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Internet Explorer 6 for Windows 7 Layer Definition File

Updated: 19 Sep 2011 | 17 comments
Ken Dudley's picture
+2 2 Votes
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The Internet Explorer 6 for Windows 7 Layer Definition File (LDF) provides a mechanism for customers of Symantec Workspace Virtualization to create the Virtual Application Layer and package without the need to capture the installation.

Prerequisites

- Symantec Workspace Virtualization v6.1 SP5 or greater.
- Symantec Workspace Virtualization Layer Definition Tool. Download.

Installation

The steps for creating the IE6 for Windows 7 are very straight-forward.

1. Extract the download that accompanies this article to your desktop (ie6-win7-x.x.x.x.zip - where -x.x.x.x is the LDF version).
2. Double-Click the .EXE file ( ie6-win7-x.x.x.x.EXE ). This will invoke swvldf.exe (Layer Definition Tool) with the proper parameters to create the IE6 on Windows 7 layer.
 

NOTE: As a security precaution, right click the extracted .exe file, select properties and check the "Digital Signatures" tab and ensure that "Symantec Corporation" appears in the Signature List. If the .EXE is not digitially signed with the Symantec Certificate do not run the executable on your system.

Supported Side-By-Side Configurations

Internet Explorer 6 Virtualized will function "Side-By-Side" with the following versions of IE installed to the base (i.e. installed natively and not virtualized).

Internet Explorer 8 X
Internet Explorer 9 X

Note: Internet Explorer 8 includes an IE 7 compatibility mode that provides IE7 compatibility. See theMicrosoft Knowledge Base article for more information.

Support

IE6 on Windows 7 supports both Windows 7 32 bit and Windows 7 64 bit Operating Systems.
Information about the support status of the IE6 layer created by this tool can be found here .
Please note that the IE6 layer created by this tool is only supported if the LDF and the Virtual Application Layer are not altered in any way.

Documentation

Documentation on the SWV Layer Definition Tool can be found here .

How it works

The swvldf.exe tool is passed an Layer Definition File (LDF) that contains XML tags that define all the data required to create a Virtual Application Layer. The files required for the Virtual Application Layer are downloaded from public sites on the internet and may require considerable time to complete depending on the file requirements. It is also possible alter the LDF to point to existing files that you already have available on your system. Please see the documentation to learn how to change the <file-source> tags to point to local file repositories. By default the <file-source> tags that download files using http do not use a proxy server. In order to use a proxy server please see the documentation for the "conn-str" attribute of the <file-source> tag.

Notes

The ie6-winxp.ldf requires that the following three files are available before the IE6 virtual layer can be created.
- WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe

These files are quite large and can take a long time to download over a slow network connection. The process of creating the IE6 virtual layer can be sped up considerably if these files are already available in your environment. SWVLDF can be instructed to skip downloading these files by doing the following:

- Create a directory named "downloads" in the same folder as ie6-win7.ldf resides.
- Copy the required files to the "downloads" directory you just created.

If required files already exist in the "downloads" directory, SWVLDF will skip the download step. If SWVLDF fails to download a file, this process can be used to download the file "manually" using a download manager or other mechanism.

 

Change Log
Date Version Change Description
09/08/2011 1.0.43.0 Applied Microsoft critical security update (MS11-057)
09/19/2011 1.0.46.0 Fixed some ocxs using comctl32.dll v5 and IE6 crashes
     
     

Comments

SilentCastle's picture
29
Sep
2010
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The current download link I

The current download link I have points to SP4.  Can I have a link to download SP5?

davidhilling's picture
19
Oct
2010
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Ditto - Where is the link to

Ditto - Where is the link to get SP5? I only see SP4 on the website. 

dlopes's picture
01
Oct
2010
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Is it streamable?

I  was reading the link posted for Workspace streaming capability but didnt quite figured it out....

I can build the layer then export it as a xpf, but i also need to convert it for package streaming, thats kinda not working hehehe, got any tips?

Daniel Lopes de Oliveira
Endpoint Management Architect & Consultant
-----------------------------------------------

MCITP: EA

karl_bunnell's picture
01
Oct
2010
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Create streamable package by importing .xpf into Wise Composer

Wise Composer (6.3.1.45 -most current release) can then be used to create a streamable package from the XPF.

wil.orinion's picture
18
Nov
2010
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karl_bunnell's picture
19
Nov
2010
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The MS Critical Security

The MS Critical Security patches for IE6 were applied to the layer (the Cumulative Security hotfixes/patches released Oct 13, 2010).

Falquian's picture
19
Nov
2010
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Error when creating the layer

I get an error when trying to build this layer.

If I run the 1.0.24.0 ldf file, i get a 1040 error.

If I run the 1.0.25.0 ldf file, I get a 6029 error

 

I currently have installed SWV 6.1 SP6.

 

Any help to get this layer created is more than welcome :)

 

Thanks:

       Falquian

Kind regards:

     Falquian

karl_bunnell's picture
19
Nov
2010
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Go to the Windows temp

Go to the Windows temp directory ( C:\Users\<current user>\AppData\Local\Temp\downloads)

and delete ALL files in the directory. Run the self-extracting .exe again.

If a previous download failed (or only partial completed) the partial file will reside in the "download" directory causing subsequent attempts to create the layer to skip downloading the file again. This can cause the failure you described (6029). As for the 1040, I've not seen that error when creating IE using the LDF but it indicates a failure during an attempt to import the registry. It is best, if this error occurs, to reboot and ensure no layers are activated at the time the LDF is being used to create the layer.

As a sanity check, I just downloaded this 1.0.25.0 layer and successfully created the layer without incident using SWV 6.1 SP6 on Windows 7 Enterprise, 32 bit. 

Falquian's picture
22
Nov
2010
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Hi, Karl: Thanks for your

Hi, Karl:

Thanks for your reply.

I tried your solution, but I got the same 6029 error again.

Finally, I tried to run the .exe from a DOS window, with elevated priviledges (the DOS window was opened under the local system credentials) and it worked without any problem.

This is strange, as my user is local admin in the laptop from work.

I also tried to run the .exe at home, in a virtual machine in which the user was admin, with the same results (I mean, getting the same error). As I get to home, I'll try to run again the .exe with elevated priviledges, just to check.

 

Regards:

        Falquian

Kind regards:

     Falquian

sophietan's picture
10
Dec
2010
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nice, it works perfectely and

nice, it works perfectely and that's important to me safely

adamli9's picture
07
Feb
2011
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Does this work with SWV

Update: Never mind. I was missing a CAB.

 

Does this work with SWV 6.3.2065? I'm using that agent with LDT 1.1.13.0 on Win7 32-bit and I get this error when creating the IE6 layer:

 

[16:52:12.672] [INFO] [DEF2LAYER] [Creating Layer] :Internet Explorer v1.7

[16:52:13.030] [INFO] [DEF2LAYER] [Modifying Layer Registry] :

[16:52:13.358] [INFO] [DEF2LAYER] [Adding  Folders] :

[16:52:13.358] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Adding  Folders] :Creating Directory:C:\fslrdr\3\Meta

[16:52:13.374] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Adding  Folders] :Creating Directory:C:\fslrdr\3\Meta\Fonts

[16:52:13.389] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Adding  Folders] :Creating Directory:C:\fslrdr\3\[_B_]PROGRAMFILES[_E_]\Internet Explorer 6

[16:52:13.405] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Adding  Folders] :Creating Directory:C:\fslrdr\3\[_B_]WINDIR[_E_]\help

[16:52:13.420] [INFO] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :

[16:52:13.420] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :Source File:C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\filerepo\

[16:52:13.436] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :Copying file: C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\filerepo\\IEFrame.dll to Layer.

[16:52:13.436] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :Source File:C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\filerepo\

[16:52:13.452] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :Copying file: C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\filerepo\\IEPatch.dll to Layer.

[16:52:13.452] [TRACE] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :Source File:C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Temp\filerepo\

[16:52:13.467] [ERROR] [DEF2LAYER] [Copying files] :

[16:52:13.483] [INFO] [DEF2LAYER] [Operation Complete] :

Create layer from definition file failed with error code: 6010
No layer with the specified GUID or Name exists in the database.
Error: 1041
SVSCMD failed: RESET

No layer with the specified GUID or Name exists in the database.
Error: 1041
SVSCMD failed: ACTIVATE

Press any key to continue . . .

------

I checked c:\fslrdr and the folders appear then disappear after running ie6-win7-1.0.25.0. No AV is installed on this machine.

vpsingh's picture
10
Jun
2011
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very nice

its will be very usefull for me and my organization if it will working as per our requirements. Let me try...

grusam's picture
22
Jun
2011
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what about using ms java virtual machine?

i have an old aplication which needs ms java virtual machine.

would it run with ie6 and swv?

vpsingh's picture
09
Jul
2011
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error:6029

Its giving error: 6029.

Please guide.

Ken Dudley's picture
03
Oct
2011
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Run as administrator?

@vpsingh - did you right click the executable and select "Run as administrator"?

jaitchison's picture
26
Jan
2012
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After a layer was created I

After a layer was created I wanted to test its portability.

I brought my layer and batch file to another Win7 Computer with SWV and SWLDF installed. I was receiving the 6029 error, also. I needed to right click on the .bat and choose [Run as Administrator] and IE6 launched perfectly.

IE6-WIN7.bat:

@echo off
if "%1" == "nr" exit /b
swvldf.exe -vi "%~dp0ie6-win7.ldf" -L 3
svscmd cef25453-fed5-4549-8180-399e0a0d829e RESET -F
svscmd cef25453-fed5-4549-8180-399e0a0d829e A
pause 

The following Connect articles, along with this article, were VERY helpful (So were everyone's comments):

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/running-ie6-ie7-and-ie8-side-side-using-symantec-workspace-virtualization

http://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/articles/tutorial-symantec-workspace-virtualization-layer-definition-tool

John Aitchison Network Administrator MCITP:DBA SQL 2005 MCDTS MCP jaitchison@perkins1.com

dfrancis's picture
01
Mar
2012
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Is anyone else having no Internet connectivity with this layer?

 

I'm doing a proof of concept on running IE6, 7, 8 and 9 on a Windows 7 VM for someone in my office by grabbing the LDF's of each here from Connect.  7, 8 and 9 all work, but 6 will (more often than not) throw a page can not be displayed message.

I've rebuilt the layer a couple of times on a clean Win7 VM with IE9 installed in the base, but still see this message.

Has anyone else seen this or know how to get around it?  I'm hoping to kill the last of the XP machines and VM's in my environment.

Thanks!

--Dave

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