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If you find your virtual disk file growing exponentially with Windows XP mode under Windows 7 (Pro, Ultimate and Enterprise) this might be related to the fact that the virtual disk file used in XP mode is a “differencing” disk. A differencing disk is linked to a dynamically expanding or fixed disk and only saves the changes relative to the base disk. This protects the base pre-configured Windows XP install but a side effect of this is that the differencing disk only grows in size and never shrinks.

This shows the location of the differencing VHD and the Parent disk (From the settings screen in Virtual PC)

Recovering this space is a simple process but needs to be preformed offline and not while XP mode is hibernated. The process of “compacting” reduces the size the disk by removing unused space on the virtual hard disk.

First shutdown the XP mode virtual machine. Click Start then Windows Security within the virtual machine

Select Shutdown then Shutdown then OK

By default the differencing .vhd is located in…
C:\Users\<PROFILE NAME>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines

(Size is 3GB)

From the parent Windows 7 machine select Start then “All Programs” then Windows Virtual PC

Right click on the Windows XP Mode virtual machine and select Settings

Select Hard Disk 1 and select Modify from the right side.

Select Modify then Compact virtual hard disk

Select Compact

Done!

Post compacting my install I recovered 50% of disk space.

Size is 1.5GB

Blog, Virtualization, Windows virtualization, windows7, vhd, virtual pc

In my previous blog here I provided an overview and “what is” application virtualization and Microsoft App-V. In this post I will attempt to move beyond the basics and try to address the good, the bad and the ugly of application virtualization with Microsoft App-V.

Desktop and Application optimization…
If you read my previous post you should now have an idea what application virtualization and Microsoft App-V is and what it can provide to a computer network. I remember reading somewhere that “a operating system is at it fastest and optimal post a fresh install and before any applications are deployed”. This is something I and I am sure any IT pro will agree with and while we would love to keep our machines in this optimal state usually an application or two is required. Now meet my friend App-V, this neat little application can conceivability keep your machine as close to a fresh install as possible as applications are not installed in the traditional sense.

What do you mean the application is not installed?
Microsoft App-V for example provides a virtual registry and  virtual file system. When a sequenced or virtualized application is deployed to a Windows Vista workstation the application does not sit in c:\program files\… or write to [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\…] it is truly sandboxed and held at arms length from the operating system. As far as the application is aware it is installed locally however when it writes to the local registry that application call is redirected to a virtual or “faked” registry, this also hold true for the file system. 
What you see is an application laid down on disk but does not “taint” the local operating system with crazy registry entries or participating in DLL hell.

Can I virtualize application xyz?
Now not all applications are created equal and not all applications are a candidate for virtualization, what I mean is not all application will function within a virtual environment or even sequence correctly in the first place. Generally applications that fit the following list may not be candidates however all applications are different and everybody's experiences are different.

1. Applications that install a boot time service.
2. Applications that use COM+ (check here for more info and workarounds)
3. DLL’s that run in Dllhost.exe AKA COM DLL surrogate virtualization.
4. MAPI applications check the following link for help.
5. Internet Explorer (google or bing :-) this, some believe you can).
6. Device drivers or any application that uses them (unless you can install the device driver separately and locally from the sequenced application)
7. Applications for example that are tied to a machine or tied to a system’s MAC address.
8. Helper applications such as those with a multifunction printer… the root of all evil for any virtual environment :-)
9. Operating system hotfixes in any way shape or form.
10. most (but not all) antivirus applications that use filter drivers that interact with the operating system directly.
11. Some windows services.

So what is actually virtualized?
One of the great things about App-V or application virtualization in general is the ability to uninstall an application and ALL settings, binaries, registry entries, and random configuration files are removed no ugly desktop icons or folders in c:\program files or manually remove

When a file is sequenced the following is a list of what is wrapped up into well… a sequence.

• Files
• Fonts
• Registry entries
• INI files (oh the horror!)
• Namespaces
• Services
• COM/DCOM objects

What methods are available for application virtualization?
There are three methods available for deploying application virtualization when utilising Microsoft App-V, standalone, streaming and full infrastructure.

Standalone – Enables virtual application delivery to businesses that may not have the backend infrastructure to support streaming or the full infrastructure model. The only software required is the sequencer which can sit on a workstation. Applications are sequenced and packaged into a MSI (Microsoft Installer) which contains all the information required to deliver and install the virtual application. This model requires a method of application delivery either manual (CD/DVD or USB) or automatic (SCCM, AD or some other package deployment tool). This model is also best suited to users who are remote or disconnected from the network.

Streaming – Model consists of the streaming server, the sequencer and the App-V client. Applications are placed on the streaming server where they are downloaded or streamed to the client on demand. When streamed a client receives what is called “feature block 1” then obtains further blocks when needed this leads to faster start-up times for applications.

Full Infrastructure – Requires the largest investment in “infrastructure” as it consists of one or more Microsoft System Center Application Virtualization Management Servers and the App-V client on workstations or Terminal Servers.

Allot of IT adman's find the “streaming” model works for them and can easily leverage existing servers and software onsite.

Client considerations…
Always ensure a large enough cache has been provisioned (2GB standard) perhaps 4GB is better. Ensure clients are pre-cached on Terminal Server’s for best performance and user experience, and remember at this stage only 32bit (x86) operating systems are supported. (This will change with App-V 4.6)

Sequencer Considerations…
Provision an isolated and dedicated workstation for application sequencing. Ensure this workstation does not have any background applications or agent software loaded. If you are not sequencing Microsoft Office but it is part of your base workstation image make sure it is also loaded to the sequencing machine. The sequencing machine must have a second drive letter that matches the virtual drive used by the client, this could be a network drive or USB drive for example. The default drive is Q. Deploying to a staging environment is recommended.

My first post on App-V is available here.

Blog, Virtualization, Windows app-v, virtualization

Microsoft Application Virtualization or App-V (fits in nicely within the *-V naming scheme, Hyper-V, MED-V...) is Microsoft’s application virtualization and application streaming technology that competes with the likes of Citrix XenApp streaming, VMware ThinApp or Symantec’s AppStream. Microsoft App-V was previously named Microsoft Softgrid which was acquired in July 06 through the acquisition of Softricity a Boston, Massachusetts software company.

Application Virtualization and streaming provides and enables the deployment of software into na isolated or sandboxed operating system environment without modifying the local OS file system or registry. This ensures operating system integrity, reduces application and DLL conflicts and reduces the need for application and environment testing on different hardware and operating system environments. Applications such as Office XP and Office 2007 can be sequenced then deployed and executed on the same end user device without any application conflicts.

Applications are profiled or sequenced (installed) usually on/to a dedicated workstation, these applications are as stated sequenced or packaged (think of this as the installation being monitored, looking for where files are installed to or registry entries are added) the binaries are bundled into a single file or .CAB and located somewhere accessible on the network (this is a highly simplified explanation!).

A sequenced application is then assigned to a user or group. Depending on how this application is assigned an icon is provided to the local desktop via the locally installed App-V client. When a user double clicks the icon the sequenced application is streamed to the local machine only downloading the parts of the applications required to execute into this isolated or sandboxed virtual environment on the local PC and executed. Often only 20-40% of an application is required to be downloaded before it can execute leading to improved start-up times. Downloaded binaries are cached on the local machine for faster retrieval when next required.

The network storage location provides a common set of binaries for all operation systems both desktop’s and server’s alike. If an admin needs to patch an application only the common source of binaries is patched/updated, the App-V client next requests this application the patched or changed binaries are automatically downloaded to the local machine and executed removing the requirements to visit each machine or deploy a patch through Active Directory, SCCM or your favourite deployment tool.

Microsoft provides a centralised management tool and core to App-V is the App-V management Web Service, this provides a central service for the admin of App-V servers and sequenced applications. Administrators communicate with the web service via the App-V Management Console through this console you can publish, assign, remove applications, configure settings, metering and permissions. The central management platform is not always required as Microsoft has provided alternative methods for deployment of streamed applications with a standalone mode, this allows the sequencer to package the virtual application into a MSI. This allows the delivery of sequenced applications to App-V desktops via the Microsoft Windows Installer with the Windows Installer loading and configuring the virtual applications. This in turn allows application delivery via your favourite ESD (Electronic Software Distribution) method or even from USB drive or CD/DVD.

While applications are retrieved from the network in real-time applications or end user devices can be configured for “offline” mode which allows the full application to be downloaded and cached on the local drive for full functionality offsite or while not connected to the network. Of course this is only possible when an application can function offsite or offline such as Adobe Reader or MS Office - don’t expect your SAP client to magically function without it’s backend database available!

At this time Microsoft only provide a 32bit (x86) client so this technology does not work on Vista x64 or Windows 2008 x64 however this is set to change in App-V 4.6 which is set to provide a x64 App-V client.

Not all applications are candidates for application virtualization and each IT professionals experiences with application virtualization are different. Some applications just plan refuse to sequence while applications such as MS Office may best be installed locally in the traditional manner to ensure all application can access Office outside of its sandbox. My only recommendations to you is test, test and then test again. With App-V 4.5 some say you can even virtualize windows services, however I have no such experience.

Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services or App-V for TS is the version of App-V that runs under Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services) or Citrix XenApp (just to confuse) and extends its capabilities to profile management (among others) allowing the use of things such as mandatory profiles with the ability to capture user settings and configuration data and in turn saving this data to the network. This delivers a dynamic yet locked down profile that saves all user settings while providing all the stability benefits of mandatory profiles in Terminal Services environments. (Anyone remember flex profiles!)

Currently App-V is available via the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) to SA covered desktops for the cool price of $10 per end user device.

The following PDF while a little dated now with the new releases of referenced software versions still provides a good comparison of competing application virtualization products.
http://virtualfuture.info/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/vf-appvirtchart092008.pdf

Microsoft’s App-V site.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/appv/default.mspx

Microsoft App-V for Terminal Services.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/appv/terminalsvcs.mspx

Excellent community App-V blog.
http://www.softgridblog.com

Blog, Virtualization virtualization, app-v, xenapp

In no real order…

Support for 256 cores, because you can never have to many cores. (previously only 64 were supported)

Core parking, this enables Windows to park or suspend cores that aren't in use, handy I am sure in those situations when you have 256 cores! This provides significant power saving benefits.

64 bit only (x64), further driving the adoption of 64 bit computing.

Powershell 2.0, as if version 1.0 was not good enough, we will be blessed with version 2.0. Version 2.0 will also now include a UI for developing and debugging in.

IIS 7.5 FTP improvements, finally Microsoft will provide FTP over SSL and virtual host names for FTP sites, this allows multiple FTP sites that share the same IP address (much like host headers in HTTP)

DirectAccess, seamless, always-on, SSL based VPN solution with NAP support (reminds me of Citrix Access Gateway *cough* *cough* but @ 5% of the cost!) only for Windows 7 users reason to upgrade!

BranchCache, provides WAN optimisation/optimization :-), reduces WAN traffic using two deployment models. Distributed caches content on Windows 7 machines that have previousaly retrieved content and then makes this content available to other clients. Hosted caching is cached at the branch on a Windows 2008 R2 server retrieved data, simple put the Windows 2008 R2 server works on behalf of the client to cache content.

Remote Desktop Services, AKA Remote Desktop, AKA Terminal Services. (Mmmm… Remote Desktop + Terminal Services = Remote Desktop Services marketing genius :-)) New RDP version 7 protocol, Windows 7 Aero support, Direct 2D & Direct 3D 10.1 application support, True multi-monitor support, RDP Core Performance Improvements, Multimedia enhancements, Media Foundation support, DirectShow support, Low Latency audio playback support and Bi-directional audio support. The RDS/XenApp gap closes further!

Hyper-V R2 Live Migration, the ability to shift VMs between hosts without user downtime, comparible features to VMware’s Vmotion or Xen’s Live Motion. While not required but highly (with a capital H) recommended utilises Windows 2008 R2 Cluster Shared Volumes.

Integrated Best Practices Analyzer, BPA advice now available out of the box for all server roles

IIS 7.5 Request Filtering, This will include the filtering features previously found in URLScan 3.1 with a GUI!

.NET framework in Server Core, I am not a big fan of Server Core myself however I know others are and I am sure there are plenty of people out there that will be happy that the .NET framework has made it into Server Core deployments. This extends to ASP.NET and Powershell making this a good solution for web type deployments.

Remote Server Manager, “Server Manager” is a nice centralised management tool, now with R2 it is no longer limited to the local install as this can not be installed to a remote network client.

Active Directory Administrative Center, Say goodbye to Active Directory Domains and Trusts, Active Directory Sites and Services, Active Directory Users and Computers. Say hello to Active Directory Administrative Center, built on top of Powershell and includes the new Active Directory Recycle Bin for those magically disappearing OUs.

TCP offload support in Hyper-V R2 virtual machines, (AKA Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) and TCP Chimney)

Support for Enhanced Virtualization Capabilities, Support for Nested Page Tables (NPT) and Extended Page tables (EPT) in Intel and AMD hardware. These capabilities improve the performance of translation of memory addresses. Some people have reported up to 2.5 times the number of VMs under Hyper-V R2 over R1.

Integrated RDS and VDI, a single broker is now available to connect users to RDS sessions or virtual machines in a VDI deployment with Hyper-V R2.

Hot Add/Remove VM Storage, ability to “hot add” VM storage both pass through or VHD to running VMs (only available on virtual SCSI controllers)

Cluster Shared Volumes, Enables multiple nodes in a cluster to concurrently access a single ‘truly’ shared LUN.

Expanded Support for iSCSI, Multiple LUNS can be mapped to a single iSCSI target as well as improved iSCSI multipath support and reported performance enhancements.

Remember Windows 2008 R2 (and Windows 7) will be on the streets October 22nd.

Blog, Virtualization hyper-v, windows 2008 r2, virtualization

http://community.citrix.com/citrixready

I cannot rave about this site enough, it is a community driven site of which people are able to search for application and environment compatibility or contribute there own experiences running Citrix applications.

For example if I am interested in running the SAP Business One client under XenApp or streaming it via XenApp's application virtualization technology but want to know if I should even attempt to profile or deploy the application in a Citrix XenApp environment I can search and read about other people experience's.

[EXAMPLE OUTPUT]

SAP Business OnEssentialse :

Citrix Product	Product Version	Platform	Votes
Access Essentials	2.0		6 Vote Now!
XenApp (Presentation Server)	5.0	Hosted for Windows Server 2003	2 Vote Now!
XenApp (Presentation Server)	5.0	Hosted for Windows Server 2008	2 Vote Now!
XenApp (Presentation Server)	5.0	Streamed for Windows Server 2008	3 Vote Now!
XenApp (Presentation Server)	4.5	Hosted for Windows Server 2003	5 Vote Now!
XenApp (Presentation Server)	4.0	Hosted for Windows Server 2003	2 Vote Now!

 SAP Business One issue
Forum: Presentation Server 4.5 - General Question: SAP Business One issue Subject:
SAP Business One issue Poster: Saidovic Saidovic Hi All, I installed SAP ...
Date created 2007-11-22    Last modified 2007-11-22 

However this site is not limited to XenApp presentation virtualization or application virtualization as most Citrix products can be "community certified" the following is a list of Citrix hardware or software supported

Access Essentials
Access Gateway
Branch Repeater
Essentials for Hyper-V
Netscaler
Password Manager
Provisioning Server
Receiver for Windows
StorageLink
WANScaler
XenApp
XenDesktop
XenServer

The other great thing about this site from my experience if you can present it or virtualize it with XenApp you can usually do the same with Microsoft Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services) or Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V)

I think this is a great initiative and think the Microsoft community would also benefit from the same, does anyone know of a similar site for Microsoft hardware or software?

http://community.citrix.com/citrixready

Blog, Citrix, Windows citrix, xenapp, virtualization

On the Windows Server Division blog, Ward Ralston, Group Product Manager of Windows Server Marketing, announced that Windows Server 2008 R2 will be released and available the same time of Windows 7.
This means both client and server operating systems will be released togeather at the same time (first time since the release of Windows 2000 server and workstation).

When Microsoft released Windows 2008, Microsoft decided to include just a beta version of the hypervisor (Hyper-V) within Windows, subsequently an update (RTM) was released via the Windows Update service.
This time Hyper-V version 2 will be RTM and part of the final release!! (All publicy available on October the 22nd 2009!!)

The only edition of Hyper-V 2.0 that will be delayed is the stand-alone platform Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, which Microsoft will release within 30 days the release of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Microsoft partners will have access to Hyper-V 2.0 starting the second half of July, through MSDN and TechNet software subscriptions.

Blog, Virtualization, Windows virtualization, hyper-v, windows 2008 r2

Something I had always looked for, for my own information and from a marketing perspective was a solid performance comparison between what could be considered the big 3 hypervisors.

There are a number of these “lab tests” out there (and most look to be dated) but this is current and covers most of the points I was interesting in reading about.

I recommend having a look at the following post and I also recommend looking around the rest of the site. virtualizationreview.com has a ton of virtualisation related information and is usually presented in a complete and unbias fashion.

http://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2009/03/02/lab-experiment-hypervisors.aspx

Blog, Citrix, Virtualization, Windows virtualization, esx, xenserver, hyper-v

Blog, Virtualization, Windows virtualization, hyper-v

How this differs from other free hypervisors is that a number of enterprise features have been included that otherwise would have cost $$.

This includes,
Centralised management
Live migration (not even available with Hyper-V, scheduled for Windows 2008 R2)
Resource scheduling
64bit Hypervisor (ESX is 32bit for example)
Bare Metal Hypervisor
Integrated storage management

(Note High availability is missing from this release, you need XenServer Essentials for that)

XenServer essentials is now the commercial version of XenServer which essentially is a management and feature extension for Xen and Hyper-V.
http://citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=683148

Full facts and figures for XenServer 5 can be found here
http://www.xenserver5.com/

For those of you thinking about testing or trailing XenServer 5 it installs in VMware Workstation, however as VMware Workstation does not pass Intel or AMD virtualisation extensions through its emulated BIOS you can not test Windows VMs (unless someone knows something I do not?!) as Xen requires these to virtualise Windows.

Blog, Citrix, Windows virtualization, xenserver