One step closer to a SoftGrid future

The release of Microsoft’s MSI packaging tool for SoftGrid-sequenced applications signals a major step forward in the company’s quest to establish its application virtualization technology as a new de facto delivery vehicle for Windows applications. By making both the MSI utility and the underlying SoftGrid client and sequencer applications available via its Web site, Microsoft is effectively seeding the enterprise market with its own brand of application virtualization.

Note: You may wish to check with Microsoft regarding any licensing requirements or restrictions associated with the above downloads.

The net result should be a groundswell of interest in SoftGrid as IT shops check out the newly decoupled (from its server back-end) virtualization engine. With the MSI utility, organizations can deploy SoftGrid-sequenced applications like they do any other MSI-packaged application: Via SMS/ESD, network share, “sneaker-net” (CD/USB Key), etc. It’s an aggressive move, one that could easily be interpreted as a latent “shot across the bow” of virtualization competitors Thinstall and Symantec.

I tested the new MSI utility under Windows XP, using the client and sequencer packages from the above links. After sequencing Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.1 I was left with an ~80MB compressed “SFT” file which, along with the corresponding project file, were then scanned by the MSI utility as it created a compatible Microsoft Installer package. I then copied the new package and the SFT file to the target system and installed Acrobat Reader using the MSI package directly. Once installed, Acrobat loaded and behaved like any other SoftGrid-sequenced application.

Some caveats:

1. To install an application from a package created by the MSI utility you need to have the latest (4.2.1) SoftGrid Client installed on the target system. See the client link above for more info.
2. When installing the client you’ll need to enable “Stand Alone Mode” by setting the “MSIDEPLOYMENT=TRUE” parameter on the SoftGrid client installer package’s command line. See the MSI Utility Admin guide for command line examples

Overall, the new SoftGrid MSI utility works as advertised: It allows you to take a SoftGrid-sequenced application and distribute it without the complex back-end streaming and access control infrastructure normally associated with a SoftGrid deployment. As such it effectively decouples the client from the server and creates a potent, self-contained delivery vehicle for Microsoft’s brand of application virtualization.