Novell ZENWORKS APPLICATION VIRTUALIZATION 8.0 -... User manual

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novdocx (en) 7 January 2010
AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTATION
ZENworks Application Virtualization User Guide
ZENworks Application Virtualization
8.0
April 12, 2010
User Guide

novdocx (en) 7 January 2010
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2
Overview
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Thank you for using Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization!
This product will allow you to convert your Windows, .NET, Java, Flash, Shockwave, or other Windows-
compatible application into a self-contained virtual application which runs instantly on end-user devices. Unlike
traditional deployment methods, virtual applications do not require separate setup steps for external components
and runtimes, reboots, or administrative privileges, and are isolated from other system applications, preventing
DLL conflicts and other deployment nightmares.
This guide explains how to use Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization to create your own virtual applications
and begin enjoying the benefits of this superior next-generation deployment technology.
2.1
Overview
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A
virtual application is a virtual machine image pre-configured with all of the files, registry data, settings,
components, runtimes, and other dependencies required for a specific application to execute immediately. Virtual
applications allow application publishers and IT administrators to significantly reduce the costs and complexity
associated with development, setup, configuration, deployment, and maintenance of software applications.
For example, a publisher of an application based on the Microsoft .NET Framework or Java runtime engine might
create a virtual application combining the application with the required runtime engine. Using this virtual
application, an end-user can run the application immediately, even if the user has not installed the required
runtime engine, or has an incompatible runtime engine installed. Note that this has both improved the user
experience and reduced test and support complexity associated with deploying the application.
Furthermore, because virtual applications are isolated execution environments, it is possible to concurrently
execute multiple applications which would otherwise interfere with one another. For example, applications which
overwrite system DLLs or require different runtime engine versions can all run simultaneously on a single host
device. As an additional advantage, virtual applications can provide access to internal virtualized copies of
privileged system resources, allowing unprivileged users to directly execute many applications without security
exceptions or irritating Vista UAC prompts.
Unlike other virtualization systems, ZENworks virtual application technology:
Does not require any "player" software or separate installation: ZENworks virtual applications are executable
files that run immediately on the end-user machine, just like a native executable.
Do not incur significant processing or filesystem overhead: ZENworks application virtualization technology
allows applications to run with essentially the same performance characteristics as when executed natively.
Does not require any operating system to be installed onto the virtual application: ZENworks virtual
applications provide all required virtualized OS functionality within the internal virtual environment.
2.2
What is a virtual application?
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Use your new ZENworks virtual application to:
Deploy your application in a single executable that runs immediately: Improve the user download
and startup experience by packaging all application files, registry settings, runtimes, and components into a
single executable that runs immediately.
Run Java and .NET without separate runtime installations: Your Java and/or .NET-based
application runs immediately, just like a native executable, with no separate installation steps or runtime
versioning conflicts. Execute multiple runtime versions concurrently with no conflicts.
Improve desktop security: Execute your applications without granting administrative permissions to
end-users. Stabilize desktop images by deploying applications in sandboxed ZENworks virtual applications.
Eliminate third-party setup dependencies: Integrate third-party components, COM/VB controls, and
content viewers such as Acrobat, Flash, and Shockwave, directly into your application.
Eliminate Vista UAC prompts and compatibility: Deploying in a ZENworks virtual
application eliminates requirements for access to privileged system resources, relieving users of annoying
Vista UAC prompts.
Leverage Terminal Services and Citrix investments: By isolating applications from global resource
areas, ZENworks virtual application technology allows non-compliant applications to function properly in
Terminal Server and Citrix environments.
Deploy instantly on USB drives: Improve mobile worker productivity by placing your ZENworks virtual
application onto a USB flash-memory drive. Run your application immediately on remote PCs, with no
installation steps, administrative privileges or driver installations.
Dramatically reduce test and support costs: At last, no more "DLL hell", "policy hell", versioning
and dependency conflicts, etc. Reduce test complexity and eliminate support requests associated with
dependency installation and inter-application resource conflicts.
2.3
ZENworks virtual application usage scenarios
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No. Unlike some other virtualization solutions, application virtualization takes place entire in user-mode. No
device drivers are installed or required.
2.4
Do ZENworks virtual applications require any device drivers?
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Unlike hardware virtualization systems such as Microsoft Virtual PC and VMware, the application virtualization
system works at the application level and virtualizes only those operating system features required for application
execution. This allows virtualized applications to operate extremely efficiently, with essentially the same
performance characteristics as native executables.
Advantages of application virtualization over hardware virtualization include:
Extremely high performance: ZENworks virtual applications execute at essentially the same speed as applications
running natively against the host hardware, with only a small additional memory footprint. On the other hand,
applications running within hardware-virtualized environments experience significant slowdowns and impose a
large memory footprint because the virtual machine includes and virtualizes an entire host operating system.
Dramatically reduced application size: ZENworks virtual applications only require a disk footprint
proportional to the size of the virtualized application, data, and included components. As a result, ZENworks
virtual applications are typically small enough to be conveniently and quickly downloaded by end-
users. Because hardware virtualization requires inclusion of an entire host operating system image, including
many basic subsystems which will already present on the end-user device, hardware virtualization typically
requires gigabytes of storage per virtual machine.
Ability to run dozens of virtualized applications: Because of its low-overhead characteristics, it is easily
possible to run dozens of concurrent ZENworks virtual environments per processor. Conversely, due to the
high overhead of hardware virtualization, it is generally possible only to run a very small number of hardware-
virtualized environments per processor.
Reduced licensing costs: Because ZENworks virtual applications do not contain a host operating system, it is
not necessary to purchase separate operating system licenses to use a ZENworks virtual application. hardware
virtualization systems require a host operating system in order function, possibly imposing additional
licensing costs and restrictions.
However, hardware virtualization is appropriate in certain specialized scenarios:
Non-Windows operating systems: ZENworks virtual applications execute only on the Windows operating
system. Hardware virtualization can execute any operating system compatible with the underlying virtualized
hardware, such as Linux.
Kernel mode virtualization: The ZENworks application virtualization engine only virtualizes user-mode
operating system features, whereas hardware virtualization systems emulate the entire OS stack, including
kernel mode components. Applications requiring device drivers or other non-user-
mode software may require
a hardware-virtualized environment to function properly.
You should carefully evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different virtualization approaches before
deciding on a technology to adopt for your deployment scenario.
2.5
How is application virtualization different from hardware
virtualization?
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ZENworks Application Virtualization supports the following platforms for virtual application build, snapshotting,
and execution:
Windows XP Professional
Windows Embedded XP
Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2000 Server
Windows Server 2003 Standard and Enterprise editions
Windows Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions
Windows Server 2008
ZENworks Application Virtualization supports these operating systems running within VMware and
Microsoft hardware virtualization and hypervisor environments.
ZENworks Application Virtualization also has limited support for the Windows Preinstallation
Environment (WinPE), though certain applications depending on operating system features unavailable in WinPE
may not function properly.
ZENworks Application Virtualization creates 32-bit executables, which can be run under 32-bit mode on x64-
based platforms.
2.6
What platforms are supported?
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application virtualization is related to application streaming systems such as Microsoft's SoftGrid in that
virtualization takes place at the application level. However, unlike application streaming systems, application
virtualization:
Does not require any specialized streaming servers: Streaming systems use specialized streaming servers to
deliver application blocks to clients. ZENworks virtual applications are designed to stream to clients using
standard SMB-based file shares, allowing them to be hosted on any Windows host, DFS share, or Linux
Samba server.
Does not require any client installation or device drivers: Streaming systems require that specialized client
software be installed on each end-user device before clients can access hosted applications. Some streaming
systems further require installation of client device drivers before use. Because the ZENworks application
virtualization engine kernel is embedded and implemented entirely in user mode, ZENworks virtual
applications run immediately, with no client installation or device drivers.
Works both offline and online: Many streaming systems require that clients be connected to the streaming
server to access applications. Because ZENworks virtual applications are standalone executables, virtual
applications can be copied to laptops, USB keys, and other mobile devices for execution both on and off the
network.
Does not require any additional server systems: Most streaming solutions require that Active Directory or
other infrastructure services be deployed as a prerequisite to application deployment. Because ZENworks
virtual applications are standalone executables, no separate server systems need be purchased or deployed.
Note that ZENworks virtual applications can optionally be configured to take advantage of Active Directory
and SMS infrastructure, if these are present.
application virtualization can be used in concert with application streaming systems: Virtualized applications can
themselves be streamed, combining the network transport optimizations of the streaming solution with the
isolation, compatibility, and offline execution capabilities of application virtualization. This approach also allows
enterprises with a heterogeneous IT infrastructure to enjoy the advantages of application virtualization, even in
their non-Active Directory environments.
2.7
How is application virtualization different from application
streaming?
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