Login Consultants releases free tool for converting MSI packages to SoftGrid sequences!

Written on Mar 06 2007 Filed under: Technical Articles, Application Streaming 11,857 views, 6 comments

by Jeroen van de Kamp

Now that Softricity has been acquired by Microsoft and its price has been decreased so much, interest for SoftGrid is rapidly growing. Most enterprises have invested in MSI-based application packaging, and converting these packages into SoftGrid sequences can be laborious. To address this, Dennis Damen and Rodney Medina have created the SoftGrid Migration tool (SMGT). The SoftGrid Migration Tool is an add-on for the native SoftGrid Sequencer that helps you quickly “convert” existing automated application setups to SoftGrid Virtualized Applications (a.k.a. "streams" or "sequences") with the least possible amount of user intervention. This tool can be a huge benefit if you're planning to integrate SoftGrid with an existing software distribution sytem like SMS or Altiris. (If you want to virtualize applications that only have a manual setup, we still recommend using the native SoftGrid Sequencer.)

When using the SoftGrid Migration Tool for converting applications the SoftGrid sequencing, best practices still apply. (Check out Microsoft KB article 932137 for a list of sequencing best practices.)

The SoftGrid Migration Tool was written in Visual Basic 2005 and requires the .NET Framework 2.0 or higher in order to work. It's very easy to use:

• From the zip file, copy the SGMT.exe, defaults.ini, and SettingsChanged.exe to the sequencer machine and start the SGMT executable.
• Add the automated application setup(s) that needs to be converted to one virtual application.
• Enter the appropriate SoftGrid Sequencing settings.
• Click Start.
• When done, copy the content of the entered output path to the SoftGrid Server’s content folder.
• Import/Add the application to the SoftGrid Management Console.
• Always test the application afterwards!

The tool is 100% freeware and available from Login Consultants download section (free registration required).

Comments

Brian Madden wrote What will this mean for Altiris?

on 03-06-2007 12:14 AM

When I [link=http:
Brian

Ruben Spruijt wrote Great news!

on 03-06-2007 2:10 AM

Hi Rodney and Dennis,
 
Thanks for building this tool and thanks for sharing this with the community!.
I'll redirect your solution at SoftGridguru.com
 
With regards,
Ruben Spruijt

bjorn bats wrote RE: Great news!

on 03-06-2007 3:19 AM

great tool.
 
see ya.
www.bjornbats.nl

Kevin Kaminski wrote RE: What will this mean for Altiris?

on 03-06-2007 1:32 PM

I am not sure what Scott Jones is getting at. With any application virtualization solution you pretty much have to start with some sort of installer. It could be MSI, EXE, BAT, VBS and even installing components manually.
 
 
I personally think Altiris is a valid competitor but I believe they need to merge in features with AppStream and drop the price to make better argument for clients to choose their solution.

Rene Vester wrote Nice

on 03-10-2007 11:29 AM

Great tool, and yea as brian mentioned this will make it even easier for everyone to adopt Softgrid techonologies in their infrastructure :-)

Good job guys, Login Consultants does it again for the community :-)

/Rene Vester

Guest wrote Benefit of Manual Setup

on 05-20-2008 5:25 AM

Excellent site and article, great tool too.  Just one query please: This tool can be a huge benefit if you're planning to integrate SoftGrid with an existing software distribution sytem like SMS or Altiris. (<strong>If you want to virtualize applications that only have a manual setup, we still recommend using the native SoftGrid Sequencer</strong>.)Why is the recommendation still to use the native sequencer? - Surely you can still convert with the tool and then import into the management console or have I missed something obvious, which is the norm ... ... :)

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