Sebastian Gernert will also be assisting with contributions to the virtual world blog. He is one of our great escalation engineers in EMEA and comes across some amazing issues!
And this is one of them;
Error: 0A-10000005, an additional solution:
If a user has a lot of group’s memberships it could happen that you get the following Error:
A network operation did not complete in time. Please check your network connection and try again. If the problem persists, please report the following error code to your System Administrator.
Error code: xxxxxx-xxxxxx0A-10000005
With the default settings, App-V 4.5 has some limitations regarding the amount of group memberships which could be handled.
Different test show that we have under IPv4 a limit of round about 600 groups, under IPv6 ~ 220 Groups and in mixed mode we have ~ 250 Groups.
This are not fixed limited it depends on the ticket size (Tokensize) of the user.
If you set the “MAXTOKENSIZE” to ”0x0000ffff” doesn’t help here, because the App-V Server can’t work with the bigger Token. Now you can clean the group memberships from your users (which is not the worst idea, sometimes) or you set this (still undocumented) Registry Key on the App-V Server:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SoftGrid\4.5\Server
"MAX_RTSP_HEADER_BYTES"=dword:0000ffff
With these settings it will work again. The KB Article will be updated.
Sebastian Gernert – Support Escalation Engineer
In development environments or when debugging a issue, it is usually a pain to get a crash dump of an existing VM state.
Anton Naumovich from Hyper-V team recently released a tool which can convert a VM saved state to a full memory dump file. This tool enables easier debugging of issues in the VMs and provides the fastest way to generate a memory dump file from a VM. It comes as a single executable and with a single command; any saved VM or online snapshot can be converted into a full memory dump file.
You can get the tool from http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/vm2dmp. This location also contains the usage information for the tool.
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General Information
Hyper-V(tm) VM State to Memory Dump Converter (
vm2dmp) is a command-line tool that converts the saved state of a Hyper-V virtual machine to a full memory dump file compatible with Debugging Tools for Windows. You can use this tool to convert the memory contents of a virtual machine at a point of time to a full memory dump file. The vm2dmp tool makes it easier to debug hard problems when they occur on virtual machines. Using this tool, developers can save time by avoiding the need to create a dump file over a slow debugger connection or from the operating system running inside the virtual machine.
License and Disclaimer
“Hyper-V(tm) VM State to Memory Dump Converter” and associated documentation are licensed under the Microsoft Public License (Ms-PL) as described
here, and are provided “AS-IS”. You bear the risk of using it. No express warranties, guarantees or conditions are provided.
“Hyper-V(tm) VM State to Memory Dump Converter” is not supported or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation and should be used at your own risk.
Setup
Copy the vm2dmp.exe to the installation folder for Debugging Tools for Windows (e.g. C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\). After this operation vm2dmp is ready to use.
Quick Usage
Create a dump file from virtual machine:
vm2dmp.exe –vm VISTASP1-ENT-32 -dmp C:\VM\memory.dmp
Create a dump file from snapshot's state:
vm2dmp.exe –vm VISTASP1-ENT-32 –snap “VISTASP1-ENT-32-snapshot-SP1” -dmp C:\VM\memory.dmp
Create a dump file using virtual machine state files:
vm2dmp.exe -bin C:\VM\example.bin -vsv C:\VM\example.vsv -dmp C:\VM\memory.dmp
Create a dump file using local symbols:
vm2dmp.exe -bin C:\VM\example.bin -vsv C:\VM\example.vsv -dmp C:\VM\memory.dmp –sym C:\symbols
For detailed instructions you can download user guide from
here
Requirements
- A computer running the release version (RTM) one of the following Windows operating systems:
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows 7
- Installation of “Debugging Tools for Windows”.
- For required symbol information; either internet connection or correct guest operating system symbols for the virtual machine being converted into dump file, cached locally on the host.
- Guest operating system to be one of Hyper-V supported operating systems when state information was created.
Well my first few weeks back into the office and it has been a busy first few week back. So i thought i would get back to things with a bang! and one of these bangs would be a big’ish post on my 2nd favourite feature of 4.6 (my number one feature for this release is x64!!!!).
4.6 has some great additions and one of the best is what we call the App-V shared Cache. This is a way for us to help save costly disc space in a VDI environment. This is not to say that this methodology could not be expanded from this. What do i mean by this.
Let us take this example. You are a multinational organisation and want to provide VDI as a core method for user to access the corporate infrastructure, this may mean you have a 1:1 or a many:1 VDI deployment. You also want to use app-v, with app-v when we stream an application to an end use on a machine the SFT file is streamed or loaded into a fsd file called sftfs.fsd.
Now depending on the number of applications that a user requires or the specific size that you have set for this fsd file to grow to will impact the storage requirements on your VDI. For example i have a Master image which i may utilise a linked clone with. The Master image has no app-v apps backed into the image and there for the original vmdk/vhd could be a few gigs, you than have a linked clone for which the user connects to which grows dynamically when used or consumes space. When a user streams there corporate apps it increases the growth of the fsd file and thus expanding the space of the vmdk/vhd file. which means extra $$$$$$ for storage. Even if you where not using linked clones you may have multiple dynamically expanding disks which also would grow with the increased space used for the fsd.
Depending on my laptops lifecycle my app-v cache is anything from 7GB to 30GB in size for the applications that i use.
So using the above example this could be a disks pace cost of
Number of workstation x the App-V FSD cache size = Amount of App-V disk storage used in VDI.
2000 VDI x 20GB average FSD size per machine = 40,000GB used for storage approx
I know that this is not probably the most scientific or mathematical equations but its just to illustrate that storage is important factor in VDI.
One of the core goals here with the App-V shared cache is to reduce this storage requirements.
How do we achieve some of this saving?
The Administrator will pre create a fsd file with all the relevant applications. This fsd file would then be placed in a location that has Direct attached storage or SAN speeds for fast access by multiple clients.
Each VDI/App-V that would want to use the shared cache would be configured to go into a read only mode for the fsd file. we set this by a number of registry keys.
By doing this it means that all our VDI platforms use a single fsd file that is populate with the applications that we are presenting via app-v to our users.
So again lets say that we have 70Gb worth of apps that are unique even though each workstation may have an average of 20GB worth of space utilized by the fsd file.
2000 VDI connecting to 1 x 70GB fsd file. thats a saving of 39930 GB……… hmmmm thats good?! that’s darn good! My manager could see some major cost savings to the business.
Performance?
Not just that but there are some performance benefits we can also get from this.
We are not streaming the application into cache
- Network Streaming Saving
- CPU cycles of loading the app into cache
- CPU cycles for uncompressing the potential compressed sft file into cache
- User experience not having to wait for the application to stream down – Fast access
- Cache file being used for multiple platforms
There are a number of others which we can be sure to discuss. And i am sure the community will come up with some interesting concepts also.
The main thing here is that this is a very interesting deployment methodology that customers should harness. And the next few blogs that i will release will explain the initial set up and maintenance of the shared cache!
I stumbled across this on Brian Maddens Forum the other day and it looks pretty darn handy!
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When you deploy App-V applications on laptops and pc, you will get a lot of helpdesk calls. While App-V is a mature application virtualization solution, it is interesting to see that a simple design decision does actually not make a lot of sense…
One of the things that you will find out early on when actual users start working with App-V, is that sometimes they need to reset, preload and refresh their virtualized applications. As a result you will need to give users access to the App-V client MMC plug-in.
The problem is, the MMC is typically off-limits in enterprise environments because of security policies. And even when users have access, try explaining non-technical users how to work with the App-V client MMC plug-in. The App-V client configuration is simply way too cluncky for normal users.
This may seem like a minor issue, but imagine how much helpdesk calls the App-V client can generate in a 100.000 App-V user environment…
This is why Peter Nap, from Login Consultants with some decent coding skills, decided to develop a light-weight, super user friendly tool which does not require MMC access.
This App-V Self Support Tool consists of a single .exe (App-V SST.exe) and a XML config file (App-VSelfSupportTool_settings.xml). Just copy these to the PC/Laptops and make sure user can access the tool through a shortcut on the desktop or start menu. You can change the banner to your liking and the languages can expanded easily by expanded the XML file.
The interface is deliberately simplified, so users can find their way around. There are only a few options: View, Language, Repair, Cache, Start and Refresh. Users do not need anything more, and more importantly, they are not required to ask the helpdesk to support them.
The tool is so simple documentation is overkill. All information you need is condensed into a 5 minute video included in the download.
The App-V Self Support Tool is free and available in the tools download section of www.loginconsultants.com (registration required).
PS: We tried virtualizing the App-V tool itself, but this bring not great results: so virtualization of the App-V Self support tool is not recommended. ;-)
Good Old Patrick Lownds pinged me today to let me know that HP have released there Hyper-V R2 sizing tool.
The HP Sizer for Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 R2 is an automated, downloadable tool that provides quick and helpful sizing guidance for “best-fit” HP server and storage configurations running in a Hyper-V R2 environment.
The tool is intended to assist with the planning of a Hyper-V R2 virtual server deployment project. It enables the user to quickly compare different solution configurations and produces a customizable server and storage solution complete with a detail Bill of Materials (BOM) that includes part numbers and prices. The tool is available at http://h71019.www7.hp.com/ActiveAnswers/us/en/sizers/microsoft-hyper-v2008.html
Peter Ballantyne pinged me yesterday to say “have a look at this post” ….. and its a question that comes up over and over and over. So it was great to see a support statement come out from the App-V product team and sequenced apps being moved to a newer OS to help clarify the support stance.
----------------------
This question has come up numerous times:
Do I need to re-sequence my applications when I move to a new OS?
There have been multiple statements published and circulated about this topic and the real answer is “it depends!" What’s really important is that you test your existing virtual applications on the new operating system to make sure they work correctly before deploying. You may find that they work fine, but if you encounter problems you may need to re-sequence on the new operating system.
Here’s the current support statement for App-V from the product group and this statement supersedes all others.
It is often possible to sequence on one OS and run the virtualized app on a different OS, however this scenario is both app and OS dependent and is not guaranteed to work for all app/OS combinations since App-V is not a general purpose OS compatibility solution. If problems are encountered, the customer may be required to sequence on the same OS environment as the App-V client is running in order to resolve those problems.
Note that whatever OS platform is used when sequencing, our “best practices” guidance requires customers to test the sequenced app on all delivery OS platforms prior to putting into production.
Hope this helps,
Peter Ballantyne | Technical Writer
Rodney emailed me today about a tool that he has been working on with a company called Immidio called “Appscriber”, I think i posted about this in the past about v1 of Appscriber. Appscriber is a self service portal for applications.
In Rodney's own words: Version 2.0 of AppScriber now finally adds a configurable workflow engine, which allows you to optionally configure “Approvers” for applications. Which means, that besides users can automatically enable ”General” applications for themselves, for some applications you decide on (Managed applications), upon user request, a notification e-mail will be sent to the associated “Approver”. The approver can then Accept or Reject this request. After this an e-mail will be sent back to the user with the decision the approver made and if accepted the application will be automatically deployed.
Now i am all for empowering users and am really interested in getting my hands on “Appscriber v2” for a play with! I guess we will all have to wait for this to be released but i am already looking forward to playing with this. This is looking like a very very neat add on for App-V from our MVPs.
Once the admin video is released I will ping that out!
Over on the App-V Blog jim wrote a really handy little piece around shell extensions and App-V which links into a number of the conversations that i have had this week. I think that this is important to note and highlight as it keeps coming up in conversation!
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Microsoft Application Virtualization does not support applications that use shell extension handlers implemented with a custom dynamic-link library (DLL). The reason that APP-V cannot support applications with custom shell extensions is that this would require providing Windows Explorer access to the virtual environment. Shell extensions are sometimes referred to as Shell integration.
Some applications allow disabling of their customer shell extensions. If the application you would like to sequence allows you to disable the shell extension it probably can be sequenced in App-V.
Shell extensions are in-process Component Object Model (COM) objects that extend the abilities of the Windows operating system.
For more information about Shell Extension Handlers check out this MSDN article.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc144067(VS.85).aspx
You can use the sysinternals tool Autoruns to view installed Explorer shell extensions.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
You may also enjoy reading the case study about Sequencing Applications for Deployment at Microsoft.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd871278.aspx.
Jim Truchon | Senior Escalation Engineer
I have felt like i have written the same email about applications that are not suitable candidates for virtualization in App-V more than a dozen times over the past week. And I wanted to throw up a table that i tend to use to help highlight some of these.
I often use the MSIT case study as a great example of what to look for an how to identify and set up a process/strategy and how to evaluate the software catalog.
Sequencing Strategy
To help minimize the costs associated with application management, an organization should follow a specific sequencing process to help reduce the costs of packaging applications.
The process can be categorized into several distinct phases that begin with evaluating the current software catalog, continue with building the sequencing workstation, and then finish with performing the sequencing tasks. The following sections discuss considerations for each phase.
Phase 1: Evaluate the Current Software Catalog
When determining which applications are suitable virtualization candidates, Microsoft evaluates the potential candidate and places the application into one of three categories:
- Ideal Candidate. Applications meet all of the possible candidate criteria and have no identifiable roadblocks to success.
- Possible Candidate. Applications do not meet disqualifying criteria but may require additional research or validation.
- Not a Candidate. Applications are more expensive to virtualize than the benefits achieved from virtualization. This category also includes applications that technically cannot be virtualized because of current limitations.
To assist with identifying applications that are not a suitable candidate for virtualization,
Table. Provides information to consider.
I am not the greatest script writer! Certainly I can bolt together some stuff that other people can do! And to add i have been doing loads with our new VDI implementation in 2k8 R2.
So whilst doing some troubleshooting I was told about some Great Scripts for the Windows Server 2008 R2 VDi implementation and Remote Desktop Services.
If you go to here the scripting guy has some amazing scripts to work with.
The scripts cover basic troubleshooting and config! Very very handy, i wish i had known about them sooner!
My buddy Andy Auret pinged me with an update of his core configurator tool for win2k8 R2.
It is completely open source so it can be amended and change to fit your requirements, this version has been a year in the making and has been written in powershell with a reference to Winforms so that a GUI format is displayed.
The primary focus of this project is to try and get feedback and contributions back from the community to make this a tool the best/ free tool everyone will want in there toolkit, so if you have some code or features that you might want included then please leave a comment and we will get in touch.
Core Configuration tasks include:
- Product Licensing
- Networking Features
- DCPromo Tool
- ISCSI Settings
- Server Roles and Features
- User and Group Permissions
- Share Creation and Deletion
- Dynamic Firewall settings
- Display | Screensaver Settings
- Add & Remove Drivers
- Proxy settings
- Windows Updates (Including WSUS)
- Multipath I/O
- Hyper-V including virtual machine thumbnails
- JoinDomain and Computer rename
- Add/remove programs
- Services
- WinRM
- Complete logging of all commands executed
To Download core configurator click here.
I have been working in Amsterdam this week and assisting a number of customers! its been great fun as i have had the pleasure of Madelinde Walraven shadowing me on my adventures.
Well to add to my fun week I met up with a couple of our App-V MVPs, Rodney Medina and Ment van der Plas for dinner. We had a great chat, and good laugh at a few things. Rodney and Ment also told me about some of the things there Flex Profile Kit has been extended to do including a way to save specific elements from an App-V app settings into flex.
Rodney then went on to say how he blogged about it today… and in his own words…
“Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced is a Windows Profile Management solution which solves a lot of Windows Profile Management issues and optimizes the overall user experience of Windows Profiles.
This is achieved by decoupling and segmenting personal application settings from the underlying Windows OS and Profile, making these settings available cross-Windows Platform and creating a consistent user experience no matter what Windows OS the user is working on.
While this way of handling Windows User Profiles provides a lot of benefits in a scenario where applications are installed traditionally (i.e. no virtualization), it can also be used to decouple personal application settings from App-V enabled (sequenced) applications.
What are the benefits?
- Decouple personal application settings from App-V Delta files (.PKG) proprietary format.
Using App-V there is practically no control over what gets stored into the user delta (.PKG), which in some cases can grow extensively. With Flex Profiles Advanced you can explicitly configure what application settings need to be restored and saved at application startup and shutdown, making you independent of the .PKG files. With Flex Profiles Advanced application settings are stored in an open format (.ZIP).
- Migrate user application settings from installed instance to virtual instance.
When moving from traditional installations (e.g. MSI) to App-V enabled (sequenced) applications, users lose their personal application settings for those applications because these settings are stored in the “real” registry of their Windows User Profile. When using Immidio Flex Profiles Advanced in such a transition scenario, it is possible to migrate settings you specify to the App-V enabled applications.
This even works in a scenario where you now run Windows XP with MSI installations and you are migrating to Windows 7 with App-V enabled applications!
- One transparent way to administrate all user/application settings.
This is especially a good way to manage user settings for scenarios where different deployment solutions are being used and users work on different Windows platforms. For example when users are connecting to remote desktops on TS or VDI and are also working on traditional desktops. With Flex Profiles Advanced it is also possible to manage user settings for both virtual and installed applications in the same way.”
To read more click here
I will have to give the trial software a try and set this up and let you know my findings. But its certainly an interested concept in a way you could create a mandatory profile for your users whilst keeping certain customizations across locally installed applications and virtualized applications.
As always this is not a Microsoft Applications and its is not supported or tested with our Product teams.
Are you a TS/RDS admin? Don't have access to the Microsoft Volume Licensing Site? Need to download App-V for your deployment? Well if you have answered yes to these questions, i may have the answer for you.
App-V for Terminal Servers/RDS is available on Microsoft Download. You need to register and give some of your terminal server information for us to validate you, but that's all you need!
Go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0890d6cd-0d3b-4c9d-b208-231c65d3e55a register, and download!
Now after most of my customers get there hands on the MDOP 2009 R2….. the next big question is , where is the Terminal Server Client! ahhhhhhh its a different download!
So how can you get your hands on the Remote Desktop Services App-V 4.5 Service Pack 1 client, well the answer is “again” my friends is on https://licencing.microsoft.com.
You can download it today from the MVLS website.You will obviously need to have a valid agreement to download software.
1. Go to https://licensing.microsoft.com
2. Log-in using Passport account
3. Go to the Products Download Section
4) Under Windows Servers released 2009-10-19 you should see “Windows Remote Desktop Srvcs CAL 4.5 with SP1 with Application Virtualization for Terminal Server”
5) Once you select that you can select Language and your download speed and away you go!
Enjoy!
And then the next biggest question i get asked, is How do i get my hands on that App-V Service Pack 1 Component? Well as always the answer is Microsoft Volume licence site.
We released the App-V 4.5 Service Pack 1 Client/server and Sequence, adding Win7 support and a number of other great features. Remember what the upgrade processes is for an App-V full Infrastructure deployment…..
1) All Clients Upgrade
2) All Servers Upgraded
3) Sequencer Upgraded!
Remember that order is your key to getting a pat on the head!
So enough of the chat, dude where's my download!??!!
So how can you get your hands on App-V 4.5 Service Pack 1 and the rest of the MDOP team, well the answer my friends is on https://licencing.microsoft.com.
You can download it today from the MVLS website.You will obviously need to have a valid agreement to download software.
1. Go to https://licensing.microsoft.com
2. Log-in using Passport account
3. Go to the Products Download Section
4) Under Software Assurance released 2009-10-19 you should see “Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance 2009 R2”
5) Once you select that you can select Language and your download speed and away you go!
Enjoy!
