Using the Virtual Package Editor to Resolve Application Conflict Evaluators (ACEs) in App-V Packages

AdminStudio 2023 | 25.0 | Virtual Package Editor

Version:Some ACEs apply to particular versions of App-V packages. Version-specific differences are noted where appropriate.

You can use Application Manager to run Application Conflict Evaluators (ACEs) and identify potential conflicts between different App-V packages, and between App-V packages and Windows Installer packages. The following table lists ACE tests that pertain to App-V packages, as well as troubleshooting tips for resolving the issues through the Virtual Package Editor.

Troubleshooting Tips for Resolving ACE Issues in App-V Packages

ACE Test

Test Group/Test Category

Description

ACE200

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

This ACE indicates that two or more packages contain a shortcut with the same display name and location.

To resolve this issue in an App-V package, use the Shortcuts view to do one of the following:

•

Select the shortcut, and then modify the value in the Display Name setting or the Location setting.

•

Remove the shortcut from the App-V package.

ACE201

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE indicates that a target in the package has a hard-coded path such as C:\...\, which may not be present in a virtual environment.

To resolve this issue in an App-V package, change the path of the target to use a variable instead of a hard-coded path:

In the View List under Application Data, click Shortcuts.

In the Targets explorer, select the target that contains the hard-coded path.

In the Target setting, replace the existing path with a path that uses a CSIDL constant or an SFT constant—such as CSIDL_APPDATA or SFT_PROGRAM_FILES_X64—instead of the hard-coded path.

Note that if there is no appropriate CSIDL or SFT constant, you may need to use a hard-coded path that starts with a drive letter.

ACE202

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE indicates that the command-line arguments for a target in the package include a hard-coded path such as C:\...\, which may not be present in a virtual environment.

To resolve this issue in an App-V package, change the path to use a variable instead of a hard-coded path:

In the View List under Application Data, click Shortcuts.

In the Targets explorer, select the target that contains the hard-coded path.

In the Arguments setting, replace the existing path with a path that uses a CSIDL constant or an SFT constant—such as CSIDL_APPDATA or SFT_PROGRAM_FILES_X64—instead of the hard-coded path.

Note that if there is no appropriate CSIDL or SFT constant, you may need to use a hard-coded path that starts with a drive letter.

ACE203

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE indicates that the working directory for a target in the package include a hard-coded path such as C:\...\, which may not be present in a virtual environment.

To resolve this issue in an App-V package, change the path to use a variable instead of a hard-coded path:

In the View List under Application Data, click Shortcuts.

In the Targets explorer, select the target that contains the hard-coded path.

In the Working Directory setting, replace the existing path with a path that uses a CSIDL constant or an SFT constant—such as CSIDL_APPDATA or SFT_PROGRAM_FILES_X64—instead of the hard-coded path.

Note that if there is no appropriate CSIDL or SFT constant, you may need to use a hard-coded path that starts with a drive letter.

ACE204

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

This ACE indicates that two or more packages have the same package GUID; therefore, the two packages cannot be deployed simultaneously as separate packages.

If you are editing an update package that can upgrade earlier versions of the virtual package, the package GUID should stay the same.

If you are editing a new package that can be deployed simultaneously as another package, the package GUID in one of the packages must be changed. To change the package GUID, save the package as a new package. To learn more, see Saving a Virtual Package.

ACE205

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

This ACE indicates that two or more packages have the same name. This is not advisable from a best practice perspective, and it may cause some issues if you try to simultaneously deploy the App-V packages.

To resolve this issue:

In the View List under Package Information, click General Information.

In the Name setting, replace the duplicate name with a unique name.

ACE206

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

This ACE indicates that two or more packages have support for the same file extension. However, a file extension can be registered with only one application at a time.

To resolve this issue, you may need to decide which package should contain the file extension association and which should not. Then you can use the Virtual Package Editor to remove the appropriate file extension.

ACE207

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

Note:This ACE applies to App-V 4.x packages.

This ACE indicates that two or more packages have the same long or short name for the root folder. These names must be unique because two packages with the same root folder name cannot be deployed simultaneously.

To resolve this issue:

In the View List under Package Information, click General Information.

In the Root Folder Name setting, replace the duplicate folder name with a unique folder name.

Note that instances of the old package’s root folder name may still exist in location-related configuration data, such as in registry entries, .ini files, or XML files in the App-V package. The root folder name is not updated in those areas automatically if you change the root folder name in the General Information view.

Therefore, if you know that the old package contains configuration data, you may need to identify where it is. Then you can use the Virtual Package Editor to update the root folder name as necessary. For example, you may want to use the Virtual Package Editor to extract a configuration file from the package. Next, you can update the root folder name in the file. In the Virtual Package Editor, you would then delete the old file from the App-V package, and add the updated file.

ACE208

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE indicates that an App-V package does not contain any shortcuts.

You can ignore this ACE if one of the following is true:

•

This package is intended to be used as a dependency by a different App-V package through Dynamic Suite Composition. In this case, you need to edit the other App-V package and select this App-V package as a dependency in the Dependencies view.

•

This package is intended to be used as a plug-in. In this case, you need to create a shortcut to the application for which this is a plug-in. Some common examples include Office and Internet Explorer.

If end users need to be able to launch this App-V package independently, consider adding a target to the App-V package if necessary, and then adding a shortcut to the target.

ACE215

Inter-Application Conflicts/Microsoft App-V Conflict Tests

This ACE indicates that the App-V package contains a shortcut (App-V application) that uses the same name and version as one in another package. The combination of the name and version should be unique for shortcuts in different packages, since only one application is published and available at any given time.

To resolve this issue in an App-V package, use the Shortcuts view to do one of the following:

•

Select the target that contains the shortcut, and then modify the value in the Name setting or the Target Version setting.

•

Remove the shortcut from the App-V package.

ACE216

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

Note:This ACE applies to App-V 4.x packages.

This ACE checks whether an App-V package’s file name contains more than 56 characters. To resolve this issue in an App-V package, rename the .sft file with a name that contains fewer than 56 characters.

ACE217

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE checks whether the App-V package contains a WMI Provider component.

If the WMI Provider is not an important part of the application, or if it can be separately installed from the App-V package, this issue can be suppressed and ignored.

ACE218

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE checks whether the App-V package contains a J2EE application server.

If the J2EE application is not an important part of the application, or if it can be separately installed from the App-V package, this issue can be suppressed and ignored.

ACE219

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE checks whether the App-V package contains an ASP.NET or IIS application component.

If the ASP.NET/IIS application is not an important part of the application, or if it can be separately installed from the App-V package, this issue can be suppressed and ignored.

ACE220

Virtualization and Windows Installer Best Practices/Microsoft App-V Best Practices

This ACE checks whether an App-V package contains files that indicate that the package includes unsupported applications such as antivirus software or server software such as Exchange Server or SQL Server.

If these unsupported application components are not an important part of the application, or if they can be separately installed from the App-V package, this issue can be suppressed and ignored.