New Technote: Secrets of PWRGATE.EXE

A new article has been posted in the Technote Library.  The subject is an obscure little executable, called PWRGATE.EXE, which is part of PowerFuse. In the 2010 release, you are able to do many interesting things with this program, such as launching many of the PowerFuse components directly. You are now also able to lauch the User Installed Applications (formerly known as Partially Managed Workstations) wizard directly, so users don’t have to go through the old PowerPanel. Of course they are still able to do that if enabled, that is. As a part of this article, I have created buildingblocks which you can import into your own environment to get access to these apps.

Click here to view the article.

RES Wisdom Visio Shapes

From the creative dept. One of our esteemed RES usergroup comunity members, pkaak has taken the time to create a set of Microsoft Visio shapes for RES Wisdom. Good man! This is the first go, which includes just the basic stuf like Datastore, Disapatchers and agents. Nevertheless it’s a great start and I would urge you all to try them out and give Pkaak feedback in the forum.

The thread can be found here and here’s a direct link for downloading the Visio shapes.

Manage multiple config sets for 1 app!

Another technote has been published in the Technote Library. This one will teach you how to configure PowerFuse to prompt users for settings when they launch an application. This is extremely usefull for prod/test/dev scenarios, where you would like to avoid having multiple definitions of the  same application to maintain. The whole thing revolves about the usage of workspace containers, so if you’ve been dodging learing what workspace containers are about, with the release of PowerFuse 2010 it ’s a good time to grab the bull by it’s horns. If you still feel a bit in the dark about what Workspace containers are and what they can be used for, have a look at this other article, which is a work in progress as we’re constantly adding new uses for these objects.

The new article, called RG023 Managing multiple config sets for  one app, also describes how to use the new Registry Tracer feature in PowerFuse 2010.

Click here to read the full article

PRINTERS.LST – The forgotten feature

From the Technotes-R-Us Dept. A new technote RG022 has been submitted to the library. This time the topic is a special file, which actually has been with us for several years, the PRINTER.LST file. What it does is allow you to completely independently of existing printerserver naming conventions, to build a tree of well known geographical or physical locations to which the users actually can relate, when selecting a printer with Printing Preferences (formerly known as PowerPrint). The end result can look like this example, I’ve created here on the right.

Go read the full article here.

New videos – Updated article

A set of new videoclips related to PowerFuse 2010 has been released. These explain what workspace management is all about. There is also a nice video which highlights the new stuff in 2010, mainly focussing on the desktop transformation bits. Anyway, I’ve updated the old RG01D article which refers to all the videos which are currently out there.

Go have a look at the updated article

PowerFuse 2010 – It’s ALIVE!

From the Hot-off-the-press dept. Finally Febuary 16th has arrived and it’s ReleaseDay! PowerFuse 2010 RC2 is now available on the portal for download for existing customers. There are tonnes of new improvements which you can read all about in the releasenotes. While you are at it, go check out the updated Glossary which now contains definitions of all the new technology.

Initially, may I direct your attention to the Corp. Website where you can download alot of PowerFuse 2010 info already. Scroll down to the end of this page and you will find them.

For those already working the RC1, the major deltas are that the [+] PlusMenu now is implemented for the Workspace Model node and Active Directory Sites are now supported as a new PowerZ… erm Location Rule. The new rule looks like shown here on the right.

Over the next couple of months, expect to see many more feature related articles describing how you can put the new features of RES PowerFuse to work for YOU!

Oh, and feel free to download the ReleaseNotes here :

Bye-Bye SetShell!

From the thank-god-for-small-favors dept. One of the really cool things that RES Software has put into PowerFuse 2010, is the ability to centrally toggle PowerFuse on/off, on the target machines. This is a huge advantage from using the old Setshell stand-alone utility, as you can do it on more than one computer at a time. The only other way to do this currently is utilizing the Set Shell task of RES Wisdom.

This new feature of PowerFuse 2010 is evident when you it on a target computer for the first time. Here you will get a (somewhat) interesting question, wheather you want to launch the Workspace Composer automatically or manually. What the installer is asking you (in the oldschool terminology) is “Do you want to set PowerFuse as the Shell now?”.  The dialog box looks like this:

So what’s this deal with a Workspace Composer, you may ask? Well, it’s new branding for the Workspace Manager (pfwsmgr.exe) I don’t believe the process name itself has changed though. So just to make sure we are all on the same page, let’s get the terminology straight:

Automatic = Set the value of HKLM\…\Winlogon\Shell to pwrstart.exe, i.e. start a Powerfuse session at logon.

Manual = Set the value of HKLM\…\Winlogon\Shell to explorer.exe, i.e. don’t start PowerFuse

Out of the  box, the value for the installer is manual. The overall idea is for you to be able to dunk PowerFuse into an existing environment, and then centrally switch PowerFuse on across the estate in the tempo you’re comfortable with. Note: When installing RES PowerFuse unattended using a command line, it is now possible to apply the public property AUTORUNCOMPOSER. I presume you set it = YES, but I will have to check.

So great, we can set the shell uppon install, but what about later in the console? That’s also possible. In order to use this, do the following.

1. Start the PowerFuse console and navigate to Setup|Agents
2. Select one or more agents and rightclick on them
3. In the context menu, go to Run Workspace Composer and select Automatic or Manual.

Let’s say you’ve changed an agent to Manual, thereby disabeling PowerFuse. When you’ve changed the setting, the status in the Run Workspace Composer column for the agent, will change to Manual (pending). This means that the agent has not yet picked up the configuration change. The agent will check for the status of the shell in the database and then in turn write the new shell value to the registry locally. This should however happen as quickly as any normal configuration change. You can hit F5 in the agent view at any time to update the status.

New technote: PowerFuse in the Cloud!

From the Technotes-R-Us dept. With the imminent release of PowerFuse 2010, here is an interesting tidbit for you. PowerFuse 2010 supports Microsoft SQL Azure cloud databases! You would be well in your right to have a few questions you would want answered, such as:

• What the heck is Azure?
• Why would I want to consider that?
• What does it do for PowerFuse?
• What would all this cost me then? Are there any savings?
• Right, so how do I setup the darn thing then?

All these questions and more, are adressed in a brand-spankin’ new Technote RG021, which is available for your reading enjoyment in the library.

Click here to read the full article

Which feature is in what product?

One of the most often asked questions we still get asked in the field after 1½ years of PowerFuse 2008 is this one: “So is feature X in product Y?” Nothing wrong with that. RES decided for the 2008 series to break up the PowerFuse product in different flavors, where the main differentiators are: max. number of supported concurrent users, featureset and of course the cost. Since we’re mostly into the technical stuff here on the ‘Guru, let’s stick to the features, shall we? :-) PowerFuse 2008 comes in 4 flavors at the moment. There is currently no indication that this mix will change for 2010, although it’s not known yet how the new features in 2010 will be divided among the variants.

• PowerFuse Express. This is a free version of the software, limited at 100 CCU’s and about 20% of the featureset (hey, you get what you pay for :-) This version will essentially help you get started with getting rid of your existing login scripts.
• PowerFuse MyWorkSpace edition. MWS was developed to address certain needs in overseas markets. MWS edition does not have the Security (appguard etc), Reliability (cpushield and so on), Integration (Citrix, Wisdom, etc) subsystems available, but the pricing is very affordable.
• PowerFuse Standard edition. Standard is very similar to MWS, except that we throw in a few more features. AppGuard and Removable Disk security within the security subsystem. Second it contains CPUshield and Instant Logoff in reliability. Filters and instant reports are also enabled. Finally it includes all integration options except Citrix integration.
• PowerFuse Enterprise edition. This is the Grand Enchilada with everything including the kitchensink, blender and matching steak knives :) Enterprise gives you the full range of User Workspace Management power at your fingertips in one easy to manage console.
• Platinum Edition. Yeah, so Citrix invented the idea of lobbing everything into one license and we are graciously following suit :) Platinum is not really a product, but it’s a bundeling offer which is currently includes both PowerFuse Enterprise edition and RES Wisdom. For more information about this and pricing informatiom, contact your local RES folks.

In order to help you get a better overview of what feature is in which PowerFuse edition, I’ve dug out a comparison chart out of the corp website. It shows a breakdown of what features are in there, what the benefits are and a checbox field for all 4 editions:

Click here to download the chart:

If you are new to the RES multiverse, perhaps comming from the SCCM side of things, it can sometimes be a bit confusing to figure out if a certain desired functionality is to be found in Wisdom or in PowerFuse. To help you find your way quicker, here’s a set of rule-of-thumbs for you:

• If the functionality you want has to do with the computer itself, it’s Wisdom you want.  Examples of this is rebooting, installing software, printerdrivers, modifying the contens of the system drives, setting HKLM registry settings
• If it has to do with anything within the users session, such as exposing shortcuts to installed software, mapping to printerqueues, modifying the contens of the profile or homedirectory, or setting HKCU registrysettings – then it’s PowerFuse you want to be looking at.

Where things may become a bit iffy for some, is when they discover Wisdom’s ability to provision users, and most go; “Hey, but that’s something to do with the user, why is it in Wisdom then? There is actually a perfectly good explanation for this. Creating a user is something which needs to be done on a Domain Controller, i.e. it’s not something happening within the user’s session. Basically adding a user to AD is essentially just adding a record to some database, a task which RES Wisdom is also perfectly capable of.

Second, PowerFuse has the capability to fire off a Wisdom job, based on user actions or simply event driven (logon, application launch, etc). This is actually an extremely cool feature which enables you to realize install-on-demand scenarios, as the logged in user does not have to be a local admin! Bear in mind however, that PowerFuse is not about application virtualization like App-V. The concept of PowerFuse+Wisdom integration may seem to somewhat blur the line in terms of which RES product does what. It is however quite simple when you look at it top-down: PowerFuse sits with the user in the session “layer”. PowerFuse knows how to talk to Wisdom below, which on-demand then executes machine tasks on behalf of the user in the “os” layer beneath.

To sum things up, the key difference is that Wisdom doesn’t care if the user is logged on or not, even if the target computer is turned on – as we support WOL. PowerFuse on the other hand, springs to life the moment the user initiates a session and stays with him and manages the environment until session end.

Cache This! (Technote)

Here’s a solution to an annoying little problem which has been bugging more  than a few people out there recently. This was originally posted in the Guru’s Forum but it seemed to make sense to make an article out of it. Here’s the skinny: You’ve just installed PowerFuse 2008 for the first time and everything seems hunky-dory in the console. Then you try to log into a session as a user and get this little number (click it to enlarge):

Click here to read the full article.