VMware ThinApp Capture and Build

I have been using VMware ThinApp for a while now so thought I would create some videos on the Capture and Build (CnB) process of Firefox 3.5 and also a CnB of Adobe Flash Player 10 to demonstrate the abilities of AppLink.

I used three systems in this demo.

1. Clean machine for CnB - with ThinApp installed, VM for snapshot revert purposes
2. Host for source files, capture files, updates via IIS
3. Test machine, reference any architecture to prove functionality of the ThinApp'd application

Video 1 includes a brief edit of the package.ini to use AppLink, pointer towards video 2, 3 and 4 for the AppSync feature. This functionality isn't all that new but seems to be gaining exposure recently - so I thought why not put my own 2c out there and join the community!

Apologies for the lack of sound or commentary

Part 1 of 4 Video

2nd part - nothing new from the first part, included for continuity only.

Capture and Build for Firefox 3.6 and 4.0 Beta 7

Part 2 of 4 Video

Now this is where things get interesting with ThinApp - AppSync

Using IIS installed onto the Host machine, I can drop the updated version of Firefox (3.6) into a folder which resolves to a URL specified in the package.ini at build time.

Using 0 as the value for the "AppSyncUpdateFrequency" instructs the application to check the specified URL for an updated version on execution.

The new version is transferred to the location of the .exe and upon next execution, the new version has replaced the old and the end user can be notified of this (as shown).

I've chosen not to AppLink Flash Player for Firefox 3.6 to show variation. Moving onto 4.0 Beta 7 shows that Flash Player HAS been AppLink'd.

Part 3 of 4 Video

Last in this set - just to demonstrate using AppSync, it's extremely easy to 'roll-back' an application if required.

Part 4 of 4 Video

Thanks for watching!

Don't forget to check my channel for the latest videos and also my blog and twitter for all those technical rants and shout outs!

http://xtravirtcraigwhelan.wordpress....

http://twitter.com/#!/craigwhelan