What does Software Virtualization Solution have to offer? Learn the ins and outs of this Notification Server Infrastructure-based Solution, including Best Practices and Tips and Tricks. Familiarize yourself with the Altiris Console and how SVS plugs into it.

Introduction

Part 1 of this article series explores the uses of the Notification Server with SVS. The questions to address are: what are the best practices, what tips and tricks can I make use of, and what caveats can I be aware of to avoid issues while using SVS with Notification Server? This document covers the fundamental basics and also attempts to show a clear picture of the Solution as a whole.

SVS and the Console

Understanding the console is the first step. Not only is it important to know where things are, but also what each configurable field actually means under the hood of the Solution. As any Solution that installs into Notification Server, nodes exist in the greater Altiris Console for management. With the Altiris Console 6.5 a single-point entry will provide most of the required items. Go to View > Solution > and click Software Virtualization. The resulting tree in the left-hand pane provides the management items.

Click to view.

Configuration

The single configuration item for Software Virtualization Solution is the rollout, upgrade, and uninstall of the SVS Agent. This Agent is the client piece that resides on each managed system. When you expand the Configuration > Windows > Software Virtualization Agent Rollout you see the following nodes:

1. *All Windows 1000/XP/2003/Vista Workstations without Software Virtualization Agent installed
2. *Computers Requiring Software Virtualization Agent Upgrade
3. Software Virtualization Agent Install: This Task installs the SVS Agent to all machines as part of collection 1 above.
4. Software Virtualization Agent Package: This package contains the Agent-related installers.
5. Software Virtualization Agent Upgrade: This Task upgrades the SVS Agent on all machines as part of Collection 2 above.
6. Software Virtualization Agent with SVSAdmin Install: This Task installs the SVS Agent and the SVSAdmin component.
7. *Computers with Software Virtualization Agent Installed
8. Software Virtualization Agent Uninstall: This Task will run the SVS Agent uninstall on all target systems (default Collection #7 above).

*Items covered in subsequent sections of this article.

Collections and Reports

SVS utilizes core Notification Server collections and several custom collections to handle the management of the SVS Agent. The following collections are provided for the administration of the SVS Agent:

• All Windows 1000/XP/2003/Vista Workstations without Software Virtualization Agent installed: This collection contains all Notification Server managed Windows computers without the SVS Agent installed. This is primarily useful for dynamically rolling out the agent and for viewing what systems are seen as not having the agent.
• Computers Requiring Software Virtualization Agent Upgrade: When the Solution is upgraded and that upgrade contains a new agent, this collection is updated to contain computers that are NOT on the latest SVS Agent version. Since this collection is already assigned to the upgrade task, the upgrades are handled quickly.
• Computers with Software Virtualization Agent Installed: This collection by default is assigned to the SVS Agent uninstall policy, however it can be used for any Tasks that you need to rollout to all computers with the SVS Agent installed.

SVS provides a number of canned reports. They will be discussed in greater details in the Reports article of this series. The reports include:

• Count of Computers with/without SVS Agent Installed
• Count of Computers with Activated/Deactivated VSPs in Last 'N' Days
• Count of Computers by VSP
• Count of Computers with Deleted VSPs in Last 'N' Days
• Count of Computers Reset VSPs in Last 'N' Days
• Count of Computers with VSPs by Status
• Software Virtualization Event Failures in Last 'N' Days

Packages and Tasks

It is essential to understand what makes up a Notification Server Package. The SVS Package creation takes a different User interface approach than what is actually occurring underneath the package. In the Package configuration screen (covered below) you select a file (.vsa) for the package. In reality the Notification Server is selecting the directory that file resides in for the 'Package'.

Tasks will reference one package and one program. SVS Packages have a lot of Programs to cover the various commands that can be executed against a specific VSA (covered in more detail below.

Wizard and Status

This item simplifies the Package/Program/Task creation processes into a streamlined wizard interface. While not all the configuration options are available if you create them manually (as previously shown), it does help make the process simpler. This also provides a kind of catch-all reporting interface for your VSP deployments and executions. After you understand how Packages, Programs, and Tasks work together, using the Wizard is fairly straight forward.

Configuring SVS Packages

The main components of the delivery and execution are controlled by the core Software Delivery Agent (AeXSWDAgent.dll) that comes as part of the Altiris Agent. The following definition should be used when thinking about 'packages'.

Packages: A Notification Server Package is a directory and all sub files and folders on the file system. This means that a single package can contain many files and folders.

Package Tab

The configuration for the Package tab when you create a new SVS Package contains fields. Some are self explanatory. The following clarify and explain those fields that require it:

Click to view.

1. Publisher: When SVS Packages are available for the Software Portal, the Publisher field can be used to group in which category the packages show up in. If left blank, they will appear under the 'Other' category. Each unique Publisher will become a category (dynamically).
2. Source: The source field is the method the Notification Server (not necessarily the clients) will obtain the package from.
3. Location: The location the Notification Server obtains the actual package from. The clients will obtain it either UNC or URL, regardless of how the NS obtains it.

Programs Tab

Unlike other Notification Server Solutions, the Programs tab has been pre-populated with all the standard SVS actions. This simplifies the process, but the UI still allows each action (Program) to be edited as needed. The default actions (Programs) are:

• Activate
• Deactivate
• Deactivate (Force)
• Delete
• Delete (Force)
• Import
• Import (Active on Startup)
• Import and Activation
• Import and Activation (Active on Startup
• Reset
• Reset (Force)
• Reset and Activation
• Reset and Deactivation
• Set Active on Startup
• Set Not Active on Startup

Each Program is accessed through the dropdown menu at the top of the Programs tab, and has the configuration as shown:

Click to view.

The important entries (that actually affect how the Program is used and is executed) are as follows:

• Command line: Configurable, but be sure to know what you're doing.
• Terminate after: The Altiris Agent will kill the execution of the command-line if it does not finish within the scheduled time. If 0 is entered the default 360 minutes will be used.
• After running: You can reboot the system if necessary after it runs, or conduct a user log off command.
• Starting Window: Unless you want the user to see the execution of the command, leave this to Hidden.

Other fields, such as Estimated disk space and Terminate after, do not affect anything as for the Program itself, but can be useful for tracking purposes.

Advanced and Software Portal Tabs

Generally the default options under the Advanced tab are sufficient for a rollout. Be aware of the following:

1. If you use the option 'Use Alternate Download Destination on Client:', the VSP will be delivered to both the default Cache folder on the Altiris Agent AND the alternate location. It is not recommended.
2. The Software Portal item will be covered in detail in a later article in this series.

Configuring SVS Tasks

Once you've created a Package and associated Programs for a VSA, you are ready to actually roll that VSP out to managed systems and execute the required commands against it for use. Both of these are done by creating a Task. The task configures the following items:

• What VSP will be delivered
• What Program (action) will be executed
• What systems are targeted

The following screenshot shows the selection items of interest:

Click to view.

When you select a Package, the Program name: field will contain all the associated Programs. Choose the one that fits the Task you are trying to accomplish. Simply by selecting a Package, that Package (VSP) will be delivered to the target systems contained in the Collection selected under the 'Applies to collections:' field.

1. The command only executes once
2. The Package stays downloaded on the client system (NOTE: If no Task is located in the client policy XML that contains a package, the Altiris Agent will delete the package within 7 days).
3. The package stays available

The other options shown in the screenshot are explained in the Software Delivery Solution Best Practices guide. See the Conclusion for details.

Conclusion

Not all options and available basic Software Delivery features were covered in this article. For more information check the Altiris Knowledgebase with the search string 'Software Delivery Solution Best Practices'. The KB can be accessed at: http://kb.altiris.com/.

SVS Integration with Notification Server - Introduction

SVS Integration with Notification Server – Part 2: Layer Management via CMDB