Window Installer Logging\MSI logging

Ways to Enable MSI logging:

Command Line:

msiexec sampleapp.msi /l*v %temp%\sampleapp.log

Registry method:

Execute Regedit.exe and Go to the registry hive
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
And add
Reg_SZ: Logging
Value: voicewarmupx

Group Policy method:

gpedit.msc-->Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Windows Components-->Windows Installer
Double-click Logging, and then click Enabled.

MsiLogging and MsiLogFileLocation properties:

For clear information about these properties refer the link MsiLogging



v - Verbose output
o - Out-of-disk-space messages
i - Status messages
c - Initial UI parameters
e - All error messages
w - Non-fatal warnings
a - Start up of actions
r - Action-specific records
m - Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
u - User requests
p - Terminal properties
+ - Append to existing file
! - Flush each line to the log
x - Extra debugging information

Note: "*" - Wildcard, log all information except for the v and the x option.

To include the v and the x option, specify "/l*vx"

"Primary Virtual Application Directory" in App-v 5.0

In app-v 5.0, Primary Virtual Application Directory is a directory that will contain all the files for the application to be sequenced, you can say the INSTALLDIR. It is recommended by Microsoft to set Primary Virtual Application Directory as the default install directory.

Why???
In some of the legacy application the path of the DLLs are hardcoded in the binary code and there is no options for Sequence engineer to redirect is correctly. This results in application’s functionality failure if INSTALLDIR is redirected to some other directory. To avoid this we can say this is the best method.

Applications which can’t be sequenced (Limitations of App-v)

1.       Application that is triggers Boot time services: Sequenced application is designed to initiate itself after User logs in. Hence if an application starts a service during booting, is not a candidate for sequencing.

2.       Driver application: App-v is not capable enough to virtualize a driver. Hence it is required to install the driver locally. But some User mode device drivers can be sequenced like some printers.

3.       Applications which are part of the Operating system.

4.       COM+ applications: As COM+ applications are dynamic it is very difficult for sequencer to capture its behavior correctly.

5.       DLLs that runs through Dllhost.exe.

Download Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 2

Download Here Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 2

Application Virtualization 4.6 Service Pack 2
Feature:

Support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 – App-V 4.6 SP2 adds support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services.

Support for Coexistence with App-V 5.0 Client – App-V 4.6 SP2 provides support for coexistence with the App-V 5.0 client.

Supported operating systems: 

Windows 7,Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Windows 8

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2

Windows Vista Service Pack 1

Windows XP Service Pack 3

App-v Best Practices

1. User Account Control (UAC) should be same both sequencer and client machine.
2.  Disable Check for Update.
3. Disable Install on first use or Advertisement.
4.  If the installable setup is extracting files if possible extracts them prior to sequence the application.
5.  Define target OS for the application.
6.  Minimum requirements for application launch should be present in FP1.

App-v 5.0 Sequencer Workstation Configuration

• Processor   : 1 GHz or faster. 

• Memory     : 1 GB RAM or greater

• 500-MB page file is recommended.

• Hard drive 30-GB minimum.  

• Windows® 7 SP1 or greater

• .NET 4.0 framework

• PowerShell 3.0

Note: The sequencing process is a single- threaded process, and does not take advantage of multiple core processors.

Recommendation: Disk drive should be at least three times as large as the largest application that will be sequenced.