vSphere

Aug 14, 2017

This topic provides an example of how to set up a VMware vSphere virtual machine (along with the machine on which AppDNA runs) for use with Install Capture when migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7. This example shows one possible approach. For the generic setup requirements, see Set up a virtual machine.

Pre-requisites

• VMware vSphere is already installed and configured on a separate machine from the one on which AppDNA is running.
• A vSphere virtual machine with a clean build of Windows XP already exists for use with Install Capture. For information about creating a vSphere virtual machine, refer to the VMware vSphere documentation.
• The virtual machine is connected to the same domain as the machine on which you are running AppDNA (called the AppDNA machine).
• You know the IP address or DNS name of the vSphere host server and have the user name and password of an account that enables you to connect to vSphere and perform advanced virtual machine operations. At a minimum the user account requires permissions to power the virtual machine on and off, to reset and suspend the virtual machine, and to create and revert a snapshot.
• You have the username and password of an administrative user account for the guest operating system.

In order for the virtual machine to access the shared folder on the AppDNA machine, this example configures the virtual machine for automatic log on with the same domain user account that you use to log on to Windows on the AppDNA machine. (This is called your domain user account below.)

Note: These instructions cover setting up the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Client. If you do not have access to this, you must ask your vSphere administrator to install the VMware Tools on the virtual machine and configure it to allow remote desktop connections. You can perform all of the other setup steps when you work through the AppDNA Virtual Machine Configuration wizard, which opens the virtual machine in a console.

Open a VM in the VMware vSphere Client

This section provides instructions for logging on to the virtual machine in the console in the VMware vSphere Client so that you can set up the virtual machine.

To open the virtual machine in the console in the VMware vSphere Client:

1. On the Windows Start menu, choose All Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Client. When prompted, enter the connection details.
2. In the tree in the left pane, locate your designated virtual machine.
3. Right-click the virtual machine and from the shortcut menu, choose Open Console.
4. If necessary, click the green arrow button to power on the virtual machine, and when prompted, log on to it.

You are now ready to perform the virtual machine setup tasks that are described below.

Install the VMware Tools on the VM

In order to use the vSphere virtual machine for Install Capture, it must have the VMware Tools installed on it. If you do not have access to the VMware vSphere Client, you can ask your vSphere administrator to perform this step for you.

1. Log on to the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Client.
2. From the menus in the VMware vSphere Client, choose Inventory > Virtual Machine > Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
3. In the Install VMware Tools dialog box, click OK. This starts the VMware Tools installer.
4. Install the VMware Tools, selecting the Typical or Complete option in the Setup Type step.
5. After the installation has finished, restart the virtual machine.

Configure the VM to allow remote desktop connections

In order to use the vSphere virtual machine for Install Capture, it must be configured to allow remote desktop connections. If you do not have access to the VMware vSphere Client, you can ask your vSphere administrator to perform this step for you.

1. Log on to the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Client.
2. Open Control Panel > System. (If necessary, first switch to Classic View.)
3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Remote tab.
4. Under Remote Desktop, select the Allow users to connect remotely to this computer check box.
5. Click OK to preserve your changes.

Create the shared folder on the AppDNA machine

These instructions describe how to create a folder on the AppDNA machine and share it so that the virtual machine can read and write to it.

1. Create a folder (for example, C:\AppDNAOutput) on the AppDNA machine to store the Install Capture output.
2. Share the folder and give everyone read and write permissions. For example:
   1. Open Windows Explorer and locate the folder that you want to share.
   2. Right-click the folder and from the shortcut menu, choose Sharing > Advanced Sharing.
   3. Click Advanced Sharing and then in the Advanced Sharing dialog box, select the Share this folder check box.
   4. Click Permissions.
   5. In the Permissions dialog box, click Everyone, and then for Full Control, Change, and Read, select the Allow check box.
   6. Click OK twice.

Note: The virtual machine also needs access to the location of the input files. To use an existing shared folder that contains the applications deployed within your organization, ensure that it is accessible from within the virtual machine. Otherwise you can either store these input files in the same folder as the output, or you can create a separate shared folder for the input files. In all cases the virtual machine must have read access to the input files.

Add your domain user account as an administrator on the VM

Note: It is not necessary to perform this step if your domain user account has already been set up as an administrative user on the virtual machine.

1. Log on to the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Client using an administrative user account.
2. Open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. (If necessary, first switch to Classic View.)
3. In the tree in the left pane, click System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Groups.
4. In the right pane, double-click Administrators.
5. In the Administrators Properties dialog box, click Add.
6. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, enter your domain-qualified username in the Enter the object names to select box (for example, Domain\User).
7. Click OK to close the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box.
8. Click OK to close the Administrators Properties dialog box.

Configure the virtual machine for automatic log on

This is an optional step that speeds up Install Capture. If you choose not to perform this step, you will need to log on to the virtual machine manually with your domain user account every time the virtual machine starts up.

On the virtual machine, follow the instructions in http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315231 to set up automatic log on with your domain username.

Turn off simple file sharing on the AppDNA and virtual machines

Carry out the following steps on both the AppDNA machine and the virtual machine.

1. In Windows Explorer, from the menus choose Tools > Folder Options. (On Windows 8.1, from the Windows Explorer Organize menu, choose Folder and Search Options.)
2. In the Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab.
3. Clear the Use simple file sharing (Recommended) check box. (For Windows 8.1, clear the Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended) check box.)
4. Click OK.

Anti-virus configuration on the AppDNA machine

You must configure the anti-virus software on the AppDNA machine to disable on-access scanning of the Install Capture output and input folders. For example, for Norton Anti-Virus, you disable the auto-protect option for the AppDNA output and input folders.

Verify access to the shared folder

You now need to check that the virtual machine can access the shared folder that you created earlier on the AppDNA machine.

On the virtual machine, type the following into the Windows Start > Run prompt:

pre codeblock \\<AppDNA machine name>\AppDNAOutput

Where <AppDNA machine name> is the name of the AppDNA machine.

If this opens the shared folder on the AppDNA machine, it verifies that the virtual machine can access it. For troubleshooting tips, see Troubleshooting Access to a Shared Folder from the Virtual Machine.

Install the AppDNA VM Configuration MSI on the virtual machine

To do this, you need the installer (called Citrix AppDNA VM Configuration.msi). This comes with AppDNA. It is copied into a Tools subfolder of the AppDNA installation folder when you install AppDNA. The default location is C:\Program Files\Citrix\AppDNA\Tools (C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\AppDNA\Tools on a 64-bit machine).

1. Install the Citrix AppDNA VM Configuration MSI within the virtual machine, accepting the default file location.
2. Restart the virtual machine.

Important: Ensure that the AppDNA VM Configuration MSI has the same version number as the version of AppDNA that you are using. This means that you need to upgrade the VM Configuration on the virtual machine when you upgrade AppDNA.

Take a snapshot of the virtual machine

1. Log on to the virtual machine in the VMware vSphere Client.
2. From the menus in the VMware vSphere Client, choose Inventory > Virtual Machine > Snapshot > Take Snapshot
3. In the Take Virtual Machine Snapshot dialog box, enter a Name and Description for the snapshot, and select the Snapshot the virtual machine’s memory check box.
4. Click OK.

You are now ready to use the AppDNA Virtual Machine Configuration wizard to set up a virtual machine configuration for use with Install Capture. See Configure a vSphere VM for instructions.