Let's take a step back and look at what we have accomplished so far. We have figured out how to silently install and configure Firefox. Using scripts, and without lifting a finger) we can install a pre-configured version of Firefox with all of our favorite Add-ons.

That is great but you are sort of stuck if you have a problem, want to run two different versions of Firefox, or need to fix a problem quickly. That is where layers come in.

If you take the custom install and combine it with a layer you are really cooking. Layers give you the ability to turn off the software, reset it to its original settings, and it is much cleaner. With SVS Pro you get all of the advantages described above plus streaming. This equation is looking pretty good!

In this article we will talk about how to create the layer, edit the layer, and get that layer onto our SVS Pro streaming server. All of these solutions are like having tons of tools in our toolchest. Lets start building...

Creating the Layer:

Creating a layer of Firefox is pretty straight forward and easy to do. It is probably the most tested layer on the planet. I ran into a brick wall when I tried to create a layer of Firefox that had layers. Most of the time the Add-ons would not work when I exported them and tried them on other machines. Eventually I found that if I installed the Add-ons as part of the install, that the Add-ons worked just fine. I decided that since I was going to install the Add-ons as part of the install, I should also make sure that Firefox was configured correctly. That is how this series was born. Thankfully this is the easiest step in the process (and in the series of articles).

Now you can fire up your Virtual Machine. You will want to make sure that it has SVS (with the SVS Admin Tool) installed on the machine. Once you have all of that, you are
ready to get started:

• Copy the tweaked Firefox setup files from your desktop to your virtual machine
  
  

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• Open SVSAdmin
  
  

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• Go to File >> Create New Layer
  
  

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• Make sure that the "Install application" radio button is selected
  
  

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  And press the "Next" button to continue

• Name the Layer something like "Firefox-Staff" - this name is important when we get into SVS Pro, I will talk more about that later
  
  

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  And press the "Next" button to continue

• Click the "Browse" button, and navigate to CMD.EXE (C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe)
  
  

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  And press the "Next" button to continue

• Press the "Finish" button to create the layer
  
  

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• The command prompt will open, navigate to the script that you created to install Firefox
  
  

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  Press the "Enter" key to start the script

• It may take a few seconds to install Firefox and all of the Add-ons
  
  

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• At the end of my script I have an "EXIT" command, so when Firefox is done installing it closes the command prompt
• Now the layer has been created

Editing the Layer:

To edit the layer, do the following:

• Right click on the layer and select "Deactivate Layer"
  
  

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• Now, right click on the layer again and select "Edit Advanced Layer Properties"
  
  

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• Now go to Firefox-Staff (Read-only) >> User-specific >> [APPDATA] >> Mozilla >> Firefox
  
  

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• I want Firefox to create a profile when Firefox is first started, not use a profile as part of the layer, so I am going to delete the "Mozilla" folder. Right click on the layer and select "Delete"
  
  

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  Press the "Yes" button to continue

• Now, go to Firefox-Staff (Read-only) >> User-specific >> Mozilla
  
  

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• Delete that "Mozilla" folder as well
• We are all done editing the folder. You can close the "Edit Layer" window by click on the red "X" in the top right corner
• Now, right click on the layer and go to "Reset Layer"
  
  

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• The following window will appear:
  
  

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  Press the "Yes" button to continue

• There is on last thing to do before we finish. Right click on the layer, and click on "Start Layer Automatically"
  
  

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Now the layer is done, you can export the layer by:

• Right clicking the layer
• Click "Export Layer"
  
  

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I like to remove all information in the write section of the layer before I export it. Here is how you do it:

• Go to Start >> Run
• Type in "regedit"
• Go to My Computer >> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> Software >> fslrdr
• You will see two sub-keys, like this:
  
  

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• Usually, the second sub-key, in this case "3" is usually the write portion of the layer. Navigate to 3 >> HU >> "sub-layer"
• Press the "Del" key on your keyboard
• Close the "Registry Editor", and open "My Computer"
• Using the info that we saw above (the write section of the layer was in the "3" folder) go to "C:\fslrdr\3" (replace "3" with the appropriate number)
• Find the last folder in the directory (in this case "S-1-5-21-1202660629-682003330-1801674531-1003" they are all named similarly) and delete it
• Now, export your layer using the directions above

Our layer has been created and cleaned up. We are ready to add this layer into SVS Pro.

SVS Pro:

Prereqs:

There are a few things that you will need before we can add this into SVS Pro:

• You will need SVS Pro installed on a server (or servers)
• You will need a computer that has the SVS Pro Streaming Composer installed on it
• You will need the Firefox layer that we just created on the computer with the Streaming Composer on it

Creating the Streaming Package:

We will need to prepare the layer so it will work inside SVS Pro. Here is how you do it:

• Go to Start >> Altiris >> Software Virtualization >> Streaming Composer
• You will see the following:
  
  

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  This is the Streaming Composer

• Under "Package Type" select the "Virtual Software Package (.VSA)"
  
  

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• Under "Package Path" enter something like "C:\Firefox-Staff"
  
  

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  This is where the Streaming Composer will compile and store all of your files

• You can leave the "Configuration Profile" alone. Select the "OK" button to continue
• Now you will see this window:
  
  

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  This is where you actually do the leg work to get the layer ready to stream

• Select the "..." button to the right of "Select VSA file and navigate to the location of your exported layer
  
  

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  Click the "Import" button

• The following window will appear as the layer is importing:
  
  

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• When it is done importing, most of the time it will jump to the "Streamlets" section, like below:
  
  

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  I like to change some information before I create the streamlets

• Go to "Properties". Under "Package Name" change it to: Firefox - Staff. Fill in the other fields as necessary, like below:
  
  

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• Now we are ready to go back to "Streamlets", once you are there press the "Run" button
• As the streamlets are being created, the following window will appear:
  
  

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• You will automatically be moved to the final step, the "Package" screen. Press the "Create" button to create the streaming package:
  
  

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• When the package is done being created, you will see the following:
  
  

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  Press the "OK" button to finish

Adding the Streaming Package into SVS Pro:

• Now we are ready to add the package on the Streaming Server. We run a pretty small shop, so we installed all of the SVS Pro components on the same server. To get started, log on to your streaming server
• You will also have to log into the Streaming Console, like below:
  
  

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• You will click on the "Packages" link on the left hand side, and you will see this:
  
  

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• To add a package, click the "Add" button
• A new window titled "Package Upload Client" will appear:
  
  

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• Click on the "Add" button, and navigate to your package (you may have to upload the package we created earlier to your server). Select the ZIP file and press the "Open" button
  
  

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• Now, press the "Upload" button
  
  

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• When the package is uploaded the screen with look like this:
  
  

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  Click the "Exit" button to continue

• If you refresh your browser the package will show up with the other packages you have already uploaded
  
  

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Configuring the Package:

Now we can start to configure how the package actually functions. To get started, click on the package name link: "Firefox - Staff[2K, XP, 2K3, Windows NT 6.0]". The following screen will appear:

Click to view.

On this screen you can decide how the package works. Most of the action happens in the "Permissions" area. Lets go through each of the settings:

Permissions:

• Enable Offline Execution: If you are going to use this package on a laptop, or on a computer that will not always have access to your network. This means that everyone who is assigned this package will have it run in offline mode. I usually leave this unchecked
• Prepopulate: This option lets you decide what shows up on the end computer. In most circumstances, you will want to select "Icon" or "Package"
  • Icon: This only drops the programs icons on the desktop. When the user clicks on the icon the program will start to stream to your computer
  • Package: If you select "Package" part of the program will be streamed to the desktop. SVS Pro is smart enough to stream the parts of the program that you need to get it started.

It really depends on the program and your environment as to what you choose. Lets go through a few examples so you can see what I mean:

This package is for laptops:

If this is the case then you should choose "Enable Offline Execution" and prepopulate "Package. This will make sure that the entire program is on the computer. Nothing will be streamed.

This package could be used for desktops and laptops:

For desktops and laptops you should choose "Icon" or "Package". If, for instance, Firefox is the default web browser on your system you should choose package. This will keep enough of Firefox on the machine before you open it that it will run. If you choose "Icon" and someone opens a web page, it will not open Firefox.

A better example of Icon vs. Package:

For programs that you run infrequently, you should choose "Icon". The software is streamed when you run the program. If it is something that you need all the time, and it is used by multiple programs (or you need it to open/edit common file formats) you should choose package. Programs like Flash, Adobe Reader, and Groupwise I have setup with "Package". Other programs like Notepad++, WinMerge, and Paint.NET I have setup as "Icon". I use them once in a while, and they are not integral to my computer usage.

For my Firefox layer I choose "Package". I found that for me it just works better.

At this point, you will need to assign the software to a user. I will talk about this in future articles (with other software than Firefox).

Conclusion:

SVS layers and SVS Pro have changed the way I approach software. They give me the tools to solve and prevent problems. They also enable the end user to work without limits. In this article we were able to add a SVS layer to our SVS Pro streaming server. We get the benefits of our custom Firefox install, a SVS layer, and the latest streaming technology.