VSI 2.0 Released
Mark just gave me the heads up that he and Jeroen released VSI 2.0!!
I would like to congratulate Mark and Jeroen on this awesome achievement! You guys can be proud of yourselves!!!
The beta 3 was very well received, just a couple minor fixes were required, and we updated the documentation. In comparison to VSI 1.0 we made tremendous improvements in the overall quality and reliability of VSI.
Feel free to mention this on your website (if you think this is interesting of course). We do not have an official press release, but for your convenience we made a summary you can use:
Login Consultants releases the brand new and free VSI 2.0, a specifically designed benchmark for SBC and VDI environments. VSI loads the system with simulated user workload, and focuses on how much users can run on the system before it saturates. VSI is 100% platform and protocol independent, and VSI configuration is simplified and automated where possible. As a result, VSI is a turn-key benchmark solution: perform tests within days instead of weeks. No need to create the workloads first. VSI is intended to be used by VDI/SBC engineers/admins, a degree in testing methodologies is not required.
VSI 2.0 introduces new workloads, and an improved indexing method: VSImax. Overall, VSI 2.0 will be a much smoother experience in comparison to VSI 1.0, many best practices and lessons learned from project VRC are now included in this release. The free version is called “VSI 2.0 Express”, the advanced version is “VSI 2.0 PRO”.
The most important 2.0 features are:
- Completely new, more realistic, medium workload
- Support for IE8, Office 2010, Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
- Highly improved robustness (even under extreme loads)
- Improved response timer mechanism and index: VSImax
- Over 100 fixes and usability improvements
- Multilanguage Support (PRO only)
- Other workloads such as: light, heavy and multimedia (PRO only)
- External clock calibration and response time measurement (PRO only)
- Customization Support (PRO only)
VSI can be downloaded from Login Consultants download section: http://www.loginconsultants.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=20&Itemid=149 .”
Xenocode: A damn good alternative to VMware Thinapp!
As Mark pointed out in his earlier post: The VMware Thinapp team really needs to wake up… it’s not acceptable (from my point of view) to still not have Windows 7 support for you application virtualization product!!
Mark pointed me to an alternative called Xenocode: This is looks a LOT like Thinapp/Thinstall and works on Windows 7 as well 
Virtualizing Applications
To get started, first go to www.xenocode.com and download the Virtual Application Studio.
When you fire up the VAS you get a wizard which provides you with 3 ways of virtualizing your application:
The first option allows users to easily virtualize an application using a template. This template contains all the settings for virtualizing an application. It’s as easy as next next finish . This is really awesome for organizations where you want your application support team to virtualize the application, as they don’t have to know in-depth how application virtualization works .
The second option allows users to virtualize an application the way we know it from VMware Thinapp. It first takes a snapshot of the computer, then prompts the user to install the application /set configuration options etc and then takes another snapshot and does a diff on the snapshots to determine what files and registry settings should be in the virtual application.
The third option allows users to manually specify the files/folders and registry settings that are required for this application to run (really useful when virtualizing your in-house developed applications, seeing as the developers know exactly what file should go where, and you don’t get any clutter from background processes etc.)
After you captured your application, you can easily include common runtimes from the runtimes tab (such as the .NET frameworks, java, flash etc)
The toolbar on the left side of the screen gives us access to the various parts of the virtual application, such as File system, Registry etc.
I’ts also possible to generate a MSI package for the virtual application for easier deployment using SCCM/MDT/GPO/Whatever you use to deploy your software to your users.
For troubleshooting your virtual application Xenocode provides a checkbox to Generate diagnostic-mode executable. Basically what this does is create an executable that will output logging in 3 log files next to the application, so if something is not working in your application, you can easily troubleshoot
If you enabled it in your application settings (on by default) it’s also possible to pass command line switches to your application at startup time.
- /XEnv=Variable Name=Value Specifies additional environment variables. Multiple /XEnv arguments can be used to add additional environment variables.
- /XLayerPath=Layer Path Adds the given xlayer file into the virtual environment. Multiple /XLayerPath arguments can be used to add additional virtual layers.
- /XSandboxPath=Sandbox Path Specifies the path to be used for the application sandbox.
- /XShellEx=Command Specifies a shell execute command to be launched from within the virtual application environment. This option overrides any startup files specified in the virtual application configuration. Only one /XShellEx argument can be specified.
- /XShellExVerb=Command Verb Specifies the verb to be used in conjunction with the XShellEx command. The default verb is OPEN.
Middleware
When dealing with middleware, in Thnapp we could specify an applink and with App-V we can use dynamic suiting to allow for interbubble communications. In Xenocode you don’t make an application for your middleware, but make it a component, which you can import in your applications.
Deploying Virtual Applications
Deployment of the virtual applications is done through a tool called XReg. This allow the administrator to control how the application is published to the user.
This can be done from a startup/logon script. This area needs some more work in my perspective, there’s not a nice and nifty GUI management interface as with App-V.
Also the possibility to create MSI’s makes deployment a bit easier, just use your favorite deployment method for your virtual applications.
Pricing
Not the most fun part for us techies, but important for the ones who have to make the decisions about investments, and what application virtualization technology will be used.
The Xenocode Virtual Application Studio ISV Edition costs $1599
End-User licenses: $40 per seat.
Well that’s about it . As a final conclusion i think Xenocode is a real nice application virtualization product, it works easily and out of the box, users don’t have to know a lot about Windows and application when you just give them the right application templates . As with VMware Thinapp, the problem is how to distribute the applications to your clients, and how do you make sure that all users have the latest version of the virtualized application… well that’s something the Xenocode team needs to think about I guess.
MDT 2010 Release Candidate!
The Release Candidate for MDT 2010 just went public!
This release promises a lot of bug fixes and is tested with pre-RC build of Config Manager 2007 SP2.
Sign up for it here: https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=14
ZeroTouch for MDT 2010 without SCCM!
Don’t you just wish you could set all your clients to boot from network, and let the PXE server evaluate whether or not it should load the WinPE image to redeploy the computer? Well you can with SCCM using mandatory advertisements of course… but I've written a little script that will achieve the same functionality using native MDT, without the use of the SCCM infrastructure
Here’s how you do it:
- Requirements:
- MDT2010 (beta 2) /WDS installed on Windows Server 2008
- Powershell enabled on the WDS server
- MDT deployment share configured to use the database (i’m using an SQLEXPRESS instance configured on the same machine as MDT/WDS in this example)
- SQL Server Management Studio or equal SQL server management tooling for editing the database.
Ok here we go and setting it up. First some simple stuff
- Set your WDS server to admin approval mode
- On the Directory Services tab, make sure you set the OU location in which the WDS server will create the temporary computer object for approved devices
- Make sure your WDS server account has full control on the OU set in the WDS directory services
Ok, that was easy now wasn’t it?
Now let’s edit the MDT database to fit our needs. This assumes your already set up your database using the database wizard in the MDT Workbench.
- Start the SQL Management Studio application and expand the MDT database (MDT_DB in this example)
- Browse to Tables –> dbo.Settings –> Columns
- Right click Collumns and select New Column
- Give the new column the name of netBoot and type nvarchar(50)
- Save and close the SQL management studio
- Verify the database expansion was successful by opening the MDT Workbench and navigating to the database view > Computers > properties
- Select the Details tab and browse all the way to the bottom to verify that the netBoot value is there
Ok, that was part 1 of the configuration. Now we have to know what to actually do with this extra field in the database. Well that’s where my script comes in. Here’s how you install it.
- Run the following command as an administrator on the WDS/MDT server:
- Server 2008: Powershell.exe –command “ & {Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted } “
- Server 2008 R2: Powershell.exe –command “ & {Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass } “
- Download the MDT-ZTI.ps1 file to your WDS/MDT server (in this example I'm using D:\MDT-ZTI.ps1)
- Start Task Scheduler and Right click library > Create Task
- Give the task a name of your liking. I’m using MDT-ZTI in this example.
- On the triggers tab select: New
- Begin the task: On an event
- Log: Microsoft-Windows-Deployment-Services-Diagnostics/Operational
- Source: Deployment-Services-Diagnostics
- EventID: 4096
- Click Ok and go to the Actions tab and select New
- Add action
- Start a Program
- Program/Script: Powershell.exe
- Add Arguments(optional): –command D:\MDT-ZTI.ps1
Ok the ZeroTouch “service” is almost ready to go. Now there’s another thing that we need to configure… we have expanded the MDT database to contain an extra column… but how does the service know what database and what database server to use?. Well that is hardcoded in the top of the configuration of the MDT-ZTI.ps1 file. In the future I will be using params() from powershell, but for now just change it in the top of the script.
# //*************************************************************************** # // Configuration: # // Notes: Set the database name and datasource for your environment here. # // For SQLEXPRESS on the same server use "\SQLEXPRESS" as datasource # //*************************************************************************** $Database = "MDT_DB" $DataSource = ".\SQLEXPRESS"
Now how does the “service” know what computers are allowed to boot into WinPE and what computers should boot to the next boot device? That’s a simple 3 part answer:
- Every computer that is NOT in the MDT database will be rejected (pxeabort.com) by the ZTI.
- Every computer that IS IN the MDT database will be polled for the value of netBoot.
- If the value of netBoot does not equal FALSE it will approve the device so it will load the boot image, and then set netBoot to FALSE so the device won’t load the boot image on the next reboot
So if you have a computer which is not booting into winPE just clear the netBoot field in the database and on the next reboot it will boot into winPE.
IMPORTANT: Please be sure to test this first in a test environment first, it is not recommended to implement this in production directly.
Download: MDT-ZTI
MDT 2010 beta 2 new features coverage
Well, I’m not going to re-invent the wheel here, seeing as Michael Niehaus (the lead engingeer on MDT) already wrote very very nice articles on the new features of MDT 2010 beta 2.
Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder Script
Yesterday I wrote about the Problem Steps Recorder and how it can help us lazy IT admins who have to screenshot some setups/manual actions for recipe files or documentation in general. When I was messing around with the PSR I found out one really annoying fact: the PSR window is always on top in all the problem report screenshots.. That's not really nice for our documentation now is it? So I wrote this quick Auto-IT script that Starts PSR>start recording>wait until ESC key is pressed>stop recording>ask where to save file
Download the script from here
Here is the code (simple ofcourse 
)
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;; Problem steps recorder script
;; V1.0 HHO Login Consultants
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
#include <Misc.au3>
Run("psr.exe")
WinActivate("Problem Steps Recorder")
WinWaitActive("Problem Steps Recorder")
Send("{ALTDOWN}a{ALTUP}")
WinSetState("Problem Steps Recorder", "", @SW_HIDE)
while 1
if _IsPressed("1B") then ExitLoop
WEnd
WinSetState("Problem Steps Recorder", "", @SW_SHOW)
WinActivate("Problem Steps Recorder")
WinWaitActive("Problem Steps Recorder")
Send("{ALTDOWN}o{ALTUP}")
Windows 7 Problem Steps Recorder
When you have to help out users with their problem, nothing is more frustrating then the users' inability to clearly state what their problem is, and how they got to the point where it went wrong. Fortunatly, Windows 7 packs a really really really awesome tool that will get rid of those problem once and for all: the Problem Steps Recorder.
This nifty little tool records the users' screen and outputs all relevant information in a MHTML document, which will contain all screenshots and steps needed by the helpdesk user. Thanks to Ment van der Plas for pointing this tool out to me 
You can start Problem Steps Recorder by Start>Run>psr.exe and try it out
This tool is also very very very interesting for all us lazy IT guys, who don't want to screenshot their installations for recipe files etc
Windows Vista Resource Kit book is available for free
In case you’ve missed all the blog entries about it, Microsoft Press has made available the full text of the Windows Vista Resource Kit book, downloadable as a PDF file. See http://csna01.libredigital.com/?urws8un4p7 for the details.
Chapter 12 in this book is all about deploying with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008. There are some nice examples on how to automate LTI deployments, as well as configuring ZTI deployments. In total there are 58 pages of MDT goodness in there .
There are plenty of familiar names in the acknowledgements section, including a few names (Michael Niehaus, Jerry Honeycutt, Tony Northup, Doug Steen, Dave Field) that have worked with the MDT team over the years on the MDT documentation.
Lets thinapp IE7 and IE8 together
Its, Monday morning so time for some fun!
A customer asked me if it was possible to install Internet explorer 8 beta, and still be able to use Internet explorer 7 for old applications (in their test environment). Of course I answered and immediately started testing. As you all know Microsoft app-v does not support sequencing internet explorer so the best thing to do was use VMware’s Thinapp. My base image is an Windows XP SP3 machine, SP3 does not install IE7 or IE7 updates unless you already installed IE7 before upgrading to SP3 (see Microsoft KB) To successfully sequence IE7 to work together with IE8 download the following files:
• WindowsXP-KB957095-x86-ENU
• WindowsXP-KB958644-x86-ENU
• Nlsdl.exe (microsoft)
• idndl.exe (microsoft)
• IE7-WindowsXP-x86-enu.exe
These downloads will definitely save you some time finding out exactly witch updates you need, after this the Thinapp part is pretty straight forward.
• Install updates
• Start capture
• Install IE7
• Stop capture
• Revert machine
• Install IE8
• Start the tests
Because this is a fast proof of concept test, I challenge you to drop some improvements in the comments to make it even better.
Vista and 2008 SP2 BETA
I was just browsing the web and stumbled accross this. Whoohoo, Vista and 2008 SP2 Customer Preview Program!.
Wait... what?! Vista and 2008 SP2 BETA?
That's right! A single service pack that covers both Client and Server!
This is actually pretty nice! This reduces the management of service packs for both server and client. Just service packs
So what's actually in there?
Well... seeing as after you installed a fresh Vista SP1 machine you almost get crushed by updates. Here's a list of hotfixes included in service pack.
Other then that there are a few new features:
- Support for new types of Hardware and emerging standards, including Bluetooth 2.1, the ability to natively record data on Blu-Ray media, support for ICCD/CCID smart cards, and support for the new VIA 64-bit CPU
- Wi-Fi setup and maintenance is simplified with the addition of Windows Connect Now (WCN)
- The ex-FAT file system is enabled, supporting UTC timestamps to ensure correct file synchronization across time zones
- Windows Search 4.0 is included, which provides users faster and more relevant results. Windows Search 4.0 also allows Group Policy integration, which provides administrative control over search parameters
- End users should also experience improvements in resume performance when a Wi-Fi connection is no longer available
Get your copy here!
EDIT:
You can also get the SP2 update through Windows Update. Use the script below to enable the update:
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP2 /f reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP2 /f reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\VistaSP2 /v Beta1 /t REG_SZ /d 93F7D954-DF91-22E6-99AB-4D8AF54E813A /f
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