Virtualization

If you have VMWare, Virtual PC or VirtualBox, why not build enough VMs to cater for each scenario? That way, you cater for apps which require, say, MS Office and whose installer will exit if it's not found.

Having said that, my principal sequencing VM has the OS, OS hotfixes as applied to the current client build, IE and Office. That's it. No firewall, no AV.

I agree.

Use a clean machine with base security patches, etc only.. unless you're sequencing an app that requires an application to be installed on the target machine to function (that you aren't putting in the sequence).

Your concern should be: when installing the app during sequencing, will something fail to be installed because it already exists on my target workstation. And if it does, will that object on the target workstation ever change (will anti-virus be upgraded, etc) and does it exist on ALL workstations targeted..

It's always safest to put all the critical assets the application uses inside the sequence. That way if your target image changes, your app still functions.

Perhaps others have different opinions.

I've done the base core image with all core applications in the past and that method is very sound. However on my latest project we are only installing what the application needs to function when sequencing to make the sequences more robust. I don't think there is a huge shift in quality between methods but some shops want core changes to have less of a potential impact so they try to mitigate risk with the second method.

Hi and thanks for your comments,

I went to App-V class, and the teacher told me that the App-V sequencer worked like a classic capture scan before and after the installation and put the delta in a bubble. That means (as the comments i get here) if the installed file exist in the base it will not end up in the bubble, is it so even if the installed file is a higher version than the file on the base.

Sometime you can read the sequence describes as a monitoring tool, then I thinking off Wise package studios smart monitor. Is the sequenser smarter then a classic delta capture?

Thanks again, I have started the App-V project today, and the workbench is also with Office and AV (with service off)....

/SaiTech

The sequencer does not do classic before and after snapshots but is more like smart monitor in Wise where it watches what applications change with the system. That is why it is a best practice to have all applications closed before you launch the sequencer and begin sequencing. Not sure if this is so much of a requirement anymore but this was to ensure that the sequencer would see new processes and track their modifications to the system.