Whilst testing a Thinapp today I noticed that every time I ran the Thinapp a file related to that software package was being created in the Thinapp bin directory. This isn't something that I want to happen. The file created was named the same as the ComputerName of the vm it was being excecuted on. So as you can imagine, if you have desktop estate of 10,000 desks, it could get quite missy.

With the help of Peter Bjork one of the VMware Thinapp specialists we worked out that the Entry Point that we were using to excecute the Thinapp didn't have a WorkingDirectory defined in the package.ini. This is what the entry point in the package.ini looked like:

[Application.exe]
Source=%ProgramFilesDir%\ApplicationDir\Application.exe
Shortcuts=Application.dat

As you can see, there is no WorkingDirectory defined. If a WorkingDirectory is not specified on an Entry Point the location of the Entry Point will be the working directory, in my case the bin directory. I edited the package.ini to read the following:

[Application.exe]
Source=%ProgramFilesDir%\ApplicationDir\Application.exe 
WorkingDirectory=%ProgramFilesDir%\ApplicationDir\
Shortcuts=Application.dat

I rebuilt the Thinapp and now the application creates this application file in the application directory. Sweet.

Last week I was introduced to a new UK based PAAS provider Bureaucloud. They are currently offering free trails for prospective customers and as I was looking for some cloud hosting for a new personal project I've been working on, I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to try out this new provider.

I thought I would feedback my experience to you guys as I was really impressed!

The Bureaucloud Platform

Of course, when enquiring about the free trial I dug a little to find out a more about the platform and what the hosting platform was running on. I managed to speak to directly to the founder, Tim Boeckmann who give me a brief technical overview:

The solution is built on Cisco, HP and Netapp, with robust high-speed network connectivity, latest HP 64-bit servers and 15K FC disk. VMware where possible, Veeam for backups. The platform has been fully stable since May without any network downtime.

The platform is hosted in West London, at Telecity Powergate (a tier 3 DC with all the iso accreditations you might expect). This is the perfect compliment for anyone looking at hybrid cloud solution between East and West London due to the excellent connectivity into the datacenter.

Our experience is looking after all size enterprise environments from a service provider perspective including migrations, strategic planning and growth. We understand the needs of a small business by being one. We have worked with virtualisation for many years.

The Cloud solutions used on the platform is vCloud from VMware. As you can imagine I was delighted at this as I already know my way around this product and If the infrastructure is configured correctly it should be a solid, stable platform.

My Bureaucloud Experience

So after grilling the founder I was happy and signed up for a free trial. Within an hour I had my account details, I was logged in and firing up my vApp. ONE HOUR! Happy Days to that. During the configuration of a my vApp I had an issue with the networking, I contacted their support team which had it fixed very quickly. Maybe TalkTalk should take note? 🙂 (Personal grudge.)

My vApp has been running for about a week now with no problems, not that I would expect any as the platform is running on vSphere 5 and vCD1.5. If the service continues at this level until the end of the free trial, I will continue to use them to host my servers. Their prices are competitive I'm sure you'd agree and I was really impressed with their support team.

Bureaucloud Summary

These guys are offering a free trial….. If you are looking for Cloud provider what better way can you try out their service. Give them a go, I'm very happy so far. But I'll let you know if that changes. 😉

Keep an eye on their blog page  for a new post that will go up shortly, they are having a Christmas Competition. One lucky new client will win 4 days consultancy around "Cloud Strategy and Migration".

Just a quick post about an error I just got when I was trying to generate a text trace report using the Thinapp Log Monitor. The error I received was:

<UNC path to Thinapp Bin>\<trace unique identifier>.trace: Error
– – – – – – – – end of file – – – – – – – – –  

If I then looked at the trace text file it only had a small amount of information, most of the trace information you would expect to see was missing.

The reason for this error was because I was running Thinapp Log Monitor from a network share. 

To fix this problem I copied to a local drive;

• log_monitor.exe
• logging.dll
• setup capture.exe

The trace text report generation now runs as expected.

My attention was drawn to this website today, I hadn't seen it before so I thought I'd share it with you in case you had missed it too.

V-index is an online virtualization industry study performed by Vanson Bourne, an independent market research company. It is based on a survey of at least 500 enterprises across the US, UK, France and Germany and is designed to measure 3 parameters – virtualization rate, consolidation ratio and primary hypervisor in use.

Some interesting info on there, check it out.

Guys, don't miss out on the free VMware Thinapp Bootcamp Series. The content below are taken from: http://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/desktop/thinapp/bootcamp

Get ready for application virtualization with VMware ThinApp!

VMware ThinApp accelerates application deployment and simplifies application migration with agentless application virtualization.

In this six-part bootcamp,  we show you how to use, deploy, and optimize VMware ThinApp. The  session will include everything from deployment best practices, tips & tricks for performance enhancement, and improving application  compatibility.

We will be releasing one on demand session each day starting October 31^st.  At the end of this bootcamp, you’ll understand how to use VMware ThinApp. Register to get a free e-book of all the presentations included in this bootcamp series.

Receive a FREE copy of all of the presentations covered in this video bootcamp: Sign up today

VMware ThinApp Bootcamp Series – Videos released daily, starting 31st October, 2011

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I've been working a lot with Thinapp lately and one thing I keep noticing when users are creating their Thinapp's is; they are neglecting to use a clean capture machine.

Definition of a Clean Machine

So what exactly is a clean machine? A clean machine is a “vanilla” Windows OS and its essential drivers with no other software installed. This also includes updates Microsoft updates. I can't put it any simpler than that.

Why do I need a Clean Machine?

If you are a Thinapp user you'll probably understand that during the capture process you have two main phases. The Pre-Scan and Post-Scan phases. The Pre-Scan phase is run before installation of the software you are Thinapping. It scans the clean machine and makes a note of everything on it. Files, Software, Services, Registry keys etc. The Post-Scan is run after the software you are trying to Thinapp has been installed. The Post-Scan checks for any changes made to the clean machine since the information gathered by the Pre-Scan phase. These differences are then put into the Thinapp package.

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Register today and join your fellow VMware users for this full-day event including in-depth technical sessions, demonstrations and exhibits. This is a great opportunity to meet with your peers to discuss virtualization trends, best practices, and the latest technology!

Location: National Motorcycle Museum
Address: Coventry Road, Bickenhill, Solihull, West Midlands, B92 0EJ
Date: 3rd November, 2011
Time: 8am – 16:30pm

This event will feature:

• Wednesday night pre-event networking reception AKA vBeers, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at National Motorcycle Museum – hosted by Veeam Software
• Keynote with Joe Baguley – VMware Chief Cloud Technologist
• Exhibitor area with:
  • VMware partners
  • Power CLI Drop In Area
  • Expert Bar

Meeting Agenda

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I'm pretty sure all of you know I work for VMware's PSO. But did you know that for about the past year I've been specializing in VDI, specifically View? Probably not. Not a lot of people know that! I didn't know that people didn't know that, until recently at a few vBeers events I've been telling people what I've been getting up to and everyone was quite surprised. So I thought I'd share some of my experiences with you.

The two main types of engagements I've been working on are View Plan and Design and VDI Troubleshooting/Healthchecks. All of the engagements mentioned are 1000+ seat environments, all large scale and some global.

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Today see's the public release of VMware View 5. I've been fortunate enough to have been using this in Beta for a while, and I must say, I am impressed (again). Key features of this release are:

Optimized and Adaptive Experience

VMware View with PCoIP display protocol delivers high-performance desktop experience across the LAN or WAN. Built for desktop delivery, VMware View with PCoIP dynamically adjusts to network conditions to enable the most productive environment. Optimization controls enable IT administrators to customize protocol settings to adjust bandwidth use and session density by user, use case or available network conditions.

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If you are planning on implementing a View 5 environment or running PoC, I would highly recommend you have a look through the following slides. This presentation was delivered at VMWorld 2011.

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