Notes on installing and configuring the 4.1.2.21, 4.2.1.21 and higher SoftGrid Clients for Standalone mode

 

Notes on installing and configuring the 4.1.2.21, 4.2.1.21 and higher SoftGrid Clients for Standalone mode

A new feature released with the 4.1.2.21 & 4.2.1.21 versions of the SoftGrid Client is the ability to run SoftGrid Packages without a Virtual Application Server (VAS).  While we do have some documentation on installing and configuring the client to run in standalone mode I thought I would post a couple additional notes as well. 

The first thing you'll need it the MSI Utility.  This includes the admin guide and can be downloaded here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=37a9e590-4f55-44ac-93e1-36eb63a09240&displaylang=en

All the information you need to understand how the utility works and how to troubleshoot it can be found here:

The best practices and troubleshooting information for the MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=949050

MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization FAQ
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/09/19/msi-utility-for-microsoft-application-virtualization-faq.aspx

There's also some good information on the MSI utility here:

MSI Utility for Microsoft Application Virtualization tested and explained
http://www.softgridblog.com/?p=21

Here is Quick install guide on how to install the SoftGrid client to configure it for standalone mode.  This can also be found on page 14 of the Admin guide:

To install the 4.1/4.2 SoftGrid Application Virtualization Client for stand-alone mode:

1. Click Start, and then type cmd in the Start Search box.
2. In the Programs list, right-click cmd.exe, and then click Run as administrator.
3. In the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
4. In the Command Prompt window, navigate to the location of the SoftGrid Application Virtualization for Desktops installation files.
5. Depending on the installation file used, type the command appropriate to the deployment, and then press ENTER:

Softgrid-wd-setup.exe /v "MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE"

or

Msiexec /i "softgrid-wd-setup.msi" MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE

How to Manually configure the SoftGrid Client to work in Standalone mode (what MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE does)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Softricity\SoftGrid Client\CurrentVersion
# configuration and network nodes

STANDALONE: With MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE

"RequireAuthorizationIfCached"=dword:00000000
"AllowDisconnectedOperation"=dword:00000001
"Online"=dword:00000000
"ToggleOfflineMode"=dword:00000000
"DOTimeoutMinutes"=dword:ffffff
"LimitDisconnectedOperation"=dword:00000000

Important: Don´t set the value to the value that is indicated in the admin guide which is 8xf (FFFFFFFF), but to 6xf (FFFFFF). A value of 8xf will be reset by the SoftGrid client after a reboot or restart of the service to the original setting (HEX: 1fa40) which is 90 days. The value ffffff ensures 31.9 years of offline use for the application.

See MSI Utility explained pt. 2: http://desktopcontrol.blogspot.com/2008/01/msi-utility-explained-pt2.html

NORMAL INSTALL MODE: Without MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE

"RequireAuthorizationIfCached"=dword:00000001
"AllowDisconnectedOperation"=dword:00000001
"Online"=dword:00000001
"ToggleOfflineMode"=dword:00000001
"DOTimeoutMinutes"=dword:0001fa40

Using the MSI Utility to deploy standalone virtualized applications can give you a lot of flexibility in how you implement your apps and hopefully some of my notes here will help get you started on the right foot.

Enjoy!

John Behneman | Microsoft App-V Support Engineer

The App-V Blog : Notes on installing and configuring the 4.1.2.21, 4.2.1.21 and higher SoftGrid Clients for Standalone mode