Microsoft Application Virtualization Management System Release Notes
Important
Read these Release Notes thoroughly before you install the Application Virtualization Management System. These Release Notes contain information that you need to successfully install the Application Virtualization Management System. This document contains information that isn't available in the product documentation. If there's a discrepancy between these Release Notes and other Application Virtualization Management System documentation, the latest change should be considered authoritative. These Release Notes supersede the content included with this product.
About Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Cumulative Update 1
These Release Notes have been updated to reflect the changes introduced with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Cumulative Update 1 (App-V 4.5 CU1), which provides the latest updates to Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5. This cumulative update contains the following changes:
Improved support for sequencing the .NET Framework: App-V 4.5 CU1 addresses previous issues with sequencing the .NET Framework 3.5 and earlier on Windows XP (SP2 or later).
Customer Feedback and Hotfix Rollup: App-V 4.5 CU1 also includes a rollup up of fixes to address issues found since the App-V 4.5 RTM release. This includes a combination of known issues and customer feedback from our internal teams, partners, and customers who are using App-V 4.5.
Protect Against Security Vulnerabilities and Viruses
To help protect against security vulnerabilities and viruses, it's important to install the latest available security updates for any new software being installed.
Known Issues with Application Virtualization 4.5 CU1
This section provides the most up-to-date information about issues with Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5 CU1. These issues don't appear in the product documentation and in some cases might contradict existing product documentation. Whenever possible, these issues are addressed in later releases.
Guidance for installing or upgrading clients to App-V 4.5 CU1 using setup.msi
When installing or upgrading your App-V clients to App-V 4.5 CU1 by using setup.msi, the prerequisites aren't installed automatically.
WORKAROUND You must manually install the prerequisites before installing or upgrading the App-V client to 4.5 CU1. For detailed procedures for installing the prerequisites and the App-V client, see How to Install the Client by Using the Command Line.
When this has been completed, install the App-V 4.5 CU1 client by using setup.msi with elevated privileges. This file is available on the App-V 4.5 CU1 release media in the Installers\Client folder.
When installing Microsoft Application Error Reporting, use the following command if you're installing or upgrading to the App-V 4.5 CU1 Desktop client:
msiexec /i dw20shared.msi APPGUID={FE495DBC-6D42-4698-B61F-86E655E0796D} allusers=1 reboot=suppress REINSTALL=all REINSTALLMODE=vomus
Alternatively, if you're installing or upgrading to the App-V 4.5 CU1 Terminal Services client, use the following command:
msiexec /i dw20shared.msi APPGUID={8A97C241-D92A-47DC-B360-E716C1AAA929} allusers=1 reboot=suppress REINSTALL=all REINSTALLMODE=vomus
Note
The APPGUID parameter references the product code of the App-V client that you install or upgrade to. The product code is unique for each setup.msi. You can use the Orca database editor or similar tool to examine Windows Installer files and determine the product code. This step is required for all installs or upgrades to App-V 4.5 CU1.
Improving performance when sequencing the .NET Framework
When sequencing the .NET Framework, you might experience reduced system performance because the Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN service attempts to precompile assemblies as a background task.
WORKAROUND When sequencing the .NET Framework, disable the Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN service (mscorsvw.exe) after completing the monitoring phase. You must use the Virtual Services tab in the Sequencer and change the startup type to disabled.
Interoperability issues with the Windows 7 Taskbar
When you run the Application Virtualization Client on Windows 7, the Windows 7 taskbar doesn't collapse multiple instances of a virtual application into a single taskbar button. In addition, jump Lists don't appear when you right-click a taskbar button of a virtual application, unless the application has been pinned to the Windows 7 taskbar.
When you uninstall the Microsoft Application Virtualization Client, user settings associated with the user performing the uninstall will be deleted
When you uninstall the Microsoft Application Virtualization Client, the Windows Installer will remove Application Virtualization settings from the current user's profile. If your computer uses roaming profiles, don't use your personal network account to uninstall the client because it removes settings for your virtual applications on all of your computers.
WORKAROUND You should perform the App-V Client uninstall with an administrative account that isn't used for running virtual applications.
Edits made on the virtual file system and virtual registry tabs must be saved while running the Sequencing wizard
If you open a package to perform an upgrade or have already run the Sequencing wizard with a new package and you make changes to the package in the virtual file system or virtual registry tabs, those changes aren't automatically saved.
WORKAROUND Save the changes before rerunning the wizard, to ensure that they're reflected inside the wizard's virtual environment.
Command-line Sequencer must be run from an elevated command prompt
When you use the command-line Sequencer, it doesn't prompt for elevation.
WORKAROUND Run the command-line Sequencer using an elevated command prompt.
Server Management Console configuration in distributed environments
If you need to install management components onto systems other than the primary Application Virtualization publishing and streaming server, the server install supports installing our management console and Web service on separate servers from the primary Application Virtualization Server when properly configured.
To distribute the management components across multiple servers, Kerberos delegation must be enabled on the server where the Web service is installed.
Short path variable names in OSD files can cause errors
If you receive error 450478-1F702339-0000010B "The directory name is invalid" when starting a virtual application on the client, it's possible that the variable in the OSD is set incorrectly. This can happen if the application's installer sets a short path name during sequencing.
WORKAROUND Remove the trailing tilde from any CSIDL variable that exists in the OSD file.
Correct syntax for DECODEPATH parameter for command-line Sequencer
In the command-line Sequencer, when opening a package for upgrade and decoding it to the root of the Q drive, the syntax for the DECODEPATH parameter shouldn't include a trailing slash.
WORKAROUND You can use Q: rather than Q:\ (omitting the trailing "\" character).
When upgrading 4.2 packages, you encounter problems caused by Windows Installer files in the Virtual File System
When upgrading a package from 4.2, you might experience issues relating to a mismatch of Windows Installer system files that were included by default in 4.2 and the Windows Installer libraries locally installed on your Sequencing workstation. The following files are located in CSIDL_SYSTEM\:
cabinet.dll
msi.dll
msiexec.exe
msihnd.dll
msimsg.dll
WORKAROUND Delete all of the preceding files from the package. Delete the mappings on the VFS tab and the actual files in the CSIDL_SYSTEM folder in your decode path.
On Windows XP, client install logging isn't enabled by default
When installing the client, to ensure that any install errors are captured for troubleshooting purposes, you should enable logging by using the command line.
WORKAROUND Add the parameter /l*vx! log.txt to the command line, as shown in the following example:
setup.exe /s /v"/qn /l*vx! log.txt"
msiexec.exe /i setup.msi /qn /l*vx! log.txt
Alternatively, you can set the registry key to the following value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer] "Logging"="voicewarmupx!"
For Kerberos authentication to work, Service Principal Names (SPNs) must be registered for IIS
When using IIS 6.0 or 7.0 for icon or OSD file retrieval and streaming of packages, for Kerberos authentication to be enabled, the SPNs must be registered as follows:
On the IIS server, run the following commands by using the SETSPN.EXE Resource Kit tool. The server fully qualified domain name (FQDN) must be used.
Setspn -r SOFTGRID/<Server FQDN>Setspn -r HTTP/<Server FQDN>
On upgrade from RC, the default permissions on client logs don't allow for nonadmin users to access the logs for troubleshooting and support
The default permissions on client logs for the Application Virtualization RC client didn't allow for nonadmin access to log files, and manual changes to these log permissions were reverted when clients were restarted. This has been corrected in the RTM release for new client installs, but on upgrade from RC, the custom permissions on existing log files aren't reset. However, when any new logs are created or after a log reset, the files will have the new default permissions.
WORKAROUND After the upgrade, reset existing client logs or manually change their permissions.
.NET compatibility changes
Microsoft Application Virtualization Cumulative Update 1 supports sequencing the .NET Framework on Windows XP (SP2 or later). Sequencing routines for .NET applications that were written for SoftGrid 4.2 might need to be updated when used with the App-V 4.5 Sequencer.
After client upgrade from App-V 4.2, some applications aren't shown
Check for the following error in the log: "The Application Virtualization Client couldn't parse the OSD file". The Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 client filters out applications that have an OSD file containing an empty OS tag (<OS></OS>).
WORKAROUND Delete the empty OS tag from the OSD file.
The App-V server requires exemptions in its firewall for certain processes
For the server to stream applications correctly, the server's core processes, including the dispatcher, need access through the firewall.
WORKAROUND Set exemptions in the server's firewall for the following processes: sghwsvr.exe and sghwdsptr.exe. This applies to the App-V Management Server and App-V Streaming Server.
Sequencing packages that require new Visual Basic runtimes might fail
If you sequence a package that uses a newer version of a Visual Basic (VB) runtime on a system where an older version of the VB runtime is installed, you might see a crash or other unexpected behavior when you try to use your package. For example, if you try to sequence Microsoft Money 2007, which uses version 6.00.9782 of the VB runtime, on a Windows XP system with version 6.00.9690 of the VB runtime, you might see a crash in the Invoice Designer when you try to run it on another Windows XP system with that older VB runtime.
WORKAROUND After installing the application on the sequencing computer, while still monitoring, copy the correct (newer) VB runtime to the directory in the package from where the executable is started. This allows the sequenced application to find the expected version of the VB runtime when it's started.
Important
This issue has been fixed in Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Cumulative Update 1.
When the server installer is run in silent mode, it doesn't correctly check for MSXML6
The App-V Management Server depends on MSXML6. However, if you run the installer in silent mode—for example, by using the command "msiexec -i setup.msi /qn" on a system where MSXML6 isn't already installed—the installer doesn't notice the missing dependency and installs anyway. The most common result is that when clients attempt to refresh publishing information from the App-V Management Server, they'll see failures.
WORKAROUND Verify that MSXML6 is installed on the system before attempting a silent install of the App-V Management Server.
Error code 000C800 when attempting to connect to the Application Virtualization Management Console
An Application Virtualization administrator who isn't a local admin on the Application Virtualization Management Service server receives an error (Error code: 000C800) when attempting to connect to the Application Virtualization Management Console, and the sftmmc.log entry will indicate that access to SftMgmt.udl is denied. To successfully connect to the Application Virtualization Management Console, an Application Virtualization administrator who isn't a local admin on the Application Virtualization Management Service server must have at least read and execute access to the SftMgmt.udl file.
The Application Virtualization administrators must be given read and execute permissions to the SftMgmt.UDL file under %systemdrive%\Program Files\Microsoft System Center App Virt Management Server\App Virt Management Service.
Client installer command-line parameters are ignored when used with KEEPCURRENTSETTINGS=1
When used with KEEPCURRENTSETTINGS=1, the following client installer command-line parameters are ignored: SWICACHESIZE, MINFREESPACEMB, ALLOWINDEPENDENTFILESTREAMING, APPLICATIONSOURCEROOT, ICONSOURCEROOT, OSDSOURCEROOT, SYSTEMEVENTLOGLEVEL, SWIGLOBALDATA, DOTIMEOUTMINUTES, SWIFSDRIVE, AUTOLOADTARGET, AUTOLOADTRIGGERS, SWIUSERDATA, and REQUIRESECURECONNECTION.
WORKAROUND If you have settings you want to retain, use KEEPCURRENTSETTINGS=1 and then set the other parameters after deployment. The App-V ADM Template can be used to set the following client settings: APPLICATIONSOURCEROOT, ICONSOURCEROOT, OSDSOURCEROOT, AUTOLOADTARGET, AUTOLOADTRIGGERS, DOTIMEOUTMINUTES, and ALLOWINDEPENDENTFILESTREAMING.
Error initializing virtual applications with Symantec Endpoint Protection
When using Symantec Endpoint Protection with the Application and Device Control feature enabled, virtual applications might fail to start, with the error "The application failed to initialize properly (0xc000007b)".
Important
This issue has been fixed in Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Cumulative Update 1.