You can use several options when you run AppCapture with Microsoft PowerShell.

AppCapture Options and Parameters with PowerShell

Use the Start-AVAppCapture to create an AppStack and add applications to it. The UEM Application Profiler is installed with the AppCapture utility and you can personalize the AppStacks using the profiler.
Table 1. Start-AVAppCapture Options
Start-AVAppCapture Parameter Description
-Author Author-name Specify an author who is associated with this AppStack.

CommonParameters

Use one or more common parameters. The common parameters are a set of cmdlet parameters implemented by Windows PowerShell.
Start-AVAppCapture supports these common parameters:
  • Debug
  • ErrorAction
  • ErrorVariable
  • OutBuffer
  • OutVariable
  • PipelineVariable
  • Verbose
  • WarningAction
  • WarningVariable

For more information about common parameters, see about_CommonParameters.

-Description text Specify a description for an AppStack. If the description includes a space, enter the description inside parentheses, for example, -Description (HR Apps).
-Destination output-directory Specify an output directory for an AppStack. By default, AppStacks are placed in C:\ProgramData\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds.
-Force Create an output directory if it does not exist. You specify the output directory with the -Destination parameter.
-Name vhd-name Specify a name for the applications being captured.

The output .vhd file is named by using the specified application name.

-Novmdk Specify this option to prevent post-capture VMDK disk creation.
-Path directory-path Specify a path to an AppStack. The AppStack is used as a template for the current capture.

Do not use this option if you are installing a new application.

You can perform several workflows with the AppCapture command.
Table 2. AppCapture PowerShell Workflows
Workflow Description
ConvertTo-AVVhdDisk Generate a .vhd file by using the .vmdk file as input.
ConvertTo-AVVmdkDisk Generate a .vmdk file by using the .vhd file as input.
Export-AVMetadata Generate a .json file by using a .vhd or .vmdk file as input.
Merge-AVAppDisks Merge AppStack .vhd files into a new AppStack .vhd. AppStack describes the command-line version, which is similar.
Remove-AVApp Delete an AppStack from a disk or remove specific applications from an AppStack. If you remove any applications from the AppStack, the AppStack must be imported again into the App Volumes Manager.
Reset-AVConfig Clear AppCapture configuration information from the machine
Show-AVDiskDetails List the contents of the .vhd file, .json file, or .vmdk file.
Start-AVAppCapture Start the procedure to capture applications.
Start-AVAppUpdate Update an AppStack.
Test-AVAppStack Attach or virtualize applications after provisioning the application.
Start-AVAppPersonalization Attach the AppStack (.vhd) and personalize the specified application bundle using the UEM Application Profiler.

The examples below include the workflow file paths and the commands to reach the workflows.

  • Begin a new capture session. The output is generated in the form of a .vhd file and is named AdobeSuite.vhd. The author is John and a description is added.

    Start-AVAppCapture -Name AdobeSuite -Author John -Description "This disk contains the AdobeSuite application"

  • ConverTo-AVVhdDisk. This example generates an output .vhd format file, Adobe.vhd, from a source file, Adobe.vmdk. The output file is placed in a different directory from the source file:

    ConvertTo-AVVhdDisk -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\Adobe.vmdk" -Destination "C:\AppCaptures"

  • Export-AVMetadata. This example generates the output metadata file Adobe.json. The file is generated in the same place as Adobe.vhd:

    Export-AVMetadata -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\Adobe.vhd"

  • Merge-AVAppDisks. This example merges all the .vhd files under the .\temp and .\appstacks directories and generates a Notepad+Adobe.vhd file in C\temp.

    Merge-AVAppDisks -Path .\temp\*.vhd .\appstacks\*.vhd -Destination c:\temp\Notepad+Adobe.vhd

  • Remove-AVApp. This example deletes the Adobe and Notepad applications from the input disk Adobe+Notepad.vhd. Each application is identified by its unique GUID:

    Remove-AVApp -Path C:\Temp\Adobe+Notepad.vhd -Destination c:\Temp\empty.vhd -Guids GUID1, GUID2

  • Show-AVDiskDetails. This example displays the details from a .json file. The syntax is the same for .vhd and .vmdk files:

    Show-AVDiskDetails -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\WEM Capture\appvhds\Adobe.json"

  • Start-AVAppUdate. This example updates the AdobeSuite.vhd with a hot fix. A copy of AdobeSuite.vhd is created and is named AdobeHotfixUpdate.vhd. All the hot fix installations are captured in AdobeHotfixUpdate.vhd:

    Start-AVAppUpdate -Name AdobeHotfixUpdate -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\AdobeSuite.vhd"

  • Test-AVAppStack -Path: Virtualize the application after provisioning it for pre-verification. When using this command with no other parameters, the AppStack should contain only one application bundle.

    Test-AVAppStack -Path C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\WEMCapture\appvhds\Chrome.vhd

    • Test-AVAppStack -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\WEMCapture\appvhds\HRApps.vhd" -Guids Guid1Guid2..Guid1.. GUIDn. This cmdlet virtualizes application bundles that are identified by their corresponding GUIDs in the AppStack.

    • Test-AVAppStack -Path "C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\WEMCapture\appvhds\HRApps.vhd" -Guids "*". This cmdlet virtualizes all application bundles in the AppStack.

  • Start-AVAppPersonalization -Path. This cmdlet attaches the VHD and enables the user to personalize the application bundle using the UEM application profiler. Personalization settings are saved in C:\ProgramData\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\UEMConfigFiles\Chrome. Start-AVAppPersonalization -Path "C:\ProgramData\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\Chrome.vhd"

    • Start-AVAppPersonalization -Path "C:\appvhds\Chrome.vhd" -Predef. This cmdlet attaches the VHD and enables the user to personalize the application bundle using the UEM application profiler. Predefined settings and personalization settings are saved in C:\ProgramData\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\UEMConfigFiles\Chrome.

    • Start-AVAppPersonalization -Path "C:\appvhds\Chrome.vhd" -Name Browser1. This cmdlet attaches the VHD and enables the user to personalize the application bundle using the UEM application profiler. Personalization settings files are saved in C:\ProgramData\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\UEMConfigFiles\Browser1.

To get help about the workflows, run the get-help command.
Table 3. AppCapture PowerShell Workflow Information and Examples
Command Description
get-help WorkFlowName View general information for a workflow.
get-help WorkFlowName -detailed View detailed information for a workflow.
get-help WorkFlowName -examples View an example of a workflow.
get-help WorkFlowName -full View technical information for a workflow.