Kernel Confusion

Hello everyone!

Our company tries very hard to use the newest software available, so customers see it in action when our consultants work with them. But in the “real world”, the clocks don’t tick as fast. Most of the time we face companies that are now migrating to Windows XP and Office 2003… oh my. In order to stay “compatible” with their workflows, it can be very complicated to maintain both worlds in one notebook.

To ease this pain, I looked into the Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack, short MDOP. The MDOP is available for companies that have Microsoft Software Assurance. One part of it is App-V. It virtualizes a software package in order to let it run on systems where compatibility issues due to other installed software would occur. It is not a full operating system virtualization, it’s just the application itself, running in a sandbox. So the software has still the prerequisite to be compatible to your target machines.

This step-by-step guide shows you the basic workflow to create a virtual software package and distribute it to a client with the ConfigMgr, in this case Microsoft Office 2003.

The following environment was used:
“Test Client”
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
Virtual Guest (Hyper-V)
App-V Sequencer installed

“Productive Client”
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
LenovoT61 Notebook
App-V Client and ConfigMgr Client installed (as well as a bunch of other stuff)

“ConfigMgr Server”
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64
Virtual Guest (Hyper-V)
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 installed

Be warned, this is a very long, screenshot-heavy post. To view the pictures correctly, click on the little button on the top right corner of the header to increase the column width.

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