Hello
I have a Horizon 7 installation using non-persistent desktops (refresh at logoff), VMware AppVolumes and UEM v9.x
I have installed UEM and have run Easy Start to add the Office 2013 application templates.
My users have a mandatory profile configured, so I am hoping to use UEM to import / export application settings.
When a user logs on for the first time, I can see the EUM profile get created. I change some settings in Windows Explorer (show hidden files etc), I change some Word 2013 settings (default font size)
Then I logoff. The profile archive is created and the settings for Windows Explorer and Office 2013 (including Winword) are exported into the archive. Looking at the Debug log, I can see that this all happens as expected and there are no errors logged.
When I log back on (to a different desktop in the pool), the settings for Windows Explorer are retained, but the Office 2013 settings I modified are lost.
To troubleshoot, I have created a standard Windows 7 VM and installed office 2013 locally. When I logon to this machine, the Office settings are being reatined (but this could be due to the profile being created on the C:\Users on the desktop and being available at next logon).
Everything else in UEM appears to work ok, but this is causing me a lot of headaches with users complaining their settings are not retained
Can anyone offer any advice please?
Regards,
Sean
It's a known issue that AppStacks might not be attached when UEM runs, so the UEM file/folder condition cannot be used in those cases.
You could change the condition to a AD Security Group for instance (you can use the same group as for the AppStack delivery).
Do not redirect AppData unless you really need to. It will have a (huge) negative impact on performance and kills the benefits of UEM.
Simply add the file path of the Normal.dot location to the UEM file location list to get UEM to manage it instead.
Where is Normal.dot located in your environment?
Just to add that I have tried removing the mandatory profile to see if this is causing the issue. Each time the user logs on they create a new profile, but the settings for Office are still not applied
Is your Office 2013 natively installed on your master image or is it a AppStack?
Can you give a little more details on your steps to troubleshooting?
Did you create a non-persistent pool with Office 2013 natively installed?
Are the two machines in a non-persistent pool?
If you could share a UEM logfile I could help you troubleshoot.
I have attached the debug log below. This is using a standard profile (not mandatory) which is created afresh at each logon to prove the mandatory profile is not affecting the process
In this example, I deleted the logfile
Logged on at a Horizon desktop, changed some Word 2013 settings and some Wordpad settings
Logged off
Logged on at a different Horizon desktop
Opened Word - The setting were not retained
Opened Wordpad - The settings were retained
Thanks
Sean
The pool is non-persistent Windows 7 32Bit. There are no apps installed on the desktop image, and Office, Chrome and Acrobat are delivered in an AppStack.
I have tested using a pool with Office installed locally with the same result to I don't believe AppVolumes is causing the issue
Regards,
Sean
You are probably testing with Word 2013 , right? What about the other Office applications like Excel and Outlook? Do they not work as well?
For Word I can see that DirectFlex is enabled, but I never see an import taking place. You probably have the wrong executable configured for Word 2013, that way it never manages the Word settings.
Best practice is not to use DirectFlex for Office, because it's sort of middleware with so many apps depending on it.
For now, please disable DirectFlex for Word 2013 and enable 'proces at logon and logoff' for Word 2013.
Let me know the results.
Hi Pim
I had enabled Direct Flex as it appears that when UEM executes, the AppStack containing Office2013 is not ready. I see the following in the debug log:
Conditions: Evaluating condition set 'Microsoft Office 2013.xml'
2016-11-04 12:19:10.098 [DEBUG] Conditions: Check for path 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15' = false
2016-11-04 12:19:10.098 [INFO ] Skipping ADMX-based settings due to conditions ('Pre-Prod Office 2013.xml')
2016-11-04 12:19:10.102 [INFO ] No ADMX-based settings applied
When I remove the Conditional Set for Office 2013 the settings are applied (Disable First Run etc) but the setting changed in the previous session are still not retained.
However, settings made in Abobe Acrobat, Windows Explorer and Wordpad have all been retained
Log File Attached
OK, So I am getting a bit further now.....
If I remove the Condition Set from Word 2013 and Excel 2013 the settings are retained following a logoff / logon/ This kind of proves that the slow attachment of the AppStack means that the Condition Set for Office 2013 which seraches for the Path %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office15" returns negative and the settingas are not loaded.
I can open a support ticket with VMware to troubleshoot / resolve this. In the meanwhile I will add Office 2013 to the base image to prove this catagorically.
As an aside, when I make changes that affect the Normal.dot, these changes are not retained either, even with the above fix in place. It seems that the default Office 2013 Templates do not 'manage' the Normal.dot location, so when I logoff the non-persistent desktop the Normal.Dot is deleted with it.
I have used a UEM Folder redirection policy to redirect 'Roaming AppData', which redirects the Normal.Dot to a Network share, which is then imported next logon and the settings are retained. Is this the best mwthod to do this? or can I add the file path of the Normal.dot location to the UEM file location list to get UEM to manage it instead?
Thanks in advance
Sean
It's a known issue that AppStacks might not be attached when UEM runs, so the UEM file/folder condition cannot be used in those cases.
You could change the condition to a AD Security Group for instance (you can use the same group as for the AppStack delivery).
Do not redirect AppData unless you really need to. It will have a (huge) negative impact on performance and kills the benefits of UEM.
Simply add the file path of the Normal.dot location to the UEM file location list to get UEM to manage it instead.
Where is Normal.dot located in your environment?
Hi Pim
I will look at changing to the AD Group that allocated the AppStack rather than the builtin Conditional Set - Thanks
Is is possible / OK to edit the Office Application Templates that are created during Easy Start? How do I view what settings are currently set as when you edit the ini file for say Word, its just a jumble of characters like its encrypted
Thanks
Sean
Hi Pim
I edited the Word 2013 Application template and added the filesystem path to the templates folder. I'm happy to say that all of the settings are now being retained at the next logon
Thanks for your assistance
Regards,
Sean
great, good to hear!
