Planning for migrating from a previous version of App-V
Use the following information to plan how to migrate to Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.1 from previous versions of App-V.
Migration requirements
Before you start any upgrades, review the following requirements:
If you are upgrading from a version earlier than App-V 4.6 SP2, upgrade to version App-V 4.6 SP3 first before upgrading to App-V 5.1 or later. In this scenario, upgrade the App-V clients first, and then upgrade the server components. Note: App-V 4.6 has exited Mainstream support.
App-V 5.1 supports only packages that are created using App-V 5.0 or App-V 5.1, or packages that have been converted to the .appv format.
If you are upgrading the App-V Server from App-V 5.0 SP1, see About App-V 5.1 for instructions.
Running the App-V 5.1 client concurrently with App-V 4.6
You can run the App-V 5.1 client concurrently on the same computer with the App-V 4.6 SP3 client.
When you run coexisting App-V clients, you can:
Convert an App-V 4.6 SP3 package to the App-V 5.1 format and publish both packages, when you have both clients running.
Define the migration policy for the converted package, which allows the converted App-V 5.1 package to assume the file type associations and shortcuts from the App-V 4.6 package.
Supported coexistence scenarios
The following table shows the supported App-V coexistence scenarios. We recommend that you install the latest available updates of a given release when you are running coexisting clients.
| App-V 4.6 client type | App-V 5.1 client type |
|---|---|
| App-V 4.6 SP3 | App-V 5.1 |
| App-V 4.6 SP3 RDS | App-V 5.1 RDS |
Requirements for running coexisting clients
To run coexisting clients, you must:
Install the App-V 4.6 client before you install the App-V 5.1 client.
Enable the Enable Migration Mode Group Policy setting, which is in the App-V > Client Coexistence node. To deploy the .admx template, see How to Download and Deploy MDOP Group Policy (.admx) Templates.
Note
App-V 5.1 packages can run side by side with App-V 4.6 packages if you have coexisting installations of App-V 5.1 and 4.6. However, App-V 5.1 packages cannot interact with App-V 4.6 packages in the same virtual environment.
Client downloads and documentation
The downloads include the App-V "regular" and RDS clients. For more information, see About Microsoft Application Virtualization 5.1.
For more information about how to configure App-V 5.1 client coexistence, see:
Converting "previous-version" packages using the package converter
Before migrating a package, created using App- 4.6 SP2 or earlier, to App-V 5.1, review the following requirements:
You must convert the package to the .appv file format.
The Package Converter supports only the direct conversion of packages that were created by using App-V 4.5 and later. To use the package converter on a package that was created using a previous version, you must use an App-V 4.5 or later version of the sequencer to upgrade the package, and then you can perform the package conversion.
For more information about using the package converter to convert a package, see How to Convert a Package Created in a Previous Version of App-V. After you convert the file, you can deploy it to target computers that run the App-V 5.1 client.