VMware THINAPP 4.6 - Automatic Application Updates

ThinApp User’s Guide
62 VMware, Inc.
sbmerge.exe Commands
Thesbmerge.exe Printcommanddisplayssandboxchangesanddoesnotmakemodificationstothe
sandboxororiginalproject.
Thesbmerge.exe Applycommandmergeschangesfromthesandboxwiththeoriginalproject.This
commandupdatestheprojectregistryandfilesystemtoreflectchangesanddeletesthesandboxdirectory.
Usage
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\sbmerge" Print [<optional_parameters>]
"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\sbmerge" Apply [<optional_parameters>]
Optional Parameters
Theoptionalsbmerge.exeparametersspecifyprojectandsandboxpathsandblockprogressmessagesand
mergingofsandboxfiles.
Automatic Application Updates
Ifanapplicationcanupdateautomatically,itsupdatemechanismfunctionswithThinApp.Iftheapplication
downloadstheupdateandrunsaninstallerorpatchingprogram,thisactivityoccursinsidethevirtual
environmentandThinAppstoresthechangesfromtheupdatesoftwareinthesandbox.Whentheapplication
restarts,itusesthe
versionoftheexecutablefileinthesandboxandnottheexecutablefilefromtheoriginal
package.
Forexample,ifyoucaptureFirefox1.5,yourautoupdatemechanismmightpromptyoutoupgradetoFirefox2.0.
Ifyouproceedwiththeupgrade,theapplicationdownloadstheupdates,writestheupdatestothe
sandbox,
andpromptsyoutorestarttheapplication.Whenyourunthecapturedapplicationagain,Firefox2.0starts.
If youdeletethesandbox,Firefoxrevertsbacktoversion 1.5.
Tomergechangesthatanautoupdatemechanismmakeswiththeoriginalpackagetobuildanupdated
executablefile,usethesbmerge.exeutility.See
“ApplicationUpdatesThattheAdministratorTriggers”on
page 60.
Table 4-2. Optional sbmerge.exe Parameters
Parameter Description
-ProjectDir <project_path> Ifyoustartthesbmerge.execommandfromalocationotherthantheapplication
projectfolder,usetheabsoluteorrelativepathtotheprojectdirectoryusingthe
-ProjectDir <project_path>parameter.Asamplecommandis"C:\Program
Files\VMware\VMware ThinApp\sbmerge" Print –ProjectDir
"C:\<project_folder_path>"".
-SandboxDir <sandbox_path> Whenyoustartacapturedapplication,itsearchesforthesandboxinaparticular
order.See
“SearchOrderfortheSandbox”onpage 103.
Ifyouuseacustomlocationforthesandbox,usethe–SandboxDir
<sandbox_path>parametertospecifythelocation.
-Quiet Blockstheprintingofprogressmessages.
-Exclude <excluded_file>.ini Preventsthemergingofspecificfilesorregistryentriesfromthesandbox.
Youcanspecifya.inifiletodeterminethe
contentforexclusion.Thisfile
containsseparatesectionstospecifyfiles,suchastheFileSystemIgnoreList
andtheRegistryIgnoreList.
Thesbmerge.exeutilityusesthesnapshot.inifileintheThinAppinstallation
folderbydefaulttoexcludecertaincontentfromthemergeprocess.Thisoption
enablesyoutospecifyanother.inifileto
ensuretheadditionalexclusionof
content.
NOTEIfyouusetheApplicationSyncutilitytoperformapplicationupdates,disabletheauto‐update
capabilitiesoftheapplication.See“UsingApplicationSyncinaManagedorUnmanagedEnvironment”on
page 53.