Applications Anywhere User s Guide

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1 23/05/2016 Version 1.4 A: Ugli Campus, 56 Wood Lane, T: +44 (0) Cloudhouse Technologies Ltd London, W12 7SB E: Registered in England. VAT Number GB Reg. Number

2 Version History Version Date Description Author /02/2015 Initial draft Chris Brandon /02/2015 Updates from Mat Clothier Chris Brandon /04/2015 Updated screenshots and descriptions Steven Gallard /09/2015 Corporate screenshots and updated content Alexander Box /01/2016 Updating password credentials Alexander Box /04/2016 Related documents & Troubleshooting updated Alexander Box /05/2016 Feedback section added Alexander Box Version of 17

3 Table of Contents 1 Preface Purpose Audience Related Document About Cloudhouse Support Applications Anywhere Overview Prerequisites Users with Proxy Server Connectivity to the Internet Issues Connecting to the Cloudhouse Portal Username and Password Forgotten Password Applications Anywhere Portal Logging in to the Portal Downloading and Installing a Virtualised Application Running a Virtualized App Online Mode Offline Mode Update the Application Manually Updating the Application Automatically Updating the Application Uninstalling a Virtualised App Troubleshooting Problems Client Side Issues Portal Side Issues Providing Cloudhouse with Feedback Glossary Preface 1.1 Purpose This document is designed to provide a step by step guide for users to use the Applications Anywhere portal, login, download an application, run the app locally on their PC, and remove the application if no longer required. Version of 17

4 1.2 Audience This document is targeted towards any desktop users who want to install and run virtualized applications using Cloudhouse Applications Anywhere. The prerequisite is that the user is familiar with a Windows PC, Web browser, Windows Explorer and downloading, removing applications. 1.3 Related Document The following are other Cloudhouse Document which may be relevant, and are available from Applications Anywhere Administrator s Guide Applications Anywhere Packaging Guide Applications Anywhere FAQ 1.4 About Cloudhouse Cloudhouse is an infrastructure software vendor that liberates existing client/server applications to run on modern operating systems and remote deployment environments such as cloud. Our patented technology is packaged into two products, designed to work separately or in concert. Applications Anywhere virtualizes Windows client applications to remove platform dependencies and to facilitate centralized application management and deployment. Data Anywhere enables the mobility of, and remote access to, databases without impacting the user experience. In fact, Cloudhouse is working with over 700 corporate IT, managed service providers and package software vendors such as Vinci and Glass s to centrally manage and deploy client/server applications. Cloudhouse customers have dramatically reduced the cost and complexity of running their applications whilst providing the freedom to exploit modern 64-bit operating systems and platforms, such as cloud, without compromising user experience or requiring expensive application re-writes. Find out more, visit Support If you need help at any time, just go to and raise a support ticket.. When you raise a case, we will respond immediately with an containing the ticket number and a link to monitor the status. We will respond to the ticket within based on the response SLA posted on the support website. 2 Applications Anywhere Overview Applications Anywhere is a 2 nd generation application virtualization product that, with minimal time and effort, automatically packages any Windows application to remove platform dependencies. Once packaged, Applications Anywhere enables centralized software distribution, configuration management, access and entitlement, thus reducing on-going management costs. Application virtualization decouples applications from underlying infrastructure by creating a virtual file system and virtual registry to provide the file and registry resources to the application at runtime. The 1 st generation approach was to create a virtual full replica of the Windows file system and registry and all the APIs that applications use to interface with them. However, this caused two major issues. Firstly, local applications had no way to access the Version of 17

5 virtual file system and registry so many application integrations are unable to work. Secondly, it meant that all of the APIs that applications use to communicate with the file system and registry had to be re-implemented in the Application Virtualization technology. This means that many applications are unable to be virtualized as it is impossible to correctly re-implement the more than 14,500 APIs, many of which are undocumented. By comparison, Applications Anywhere takes a completely new approach which we term Lightweight Application Virtualization. It works by automatically deploying application binaries and registry to locations controlled by Applications Anywhere on the local system. This means that instead of fully re-implementing the file system and registry in a virtual layer, only the initial API calls need redirection into the Applications Anywhere locations. Thereafter, any remaining API calls are carried out natively using local file system and registry resources from the Applications Anywhere locations. This occurs in a completely transparent manner to the application and means that all applications may now be virtualized no matter what complex APIs it uses, and integrations just work automatically. In order to virtualize existing Windows applications, Applications Anywhere provides an Auto Packager that automates the entire process. Applications Anywhere adds additional management capabilities to enable centralized software distribution, configuration management, access and entitlement, thus reducing on-going application management costs. It includes an advanced deployment engine to deploy, configure and centrally manage the application from any remote server or Cloud location. Licenses can be controlled by user, machine or by concurrent licensing allocated to users or groups within a company. Also offline usage is supported for applications that are stand-alone or can work offline, with a defined offline grace period to limit how long users can go offline without communicating with the management server. Applications Anywhere also manages application configuration to tailor application behaviour for any given set of end users. Packaging decisions can be made dynamically based on environmental information, like deploying 64 bit files to a 64 bit OS and 32 bit files to a 32 bit OS, or the DLLs in the correct language for the end user. Custom fields in the management portal to allow any configuration values to be passed to the application. These values can then be used to change the contents of files, like.ini or.xml configuration files, or change the registry values. Finally, if required, Applications Anywhere can optionally deliver a self-service catalogue capability for end-users to see which applications they are licensed to run and to self-deliver those applications with Cloudhouse s unique "Click & Run" technology. 3 Prerequisites Applications Anywhere has been designed to allow applications to run on any in-support Windows version on any PC on the WHQL for that OS. The user s PC must also have enough resources and the correct hardware to run the application that is packaged. Consult the application vendor s documentation for these system requirements. The following are the prerequisites to run an Applications Anywhere virtualised application: Applications Anywhere use standard HTTPS TCP port: 443. Supported OS: Windows XP SP3 (32 and 64 bit), Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit), Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit), Windows 8 (32 and 64 bit) & Windows 10 (64 bit) Memory: as per the packaged apps requirements Processor: as per the packaged apps requirements Disk Space: approximately double the packaged apps requirements Supported Browsers: IE 8, 9, 10 11; Google Chrome, Firefox Version of 17

4 Users with Proxy Server Connectivity to the Internet Applications Anywhere supports the use of many connectivity to the internet via a Proxy Server or Bastion host.

6 4 Users with Proxy Server Connectivity to the Internet Applications Anywhere supports the use of many connectivity to the internet via a Proxy Server or Bastion host. In some cases, this connection requires a user to login via a webpage to connect to the internet. We recommend that before installing or running an application delivered by Applications Anywhere open a web browser and log in to the Proxy Server first. 4.1 Issues Connecting to the Cloudhouse Portal If users experience issues connecting to the Cloudhouse Portal or receive an error about network or proxy connectivity, contact the network support team to make sure user(s) have access to the internet or add a proxy exception the Cloudhouse provided URL. 5 Username and Password Once access is granted to the Cloudhouse Applications Anywhere Portal, users will receive an with their Username (normally user s address) and an automatically generated Password. The first time a user logs in to the Applications Anywhere portal, they will be prompted to change their password. This password must be at least 8 characters long, contain one upper-case, one lower-case, one number, and one symbol (! $%^&*-? #). 5.1 Forgotten Password If a user forgets their password, click on the Forgot Password? link and the user will be prompted for their address or user name. A new password will be ed. The user will be prompted to change their password when they log in again. 6 Applications Anywhere Portal The following section will walk the target audience through the process of logging into the Portal, downloading and uninstalling Applications along with completing basic troubleshooting. 6.1 Logging in to the Portal 1. To run an application delivered by Applications Anywhere, open a browser and enter to the provided portal URL: 2. You will see the following Login Screen: Version of 17

7 3. Enter your username and password NOTE: Password complexity requires user to enter a minimum of 8 characters, of these there must be 1 special character, 1 letter and 1 number present 4. Click Login. NOTE: You can click the Keep me logged in box, and they will store you username and password as a cookie and will take you straight to the Available Apps page next time you go to the portal. 5. Once you successfully log in, you will be presented with the Available Apps page: Version of 17

6.2 Downloading and Installing a Virtualised Application Once presented with the Available Apps for user screen (as per above), follow the below steps to download and

The Application will start to download and appear in the downloads bar at the bottom of the screen, once complete, click on the downloaded Application The screen will

8 6.2 Downloading and Installing a Virtualised Application Once presented with the Available Apps for user screen (as per above), follow the below steps to download and install the desired application. 1. Click the button next to the desired Application. 2. The Application will start to download and appear in the downloads bar at the bottom of the screen, once complete, click on the downloaded Application The screen will change to indicate that the Application launch is in progress The screen will then update to display the Launching Application screen, display the progress of the process Once the process has completed the application will automatically load Version of 17

9 3. Click on the Start Menu, users will notice the Remove application has been loaded to the Recently Added list Version of 17

10 4. Click All Apps, and users will be presented with a list of alphabetical applications, including the Application recently installed 6.3 Running a Virtualized App Online Mode This is the normal mode of Applications Anywhere. The following is designed to walk users through the processes involved when reloading an application after it has been downloaded. 1. Click on the application from the Start menu. 2. Applications Anywhere will communicate with the portal, checking to make sure (a) the user(s) still has a valid license (b) and check to see if there is a newer version of the application (Refer to 6.4 Update The Application for further details on this process). If the user has a valid license the application will run normally. 3. Once the application has been downloaded, users do not need to keep accessing the Portal in order to run the application, they simply run the application as it would normally be run, using either a shortcut on their desktop, or via the Start Menu. NOTE: Applications anywhere monitors usage of each app and records start and finish times for software license audit purposed. This information is uploaded to the Applications Anywhere portal and is available for administrators to see Offline Mode If the applications administrator allows it, Applications Anywhere supports running an already downloaded app from a PC that is not connected to the network or cannot connect to the Applications Anywhere Portal. The administrator can restrict how long it can run in offline mode for, and if it exceeds the offline mode restrictions, users will be prompted with a warning and the application will not be able to start until the pc is online again. 6.4 Update the Application If Applications Anywhere finds there is an update for the Application, there are two methods by which the application can be updated: Manually Updating the Application The user will receive a prompt to indicate that they will need to download the latest version: Version of 17

1. Click Yes, and the application will commence updating, no further user interaction is required. 6.4.

take place in the background whilst the application is loaded and the user will receive no prompt or notification to indicate there is any activity taking place 6.

11 1. Click Yes, and the application will commence updating, no further user interaction is required Automatically Updating the Application Alternatively the administrator may decide that they do not wish to have users interact with the update process for an application, in which case this will take place in the background whilst the application is loaded and the user will receive no prompt or notification to indicate there is any activity taking place 6.5 Uninstalling a Virtualised App Follow the procedures below to remove the application and the Applications Anywhere package from a user s PC: 1. Click the start menu 2. Click the application folder 3. Click the Remove Application entry from the program folder. This will delete the application, registry keys, and package from your hard disk. 4. You will be prompted to verify you want to remove the applications. Click Yes. Version of 17

6.6 Troubleshooting Problems Applications Anywhere is designed to contain all the system software that the downloaded application requires to run, and it runs this software in an open container that

12 6.6 Troubleshooting Problems Applications Anywhere is designed to contain all the system software that the downloaded application requires to run, and it runs this software in an open container that segregates the applications form DLL conflicts and configuration issues. The following section provides steps to follow in order to perform basic troubleshooting and fault finding analysis: Client Side Issues Reinstalling Package The first step in trying to diagnose or resolve a fault with an application is to reinstall it by running the uninstaller and re-download it from the portal (please refer to 6.5 Uninstalling a Virtualised Application) Applications won t start Below are steps to follow should an application fail to start: Checking the Event Viewer The first place to check is Windows Event Viewer to see if there is an error reported regarding the application or Applications Anywhere Check Antivirus settings Antivirus incorrectly blocking Applications Anywhere as a Virus or Malware. To resolve this: 1. Add the c:\programdata\cloudhouse as a trusted/safe location. Or; 2. If this functionality is not supported add an exclusion to the following.exe files: appaccelerator.exe, appacceleratorv.exe, appacceleratorm.exe Log files There are three log files that can be used to diagnose issues with the applications, to have the application produce these files, follow the below steps. A Debug log can be generated by Applications Anywhere by editing the shortcut to include /defaultlog at the end of it: 1. Click the Start Menu. 2. Click All Apps Version of 17

This will open the File Location, from here right click against the Application 7.

13 3. Scroll down to the application 4. Right Click against the application 5. Click Open File Location 6. This will open the File Location, from here right click against the Application 7. From the dropdown menu select Properties 8. This will open up the properties of the application, click on the Properties tab 9. At the end of the target address add /defaultlog Version of 17

6.2.1 Can t connect to the portal If a user is

14 10. Click Ok 11. Open the Application, this will now generate the log files to the location below Below is an example of the logfile created Portal Side Issues Can t connect to the portal If a user is unable to connect to the portal 1. Check the user s internet connectivity. Version of 17

2. If the user has internet connectivity and still experiences the problem, access the Internet Options/ Restricted Sites make sure https://prod.cloudhouse.com is not in the restricted sites list 3.

15 2. If the user has internet connectivity and still experiences the problem, access the Internet Options/ Restricted Sites make sure is not in the restricted sites list 3. Add this to trusted sites Can t see application to download If a user is unable to see the expected applications confirm the following Users only have visibility to apps which are available at that customer level: 1. Make sure the user is in the right container in the administrator portal 2. Refresh the website to confirm it is not running from a local cached copy 3. Make sure the portal site is not being blocked by Antivirus or Antimalware software. 7 Providing Cloudhouse with Feedback At Cloudhouse we are continually looking for ways and means to improve our user experience. If you wish to provide us with your feedback, please click the link indicated (see below). Users will be directed to a new page to provide any comments (see below) Version of 17

8 Glossary Application Container Cloudhouse Application virtualisation system creates a container stored in a folder on the file system and key in the registry that contains all the resources and

16 8 Glossary Application Container Cloudhouse Application virtualisation system creates a container stored in a folder on the file system and key in the registry that contains all the resources and configuration required to run an application. DLL: Dynamic Link Library Microsoft implementation of shared software libraries. These are files in the c:\windows that are used by many different programs. Different programs often require different versions of the same DLL, and this can cause conflicts. Applications Anywhere resolves these conflicts by virtualizing the DLL s for each app in an open container. INI configuration file for a windows application. Applications anywhere can dynamically set.ini values to allow applications to connect to the right servers based on user login information. Package A file that contains a compressed version of an applications, its files, registry setting, executables, and configuration settings. Portal The website that you log into for launching an Applications Anywhere delivered app. Version of 17

17 Registry The Microsoft Windows database that contains the configuration settings of the hardware and software components WHQL: Windows Hardware Qualification List Certification matrix published by Microsoft that show what hardware is supported and required for what version of Windows (see: Version of 17

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