converged Blade Data Center: Reference Architecture. The paper which contains 25 pages details a reference architecture validated by Dell Engineering for using Windows Server 2012 with Dell PowerEdge Blade Server, Force 10 Switches and EqualLogic Storage.

The architecture defined in this document includes Dell PowerEdgeTM M420 blade servers, Dell EqualLogic Storage, Dell Force10 network switches, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Edition with Hyper-V Role enabled, and two Dell PowerEdge R620 servers that manage the solution by hosting Dell management tools.

The paper contains the following sections:

Introduction
Audience
Solution overview
Design Principles
Prerequisites and Datacenter planning
Architecture
Delivery Model
Additional Reading

Labels: Dell, Paper

Paper: Dell DVS Reference Architecture for Windows Server 2012 v1.1

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:42 PM PST

Dell already a while ago released a paper titled: "Dell DVS Reference Architecture for Windows Server 2012 v1.1". The paper which contains 49 pages describes the Dell Desktop Virtualization Solutions (DVS) reference architecture consisting of DELL servers running Windows Server 2012 and DELL networking, – storage, -software and DELL endpoints.

The paper describes the detailed design and its constraints, the hardware requirements, the risks, issues, assumptions and concessions, a breakdown into key elements and a scaling and component selection guidance. For workload testing Login VSI was used as a testing suite, and Stratusphere UX from Liquidware Labs was used to monitor end-user experience.

The paper contains the following sections:

Introduction
Solution Architecture overview, containing Physical Architecture overview, Layouts and Breakpoints and Cabling Diagrams
Hardware Components, containing Network, Servers, Storage and End Points
Solution Architecture for Microsoft Remote Desktop Services, containing an overview, compute and management server infrastructure, the storage architecture, Hyper-V configuration, High Availability, Application Virtualization, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity and RDS Data flow
Pooled VDI Performance Analysis Results
Remote Desktop Session Peformance Analysis Results
Combined RDVH and RDSH on Single Host

Labels: Dell, Paper

The Remote PC Service Explained

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:17 PM PST

At Synergy San Francisco in May (and re-announced at Synergy Barcelona in October), Citrix introduced Remote PC as part of XenDesktop 5.6 Feature Pack 1 – a new FlexCast model designed to substantially increase workplace productivity and eliminate administration, support, and deployment costs associated with secure connectivity to existing laptop and PC assets. The compelling piece of Remote PC is that we take advantage of…

Let’s talk Client Virtualization : Part 1 – User Scenarios

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:18 PM PST

Earlier this year, Citrix acquired Virtual Computer to complement our client virtualization product offering and launch the new version of XenClient Enterprise. XenClient Enterprise is now an integral part of our Mobile Workstyles solution and FlexCast virtual desktop delivery technology. It is a proven solution with real large-scale customer deployments, delivering local virtual desktops that are centrally managed. In this must-read blog series, we will…

Red Hat Signs Americas Distribution Agreement with Avnet Embedded

Posted: 02 Dec 2012 09:00 PM PST

Red Hat announced today that it is expanding the reach of its embedded software program through a partnership with Avnet Embedded.

How a VSA provides scalable storage by sacrificing disk capacity

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 11:11 AM PST

The scalable storage promised by VSAs has piqued interest in IT pros, and more vendors have joined the market. But is the storage worth the sacrifice?

The database you have selected in not a report server database.

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 10:22 AM PST

I am attempting to setup Reporting Services on my AppV5 database. Has anyone been able to do this successfully? I installed AppVReporting using the default EXE from Microsoft on my SQL server, however when I go to setup the reporting option in Reporting Services Configuration Manger I receive the following error when I attempt to add the "AppVReporting" database:

"The database you have selected is not a report server database. Please select a SQL Server database that contains report server specific tables and stored procedures and try again."

Given I setup the database using the detaults I'm curious if anyone has this working under AppV5?

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Enterprise application delivery options: A panel discussion

Posted: 26 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST

It's hard out there for an IT pro: New kinds of endpoints make it more challenging than ever to develop an enterprise application delivery strategy.

Need more time to submit a Synergy speaker proposal? You’re in luck! Deadline extended to Dec. 9

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:54 AM PST

With the holiday season in full swing, it's likely you haven't quite gotten around to sending in your Call for Topics proposal for Citrix Synergy 2013. Maybe you were camped out at a big-box retailer before Black Friday Perhaps you had a houseful of visiting relatives Or possibly the caloric overload at Thanksgiving put you in a daze < Me! Whatever your excuse, we have…

App-V 5.0 Client PowerShell Deep Dive

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:55 AM PST

written by - Robert Doverspike, Software Development Engineer

PowerShell allows system admins to perform a vast array of tasks, all while leveraging the support of .NET's extensive libraries. Microsoft Application Virtualization has added PowerShell cmdlet support to its 5.0 release, giving system administrators a powerful tool for interfacing with the App-V 5.0 client. This article will cover a variety of common tasks to get you started on managing the App-V 5.0 client through PowerShell, and cover the basics of mixing different cmdlets together for more advanced scenarios.

· Managing Packages

· Managing Connection Groups

· Managing Publishing Servers

· Advanced Scripting

· Getting Help

Setup

To get started with Poweshell cmdlets, open an elevated (running as Administrator) PowerShell window on your App-V 5.0 client machine and type the following command to load the App-V 5.0 client module cmdlets.

Import-Module AppvClient

If App-V is installed on the machine, but PowerShell cannot resolve AppvClient, try typing Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Application Virtualization\Client\AppvClient\AppvClient.psd1" instead. The path can vary based on installation configuration.

App-V Client Nouns

Since the format of a PowerShell cmdlet takes the form of Verb-Noun, it is useful to see all the available nouns to understand the capabilities offered by the cmdlets.

Below is a listing of available nouns:

AppvClientApplication – An individual application that exists in an App-V package.

AppvClientConnectionGroup – A connection group used to allow multiple packages to interact with one another in the same virtual environment, while remaining isolated from the host operating system. See Deploying Connection Groups in Microsoft App-V v5 or Connection Groups Internals (App-V 5.0) for more information on connection groups.

AppvClientConfiguration – A configuration value for a setting of the App-V Client (E.g. EnablePackageScripts, AllowHighCostLaunch, PackageInstallationRoot)

AppvClientMode – The current mode (normal or uninstall) of the client.

AppvClientPackage – An App-V package that is available for use on the App-V Client.

AppvClientReport – An XML formatted report to be sent to an App-V Reporting Server that aggregates usage data from App-V Clients.

AppvPublishingServer – An App-V server that hosts metadata about the packages available to the client over the network.

AppvVirtualProcess – An App-V virtual process running a virtual app on the App-V client.

All cmdlets associated with a given noun can be viewed by typing Get-Help <Noun>, for example

Get-Help AppvClientPackage

Get-Help also accepts wildcards in the name parameter. Add the –Full parameter to see the full documentation.

Managing packages

Add and publish a package

The most basic operations needed to begin using virtual applications are to first add an App-V 5.0 package to the client on your machine, then publish the package so the current user can see it.

# Add the package at the specified location              $Contoso = Add-AppvClientPackage \\appvpackages\Contoso\ContosoApp.appv              # Publish the added package to the current user              Publish-AppvClientPackage $Contoso

Packages can be published globally to all users of a machine or to the current user. See Get-Help Publish-AppvClientPackage for details.

Querying packages

As its name implies, Get-AppvClientPackage returns a list of all the App-V packages currently on the system. By combining different parameter sets such as -Name and -Version, -PackageId and -VersionId, you can query the packages on the system based on their attributes.

By specifying the -All switch parameter, this cmdlet will return the union of all packages on the system, either added or published. In the absence of the -All switch parameter, Get-AppvClientPackage by default will return only the currently published packages.

# Explicitly look up package by package GUID and version GUID

Get-AppvClientPackage -PackageId 43703c67-dbdc-4da5-beb4-4f84cc028c02 -VersionId 614c9aa3-8964-468d-a8b2-8c65215910d9 -All

Note that Get-AppvClientPackage returns nothing if no packages are found.

You may also look up packages using a second parameter set, which is by Name and Version.

# Look up package with the Name parameter set using * as a wildcard
Get-AppvClientPackage -Name Contoso* -Version 2*

Be aware of types! Remain aware of the object types that each cmdlet parameter set expects using Get-Help. Note that in the below example the first block will not work as one would initially expect, because PowerShell will automatically convert what looks like a GUID into a String for the Name parameter set.

# Will not work because the GUID is treated as a String for the -Name parameter
Get-AppvClientPackage 43703c67-dbdc-4da5-beb4-4f84cc028c02

# Works because $GUID is a GUID type, so it's treated as the –PackageId parameter
$GUID = [GUID]"43703c67-dbdc-4da5-beb4-4f84cc028c02"
Get-AppvClientPackage $GUID

Remove an existing package

We have already shown how to add and publish an App-V 5.0 package, and now we'll show the converse operations – unpublish and remove.

# Search for existing package by name
$Contoso = Get-AppvClientPackage -Name Contoso*
# Unpublish the package
Unpublish-AppvClientPackage $Contoso
# Remove the package
Remove-AppvClientPackage $Contoso

Managing connection groups

Combining packages into a connection group

Packages can be combined in App-V 5.0 into an entity called a connection group. A connection group allows you to run all of the virtual applications as a defined set of App-V 5.0 packages in a single virtual environment. Refer to the links earlier in this blog post for more information on maintaining and creating connection groups. Here we'll show how to enable a connection group with two packages.

# Add and publish a package
$Contoso = Add-AppvClientPackage \\appvpackages\Contoso\ContosoApp.appv
Publish-AppvClientPackage $Contoso

# Add and publish another package
$ContosoUI = Add-AppvClientPackage \\appvpackages\Contoso\ContosoUI.appv | Publish-AppvClientPackage

As shown above, the output of one cmdlet may often be piped as the input to another cmdlet (if the first cmdlet returns a valid parameter for the second cmdlet)

# Add the connection group, providing the path to its xml descriptor file
$ContosoFull = Add-AppvClientConnectionGroup \\appvpackages\Contoso\ContosoAppWithUI.xml
# Enable the connection group
Enable-AppvClientConnectionGroup $ContosoFull

Similar to packages, connection groups can be enabled globally to all users of a machine or to the current user. See Get-Help Enable-AppvClientConnectionGroup for details.

Managing publishing servers

Add and sync to a publishing server

Publishing servers host package metadata that can be synchronized with a client. The most fundamental operation involves adding an existing publishing server and synchronizing its metadata with your local client.

# Add a publishing server
$pubServer = Add-AppvPublishingServer -URL https://appvpublishing.contoso.com -Name Alpha
# Sync the local client with the added publishing server
Sync-AppvPublishingServer $pubServer

Conditional backup publishing server

This is an example script which adds a backup publishing server conditional on the name of the main publishing server.

$mainPub = Get-AppvPublishingServer 1
if ($mainPub.Name -eq "Alpha")
{
$backupUrl = "https://alpha.backup.contoso.com"
}
elseif ($mainPub.Name -eq "Bravo")
{
$backupUrl = "https://bravo.backup.contoso.com"
}
$backupPub = Add-AppvPublishingServer -URL $backupUrl -Name Backup

Advanced Scripting

To illustrate the value of using PowerShell to expose and interact with App-V Client dynamically, here is an example of App-V Client cmdlets being used in an advanced scripting scenario. This script roughly counts the number of seconds taken for the package to be fully downloaded from the network.

# Add and publish the package
$package = Add-AppvClientPackage "\\appvpackages\package.appv" | Publish-AppvClientPackage

# Start the mount operation in the background, passing in the package Name as an argument
Start-Job {Get-AppvClientPackage $args[0] | Mount-AppvClientPackage } -ArgumentList @($($package.Name))

# Count the seconds until the package is fully loaded
$i = 0;
while (($percentLoaded = $package.PercentLoaded) -lt 100) {
    Write-Output "PercentLoaded for $($package.Name) is $percentLoaded";
    $i++;
    sleep(1);
};
Write-Output "$($package.Name) loaded in $i seconds.";

Getting Help

These examples should be enough to get you started, and to convince you that performing complex automated App-V tasks can be executed trivially using PowerShell. You can find more information on the cmdlets mentioned here, as well as others, in the official documentation for all App-V Client cmdlets, available through the built in PowerShell help infrastructure. There are just a few PowerShell cmdlets you'll need to know to access the documentation.

To get a list of all of the AppvClient commands use Get-Command.

Get-Command -Module AppVClient

Again, for help on a specific cmdlet or all cmdlets with a given phrase use Get-Help <phrase>, and you can add the -Full switch parameter for additional details.

Conversion of Spaces to _ on mapped drives in AppV 5

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 07:03 AM PST

Oddly enough i couldn't find any questions related to this and i waited a few days to see if anybody else has posted a similar issue. I could not find any. This issue occurs on both Windows 7 32 bit and Windows 8 64 bit running AppV 5.0.285.0.

I an testing the conversion of apps from AppV 4.6 to 5.0. Many of the apps are simply containers for shortcuts to a network location. Test-AppvLegacyPackage does not show any warnings or errors for these packages, and the shortcut list in the DeploymentConfig.xml looks correct. But when i deploy the package locally (via msi) the shortcuts spaces are swapped out with underscores.

So for something like(H would be a mapping to a server network accessible folder):

H:\Eclipse IDE\eclipse.exe

The xml file does have the space between Eclipse and IDE.

<Shortcuts Enabled="true">          <Extensions>            <Extension Category="AppV.Shortcut">              <Shortcut>                <File>[{Start Menu}]\eclipse.lnk</File>                <Target>H:\Eclipse IDE\eclipse.exe</Target>                <Arguments />                <Icon>[{AppVPackageRoot}]\ApplicationIcons\eclipse.ico</Icon>                <WorkingDirectory>H:\Eclipse IDE</WorkingDirectory>                <ApplicationId>H:\Eclipse IDE\eclipse.exe</ApplicationId>              </Shortcut>            </Extension>          </Extensions>        </Shortcuts>

But the shortcut that AppV 5.0 will create when installed locally(msi) will replace all spaces with underscores and would point to:

 H:\Eclipse_IDE\eclipse.exe

This also appears to apply for filenames so if there was "msds 4222.pdf" the shortcut would be "msds_4222.pdf"

Did i miss a configuration option when i installed AppV 5 client?

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How to access the virtual drive of appv client in xp

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 06:05 AM PST

Hi All,

I need to know how to access the virtual drive (Q:\) in app-v client in xp machine.

Thank You.

S.Yuvaraj.

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Dublin Business School empowers its students with virtual desktop technology

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:21 AM PST

Dublin Business School (DBS), Ireland's largest independent third-level college, has implemented Citrix® VDI-in-a-box™ to offer its 9,500 students a greater variety of classes and flexible study options, maximising learning time in the classroom, and reducing log in and application load times. In essence, existing technology was hindering the growth and development of the college and the quality of the course programme on offer to students.…

[APP-V] Office2010

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 04:30 AM PST

Hello,

I have a problem with the sequencing Office 2010
The installation kit app-v office 2010 seems failed (progress bar leaving a zero and closes without error)
If I deploy I get an error licenses

Thank you for your help.

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GeoLite City as NetScaler location database

Posted: 03 Dec 2012 02:46 AM PST

You may know this problem: Your boss made you build several data centers around the globe with a bunch of NetScalers in the mix to load balance services across the various locations using GSLB (Global Server Load Balancing). But when it comes to configuring a static proximity geo IP database to help with that not too easy to understand dynamic proximity feature you notice most…

Virtualization by Davis

martes, 4 de diciembre de 2012