Can Windows Search/Indexing (needed for Outlook) work with App Volumes?

[TTC-Seth]

I'm hoping there's a way to put the index on the writeable volume in the same fasion as we redirected the OST file.

My end users don't want to give up Outlook Search.

[maharajan_be]

I made it to work on our environment.

• Change the startup type for the service "Windows search" to "manual" on the Parent VM/Golden Image

• Add the script "allvolattached.bat"  & "allvolattached_shellstarted.bat"on app volume template (writable/app stack)

Note:- allvolattached_shellstarted.bat is needed only if you are using UEM

Script for allvolattached.bat

@echo off

if not exist "c:\snapvolumestemp\Services.txt" (

echo > "c:\snapvolumestemp\Services.txt"

  cd c:\windows\system32

NET stop WSearch

timeout 15

NET start WSearch

exit

)

Script for allvolattached_shellstarted.bat ( This script is needed only if you are using UEM in your environment)

@echo off

if not exist "c:\temp\uem_refresh.txt" (

  echo > "c:\temp\uem_refresh.txt"

    "C:\Program Files\Immidio\Flex Profiles\FlexEngine.exe" -UemRefreshshortcuts

)

[TTC-Seth]

What if I'm using Writeable Volumes alongside UEM?  Amd I shooting myself in the foot?

[TTC-Seth]

Thanks for your assistance, here.  I'm pretty new to appstacks & UEM.

Can you elaborate on the process for this?

[maharajan_be]

App Volumes has a feature to run scripts at various times during the mounting process of Appstacks:

• prestartup.bat : Runs as SYSTEM (if the volume is attached from boot, this will run when svservice starts)
• startup.bat : Runs as SYSTEM (if the volume is attached from boot, this will run when svservice starts)
• shellstart.bat: Runs as user (if the volume is attached before the user logs in, this is called just before the Windows shell launches)
• startup_postsvc.bat: Runs as SYSTEM (but only if there are services/drivers on the volume) logon_postsvc.bat: Runs as user (but only if there are services/drivers on the volume)
• allvolattached.bat: Runs as user (if multiple volumes are all attached at the same time such as during logon, this is called only once)

The best option to resolve the outlook issue is to create an allvolattached.bat & allvolattached_shellstarted.bat and put this in the AppStack that will be assigned to all users. You can also put it in all the Appstacks, this script will still only run once.

How to add the script to an Appstack?

• Mount the Appstack /Writable Volume to a VM that has no App Volumes agent installed.
• From the vSphere console or web client, edit settings on the VM, add existing disk, browse to the App Volumes datastore where the Appstack is located you want to edit. It is very important that the VM has no App Volumes agent installed!
• Log in to the VM, go to disk management and add a drive letter to the App Volumes disk.
• Assign a drive letter to the disk.
• 
• Open Windows Explorer and browse to the Appstack volume.
• Create the batch files (allvolattached.bat & allvolattached_shellstarted.bat) and place it in the volume

• Remove the drive-letter from the Appstack volume.
• 

Hope this helps you.

[TTC-Seth]

I appreciate the continued assistance.  What about the case where Office 365 is baked onto the Gold Master, not its own appstack?

Also, if I'm using non-persistent desktops (which I am) won't that create an issue where the index is constantly being deleted & recreated when the desktop is refreshed, creating undue I/O?

[maharajan_be]

In my environment it works fine with batch scripts on both scenarios

1. MS office baked on Parent VM + App Stack /Persistent Volume with batch scripts assigned to user
2. Parent VM + MS office App Stack with batch scripts

If you look at the batch script allvolattached.bat that stops Windows search service and starts after 15 secs that increases the login time. Other than that I am not seeing any issues

[TTC-Seth]

So, if I'm doing it 100% baked on, there wouldn't be an appstack, just the writeable volume.  Where/how should I run the allvolattached.at then?

[Erossman]

Hi,

we used writable volumes for the OST-file, too.

But don't want to save all the other files/folders/registry which normaly contains on the writable volume.

So we removed all the paths in the snapvol.cfg. Can you guys please provide the information which files and registry keys we will need to save the search index?

[balagbm2017]

Hello

Anywhere  Outlook search and indexing working with any other App volume version in combination with W10 supported platform...? tired of putting all the permutation and combination.. resulted the negative results..

[Erossman]

Hi balagbm2017,

I also tried a lot of to get it working for windows7. I think there is no clean way to do this with appvolumes/writable volumes.

Maybe you know this VMware Knowledge Base article?

But I don't want to recommend writable volumes

There is no solution to only save the relevant data for outlook index. It will ends with lot more files on the writable volume with can make trouble.

We solved the issue with a chaged third party product --> http://lookeen.com

[LarryBlanco2]

I've tried making Outlook with Search/indexing as an app stack and have failed.   I could only get it to work properly by baking in office into the OS image.  Only then did search and indexing work correctly using Instant clones and writable volumes.  I don't like the idea of putting it into the OS image because it really defeats the purpose.

So if this setup is desired then I feel i'm forced to look at a 3rd party solution for searching outlook.

LB