Make Existing ThinApp Packages Compatible with VMware Identity Manager

You can convert a ThinApp package from one that is not compatible with VMware Identity Manager to one that VMware Identity Manager can distribute and manage. You can use one of the following methods: use the ThinApp 4.7.2 relink command, rebuild the package from its ThinApp project files after editing the project's Package.ini file to add the necessary VMware Identity Manager parameters, or recapture the Windows application with the appropriate VMware Identity Manager settings selected in the ThinApp Setup Capture program.

Note: A ThinApp package that is compatible with VMware Identity Manager can only be used for a VMware Identity Manager deployment. Only VMware Identity Manager users who have the VMware Identity Manager Desktop application installed can launch and run these enabled packages. At runtime, the ThinApp package loads a specifically named DLL, and uses that DLL to verify the user's entitlement with VMware Identity Manager. Because the DLL is installed with the VMware Identity Manager Desktop application, such ThinApp packages can only be run on Windows systems on which the VMware Identity Manager Desktop application is installed.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have access to the necessary items for your chosen method.

If you are using the relink command, verify that you have the executable files for the ThinApp package that you are converting and the ThinApp 4.7.2 relink.exe application.
If you are updating the ThinApp project's Package.ini file and rebuilding the package, verify that you have the project files needed by the ThinApp 4.7.2 program to rebuild the package.
If you are recapturing the Windows application, verify that you have the ThinApp 4.7.2 Setup Capture program and the application installer and other items that the program needs to recapture the application. See the ThinApp User's Guide for details.

Verify that you have access to the ThinApp network share used by VMware Identity Manager and that you can make subfolders and copy files to it.

Procedure

♦ Using a version of the ThinApp program that is supported by VMware Identity Manager, create a compatible ThinApp package using one of the available methods.

Option Description

Option	Description
Use the relink -h command.	Using the relink -h command is the easiest method. You must use the relink.exe program from ThinApp 4.7.2 or later. Use this method in one of the following situations: You cannot use the rebuild method because you do not have the project folder. Using Setup Capture to recapture the application would take too long. You do not have the application installer that is required for recapturing with Setup Capture. Note: The ThinApp runtime is always updated when you run the relink -h command on a ThinApp package. You can run the relink command from the ThinApp Program Files directory to get help on the command's syntax. To create a compatible package, use the basic syntax of the command: relink -h `executable-folder`/. Where `executable-folder` is a folder containing the executables of the ThinApp package you want to update.. Important: When you use the relink command, you cannot point it directly to the folder of package executables on the network share used for the ThinApp packages in the VMware Identity Manager environment. The command converts the old executables to BAK files when it updates the ThinApp runtime, and it writes those BAK files, as well as the new files, to the folder. Because the network share typically does not allow writing to it, you must point relink to a copy of the folder of executables. Other use cases for the relink command are covered in the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2021928.
Update the Package.ini file manually with the necessary parameters, and then rebuild the package.	Use this method when you do not have the application installer for the recapture process, when you want to avoid doing the up-front setup that recapturing the application requires, or when you want to incorporate functionality from a newer ThinApp version more than what the relink command would provide. Because rebuilding a package incorporates changes to the file system and registry which come in a new version of ThinApp, a rebuild would pick up those changes, such as when a new ThinApp version provides a new Package.ini parameter that you want to set. In the `[Build Options]` section of the Package.ini file, add the following parameters: ;--- VMware Identity Manager Parameters --- AppID=genid NotificationDLLs=hzntapluginlugin.dll hzntaplugin.dll is the DLL that the ThinApp runtime calls to verify the VMware Identity Manager user's entitlement to use the virtualized application. You can optionally include the HorizonOrgURL parameter and set it to your VMware Identity Manager fully qualified domain name. See VMware Identity Manager Installation and Configuration.
Recapture using Setup Capture, and select the necessary VMware Identity Manager settings.	Use this method when you would prefer to recapture the application rather than use one of the other methods. To create a compatible package using ThinApp Setup Capture, select the appropriate settings in the wizard to manage the package with VMware Identity Manager during the capture process. See the ThinApp User's Guide for details on the capture process.

Use the relink -h command.

Using the relink -h command is the easiest method. You must use the relink.exe program from ThinApp 4.7.2 or later. Use this method in one of the following situations:

You cannot use the rebuild method because you do not have the project folder.
Using Setup Capture to recapture the application would take too long.
You do not have the application installer that is required for recapturing with Setup Capture.

Note: The ThinApp runtime is always updated when you run the relink -h command on a ThinApp package.

You can run the relink command from the ThinApp Program Files directory to get help on the command's syntax.

To create a compatible package, use the basic syntax of the command:

relink -h executable-folder/*.*

Where executable-folder is a folder containing the executables of the ThinApp package you want to update..

Important: When you use the relink command, you cannot point it directly to the folder of package executables on the network share used for the ThinApp packages in the VMware Identity Manager environment. The command converts the old executables to BAK files when it updates the ThinApp runtime, and it writes those BAK files, as well as the new files, to the folder. Because the network share typically does not allow writing to it, you must point relink to a copy of the folder of executables.

Other use cases for the relink command are covered in the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2021928.

Update the Package.ini file manually with the necessary parameters, and then rebuild the package.

Use this method when you do not have the application installer for the recapture process, when you want to avoid doing the up-front setup that recapturing the application requires, or when you want to incorporate functionality from a newer ThinApp version more than what the relink command would provide. Because rebuilding a package incorporates changes to the file system and registry which come in a new version of ThinApp, a rebuild would pick up those changes, such as when a new ThinApp version provides a new Package.ini parameter that you want to set.

In the [Build Options] section of the Package.ini file, add the following parameters:

;--- VMware Identity Manager Parameters ---
AppID=genid
NotificationDLLs=hzntapluginlugin.dll

hzntaplugin.dll is the DLL that the ThinApp runtime calls to verify the VMware Identity Manager user's entitlement to use the virtualized application.

You can optionally include the HorizonOrgURL parameter and set it to your VMware Identity Manager fully qualified domain name. See VMware Identity Manager Installation and Configuration.

Recapture using Setup Capture, and select the necessary VMware Identity Manager settings. Use this method when you would prefer to recapture the application rather than use one of the other methods. To create a compatible package using ThinApp Setup Capture, select the appropriate settings in the wizard to manage the package with VMware Identity Manager during the capture process. See the ThinApp User's Guide for details on the capture process.

Results

You have a set of files (EXE files, and optionally DAT files) for a ThinApp package that VMware Identity Manager can distribute and manage.

What to do next

For steps to add ThinApp packages to the network share, see Create a Network Share for ThinApp Packages That VMware Identity Manager Manages.