ESX Virtualization

VMware ESXi, vSphere, VMware Backup, Hyper-V... how-to, videos....

Nakivo Backup and Replication - #1 Backup solution for Virtual, physical, cloud, NAS and SaaS

Menu
  • Certification
      • VCP-DCV vSphere 8
          • vcp2024-125.
        • Close
    • Close
  • VMware
    • Configuration Maximums
    • vSphere
      • vSphere 8.0
      • vSphere 7.0
      • vSphere 6.7
      • vSphere 6.5
      • vSphere 6.0
      • Close
    • VMworld
      • VMware EXPLORE 2024
      • VMware EXPLORE 2023
      • VMware EXPLORE 2022
      • VMworld 2019
      • VMworld 2018
      • VMworld 2017
      • VMworld 2016
      • VMworld 2015
      • VMworld 2014
      • VMworld 2013
      • VMworld 2012
      • VMworld 2011
      • Close
    • Close
  • Microsoft
    • Windows Server 2012
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Close
  • Categories
    • Tips – VMware, Microsoft and General IT tips and definitions, What is this?, How this works?
    • Server Virtualization – VMware ESXi, ESXi Free Hypervizor, VMware vSphere Server Virtualization, VMware Cloud and Datacenter Virtualization
    • Backup – Virtualization Backup Solutions, VMware vSphere Backup and ESXi backup solutions.
    • Desktop Virtualization – Desktop Virtualization, VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, VMware Horizon View, tips and tutorials
    • How To – ESXi Tutorials, IT and virtualization tutorials, VMware ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.x and VMware vSphere. VMware Workstation and other IT tutorials.
    • Free – Free virtualization utilities, ESXi Free, Monitoring and free backup utilities for ESXi and Hyper-V. Free IT tools.
    • Videos – VMware Virtualization Videos, VMware ESXi Videos, ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.x tips and videos.
    • Home Lab
    • Reviews – Virtualization Software and reviews, Disaster and backup recovery software reviews. Virtual infrastructure monitoring software review.
    • Close
  • Partners
    • NAKIVO
    • StarWind
    • Zerto
    • Xorux
    • Close
  • This Web
    • News
    • ESXi Lab
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Archives
    • Disclaimer
    • PDFs and Books
    • Close
  • Free
  • Privacy policy

VCP6-DTM Objective 2.5 – Create ThinApp applications and a ThinApp repository

By Vladan SEGET | Last Updated: February 29, 2016

Shares

Today's objective will dive into Thinapps. VCP6-DTM Objective 2.5 – Create ThinApp applications and a ThinApp repository. ThinApp has been historically one of the software pieces present in Horizon View as it allows the software distribution across your domain architecture with central management through View admin console.

ThinApp creates virtualized applications. In Horizon implementation, these virtual packages reside on a ThinApp repository in a network share. As an administrator, you can copy a full ThinApp package from the repository to the virtual desktop. You can also place a shortcut on the virtual desktop that points to the ThinApp package on the repository.

Applications on remote desktops can be natively installed applications, ThinApp virtual applications, or shortcuts to ThinApp virtual applications. You copy a ThinApp virtual application to a remote desktop or add a shortcut that points to the virtual application on the ThinApp repository.

ThinApp applications have their ability to execute itself in a sandbox so the dependency on the underlying OS is inexistent and the app can be streamed across the LAN too. However with AppVolumes the trend is going forward allowing faster deployment of hundreds of applications at the same time with very little administrative effort. But the exam has this objective in it so we'll go through today.

VMware Knowledge:

  • Create VMware ThinApp applications
  • Create file shares
  • Assign permissions to the file shares
  • Verify MSI streaming settings in the package.ini files
  • Determine necessary VMware ThinApp package components to put on the share
  • Assign VMware ThinApp applications to pools

VMware Study Tools (PDF):

  • Horizon View Installation Guide
  • Horizon View Administration Guide
  • VMware ThinApp User’s Guide
  • VMware ThinApp Reference Architecture Guide
  • Horizon View Administrator

Create VMware ThinApp applications

To create a ThinApp application you'll need the ThinApp packager (present in the download bundle) and also VMware Workstation, which will allow you quickly work and prepare ThinApp packages and at the same time by using snapshots to go back to the “clean” state of the OS which is used to prepare Thinapps.

Thinapp workflow:

Prescan > Install app > Postscan > Extraction of the difference = Thinapp package.

ThinApp Virtualization Packager installs on a clean workstation system (in a VM) and first thing you must do is to do a prescan.

VMware Thinapp Virtualization Packager

Once done, create a snapshot….. Like this you'll have a system which is clean and which is ready to monitor the application that you want to package.

VMware Thinapp Virtualization Packager

Now you can install an application (and check that it works)  > do a post-scan ….

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

Then click Next to have a screen where you can define authorization to run the package…

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

then chose whether you grant the full write access to non-system directories. In this case, the application can read and write to the local VM's filesystem.

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

then you can setup ThinDirect by entering which websites to capture and redirect to the browser. Thinapp packager detected that you're creating virtualization package for a web browser…

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

and here simply put a meaningful name and chose whether to use separate .DAT file for thinapps and if you at the same time want to generate MSI package or not. (simple checkbox).

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

to finish with …

You can only prepare the project without actually build the project.

VMware ThinApp Virtualization Packager

Create file shares

You must store the MSI packages on a Windows network share that resides in an Active Directory domain that is accessible to your View Connection Server host and remote desktops. The file server must support authentication and file permissions that are based on computer accounts.

To run streamed ThinApp applications on remote desktops, users must have access to the network share that hosts the MSI packages.

Assign permissions to the file shares

  • NTFS permission of the network share that hosts the ThinApp packages to Read & Execute for users.

Verify MSI streaming settings in the package.ini files

VMware Horizon View administration p.157 

If you plan to stream the application to remote desktops, set the MSIStreaming property to 1 in the package.ini file.

MSIStreaming=1

There is a special paper called VMware Thinapp Streaming Execution Mode.

Determine necessary VMware ThinApp package components to put on the share

  1. Thinapp Executables
  2. .DAT file generated when virtualizing an Application.

Better to do a separate  .DAT file as the thinapps will launch faster. Another reason is that Windows systems has limits when it comes to size of Executables. When an ‘.EXE’ is over it’s file size limitation for the specified OS, thing can (and will) goes wrong….

Assign VMware ThinApp applications to pools

Before assigning Thinapps to pool, you must make sure that:

  • You have placed Thinapp (including the .DAT file) to network share accessible to View connection server and destkop pools
  • You have granted necessary NTFS permissions to the users on that share (ReadExecute)

To Add Thinapp application to the pools go to View Admin > View Configuration > Thinapp Configuration > Add Repository

Configure Thinapp Repository

There you'll Add ThinApp repository. Enter some meaningful name, share path and Description. Click Save button..

VMware Horizon View - Creating and configuring Thinapp Repository

Put your ThinApp packages to the network share…

Creating Thinapp Packages

Then go to Catalog > Thinapps > Scan New Thinapps

VMware Horizon View - Creating and configuring Thinapp Repository

And the final step is to assign the ThinApp application to the pool…

Assign ThinApps To desktop pools

Then chose the pool and also the installation type..

Assign ThinApps To desktop pools

Then when you log on the desktop you'll find Firefox icon on the desktop and when launched you'll see the usual ThinApp Windows like this…

Thinapp

Wrap-Up:

We have done another chapter towards the VMware VCP6-DTM (Desktop and mobility) certification exam. You can follow the progress on our VCP6-DTM Study Page where all the Objectives shall be covered (sooner or later).

If you're studying towards traditional VCP6-DCV (Datacenter virtualization) you'll be certainly interested by our VCP6-DCV Study Page.

Shares
5/5 - (2 votes)

| Filed Under: Desktop Virtualization Tagged With: VCP6-DTM Objective 2.5

About Vladan SEGET

This website is maintained by Vladan SEGET. Vladan is as an Independent consultant, professional blogger, vExpert x16, Veeam Vanguard x9, VCAP-DCA/DCD, ESX Virtualization site has started as a simple bookmarking site, but quickly found a large following of readers and subscribers.

Connect on: Facebook. Feel free to network via Twitter @vladan.

Private Sponsors

Featured

  • Thinking about HCI? G2, an independent tech solutions peer review platform, has published its Winter 2023 Reports on Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Solutions.
  • Zerto: One Platform for Disaster Recovery, Backup & Cloud Mobility: Try FREE Hands-On Labs Today!
Click to Become a Sponsor

Most Recent

  • FREE version of StarWind VSAN vs Trial of Full version
  • Commvault’s Innovations at RSA Conference 2025 San Francisco
  • VMware ESXi FREE is FREE again!
  • Installation of StarWind VSAN Plugin for vSphere
  • Protect Mixed environments with Nakivo Physical Machine recovery (bare metal)
  • No more FREE licenses of VMware vSphere for vExperts – What’s your options?
  • Tails – Your Private OS on USB Stick
  • StarWind V2V Converter Now has CLI
  • Veeam VHR ISO v2 – 2025 Download and Install
  • Deployment OVA and Installation of Nakivo Backup and Replication for VMware

Get new posts by email:

 

 

 

 

Support us on Ko-Fi

 

 

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Sponsors

Free Trials

  • DC Scope for VMware vSphere – optimization, capacity planning, and cost management. Download FREE Trial Here.
  • Augmented Inline Deduplication, Altaro VM Backup v9 For #VMware and #Hyper-V – Grab your copy now download TRIAL.

VMware Engineer Jobs

VMware Engineer Jobs

YouTube

…

Find us on Facebook

ESX Virtualization

…

Copyright © 2025 ·Dynamik-Gen · Genesis Framework · Log in