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.

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.

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.

SR5 PowerFuse update

This friday, April 24th, RES Software released Service Release 5 for PowerFuse 2008. This is a major overhaul which includes many new enhancements, and fixes alot of issues.

The update can be downloaded from the RES portal. As usual there 4 different downloads to consider: Either the full installer for new installations, or the PowerPacks, either the unattended or the manual version. Besides that, there is also the stand-alone Console installer, if you need it. Remember to have your credentials for the portal handy when you use these links.

The releasenotes for SR5 are available to review here:  

Important note. This Service Release includes several new registry settings and environment variables. The reference documents maintained maintained on this site are being updated accordingly:

RG005 – PowerFuse Tips & Tricks

RG006 – Variables, Tags and Functions (more info is being added as we learn about the new variables)

Integrating InstallFree with PowerFuse

Here’s something really useful. Sylvester de Koster over at CDG,  did some crunch time together with the nice folks over at RES to find a way to integrate PowerFuse with InstallFree, which is an application virtualzation technology vendor. Until now it’s been somewhat difficult to get stuff to run inside the virtual bubble of this platform. Together these  awesome guys managed to figure out how to integrate Installfree’s Full Bridge with PowerFuse! What follows is the no-frills how-to.  Later we will perhaps make a nice article with screenshots and everything. For now her is just  the raw info – Just as you like it! :)

Click here to read the full article

Upcoming Butler Group report on RES

Butler Group, an´analyst company similar to Gartner, has recently completed a Technology Audit of RES PowerFuse. To access this study, you unfortunatly need an account at Butler’s to access it at this time.

If the document becomes publicly available, we will let you know. If you already have a login to Butler Group, the RES PowerFuse study can be found by going here

Butler Group has the following to say about themselves:

“Butler Group is the IT End User division of Datamonitor Plc and is a leading provider of Information Technology research, analysis, and advice. Founded in 1990, Butler Group is respected throughout the business world for the impartiality and incisiveness of its research and opinion.”

Mo’ Blocks for the Builders!

This is a handfull of nice buildingblocks for both PowerFuse and Wisdom. These are not insanely advanced or anything, just some handy tools that every RES admin out there ought to have in his toolbelt. An up-to-date list of all available buildingblocks on this site, can be found respectively in the PowerFuse and Wisdom Buildingblock archives. Click on the RAR files below to download the buildingblocks:

 PowerFuse BuildingBlock: Default Global authorizations. This buildingblock will help you get from pilot to production much faster, by implementing some best practices for authorizations. The buildingblock contains a set of Global Authorized files which will enable the most common authorisations for Windows XP and VMware workstation. This will enable you to switch both Application Security and Read-Only Blanketing into Blocking mode much faster. For those of you out there using Vista, a seperate buildingblock will be made available later, as there are loads more stuff that Vista wants to pull up at logon. Besides, XP/2003 administrators will probably be happy not having to weed out a ton of unnecessary authorizations. If you want to have a look what’s in the box :), check out this nifty PowerFuse Instant-Report:  

 PowerFuse BuildingBlock: Best Practice Registry settings. This is another buildingblock which will help you speed up initial deployment by implementing some of the most common HKCU registry settings. These cover a lot of common stuff, best practices, etc. For example you can redirect shell folders, disable the XP tour, configure the explorer windows properly and much more. You can preview the contens of the buildingblock by having a look at an Instant-Report for the module here:  

  Wisdom BuildingBlock: Add a computer to the domain. This is a simple module, however it ought to be in the toolbox of every Wisdom admin out there. It simply enters a computer into a domain, but also modifies the DefaultDomain registry key, so the user logging on afterwards does not have to change the domain dropdown. Believe it or not, this is a frequent item which helpdesks have to deal with, so why not eliminate it all together? The module should need no editing at all. When you import it into your Wisdom 2009 environment, it will prompt you for all necessary information.

  Wisdom BuildingBlock: Super Security Audit (21MB). With this module you will quickly get an overview of any outstanding security issues, related to missing updates, vunerabilities etc. The module installs MBSA 2.1 + the security cab files and report everything back to the Wisdom console. Also the module will report you MS product keys and do a WGA check on the machines you schedule the job on. There are several cool things worth mentioning about this module.

• The module contains all the components ready to go. No extra downloads are necessary.
• Just download, import and execute.
• It can operate offline, which makes it great for those kinds of datacenters where allowing the servers to access the Internet is not an option
• The module supports execution on both 32 and 64 bit OS’s. Wisdom will make sure the right bit-version of MBSA is executed on the righ platform

If you would like a sneak-peak of what this module can do look here:

Configure global PowerFuse settings via registry

Here’s an interesting item which was shared a while back. This is a policy template for controlling the global settings of RES PowerFuse. It is believed to have been created by Sander over at the RES Inside blog. This template adresses an important need, since several options in the management console are still only globally configurable through the console GUI and may not apply to all users.

Using this policy template, it’s not the intention for you to start managing PowerFuse through AD. While possible it would be crossing the bridge for water, as PowerFuse in it self is perfectly capable of applying the user-specific parts of any policy template file. So, what we’re dealing with here is a way for PowerFuse to configure itself, using registry settings, while remaining inside the RES console. Sounds iffy? Don’t worry, it’s not – just do the following:

• Download the .ADM file from the link below
• Dump it somewhere  you can browse to it with a PowerFuse console
• Go to the configuration management | powerlaunch | user registry node
• Click the Add Policy button at the bottom
• Hit the Add button in the new dialog to browse for the .ADM file. It will now be uploaded to the PowerFuse SQL database, so you needn’t worry about distributing it anymore.
• Add some descriptive text in the name and description fields. You’ll thank yourself for this some months later down the road.
• Set to whom this applies on the Access Control tab.
• Start clicking away in the policy template, enabeling the desired settings.

There is a nice description of the entire thing in this PDF: 

Download the ADM file here (rightclick, save as): 

Important note: The PowerFuse policy template available above does not include the latest registy settings in the PowerFuse update pack 8.0.4.5.  Also, there may be some additional registry settings in this article about the PowerFuse registry, which are not included at the moment. If someone would be kind enough to update the policy template and share it with RESguru, we’ll post it.

RES PowerFuse 2008 Platinum Edition

The RES PowerFuse Platinum Edition is a total management package for Windows platforms. It delivers user workspaces and automates IT operational tasks. RES PowerFuse Platinum Edition contains powerful user workspace delivery tools, run book automation, provisioning tools, snapshot intelligence and more. There is hardly anything you can’t solve with it. Get ready for the most complete solution to deliver the right IT services to the right people at the right time!

Platinum Edition: Accelerate!

The platinum edition contains all the functionalities of the RES PowerFuse Enterprise Edition: deliver a personal, secure and reliable workspace to your end users. What is added in the Platinum Edition is speed and convenience through Run Book Automation (RES Wisdom). By combining two versatile products you receive one incredibly complete and efficient product to manage your Windows environment.

Use your resources to the fullest, and automate the tasks that can be automated. You will make your IT department more efficient, and you will lift your service level higher and higher. RES Wisdom detects, RES PowerFuse reacts. Accelerate!

Read more….