AppSync Settings Dialog Box

AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0 | ThinApp Assistant

Note:The AppSync Settings feature requires ThinApp 4.x If you are using Thinstall 3.x, any AppSync settings that you define will be ignored.

AppSync (Application Sync) enables you to automatically keep deployed virtual applications up to date. When an application starts up, AppSync can query a Web server to see if an updated version of the package is available. If an update is available, the differences between the existing package and the new package will be downloaded and used to construct an updated version of the package. The updated package will be used for future deployments.

You can use the AppSync feature to perform the following tasks:

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Distribute runtime components separately—You can use AppSync to distribute runtime components separately from the applications that use them. For example, the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or ODBC drivers.

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Apply layered service packs to applications—You can use AppSync to apply layered service packs to your applications. Application Sync enables you to distribute service packs and roll back to previous versions, if necessary.

On the AppSync Settings dialog box, which is opened by clicking AppSync Settings on the More Options menu of the Build Options page, you can configure AppSync settings for your ThinApp application.

On the Expiration tab, you can specify that the ThinApp application is required to check for updates at a defined frequency. If the ThinApp application fails to successfully check for updates within that defined frequency, it will fail to run. Note that the update does not expire, the ThinApp application expires, and cannot be used until it is updated. successfully.

The AppSync Settings dialog box includes two tabs:

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General Tab

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Expiration Tab

General Tab

On the General tab, you specify the location of the Web server that hosts application updates.

The following options are included:

General Tab of the AppSync Settings Dialog Box
Option	Description
Url	URL of the Web server where updates are stored. Application Sync works over both the HTTP (unsecure) and HTTPS (secure) protocol. Part of HTTPS is that the identity of the Web server is checked. You can include a user name and password in the URL that will be used for basic authentication. The standard Windows/Internet Explorer proxy setting is respected. For example: https://example.com/some/path/PackageName.exe
Message	When an updated package is first launched, an information message can be shown. For example: Your application has been updated.
Frequency	By default, a package will connect to the Web server once per day to see if an updated version is available. You can set the frequency by modifying this setting. For example, to set the Frequency to 2 days, enter 2d. For 2 weeks, enter 2w, etc.
Clear Sandbox	Gives you the option to clear the sandbox after an update. By default, the sandbox is not cleared. Select this option to clear the sandbox.

Expiration Tab

On the Expiration tab, you can specify that a ThinApp application is required to check for updates at a defined frequency. If the ThinApp application fails to successfully check for updates within that defined frequency, it will fail to run.

The following options are included:

Expiration Tab of the AppSync Settings Dialog Box

Option

Description

Use Application Expiration

Select this option to require that an application has to check for updates at a specified frequency.

Expire Period

Sets the update frequency in minutes (m), hours (h), or days (d). If the Web server cannot be reached, the package will continue to work until the Expire Period is reached. This default setting is 30 days but you can change that setting by modifying this setting. For example:

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To set the period to 30 days, enter 30d

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If you do not want the package to expire, clear the Use Application Expiration check box.

Warning Period

Sets the start of the warning period before a package expires. For example, to set the period at 5 days, enter 5d.

Warning Frequency

Sets the frequency of warnings before the package expires. With the default of one day, the warning message will be displayed once per day only. To configure the warning to pop up on every application launch, enter 0. To configure it to pop up every 4 days, enter 4d.

After the warning period has started, the Web server will be checked on every launch of an application, overriding any previous setting.

As long as a package has not expired, this parameter checks for new versions and downloads will occur in the background. The user can continue to use the old version. If the application is terminated by the user before the download is complete, the download will resume when a virtual application is launched again. After the download completes, the new version will be activated on the next launch.

When the package has expired, the version check and download will happen in the foreground. A progress bar will be shown during the download phase.

Expiration Message

After the expiration limit has been reached and a virtual application is started, it will try to connect to the Web server and check for a new version. If the connection fails, a message box will be shown and execution will be terminated. The default message is shown in the example below.

For example:

This application has been unable to contact its update server for Expire_Period days, so it is unavailable for use. Check your network connection and try again.

Warning Message

If the connection to the Web server fails, a message box will be shown. The default message is:

This application will become unavailable for use in Warning_Period days if it cannot contact its update server. Check your network connection to ensure uninterrupted service

Note:If you use AppSync, VMware recommends that you disable automatic application updates that are configured in your virtual application. Conflicts might occur between the linked packages and the software that is automatically updated. If an automatic update feature updates an application, it stores the updates in the sandbox. If AppSync then updates the application to a different version, the updates stored in the sandbox take precedence over the files contained in the version that AppSync created. The order of precedence for the update files are those in the sandbox, then the virtual operating system, and then the physical machine.