Test the New .MSI File
Now that you’ve got your new .msi file, you’re
ready to test. Figure 3, page 50, shows a Group
Policy Object (GPO) that I used to deploy the
newly wrapped sequence of Acrobat Reader
(as an MSI) to computers. Note that the .msi
and .sft files are in the same share (in my
example, it’s called sgContent), which you
can also see in Figure 3.
Remember that users need to be able
to read the .msi file and the .sft file through
the share. So, be sure that the permissions
are set to Read for Authenticated Users on
both the share and within the underlying
NTFS permissions. That way, users and
computers, which are both considered
(strangely enough) Authenticated Users,
can access the files. Without Read permissions
to Authenticated Users your deployment
will fail.
When a SoftGrid client that’s set up for
Offline mode reboots, Group Policy looks to
see whether any .msi applications are ready to install. If they are, at this point 100 percent
of the .msi application is placed into cache.
Now, whenever a user logon occurs and a
user tries to run the SoftGrid application, the
application is simply pulled from the local
cache and not from the server.
Mitigate the Downside of Offline Mode
Yes, there are several disadvantages to using
the SoftGrid client in Offline mode. Here’s
a breakdown of the top issues and how to
mitigate them.
Once in Offline, always in Offline. The SoftGrid Client can’t switch on the fly
between Offline mode and original streaming
(Online) mode. So, you have to specifically
dictate which SoftGrid clients will work
in Offline mode and which SoftGrid clients
will work in Online mode.
To mitigate this issue, have a plan about
specifically which client computers should
get the Offline client and document them.
Troubleshooting SoftGrid Online clients is
going to be different than troubleshooting
SoftGrid Offline clients. In short, you’ll
likely want to stay with the Online mode for
desktops and switch to the Offline mode for
laptops.
All Online clients suffer for the good of
the Offline clients. If the .msi package gets
targeted for regular SoftGrid clients (those
not set to Offline mode), you might still see
the .msi try to install each and every time
regular online SoftGrid clients reboot. That’s
because the .msi package tries to process but
can’t successfully install to an online client,
so it just times out. This timing out adds to
the computer startup time for regular online clients. To counteract this, be sure to target
your .msi packages only for Offline SoftGrid
clients.
Offline clients are exempt from some
key SoftGrid features. Any clients that use
Offline mode are automatically exempt from
SoftGrid’s nifty auditing feature and software
metering. This is because the whole sequence
is running locally, not off the SoftGrid server,
so there’s no checking-in process and no way
to audit or meter for license overuse. No solution
exists currently to mitigate this problem.
If you need to ensure an audit trail each time a SoftGrid application is run, you must use
Online mode.
Take Clients Off the Network
The MSI Utility and the new SoftGrid Client
4.2.1 can help you take your clients off the
network and let them work with applications
anywhere. And you can use the tools
you already know and love to deploy your
SoftGrid sequences (now wrapped as .msi
files). Many more options exist for using
the SoftGrid Offline client. For instance, you
might also want to mass-upgrade and configure
existing older SoftGrid clients that are
currently in Online mode to SoftGrid 4.2.1
while converting them to Offline mode. You
can do this by using Group Policy or your
own scripting method.