Packaging applications on Windows Server 2012
Hello
Im from the packaging background and use windows installer, App-V packages as the mode of deployment. I have been packaging applications on Winodws 7. However there are requirements to package for Windows Server 2012 as well.
Are there any guidelines/ best practices for packaging applications to be deployed on Servers (esp. Windows Server 2012). (i.e what differences exists in Windows 7 and Server 2012 which should be taken care from the application installation and deployment prospective).
If this question is not in the correct forum please guide me to the forum where it can be answered.
Thanks in advance
Sujit J
Answers (3)
Sujit, you seem to be hesitant to accept the answer that's been mentioned several times - you need to package on the same OS that will receive the packages, which is a recommended practice from Microsoft.
Can most packages deliver a fully functional application to a different OS? You bet. But the only way to make sure is to test the application. If you encounter a problem and modify the package, you start to increase the complexity of it in order for it to work on multiple platforms. So from that perspective, it’s best to create one package per OS.
There arent many differences as far as i know. keep in mind to do the packaging or sequencing on the same OS as the target OS (windows server), because not every working windows 7 package works on the server (missing dependencies etc.)
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Can you let me know any specific differences which might affect the packaging. Because we generally always package on the lowest OS (win7 in this case) and then the package should work on Windows server 2012. If you can let me know any specific differences then accordingly can have changes in our process. - Sujit J 11 years ago
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i've only encountered missing dependencies (dll's, drivers) which where natively installed in Windows 7 and not in Server 2012.
Microsoft's best practise is to package/sequence on the target OS, this is my opinion the best way to do it (when you run into trouble).
You can also try to run the original installer on a server to see if you get messages or errors about dependencies. it's really trial and error to see what works and what prevents it from working. - anonymous_89761 11 years ago
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Generally speaking, packaging is used to create easy-to-deploy applications on lots of target machines. This doesn't usually apply to servers. You would want - one hopes! - a much higher degree of control over what gets deployed to a server and would thus entrust your server admin/team to take care of such applications. - anonymous_9363 11 years ago
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yes.. we do have servers which are used as terminal servers and also citrix servers, hence need packages for servers as well. So wanted to know what should be the best practice for packaging on servers - Sujit J 11 years ago
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Understand it regarding the App-V. but in terms of windows installer are there any things i need to take care of (like for troubleshooting do i need the same set of logs, eventvwr logs, any services on server which might be painful, does addins,stubpath,run key work correctly) - Sujit J 11 years ago
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as far as i know the approach is exactly the same as Windows 7. so troubleshooting etc. will be basicly the same. - anonymous_89761 11 years ago
page 6 of the Microsoft App-V 5.0 sequencing guide states:
"Sequence on a machine that matches the operating system (OS) and configuration of the target clients. It is often possible to sequence on one OS and run the virtualized application on a different OS; however this scenario is both application- and OS-dependent and is not guaranteed to work for all application/OS combinations since App-V is not a general-purpose OS compatibility solution. If problems are encountered, the application may require sequencing on the same OS environment that the App-V Client is running on in order to resolve those problems."
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What version of App-v Client must be used on Server 2012. Can App-V Desktop Client be used? - Sujit J 11 years ago
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i think you can use the same version as the one on your workstations. - anonymous_89761 11 years ago
