Executive Summary:
Help your users to get the most out of their SoftGrid applications while on the road by using the new SoftGrid client's Offline mode and a technique that involves converting an existing SoftGrid sequence to an .msi file and deploying that file by using Group Policy, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), or any systems management tool. |
I’m a big Microsoft SoftGrid Application
Virtualization fan. With Soft-
Grid, I don’t have to actually install
applications directly on my client
machines. Instead, I get the sweet
ability to let users run applications
that are on a server but use the client computer’s
horsepower—and I don’t have to
worry about the dirty job of handling
software conflicts. Even if
users have never used an application
before, they just click an
application’s icon on the desktop
or Start Menu and the application
launches from the server—
all the while, the application is
never actually installed on the
client machine.
Once you’ve set up SoftGrid
on the server and clients (see
“SoftGrid for Application Virtualization,”
September 2007,
InstantDoc ID 96625) it elegantly
distributes the application: First, the SoftGrid client makes a request to the
server, then the server streams as much of the
application as the user needs at that moment.
On the client, SoftGrid caches any part of an
application that a user accesses. If a user has
previously used an application, or even just
part of an application, that portion comes
from the cache, not the server. But if a user
needs more of an application, say, Microsoft
Word’s Thesaurus, the SoftGrid client then
automatically connects back to the server and
downloads (and caches) just the bits it needs
and makes the cached feature available for
next time.
SoftGrid’s a great solution for desktops,
but what about laptops? If a user on the road
wants to access Word’s Thesaurus feature,
but has never used it before, that user could
have a little problem. Well, a big problem.
In fact, depending on the application, your
user could receive a terse message to close
the application in two minutes or it will shut
down. Ouch! Harsh! I’ll show you some ways
to avoid this problem and help your users get
the most out of SoftGrid while on the road.
SoftGrid for Road Warriors
Problem: Without access to a server,
users can’t access all features
of their SoftGrid applications
on the road.
Solution: Pre-load applications by
converting an existing
SoftGrid sequence to an .msi
file and deploying that file
by using Group Policy, SCCM,
or any systems management
tool.
What You Need: An existing SoftGrid
implementation; MSI Utility for
Microsoft SoftGrid Application
Virtualization; and the SoftGrid
4.2.1 client
Solution Steps:
1. Have a SoftGrid
infrastructure already in place.
2. Get the MSI Utility for
Microsoft SoftGrid Application
Virtualization.
3. Make sure you have an
updated SoftGrid 4.2.1 client
running in Offline mode on
your target system.
4. Convert an existing SoftGrid
sequence to an .msi file.
5. Deploy the .msi file using
Group Policy, SCCM, or any
systems management tool.
Difficulty: 3 out of 5 |
You have three options for helping users
take advantage of SoftGrid on the road. Two
unfortunately ask the user to do something
(or to use an inelegant script). But the third is more robust and the one we'll explore further.
As you’ll see, it lets you pre-load specific
applications by using the software deployment
infrastructure you already have, such
as Group Policy, Microsoft System Center
Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007, or
something else.
Option 1: Let your users do it. You can
ask your users to try to use all the functionality
in the office before they go, so they’ll
have what they need while on the road. This
option fails the moment you get a phone call
from the CIO asking why Microsoft Excel
Pivot Tables won’t run while she’s using her
laptop at 30,000 feet. Of course, if the CIO had
used that particular feature while connected
to the network, you wouldn’t get the phone
call, but obviously it’s not ideal to rely on
users in this way.
Option 2: Force the entire application
into the cache. The SoftGrid client has a
command-line switch that can force all
of a particular application (or all applications
a user has access to) into the cache
before users take off for a trip. You could
teach users to perform this step. Or, you
could use a Group Policy script to force
this to occur under certain creative conditions.
(For instance, you could create and
deploy a shutdown script that asks users
which applications they want to take on
the road with them; however, that’s an
exercise beyond the scope of this article.)
When you prepare an application for
SoftGrid distribution, you have to “sequence”
it (make it a streamable application from the
original application media). Part of sequencing
requires creating an Open Software
Description (.osd) file. To tell the client to
cache a specific application, you need to
know the precise name of the .osd file that
the client uses to pull information about the
application from the server. The person who
sequenced the application should be able
to provide this for you (it’s a property of the
sequenced application).
With the .osd file name in hand, you can
ensure, for example, that 100 percent of your
Adobe Reader sequence will be loaded on the
client. Ask the user to execute the following on
that client (or make a script to do it):
sfttray.exe /load “Adobe Reader 7.0
7.0.8.218”
Or, alternatively, you can tell the SoftGrid client
to force load all applications the user has
access to by using this command:
sfttray.exe /loadall
However, note that the client cache size
can't be exceeded. The cache size is a hardcoded
limit that administrators declare on
the SoftGrid client at client setup time. The
default size is 2GB and is changeable only
during client installation. Also note that after
the cache fills up, the application that’s currently
streaming will stop streaming, then
display a Launch Failed message.
Options 1 and 2 have drawbacks: Users
still need a connection to the server to “get
more.” And it’s still a manual or scripted
process to either load additional pieces of
the application or cache the application in its
entirety.
It would be better if you could pre-load
specific applications by using a technique
you already use for other areas of software
deployment. That would be Option 3.
Option 3: Deploy sequences wrapped
up as Windows Installer applications to
SoftGrid clients in offline mode. I’m a
Group Policy geek. So I was disappointed
that there was no way to deliver SoftGrid
sequences via Group Policy. Well, that’s
changed. You can configure the newest Soft-
Grid client, SoftGrid Client 4.2.1, to work in
a new mode called Offline mode. Then you
can specially deploy sequences wrapped
up as Windows Installer (.msi) applications.
Upon deployment of these .msi files
to SoftGrid client computers, 100 percent
of the application is forced into the cache.
This gives you the best of both worlds: You
can deploy sequences using tools you love
(Group Policy, SCCM 2007, LANDesk, or
anything else that slings .msi files) and force
specific applications into the computer’s
cache. With this approach, you don’t have
to leave the onus on users to do anything to
ensure their applications are fully cached.
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