Using Duplicate Package Identifiers

AdminStudio 2021 R2 | 22.0 | Application Manager

When you import a package into an Application Catalog database, Application Manager checks specific identifiers that are selected on the Import Options / Duplicate Package tab of the Application Manager Options dialog box to determine if that package has already been imported.

For Windows Installer files, the following identifiers are listed on the Duplicate Package tab:
PackageCode
ProductCode
Product Language
ProductVersion
List of Transform Files

If none of these identifiers are selected, Application Manager will use the Product Name identifier to perform a Duplicate Package check.

For App-V packages, the following identifiers are listed on the Duplicate Package tab:
PackageGUID
VersionGUID

If neither of these identifiers are selected, Application Manager will use the Product Name identifier to perform a Duplicate Package check.

If Application Manager determines that you are attempting to import a duplicate package (based upon the selected identifiers), the package is renamed using the syntax defined in the Duplicate Package Naming Syntax field.

Business Case for Importing a Package Multiple Times

You might encounter this situation if you are importing the same package into the same Application Catalog database multiple times, each time with a different set of transforms. One common reason why you might want to import the same package into your Application Catalog database more than once would be if you wanted to use InstallShield Editor to create custom installation SKUs of a common MSI package to distribute to different departments in your organization, each installation including certain features that are appropriate for the department and excluding certain features that are not appropriate. For example, if you were distributing a copy of Microsoft Office, you could add transforms to the Microsoft Office MSI package so that:

Accounting’s installation would include only Word and Excel
Marketing’s installation would include only Word and PowerPoint, and
Development’s installation would include only Word and Access.

Therefore, you might want to import the same package into your database more than once, each time with a different set of transformations. What happens when you import the package the second time depends upon the identifiers you selected on the Duplicate Package tab. In this example:

If you select the List of Transform Files and ProductCode identifiers on the Duplicate Package tab of the Application Manager Options dialog box, Application Manager will not identify these two packages as duplicate, even though they have the same ProductCode, because they have a different set of transformations. Therefore, the package will be imported with the same display name as the first package.
If you only select the ProductCode identifier on the Duplicate Package tab of the Application Manager Options dialog box, Application Manager will identify the second package as a duplicate because the two packages have the same ProductCode.

Duplicate Product Name Conventions

When it identifies a duplicate package, by default Application Manager generates a new name for that package by pre-pending the Product Name with the Manufacturer’s name and, if necessary, appending the Product Name with numbers:

1st Package:    PowerPoint
2nd Package:   Microsoft Corporation_PowerPoint

You can edit the Duplicate Package Naming Syntax on the Import Options / Duplicate Package tab of the Options dialog box.

When Duplicate Packages are Identified During Bulk Import

If Application Manager is performing a bulk import or reimport, it still identifies duplicate packages using the user-specified criterion and will rename duplicate packages using the syntax in the Duplicate Package Naming Syntax field.

Specifying Duplicate Package Identifiers

To specify duplicate package identifiers, perform the following steps.

To identify duplicate package identifiers:

1. On the Application Manager tab menu, click Options. The Application Manager Options dialog box opens
2. Under Import Options, select Duplicate Package. The Duplicate Package tab opens.
3. Under Duplicate Package Identification Options, select the identifiers that you would like to use for Windows Installer package imports by selecting one or more of the following options:
PackageCode Property— Identifier of the package the product was installed from. No two non-identical .msi files should ever have the same package code.
ProductCode Property—Unique identifier for the particular product release, represented as a string GUID, for example:

{12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012}

Product Language—The language the installer should use for any strings in the user interface that are not authored into the database.
ProductVersion—Version of the product in string format. The format of the string is: major.minor.build.
List of Transform Files—A list of the transformations associated with this package.
[None Selected]—If you do not select any of these five identifiers, Application Manager checks the Product Name identifier to determine if a package is a duplicate.
4. Under Duplicate Virtual Package Identification Options, select the identifiers that you would like to use for App-V package imports by selecting one or more of the following options:
PackageGUID—Unique identifier of App-V package.
VersionGUID—Unique identifier of App-V package version.
[None Selected]—If you do not select either of these identifiers, Application Manager checks the Product Name identifier to determine if a package is a duplicate.
5. Click OK to save your changes and exit the Options dialog box
6. Proceed with the package import, as described in Importing a Single Package File.

Note:The options that you select on the Import Options / Duplicate Package tab of the Application Manager Options dialog box apply globally to all packages that you attempt to import; you cannot apply different identifiers to different packages. Also, since these options are saved in the AdminStudio Shared Directory, everyone using AdminStudio at your organization will share the same Duplicate Package options.