windows-itpro-docs/windows/manage/appv-automatic-sequence-a-new-app.md

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Automatically sequence a new app using the Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer) (Windows 10)	How to automatically sequence a new app using the App-V Sequencer	eross-msft	mdop, appcompat, virtualization	deploy	library	w10

Automatically sequence a new app using the Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer)

Applies to

• Windows 10, version 1703

Previous versions of the App-V Sequencer have required you to manually sequence your app packages. This was time-consuming and required extensive interaction, causing many companies to deploy brand-new packages rather than update an existing one. Windows 10, version 1703 introduces an updated App-V Sequencer that automatically sequences your app packages, improving your overall experience by streamlining the provisioning of the prerequisite environment, automating app installation, and expediting the package updating setup.

Using the automatic sequencer to package your apps provides:

• Automatic virtual machine (VM) provisioning of the sequencing environment. The process for this is covered in this topic.

• Batch-sequencing of packages. This means that multiple apps can be sequenced at the same time, in a single group. For info about this, see Automatically sequence multiple apps at the same time

• Batch-updating of packages. This means that multiple apps can be updated at the same time, in a single group. For info about this, see Automatically update multiple apps at the same time

Automatic VM provisioning of the sequencing environment

You have 2 options for provisioning an VM for auto-sequencing:

• Using a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD)

  -OR-

• Updating an existing VM

Provision a new VM by using a VHD file

Provisioning your new VM includes creating a VHD file, setting up a user account, turning on remote PowerShell scripting, and installing the App-V Sequencer.

Create a VHD file

For this process to work, you must have a base operating system available as a VHD image file, we recommend using the Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 command-line tool.

To create a VHD file by using the Convert-WindowsImage command-line tool

1. Open PowerShell as an admin and run the Convert-WindowsImage tool, using the following commands:

   Convert-WindowsImage -SourcePath "<path_to_iso_image>" -VHDFormat "VHD" -VHDPartitionStyle "MBR"
   

   Where SourcePath is the full file path to your ISO image, VHDFormat is VHD, and VHDPartitionStyle is MBR.

   Important

   You must specify the VHDPartitionStyle as MBR. Using the default value, GPT, will cause a boot failure in your VHD image.

Provision your VM using your VHD file

After you have a VHD file, you must provision your VM for auto-sequencing.

To provision your VM using your VHD file

1. On the Host device, install Windows 10, version 1703 and the matching ADK version, making sure that you've selected to install the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer component.

   Note

   The App-V Sequencer is included with the Windows ADK. For more info on how to install the App-V Sequencer, see Install the App-V Sequencer.

2. Make sure that Hyper-V is turned on. For more info about turning on and using Hyper-V, see Hyper-V on Windows Server 2016.

3. Open PowerShell as an admin and run the New-AppVSequencerVM cmdlet, using the following parameters:

   New-AppVSequencerVM -VMName "<name_of_new_vm>" -ADKPath "<path_to_adk_install_folder>" -VHDPath "<path_to_vhd_file>" -VMMemory <vm_memory_size> -VMSwitch "<name_of_network_switch>"
   

   Where you create a unique name for your VM, ensure that the VHD file and matching ADK tools are located on the Host device and referenced in the ADKPath and the VHDPath parameters, determine the amount of memory to be allocated for use by your VM, and provide the name of your network switch.

A new Hyper-V VM file is created out of the provisioned VHD, creating a "clean" checkpoint, from where all of the sequencing and updating will start.

Provision an existing VM for auto-sequencing

If your apps require custom prerequesites, such as Microsoft SQL Server, we recommend that you preinstall the prerequisites on your VM and then use that VM for auto-sequencing. Using these steps will establish a connection to your existing VM, install the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer from the ADK tools, and provision your VM for auto-sequencing.

To connect to your existing VM

• Open PowerShell as an admin and run the following commands on your existing VM:

  • Set the network category of your connection profile on the VM to Private:

    Get-netconnectionprofile | set-netconnectionprofile -NetworkCategory Private
    

  • Set the Windows Firewall rules for the display groups, Remote Desktop and Windows Remote Management:

    Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup “Remote Desktop” 
    Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup “Windows Remote Management”
    

  • Set the VM to receive remote commands without a confirmation prompt:

    Enable-PSRemoting –Force
    

  These commands turn on PowerShell Remoting and turn on the necessary Windows Firewall rules so you can connect to your VM.

To provision an existing VM

1. On the Host device, install Windows 10, version 1703 and the matching ADK version, making sure that you've selected to install the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer component.

   Note

   The App-V Sequencer is included with the Windows ADK. For more info on how to install the App-V Sequencer, see Install the App-V Sequencer.

2. Open PowerShell as an admin and run the New-AppVSequencerVM cmdlet, using the following parameters:

   New-AppVSequencerVM -VMName "<name_of_vm>" -VMComputerName "<computer_name_for_vm>" -ADKPath "<path_to_adk_install_folder>"
   

   Where VMName is the name of the VM granted during its creation and shown in the Hyper-V Manager tool, and the VMComputerName is the name of the VM, assigned after its creation and shown on the Computer name field of the System Properties screen.

A new Hyper-V VM file is created from the existing VM, creating a "clean" checkpoint, from where all of the sequencing and updating will start.

Review the provisioning log files

The 2 types of provisioning log files, located at “%temp%\AutoSequencer\Logs”, are:

• New-AppVSequencerVM-<time_stamp>.txt: Includes info about the provisioning activities, such as "Waiting for VM session", "Copying installer for Sequencer", and so on.

• New-AppVSequencerVM-report-<time_stamp>.txt: Includes info about the connections made to the VM, showing whether there were any failures.

Related topics

• Download the Convert-WindowsImage tool

• Download the Windows ADK

• How to install the App-V Sequencer

• Learn about Hyper-V on Windows Server 2016

• Manually sequence a new app using the Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer)

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