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title, description, author, ms.pagetype, ms.mktglfcycl, ms.sitesec, ms.prod, ms.date, ms.reviewer, manager, ms.author, ms.topic
| title | description | author | ms.pagetype | ms.mktglfcycl | ms.sitesec | ms.prod | ms.date | ms.reviewer | manager | ms.author | ms.topic |
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| Automatically provision your sequencing environment using Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer) (Windows 10) | How to automatically provision your sequencing environment using Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer) PowerShell cmdlet or the user interface. | dansimp | mdop, appcompat, virtualization | deploy | library | w10 | 04/18/2018 | dansimp | dansimp | article |
Automatically provision your sequencing environment using 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 create your sequencing environment. Windows 10, version 1703 introduces two new PowerShell cmdlets, New-AppVSequencerVM and Connect-AppvSequencerVM, which automatically create your sequencing environment for you, including provisioning your virtual machine.
Automatic VM provisioning of the sequencing environment
You have two options for provisioning an VM for auto-sequencing:
- Using a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD)
- Updating an existing VM
You can only choose one option.
Note
We have reduced the number of environmental checks performed by the App-V Sequencer, narrowing down the list of apps that need to be disabled or turned off for a clean sequencing experience. We've also suppressed antivirus and other similar app warnings.
Provision a new VM with 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.
Create a VHD file with the Convert-WindowsImage command-line tool
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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
<path_to_iso_image>is the full path to your ISO image.
Important
You must specify the VHDPartitionStyle as MBR. If you use the default value, GPT, will cause a boot failure in your VHD image.
Provision your VM with your VHD file
After you have a VHD file, you must provision your VM for auto-sequencing.
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On the Host device, install Windows 10, version 1703 and the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer component from the matching version of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). For more info on how to install the App-V Sequencer, see Install the App-V Sequencer.
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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.
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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>"This command creates a new Hyper-V VM file using the provided VHD file and also creates a "clean" checkpoint, from where all sequencing and updating will start.
Provision an existing VM for auto-sequencing
If your apps require custom prerequisites, 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.
Connect to your existing VM
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Open PowerShell as an admin and run the following commands on your existing VM:
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Set the network category of your connection profile on the VM to Private:
Get-netconnectionprofile | set-netconnectionprofile -NetworkCategory Private -
Enable firewall rules for 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
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Provision an existing VM
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On the Host device, install Windows 10, version 1703 and the Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) Auto Sequencer component from the matching version of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). For more info on how to install the App-V Sequencer, see Install the App-V Sequencer.
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Open PowerShell as an admin and run the Connect-AppvSequencerVM cmdlet, using the following parameters:
Connect-AppvSequencerVM -VMName "<name_of_vm>"Where
<name_of_vm>is the name of the VM as shown in the Hyper-V Manager tool.
This command connects to an existing Hyper-V VM using the provided VM name for auto-sequencing.
Review the provisioning log files
The two 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.
- Connect-AppvSequencerVM-report-<time_stamp>.txt. Includes info about the connections made to the VM, showing whether there were any failures.
Next steps
After provisioning your sequencing environment, you must sequence your apps, either as a group or individually. For more info about sequencing your apps, see the following articles
- Manually sequence a single new app using Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer)
- Automatically sequence multiple apps at the same time using Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer)
- Automatically update multiple apps at the same time using Microsoft Application Virtualization Sequencer (App-V Sequencer)
After you sequence your packages, you can automatically clean up any unpublished packages on the App-V client. To learn more, see Automatically clean up unpublished packages on the App-V client.