Capture an App Volumes Application Package Using Horizon Cloud

Each App Volumes package stores one or more programs required for the application to run. A single package can be delivered to multiple users and user groups. To capture an application package, use the following workflow.

The first time you initiate the capture process, the system takes up to 10 minutes before the capture desktop VM is ready to use for capturing an application. During these 20 minutes, the system is creating a capture-process VDI desktop system pool and two desktop VMs to be used for the capture desktop VMs. It can take the system up to 20 minutes to create that underlying system pool and VMs.

• The system creates one pool per user per image per Horizon Edge. For this reason, it might create one pool or multiple pools.

• There are two desktops in each system pool so that you can start a second capture quickly after the first has finished.

• These pools are named according to the pattern appcaptureXXX, where XXX is a randomly generated number.

• If you want to update the image that is used for the packaging process, you must delete these pools before doing so.

  The image used on the capture desktop VM is present on the Image page. To easily identify the image used by the capture desktop VM for a particular package, navigate to the list of packages (View Packages) page. Click Manage Columns button and select Pool. In the Pool column, for the desired package, click the pool name. The corresponding image page is displayed. This page indicates the image used on the capture desktop VM for that package and the pool information is present in the System Pools section on the image page. Examples are shown below.

• In the System Pools grid, Proxy host and Proxy port columns display values when outbound proxy option is chosen and configured when adding an App Volumes application or adding an App Volumes package.

  For information about the Use outbound proxy toggle, see Add an App Volumes Application Using Horizon Cloud or Add a New App Package to an Existing App Volumes Application Using Horizon Cloud.

• If you are not planning to perform additional capture in the near future, you can delete the system pools so they are not in your environment for no reason. If you delete them, however, the next time you perform a capture the system will take up to 20 minutes to create new ones.

  Using the navigational information for the image page described earlier, navigate to the image for the desired package. Go to the System Pools section and delete the desired pool.

• If a capture fails, you can navigate to Monitor > Activity Logs to view any system activity events.

• There is now an entry for the application package in the list on the Applications page. If you point to Status for this list entry, it indicates the status of the capture VM. When the status is Desktop ready for application capture, you can proceed with the steps to log into the capture desktop VM and start installing an application for your app package.

• If you do not start the capture within an hour, then the capture desktop VM is automatically powered off by the App Volumes service. This power off ensures cost savings in power management for your organization. However, there is no change in user experience for the administrator. When ready for capture, you can continue using the capture desktop VM and proceed with the next steps.

• Windows core features such as WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) cannot be captured as an App Volumes package.

• If you want to capture an application package more than 20 GB in size, then you must create a larger capture template disk than the default which is of size 20 GB.
  For information about how to create a capture template disk more than 20 GB, see Create a Capture Template Disk for App Volumes Application more than 20 GB.

Prerequisites

• Ensure that the status of the package you want to capture is in Ready for capture.

• Ensure that the virtual networks associated with the Provider (in which the App Volumes packaging VM is created) are peered with the management network of the Horizon Edge.

  This peering is required so that the capture desktop VM can mount the application packages from the Azure file share. These file shares can be accessed by using an Azure Private Endpoint. If the custom subnet is selected when configuring the Azure private endpoint, then the virtual networks associated with the Provider must also be peered with the custom virtual network configured for the Azure private endpoint. For information about how to use the Azure Private Endpoint solution for App Volumes, see Azure Private Endpoint for an App Volumes Application Storage Account. For information about how to configure an Azure Private Endpoint for App Volumes application storage section, see Add and Deploy a Microsoft Azure Edge.

Procedure

1. In the Horizon Universal Console, navigate to App Volumes > Packages.

2. Identify and select the package you intend to capture.

3. Click CAPTURE.

4. To connect to the packaging VM, select either the Horizon Client or the browser.

5. Follow the prompts until you launch the packager VM.

   The packager VM opens and the App Volumes Packaging in Progress information is displayed.

   In the Horizon Universal Console, the status of the package is Capture in progress.

6. In the packager VM, download and install the application.

7. After installing the application, in the App Volumes Packaging in Progress dialog box, click ok.

8. In the Installation Complete confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

9. (Optional) In the App Volumes - Finalize Package window, add packager notes.

10. Click Finalize.

11. In the Restart required dialog box, click OK.

    The packaging VM restarts.

12. Log in again with the packager credentials used earlier.

13. In the Packaging is successful dialog box, click Ok.

Results

After the capture is complete, the following occurs:

• Packaging VM is unassigned from the packager and the VM is deleted. The pool template size is 1.

• The status of the package is now Ready. The lifecycle stage of the package is New.

• After successful packaging, App Volumes generates URI, launch path, and other related information for this package which is displayed in the App Links tab. End users can use the generated URI and launch the application associated with this package. For more information about URI launch, see Use an App Link to Launch an App Volumes Application.

• App Links can be selectively marked active or inactive so that only the required App Links are used by third-party systems to publish App Volumes applications when integrated with App Volumes. Additionally, each App Link is associated with a package shortcut. Such an association helps in managing package shortcuts effectively. For more information about marking App Links as active or inactive, see Selectively Activate App Links for an App Volumes Application.

What to do next

You can perform package management operations such as change the life cycle of a package, set the Current marker on the package, or create entitlements for the package.

For more information about any of these package management operation, see Managing App Packages in an App Volumes Application Using Horizon Cloud.