Workspace Streaming

Hello guys and girls

Anyone encountered below issue using Workspace Streaming with OS virtualisation (NxTop from Virtual Computer to be more specific).

I am using Symantec Workspace Streaming to stream down applications. However I had an issue of having missing application shortcuts on the desktop and start menu after the Windows 7 x64 was streamed to the workstation via NxTop. The applications were streamed down completely, but without the shortcuts created on the desktop & start menu. They were still visible on the master image at NxTop management server, but were disappeared/deleted once the OS was streamed down to workstations. Any helps are most welcomed. Thanks.  to works  dsds wel

Best Regards,
CK

Trying hard to find out....

(1) In Symantec Workspace Streaming ((ort, how shortcuts are being created ?
(2) If I would like to preserve SWS's folders/registry keys (so that it will remain intact after streamed down to VM), what are these folders/registry keys?
(3) Permission of SWS's folders/registry keys ?

Anyone who know these piece of information will be greatly appreaciated. Thanks.

Best Regards,
CK 

(1) For packages streamed to the system, the shortcuts (.lnk files) are inside the layers.  Make sure the layers are activated, otherwise the shortcuts won't show up.  Once the layers are active, the shortcuts should appear to be in the normal locations on the system ("%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Desktop", "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu", "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop", "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu", etc.).

(2) Not quite sure what you mean here.  Does the NxTop only capture/expose certain folders/keys when bringing down the OS image?  Or are you trying to keep the state of the SWS/SWV streamed applications?  You'll need to include "C:\fslrdr" and "C:\_AC" for the filesystem (these are default locations than can be customized); for the registry the important keys are HKLM\Software\AppStream, HKCU\Software\AppStream, HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\FSLX.  Those are the locations where data/configuration is written, there are other directories and keys that are static but if they weren't included in your OS image you wouldn't have been able to run SWS and/or SWV.

(3) No special permissions beyond the default for most folders and keys.  For some, the dir/key permissions will change once the key has been rewritten.  For packages or layers, the permissions are part of the package or layer information and will be set as directed when the package is installed.

Thanks ryanmc.. your information does help in a way or another.

Fyi, I managed to make the icons appears on the desktop by re-created the package using Wise Visual Composer instead of SWV admin tool in version 6.1 SP7. (Package created with SWV admin tool somehow does not works...) This issue resolved but another issue arise..

My question is...

How to make it works for a master/clone image if it's a locked-down image (i.e.: system drive C:\ will be snapback after VM rebooted).

From your points in (2), yes I am trying to keep the state of the SWS/SWV streamed application, by writting some scripts to preserve "C:\fslrdr" and "C:\_AC" folders structures but somehow C:\fslrdr was re-created after VM rebooted, and all the previous settings was gone...

Any suggestions or idea "how to make SWV/SWS working fine for a lock-down golden image" are welcomed.

Thanks and best regards - CK

Streamed packages must be created with Streaming Composer.  There is a chance that an XPF created via SVSAdmin will work properly unmodified, but often it is better to let Streaming Composer fix up issues before attempting to stream.  Streaming Composer can open an existing XPF (or VSA) and create a streamable version from it.

Are you planning on just having the SEV agents as part of the "gold" image, or did you want to have some applications already streamed/virtualized on the "gold" image from which every machine instantiates itself?

If the former, you need to install the agents, accept the reboot, then afterward remove HKLM\Software\AS_MACHINE_ID (unique client ID, the SWS client will regenerate a new one if this key is missing at startup).  Then shut down and use that as the "gold" image - no packages streamed in the gold image yet.  When an image is instanced you them stream the applications, either at boot time with a pre-supplied user name, or at user logon when you know the exact user and the needed applications.

If the latter... well, I'm not sure that is supported.  Depending on how the OS virtualizer takes an image of the system you could run into several problems with the streamed/virtualized files and configuration data getting out-of-sync or changed such that the SEV clients won't recognize the files.  The folder locations and registry keys I provided above are necessary to be preserved, but you wouldn't want them persistent beyond the "gold" image (across machine instances), or you will have the agents confused with data and layers for which they don't know they are responsible.

Every installation we've seen so far take the former approach and start with an empty cache each time a machine instance spins up.