5.0
Table Of Contents
- ThinApp User’s Guide
- Contents
- About This Book
- Installing ThinApp
- Capturing Applications
- Phases of the Capture Process
- Preparing to Capture Applications
- Capturing Applications with the Setup Capture Wizard
- Create a System Image Before the Application Installation
- Rescan the System with the Installed Application
- Defining Entry Points as Shortcuts into the Virtual Environment
- Set Entry Points
- Manage with VMware Horizon Application Manager
- Set User Groups
- Defining Isolation Modes for the Physical File System
- Set File System Isolation Modes
- Storing Application Changes in the Sandbox
- Customize the Sandbox Location
- Send Anonymous Statistics to VMware
- Customize ThinApp Project Settings
- Defining Package Settings
- Customize Package Settings
- Opening Project and Parameter Files
- Build Virtual Applications
- Advanced Package Configuration
- Capturing Internet Explorer on Windows XP
- Capturing Multiple Application Installers with ThinApp Converter
- Deploying Applications
- ThinApp Deployment Options
- Establishing File Type Associations with the thinreg.exe Utility
- Building an MSI Database
- Controlling Application Access with Active Directory
- Starting and Stopping Virtual Services
- Using ThinApp Packages Streamed from the Network
- Using Captured Applications with Other System Components
- Performing Paste Operations
- Accessing Printers
- Accessing Drivers
- Accessing the Local Disk, the Removable Disk, and Network Shares
- Accessing the System Registry
- Accessing Networking and Sockets
- Using Shared Memory and Named Pipes
- Using COM, DCOM, and Out-of-Process COM Components
- Starting Services
- Using File Type Associations
- Sample Isolation Mode Configuration Depending on Deployment Context
- Updating and Linking Applications
- Application Updates That the End User Triggers
- Application Sync Updates
- Using Application Sync in a Managed or Unmanaged Environment
- Update Firefox 2.0.0.3 to Firefox 3 with Application Sync
- Fix an Incorrect Update with Application Sync
- Application Sync Effect on Entry Point Executable Files
- Updating thinreg.exe Registrations with Application Sync
- Maintaining the Primary Data Container Name with Application Sync
- Completing the Application Sync Process When Applications Create Child Processes
- Application Link Updates
- View of the Application using Application Link
- Link a Base Application to the Microsoft .NET Framework
- Set Up Nested Links with Application Link
- Affecting Isolation Modes with Application Link
- PermittedGroups Effect on Linked Packages
- Sandbox Changes for Standalone and Linked Packages
- Import Order for Linked Packages
- File and Registry Collisions in Linked Packages
- VBScript Collisions in Linked Packages
- VBScript Function Order in Linked Packages
- Storing Multiple Versions of a Linked Application in the Same Directory
- Using Application Sync for a Base Application and Linked Packages
- Application Sync Updates
- Application Updates That the Administrator Triggers
- Automatic Application Updates
- Upgrading Running Applications on a Network Share
- Sandbox Considerations for Upgraded Applications
- Updating the ThinApp Version of Packages
- Application Updates That the End User Triggers
- Locating the ThinApp Sandbox
- Creating ThinApp Snapshots and Projects from the Command Line
- ThinApp File System Formats and Macros
- Creating ThinApp Scripts
- Callback Functions
- Implement Scripts in a ThinApp Environment
- API Functions
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting ThinApp
- Glossary
- Index
ThinApp User’s Guide
42 VMware, Inc.
Using ThinApp Packages Streamed from the Network
Anynetworkstoragedevicecanserveasastreamingserverforhundredsorthousandsofclientcomputers.
SeeFigure 3‐1.
Figure 3-1. Data Block Streaming over a Network Share
Ontheend‐userdesktop,youcancreateshortcutsthatpointtothecentrallyhostedexecutablefilepackages.
Whentheuserclickstheshortcut,theapplicationbeginsstreamingtotheclientcomputer.Duringtheinitial
streamingstartupprocess,theThinAppstatusbarinformstheuseroftheprogress.
How ThinApp Application Streaming Works
WhenyouplacecompressedThinAppexecutablefilesonanetworkshareorUSBflashdrive,thecontents
fromtheexecutablefilestreamtoclientcomputersinablock‐basedfashion.Asanapplicationrequestsspecific
partsofdatafiles,ThinAppreadsthisinformationinthecompressedformatoverthenetworkusing
standard
Windowsfilesharingprotocol.Foraviewoftheprocess,seeFigure 3‐2.
Afteraclientcomputerreceivesdata,ThinAppdecompress esthedatadirectlytomemory.BecauseThinAppdoes
notwrite datatothedisk,theprocessisfast.Alargepackagedoesnotnecessarilytakealongtime
toloadover
thenetworkandthepackagesizedoesnotaffectthestartuptimeofanapplication.Ifyouaddanextra20GB
filetoapackagethatisnotinuseatruntime,thepackageloadsatthesamespeed.Iftheapplicationopensand
reads32KBofdata
fromthe20GBfile,ThinApponlyrequests32KBofdata.
TheThinAppruntimeclientisasmallpartoftheexecutablefilepackage.WhenThinApploadstheruntime
client,itsetsuptheenvironmentandstartsthetargetexecutablefile.Thetargetexecutablefileaccessesother
partsoftheapplicationstored
inthevirtualoperatingsystem.Theruntimeclientinterceptssuchrequestsand
servesthembyloadingDLLsfromthevirtualoperatingsystem.
Theloadtimeoftheruntimeclientacrossanetworkisafewmilliseconds.AfterThinApploadstheruntime
clienttomemoryontheclientcomputer ,theend‐user
computercalculateswhichblocksofdataarerequired
fromtheserverandreadsthembasedonapplicationactivity.
Whentheapplicationmakessubsequentreadrequestsforthesamedata,theWindowsdiskcacheprovides
datawithoutrequiringanetworkreadoperation.Iftheclientcomputerrunslowonmemory,Windows
discards
someofitsdiskcacheandprovidesthememoryresourcetootherapplications.
Sam’s
Sandbox
Joe’s
Sandbox
Jill’s
Sandbox
shared folder