App Stacks and OS Version

[RanjnaAggarwal]

Are app stacks OS version Specific? Is it possible to create app stack on windows 8 and use it on windows 7 or another os version?

[techguy129]

They are not OS version specific. I create appstacks on windows 10 and use them on server 2012 and server 2016 with no issues. Be sure to test that the application in the appstack do actually work against the different OS's.

When creating an appstack, it will be only available for that version. You have to edit the appstack in the web manager after you provision it to specify which OS's the appstack is allowed to mount too.

[RanjnaAggarwal]

Thanks.....Is it true for writable volumes too?

[techguy129]

No, writable volumes on multiple OS doesn't work well. I would avoid it.

[Lakshman]

I would create separate AppStacks based on the OS type (one for 32 bit OS and other for 64 bit OS). Also, note that the native application must support the deployment OS.

[Ray_handels]

You could also create multiple writable volumes but not specific for any operating system.

What we do is create pools with different prefixes in the machine and then create writables that are only attached to that specific prefix. This way you can create multiple writable volumes per user.

In our testing enviornment we went up to 5 writables per person and it still works.

Don't mix and mingle the writable between W7 and W10 though, profile management in Windows seems to gradually "evolve" into more crappiness . They don't really cooperate .

[RanjnaAggarwal]

But when i tried this, it doesn't work. I mapped these to the user account. One more question, how app isolation can be achieved in app volumes?

[Lakshman]

App Volumes does not provide application isolation. VMware ThinApp provides isolation and the good part is it can be delivered via AppStack.

VMware App Volumes and VMware ThinApp Combined: The Perfect Mix - VMware End-User Computing Blog

[Ray_handels]

This is just regarding the writables.

If you click on create writable and search the user you want to create the writable for you need to select the Limit the attachment of user writables to specific computers and then a new blank line pops up. There you need to add the prefix of the machine you want to attach this writable volume to for example VDI-WIN10. Then make sure that all machines that you want this writable to be attached to start with that prefix.