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Before installing the Sequencer on a workstation or server, there are some items that you must be aware of, and may want to configure in advance. Microsoft’s support requirement since version 4.2 of App-V has been to sequence and publish on “like” operating systems. This means that creating a sequenced package on Windows XP and then publishing that package to Vista, and vice versa is not supported. You should plan to have a sequencer workstation or server for every operating system you plan to publish applications to. For example, to publish to a Server 2003 operating system, you must create the package on a Server 2003 operating system, including service pack and hot fix level. Although you may be able to sequence on one operating system and publish to another, the practice is not supported.

In addition to operating system, service pack, and hot fix level, you will also want to include any applications that are a part of your base image. For example, if Adobe Reader is a part of your base image, you should include it in the building of your sequencer workstation. This is especially important if you include the Microsoft Office suite on your base image. Some applications install differently if they see that Microsoft Office is
already installed.

If you plan to package applications that include ODBC DSN settings, you will want to create one on the sequencer workstation prior to sequencing a package. The registry key associated with the ODBC setting will become virtualized and prohibit the packaged application from seeing any ODBC DSN settings on the base client machine.

The following locations can be checked to determine ODBC information was captured:

» Search for odbc.ini: It will be located in the VFS\%CSIDL_WINDOWS% folder
» HKLM\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI\ODBC Data Sources
» HKCU\%SFT_SID%\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI

You will want to include a printer as part of the Sequencer base image as well. Printer configurations are handled like ODBC settings. So it is necessary to include a printer device in the sequencer PC image.

You will need to set up your sequencer machine with at least two primary partitions. The first partition, C:, should have the operating system installed; format it as NTFS. The second partition, Q:, is used as the destination path for the application installation. It should also be formatted as NTFS.

The sequencer uses %TMP%, %TEMP%, and its own scratch directory for temporary files. These locations should be large enough to accommodate the full installation size of the application being packaged. The sequencer uses the scratch directory to temporarily store the files generated during the sequencing process. The location of the scratch directory can be seen by launching the sequencer and browsing to Options | Tools and then clicking the Paths tab. You can improve performance by configuring the temp directories and the scratch directory to reside on different physical hard drives.

Before you begin to sequence an application, you will want to shutdown other programs that may be running. Ensure no scheduled tasks are running, or will begin running, during the sequencing process. Disable the following programs before starting a sequencing job:

» Windows Defender
» Antivirus Software
» Disk defragmentation software
» Windows Search
» Microsoft update
» Any open Windows Explorer session

All components for the App-V Sequencer are available through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Site (https://licensing.Microsoft.com). The link is called “Application Virtualization Hosting for Desktops 4.5” and can be found under the Windows section. Once downloaded, extract the files or burn the ISO to a CD.

1. Using the media you just downloaded in the previous step, browse to. . . | App-V | Installers | Sequencer and click Setup.exe.

2. The setup wizard prompts you to install the Microsoft Cþþ Redistributable Package, Microsoft MSXML, and Microsoft Application Error Reporting if they are not already installed. Click Install.

3. Once the prerequisites have been installed (or if they were already installed), you are taken to the Welcome page for the Application Virtualization Sequencer. On the Welcome page click Next.

4. Read and accept the license agreement, and then click Next. Doing so takes you to the Setup Page. Leave the installation path at its default setting and click Next.

5. Click Install to begin the installation of the App-V Sequencer.

6. When the installation completes, click Finish. The Sequencer will now start.

Source of Information : Elsevier-Microsoft Virtualization Master Microsoft Server Desktop Application and Presentation