Create a VSP

CREATE A VIRTUAL SOFTWARE PACKAGE
(to run on SVS Client)

When an application or set of data is captured into a Virtual Software Package, everything that is captured is contained in a "layer." The "layer" represents all the files and registry settings that make up the virtualized application or data.

The files and settings captured in a layer are stored in the SVS redirection area on the computer's hard drive. When a layer is active, all files and settings appear in the system just as they would if the application or data was installed on the computer. This is accomplished through redirection using the SVS File System Filter Driver.

When a VSP is imported onto a computer, the contents of the VSP (both files and registry settings) are placed in the redirected folder, such as C:\fslrdr\1. When the VSP is activated on a client computer, the contents of the VSP are made available to the user. The files and settings appear to the user in the location they would be in if the application had been installed on the computer.

Example: You have a VSP for Mozilla Firefox. When the Firefox VSP is activated, all the contents of the VSP are "layered" over the base file system and registry to make it visible to the user. The user then sees it's appropriate folders, files, registry settings, and shortcuts. When the contents are made visible, they are not displayed in the hidden area, but they are displayed in the locations that the user would see them had Firefox been installed on the computer. Example: Even though the Firefox application file may physically be located at

C:\fslrdr\1\PROGRAMFILES\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe 

to the user, it is visible as

C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe

The FSLDR folder can be hidden completely through a simple registry change if desired.

Creating a VSP

On the base computer, make sure you have access to the setup files for the application you will be creating a layer for. Example: Firefox Setup verXXX.exe. On the base computer, open the SVS Admin tool by clicking the SVS Admin icon onthe desktop. Select File > Create New Layer.

 

Choose Install application and click Next.

 

Give the new layer a name. Example: Firefox 1_5.The maximum name length is 50 characters. Click Next.

 

Find the setup files.

 

Select the capture method. For this exercise, choose Single program capture.

 

Click Finish.

 

Firefox begins its setup

 

The animated icon at the bottom right of the screen shows that SVS is capturing the Firefox setup to the layer.

 

 

 

Then a nice clean installation of Firefox opens up (assuming you went with the Firefox install default, which launches the browser when it's installed).

 

 

But the installation of Firefox to the layer is not finished yet. Don't close the application. Once Firefox opens, you will also notice that the animated capture icon (yellow lightning, below ) appears in the system tray. The icon is animated, signifying that it is still capturing.

 

 

What this means is that even though Firefox has installed and has opened, SVS is still in capture mode to capture any configuration changes you make to Firefox.

 

Read only vs Writeable Layers

When Firefox launches you now have a choice. Do you keep just the basic Firefox you have installed into the layer, or do you also capture any configuration settings that you would normally make to Firefox so that these are available next time you open the Firefox layer?

This decision is necessary because SVS layers (like the Firefox one you're creating) actually consist of two sub-layers. One sub-layer is read-only, and the other writable.

The read only layer contains any files and settings that were captured during the initial layer creation. Any changes that occur after the layer has been created (including additions, changes and deletion of files and registry settings) are put into the writeable sublayer.  Both layers are retained when you deactivate the layer (deactivation makes a layer invisible to the system, but does not delete it).
 
If, at any time you want to return the layer to the initial capture state, you can simply reset the layer and the read/write sublayer is deleted.  Be careful not to store data in the read/write layer if you plan to reset it.  Check the SVS help files for details on how to 'Exclude' data files.
 
If you save the configuration data to the read-only layer, it will be retained when you reset the layer.  Any configuration settings applied AFTER layer creation will be placed in the writeable layer, which will be wiped out if you reset the application.

To write configuration changes permantly to the read-only layer
To keep the configuration changes and put them in the read -only layer, make the required configuration changes to the application (Firefox in this case) while it's still open on your screen. Then close it. The capture will stop and the little animated capture icon will disappear from the system tray. You can always tell if you're capturing the settings because the animated capture icon will be present. (You can alway modify layers to add or remove files and settings later on).


To keep just the base application
If instead you want to keep just the base Firefox program, close it when it first fires up after being created as a layer. Then all configuration and setup changes made when it's reopened will be written to the writable layer, which will be lost when you deactivate the layer.

(In a corporate environment where Firefox or any other virtualized application layer might be rolled out to several client desktops, the sys admin would include all approved configuration settings in the read-only layer. End users would only be able to write any changes to the way the app works to the writeable layer, which would not be retained once the application is deactivated).

Once Firefox is installed it will be listed in the SVS Admin panel. If it's in bold, it's active. That means the application appears like any other application to your system. It even puts its icon on the desktop.

Confusion warning: when the application in the layer is active, it's not necessarily open. It's just available and visible to your system. To open it, click on its icon on the desktop or in the program list.

To temporarily remove the application you've just installed, deactivate it. This is not like deleting it, which would physically remove it. Deactivation simply makes it invisible to the system so that it can be reactivated later when you need it. To deactivate, go File > Deactivate Layer.

 

CREATING VIRTUAL SOFTWARE ARCHIVES (VSAs).

If you want to make a layer portable so that it can be used on another computer, the contents of the layer are exported to a single Virtual Software Archive (VSA) file. These archive files have a .VSA extension. When a VSA is imported on a computer, the layer (the files and registry settings in the VSA) are installed to the SVS redirection area on the client computer's hard drive.

 

• To export a layer to an archive VSA file, n SVS Admin, right-click the layer and click Deactivate Layer.
• Right-click the layer and click Export Layer.
• Select a filename and location to save the file. Example: C:\archives\Firefox1.5.vsa.
• Click OK.

All the contents of the layer are exported to the VSA file.

Go to the Altiris Community site Juice for more information on SVS, including full documentation , particularly if you want to run it in a corporate environment.

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