How to Create a Streaming VSA Package with no EXE

You may already be familiar with the results of trying to build a streaming package that does not contain an executable. Workspace Streaming composer identifies executables and creates shortcuts as part of the package. These shortcuts are then streamed to the desktop and the user can double click to launch the application. When you remove that variable, the Streaming Composer has nothing to work with and you will not be able to complete the package.

There are actually two approaches to creating such packages. One approach is by using the "dummy.exe" to play the role of the missing executable. Seriously... that's the name of the file. If you don't believe me, search the install folder. I'm not trying to imply anything here, I'm all about customer satisfaction. So where was I, oh, right... the other way, is to create a real executable shortcut to "Winlogon.exe", a Windows system file. Depending on what application is being packaged, one or the other may be preferred. For this article, I will be describing the later. The reason I want to use this as my faux executable is this is a very clean exe. It runs and exits with complete transparency to the end-user.

I have previously created a Visio Viewer 2007 layer. If you look at the installation for this application, you will find an .exe, but it's a lie I tell you, it's not a real .exe. At least not from the sense of what an .exe normally does. The program is actually a browser plug-in and runs only when it's called by launching a Visio file. If you export your VSA and try to create a streaming VSA package, you will as mentioned run into a slight complication. Read on to find out how to successfully build this package. The great thing here is that this is not limited to the application in my example. This can probably be applied to just about any application that has a similar configuration.

By the way, I also recorded a video that demonstrates this process. The link is at the bottom of the article. I do want to mention that there are moments where I cut frames for the benefit of time, however I want to add for the record, I did not cut any time off the actual process steps where you see progress bars. Those are real time.

Pre-requisites

• Clean machine with Streaming Composer. Preferably a licensed copy since it makes it easier to call support for help and keeps the license Gods happy. This should be a vanilla OS plus the Composer. No anti-virus, no streaming agent, just a fresh build. Unless a physical machine is absolutely necessary, I highly recommend using VMs for this since it's an incredible time saver when you need to revert and start over. I personally love Parallels Workstation with VT-D support since I can now use the VM to build packages that require more power, that the old school VMs did not support.
• VSA file of your application.

Step 1

The first thing you should do, and this is a good rule of thumb, is to copy your VSA to the machine with the Streaming Composer installed. You can also use network shares for storing all packaging related files and ease of access.

Step 2

Logon to your Streaming Composer machine and launch the Composer.

Step 3

• Toggle the radio button to select "Virtualization Package (VSA).
• Click the three dots as indicated in the screenshot above and browse to the location where you package will be saved. (This should be a new folder)
• Click "Ok" to continue.

Step 4

Browse to the location where your VSA file is stored by clicking the three dots as indicated in the screenshot. After selecting your VSA, just click "Import".

Step 5

Here is where we create the shortcut.

Click "Add".

Give your package a name. I called mine "Visio Viewer 2007". Appropriate, yes?

Enter the path to "Winlogon.exe". The full path is "C:\Windows\System32\Winlogon.exe".

Open the "Vendor Version" drop-down. Select the first path listed, ending in "..\SVS_DEST\AS_FILES\".

Now we tell the Composer where to place the Start Menu item. The variable "$userprogrammenudir$\VisioViewer" is used, where $userprogrammenudir$ is the current users Start Menu.

Finally, give the shortcut an icon by clicking on the three dots as indicated in the screenshot above, then browsing to the icon file. I used C:\Windows\system32\SHELL32.dll in my example. You may prefer to use the actual Visio icon instead. This shortcut will not actually run the program. Click "Ok" to complete this step.

You will see the above dialog. Streaming Composer recognizes every path that is registered for this application and is warning you that the path you just setup is not part of the original VSA. Click "Yes" to continue.

Step 6

Click "Streamlets" on the left menu, under Package Information. It's indicated as the next step with the white arrow inside the green box. This step will generate the package streamlets. Note the paragraph at the top. The streamlets are the application blocks that are transferred between the streaming server and the streaming agent.

When this step completes you will see a dialog box letting you know that the package was successfully created. Click "Ok" here and go to the final step.

Step 7 (aka the final step)

So here we are, and even though we've gone through a plethora of screenshots, trust me, the actual process is pretty quick and simple. In case you're concerned, the actual process is also fairly painless. You won't feel a thing.

Click "Create" and wait for the process to complete. This step is creating the final package which you will be able to upload to your Streaming Server for provisioning and deployment.

Don't pass Go and don't collect $200, but do click "Ok" when prompted, because you're package is done. Proof is in the pudding you say? Lets browse to the folder we selected in Step 3.

Look at that. The folder which was once empty and devoid of all life, has been filled and is empty no more. There it is, the ZIP file that was created for me. This archive contains everything I need to upload and stream the package.

A video demonstration of this process can be found here: http://www.symantec.com/connect/videos/vsa-package-no-exe