VMware THINAPP 4.6 - Configuring Sandbox Storage and Inventory Names; Inventoryname; Removesandboxonexit

ThinApp User’s Guide
100 VMware, Inc.
Configuring Sandbox Storage and Inventory Names
YoucanmodifyThinAppparameterstoconfigurethesandboxwhereallchangesthatthecapturedapplication
makesarestored.TheThinAppinventorynamemightaffecttheneedtochangethesandboxname.
Formoreinformationaboutthesandboxplacementandstructure,seeChapter 6,“LocatingtheThinApp
Sandbox,”onpage 103.
InventoryName
TheInventoryNameparameterisastringthatinventorytrackingutilitiesuseforpackageidentification.
This parameterdeterminesthedefaultnamesoftheprojectfolderandsandboxduringtheapplicationcapture
process.
TheapplicationcaptureprocesssetsadefaultvaluefortheInventoryNameparameterbasedonnewstrings
createdunderoneofthe
followinglocations:
 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
Thethinreg.exeutilityandThinAppMSIfilesreferencetheinventorynametodeterminetheproductname
fordisplayintheAddorRemoveProgramscontrolpanel.Forexample,iftheinve nt o r ynameisSuperAppand
youinstallanMSIfileorregisterapackagewiththethinreg.exeutility,theAdd
orRemoveprogramslist
displaysaninstalledapplicationwiththeSuperApp (VMware ThinApp)string.ThinAppappendsVMware
ThinApptotheinventorynametodistinguishapplicationsthatarevirtualizedduringinventoryscans.
Youcanusethesameinventorynameacrossdifferentversionsofthesameapplicationtoensurethatonlythe
mostrecentversionappears
inAddorRemoveProgramslist.Theapplicationsoverwriteeachotherinthe
AddorRemoveProgramslistandpreventyoufromuninstallingalloftheregisteredpackages.Touninstall
morethanoneversion,useadifferentinventorynameforeachversion.Forexample,useMicrosoftOffice2003
andMicrosoft
Office2007asinventorynamesratherthanjustMicrosoftOffice.Whenyoumaintaindifferent
versionsofavirtualapplicationinthesameenvironment,youmightwanttochangetheSandboxName
parametertoensurethatanewversionhasisolatedusersettingsinadifferentsandbox.
Ifyouhaveapackagethat
includesotherapplications,youmightupdatetheinventorynamemanuallyto
reflectthetruecontentsofthepackage.Forexample,ifyoucapturetheSuperAppapplicationandthepackage
includesJavaRuntime,theInventoryNamevaluemightappearasJava Runtime Environment 1.5instead
ofSuperApp.TheAddorRemoveProgramslistdisplaysthe
firstapplicationinstalledwithinthepackage.
Examples
YoucanmodifytheInventoryNameparametertoMicrosoftOffice2003.
[BuildOptions]
InventoryName=Microsoft Office 2003
RemoveSandboxOnExit
TheRemoveSandboxOnExitparameterdeletesthesandboxandresetstheapplicationwhenthelastchild
processexits.
ThinAppstoresallapplicationchangestotheregistryandfilesystemlocationswithWriteCopyorFull
isolationmodeinthesandbox.ThinAppsetsaninitialvalueoftheRemoveSandboxOnExitparameterthat
maintainsconsistentsettingsfor
thesandboxdirectoryacrossmultipleapplicationruns.
Iftheapplicationcreateschildprocesses,ThinAppdoesnotdeletethesandboxuntilallchildprocessesexit.
Applicationsmightbedesignedtoleavechildprocessesinplacethatcanblockthecleanupoperation.
For example,MicrosoftOffice2003leavesthectfmon.exeprocess.Youcanuse
ascripttoendthe
ctfmon.exeprocessandchildprocessestoforcethecleanupoperationtooccur.
YoucandecideatruntimewhethertousetheRemoveSandboxOnExitscriptAPIfunctiontodeletethe
sandboxonexit.