Applications Delivery

Publish (Add) Applications

Prerequisites:

HyWorks Session Host Server configured as Session Provider. Refer section Shared Session Host Management for information on adding and managing session host servers in HyWorks.
Launch browser and open Primary HyWorks Controller Management Console
Login using Organization administrator credentials and select organization
Go to Configuration > Workspace > Applications
Click Add '+'
In Application Information
1. Application Platform set as Windows for publishing and delivering application from Windows session host servers and set as Linux for publishing and delivering application from Linux session host servers
2. Application Type There are two types of application formats supported in HyWorks:
  - Installed App This is existing application type configuring apps which installed on SHD.
  - MSIX App Attach This is new Windows Application packaging format provided by Microsoft, where applications can be installed and packaged in virtual hard-disks (VHD) format and can be kept at out of session host servers. These applications are then attached to the operating system on demand. This provides no footprint on the OS and offers applications to be mounted via a virtual disk (dynamically).
    Note
    - MSIX App Attach feature requires controller to have v3.3-GA + Hotfix-4 and Session Host Server to have v3.3.0.13281 or greater.
    - Refer MSIX App Attach for more information on MSIX App Attach.
3. Application Display Name to be displayed to user
4. Application Path: Full path of the application exe. It is also possible to publish a shortcut file path to launch the application. The command line argument can be read from the shortcut file.
5. Application Internal Name: Actual name of the application
6. Application Description: Description if required
7. Application Command Line: command line parameter to be used while launching the application
8. Application Status: Disabled applications are not shown to the users though assigned.
9. Parent Folder Name (Applicable for MSIX App Attach type applications) This is the name of the folder in the VHD file that contains the expanded MSIX application. Refer section [MSIX App Attach] for more information.
10. MSIX Name (Applicable for MSIX App Attach type applications) This is name of MSIX package which is added inside the VHD file. Refer section [MSIX App Attach] for more information.
11. Volume Guid (Applicable for MSIX App Attach type applications) VHD packages are mounted on the session host server as virtual disks and have GUIDs associated with them. This is something that is provided by the creator of the VHD package. Refer section [MSIX App Attach] for more information.
12. Application Icon:
  1. Get Icon Automatically: To use icon fetched from application exe
  2. Use Default Icon: Use Accops HyWorks Default Icon
  3. Use Custom Icon: To browser and fetch custom icon for the application
Click Next to proceed to Additional Settings section
In Additional Settings
1. User Context: Select different user context than logged in user to launch the applications.
  1. Run As: Select user context under which to launch the app
    1. Logged-in User: No change in user context. Use the logged in user
    2. Different User: Specify the user account to launch the application
    3. System: Launch the application under system account
2. Folder Information: folder under which the application will be displayed on client side.
3. Launch Settings:
  1. Logout if no window : Some applications (like Explorer and IE) linger for some time before exiting, if this setting is enabled then session will be logged-out when there is no window in the session.
  2. Specify Connection Profile: To be configured if any specific connection profile must be used for application access.
  3. Virtualization Profile: If this application should use any specific Virtualization profile to support Virtual IP.
  4. Limit Total Concurrent Sessions*: Specify the total number of concurrent sessions to be allowed for the application.
  5. Limit Total Concurrent Sessions per server: Specify total number of concurrent sessions per server should be allowed.
  6. Limit Single Instance per user: Specify if only single instance of application should be allowed for one user. If checked, user will not be able to invoke application instance more than once.
  7. Auto Launch: If application should be auto-launched as soon as the user logs-in.
4. Access Settings: Defines from where application can be accessible.
  1. Portal and Client: Select this option to publish applications to be shown on client and HyLite.
  2. Create Desktop shortcut: Specify location for application shortcut.
  3. Pin Applications to Start Menu: Specify whether application start menu shortcut should be created or not.
Click Next to proceed to Select Teams & Servers section
In Teams & Servers, select either Sessions Teams or individual Session server to publish an application. When an application is published from a Session Team, it is made available from all Session Hosts within this Team. When any new Session host is added to a Session Team, the application is automatically available from the newly added Session Host server.

Applications can be added to Session Teams and Session Hosts from their respective management sections also.

Refer Server Selection for Application publishing for information.
Click Next to proceed to Entitlements
In Entitlements, click Add to add entitlement and select Users/ Groups/ OUs or Pools (User based)
Click Next to proceed to Client Group
Client Group: Configuring client group is optional, to restrict shared hosted desktop or application access to only those users who are connecting from specific LAN or WAN or MAC. Refer Client Groups to enable restricted client groups access.
Click Save to complete the application creation process. Once application is saved, administrator will be navigated back to the Applications section and application will be listed.

Notes For Application Details

Note

Application details (Full Path/ Internal Name and Icon) will be fetched automatically, when administrator will type the application exe path and will move to the next tab (using key entry Tab or by using Mouse click). Refer Section: Get Application Details by Providing Full Application Path
- This does not work for applications from Linux session host servers
Administrator can also navigate to configured Session Host Server directory to browse and get the application details. See section: Browse Application in Session Host Server Directory

Application Publishing Facts and Concepts

Browse Application in Session Host Server Directory

Note

Only applicable for Windows based session host servers

Select Session Team using dropdown in Browse Application Details
Select RDS Server
Click Browse to open File System dialog
In File System dialog, click any displayed drive to navigate to application path
Navigate to the folder where application exe can be found and select the application.exe (Google chrome application is selected in below image)
1. It will automatically fetch the icon and will show success message in the same dialog
2. Click Get Details to go back to Add Application wizard
Application Path and Application Internal Name will get filled automatically

Get Application Details by Typing Full Application Path

An additional shortcut method is also available to get application details automatically.

In Add Application wizard. Type the full path of the executable file in Application Path field. Change the focus using tab or mouse click some other field. All the application details (Full Path/ Internal Name and Icon) will be fetched automatically

Server Selection for Application publishing

The list of servers includes all the session host servers added in the current organization
If the selected servers are members of session team, then while providing the application session, server will be selected as per load balancing mechanism
If the selected servers does not belong to the same session team, then it won't follow any load balancing mechanism and session can be given from any server
- If the Authorization server is built-in, then application session will be provided from the session host server from which the user belongs to.
While selecting a server which does not have the application installed, will be shown with a cross (X) and should not be selected.
- Selecting such server will continue to give application from the server and then may result in failed session when given from server.

Application Specific Connection Profile

In HyWorks deployment, if any specific connection profile must be used for an application then that can be done by specifying the connection profile for the application.

Application specific connection profile takes priority only when

When the access mode in connection profile is selected as Shell mode
In case of Remote App mode, application specific connection profile will only be used if that application is the first from the specific session host server. If the application is accessed after invoking any other application, applying new connection profile, won't be possible.

Connection profile for an application can be specified in Additional Settings section of Add or Edit Application wizard.

Application in Shell and RemoteApp mode

Applications can be accessed in RemoteApp or Shell mode as follows:

Shell mode: In shell mode, published application is opened in shell (Black background) where only accessed application will be shown. For each application instance a separate RDS session is created.
- Shell mode is more user friendly in HyLite, which creates a new tab for new RDS session and thus different applications are available in different tabs.
- Shell mode is recommended while being accessed from HyWorks client for Linux or MAC platforms
RemoteApp mode: Seamless application mode, which appears like native applications. Multiple instances of applications in RemoteApp mode can be opened from single RDS session.
- Remote App mode gives better user experience while being accessed from HyWorks Client on Windows platforms.

How to enable Shell/RemoteApp mode: To enable specific mode:

Add/ Edit a connection profile
Go to Application Access Settings screen
Configure Application Launch Mode as required access mode i.e. Remote App or Shell
Assign connection profile to application.

In case, where only Windows based clients are there default profile can be used with RemoteApp mode and similarly cases where only HyLite based deployment is preferred, connection profile can be modified to use Shell mode

Always Seamless and Never Seamless Access Experience

Seamless mode refers to access experience where user is shown progress bar until its session gets prepared on session host server and thus user gets a seamless experience.

Never Seamless mode displays a window with all session loading information showing always and post launch of application the window will still be there as a parent window.

Use Cases for configuring never seamless mode:

Application launch is not working
User input is needed for completing logon process but with seamless mode is not showing that and thus session fails to launch application

How to configure Never Seamless mode

Add/Edit connection profile
Go to Application Access Settings screen
Set Session Experience Option as Never Seamless

Using Folders to Categorize Application

Administrator can choose to categorize the application, as how they will be shown on client side using putting applications in a container referred as Folder.

Folders can be created or modified in Create Application or Edit Application wizard only. To create a new folder, select option Create New in Folder Information section and provide appropriate name for the folder.
To use an existing folder, select option Use Existing, in Folder Information section in Additional Settings screen of Add or Edit Application wizard. All existing folder names will be displayed in dropdown list.
Administrator can choose to edit an existing folder by clicking on Edit . The folder name will be modified with new folder name provided in Edit Folder wizard.

When user logs in from HyWorks Client, the applications will be shown in respective folders only.

Note

Folders once created, cannot be deleted. However, applications can easily be moved out by selecting folder as None.

Publishing Application for Shared Hosted Desktops only/ Desktop Customization/ HyShell

Use HyWorks desktop customization when users are to be given full desktop access but at the same time display the applications which are published to it

Desktop customization refers toa process, where user session on shared hosted desktop will be customized to show application shortcuts on desktop and start menu for ease of access.

To enable desktop customization following two changes must be done:

Enable desktop customization on shared session hosts
1. Windows Session Host Servers:
  1. Registry Location: KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Accops\Controller\EDC\SESSIONHOST
  2. ISDESKTOPCUSTOMIZATIONENABLED set as TRUE
  3. Restart HyWorks Session Host service
2. Linux:
  1. Connect to Linux SHD server via SSH Client(if ssh enabled) or console session
  2. Open HyShell configuration file
    
    sudo vi /etc/edcdvm/linuxDVM/hyShell/hyshell.config
  3. Set the value for IS_HYSHELL_ENABLED to 1.
  4. Restart DVM Agent Service, by using following command,
    
    sudo systemctl restart edcdvm
Configure Applications for HyShell

While HyShell has been enabled on shared session hosts, applications can be configured to be enabled for HyShell, follow the below steps:
1. In Application Add/Edit wizard, go to Additional Settings screen
2. In section Access Settings: Defines from where application can be accessible. Following options are available for Publish the Applications on:
  1. Create Desktop shortcut
    1. On Shared Hosted Desktop: With desktop customization or HyShell is enabled on session host servers, this published application shortcuts will be created in user's desktop on shared hosted desktop. Refer HyShell section for more information on this.
  2. Pin Applications to Start Menu:
    1. On Shared Hosted Desktop: Select this option to pin application shortcuts on shared hosted desktop.
  Refer section HyShell for more information on above options.
3. Save the application and application shortcuts will be created in user's desktop session.

Important

HyShell supports only those application shortcuts in session, which are assigned to user and published from this server. If any application is not available or published on current server it will not create the shortcut.
Linux Session Host Server: HyShell is supported with Accops delivered Linux SHD OS only. Vanilla xUbuntu images configured as session host server do not support desktop customization using HyShell

Manage Applications

View Published Application

Go to Configuration > Workspace > Applications to view list of published applications.

Sr. No.	Column Name	Description
1	Application Name	Displays the name of application
2	Folder Name	If application is kept under specific folder
3	Description	Application description
4	Session Settings	Connection profile, if any specific connection profile is provided
5	Application Status	Enabled/ Disabled
6	Defined In	If application is defined in current organization level. "This" means application has been published in current organization
7	Application Platform	Windows or Linux as icon

View Application Configurations

Click Application Name from the Application list or selecting an application and click View Details.

Edit Applications

To modify the configurations of an existing application, Edit Application wizard can be used. Applications can be opened in Edit mode, following two methods can be used:

Go to Configuration > Workspace > Applications and select application and click Edit
Update the required information

Copy Application

Copying an application enables administrator to easily clone the same application with all similar configurations and entitlements.

Go to Configuration > Workspace > Applications.
Select Application from the list and click Copy.
Copy Application dialog will be displayed to provide new name for the new application. Default name uses format: Application Name-Copy.
Provide appropriate name and click Save .
New application will be created by cloning an existing application with the provided name and will be displayed in the list.

Delete Application

Go to Configuration > Workspace > Applications.
Select Application from the list and click Delete.

Deleting an application will have the following impact on different user sessions:

New Sessions: Users on fresh logon won't be displayed with deleted applications
Existing Sessions:
1. User who have already logged-in
  1. Deleted application will be deleted on refreshing the application list
  2. On clicking on application name, error 'No Apps found' will be displayed
2. Users with running sessions of the applications will continue to use the application, until user logs out or session expires as per configured timeouts.

Disabling Application

Instead of deleting an application, application can be marked as Disabled. Disabling an application can have similar impact as deleting, except application can be enabled in future with same configurations.

Impact of disabling an application:

New Sessions: Users on fresh logon won't be displayed with disabled applications
Existing Sessions:
1. User who have already logged-in
  1. Disabled application will be disappeared on refreshing the application list
  2. On clicking on application name, error 'Application is disabled by administrator' will be displayed
2. Users with running sessions of the applications will continue to use the application, until user logs out or session expires as per configured timeouts.

To disable an application, following steps can be used:

In Add Application wizard, keep Application Status as Disabled.
Select application -> Click Edit -> In Edit application wizard -> Set Application Status as disabled.

Exporting Applications

HyWorks Controller v3.3 is having option To export CSV of all published applications in current organization from management console. To export CSV of applications:

Go to HyWorks Controller Management Console -> Workspace -> Applications
Click Export
Select Encoding type and columns
Click Export
CSV with details of all applications will be downloaded.

Application Entitlements Management

Entitlements section under Configuration can be used to manage application and connection profile assignments to following objects:

Users
Groups
OUs
Pools

This section will describe the entitlements management for these objects.

Users

Users section in Entitlements menu, displays the current entitlements to the users and can be used to manage entitlements and connection profile assignments.

Viewing User Entitlements

Navigating to Users tab in Entitlements screen, displays the list of Users having one or more application entitlements or having assigned connection profiles.

Following information is displayed in respective columns:

Username: Username of the user
Connection Profile: Assigned connection profile
No. of Applications: Number of applications assigned to selected user
Authorization Server: Auth server details from where users are fetched

Administrator from Users section under Entitlements, can also search user entitlements by providing appropriate search string in the provided search box.

Viewing Entitlements of a Single User

To view entitlements of any specific user:

Select a single user from Users list and Click View Details or Click username
All entitlements to the user will be displayed in following two sections
1. Applications directly assigned to the user
2. Application assigned to the user through group or OU

Note

From Users tab in Entitlements section, applications directly assigned to user can be deleted.
On client side, only the final set of applications (removing duplicate assignments through groups or OUs) are shown.

Add User Entitlements

To add new user entitlements, follow the below process:

Go to Entitlements -> Users section
Click Add Entitlement
In Users -- Add Entitlement wizard
1. Click Add Users
2. Available Clients dialog will be displayed, search with appropriate search string to get users list
3. Select intended users and Click OK
4. Selected users will be added in Add Entitlements wizard
Click Next to proceed to Applications screen
In Application screen, select applications to be assigned to selected user(s)
Click Next to proceed to Connection Profiles screen
In Connection Profiles screen
1. Select any appropriate connection profile to be assigned to users
2. Keep connection profiles unchecked if no specific connection profile must be assigned
Click Save to save the entitlements
All user entitlements will be saved and now the Users screen will start displaying the list of users having entitlements.
On logon, user will be shown all assigned applications.

Edit User Entitlement

Like adding user entitlements, administrator can also modify the user entitlements as well. To modify entitlements of a user:

Select a single user from Users list and Click Edit Entitlement
List of assigned applications will be displayed with selected checkboxes and unassigned applications will be listed with unchecked checkboxes
Select or deselect applications as per requirement
Click Save to save entitlement changes
Application entitlements will be updated and user entry in entitlements list will now be displayed with respective application count.
On new logon, user will be displayed with updated list of applications.

Remove Entitlement

A user's entitlements can be removed from using following steps:

Select a single user from Users list and Click Remove Entitlement
Confirm Action dialog will be displayed, Click Delete to continue removing the entitlements
User entitlements will be removed and if user is not assigned with connection profile, its entry from Users section under Entitlements will also be removed.

Note

Entry of a user/group or OU in Entitlements section remains until it is assigned with at least on application or it is assigned with connection profile.

Assign Profile

Administrator can also assign any specific connection profile to one or more users by following the below steps:

Select one, more or all users displayed in Users section under Entitlements
Click Assign Profile
Connection Profiles dialog will be displayed with list of connection profiles
Select appropriate connection profile and Click Save
Connection profile will be assigned to all the users selected and on next logon connection profile will be applied in user session.

Unassign Profile

Like assigning profile, administrator can also unassign connection profile from a single user, multiple users or all users listed in Users section under Entitlements. Follow the below steps to unassign connection profiles from user entitlements:

Select one, more or all users displayed in Users section under Entitlements
Click Unassign Profile
Connection profile will be unassigned and now users will be listed with no connection profile entry against them

Important

If users are not having any entitlements, then on unassigning the connection profiles, their entry from Entitlements section will be removed.

Groups

Groups section in Entitlements menu, displays the current entitlements to the groups and can be used to manage entitlements and connection profile assignments.

All operations for group based entitlements remain same as specified in section Users above.

Following operations on group entitlements can be performed:

View List of Group Entitlements
View Application Entitlements of a group
Add Group Entitlement
Edit Group Entitlement
Remove Group Entitlement
Assign Profile
Unassign Profile

OUs

OUs section in Entitlements menu, displays the current entitlements to the OUs and can be used to manage entitlements and connection profile assignments.

All operations for OUs based entitlements remain same as specified in section Users above.

Following operations on OUs entitlements can be performed:

View List of OUs Entitlements
View Application Entitlements of an OU
Add OU Entitlement
Edit OU Entitlement
Remove OU Entitlement
Assign Profile
Unassign Profile

Pools

Direct application entitlements to a desktop pool can be managed from Pools section under Entitlements menu, if it satisfies the following conditions:

If it's a USER BASED desktop pool
It's a shared virtual desktop pool

Making the entitlements to desktop pool, indirectly assigns the applications to all the users belonging to the desktop pool.

All operations for Pools based entitlements remain same as specified in section Users above.

Following operations on Pools entitlements can be performed:

View List of Pools Entitlements
View Application Entitlements of a Desktop Pool
Add Pool Entitlement
Edit Pool Entitlement
Remove Pool Entitlement
Assign Profile
Unassign Profile

Application Sessions Management

Now all details to provide applications are already covered in previous sections, this section will provide details of administrating application sessions.

Application access details in User Sessions

Whenever a user connects to HyWorks and accesses any published applications, it is reflected as a count in User Sessions page, e.g. a user has initiated 3 application instances then Application Sessions column will show as 3.

Application Sessions Detailed View and Management

Go to Monitoring -> App Session and page will offer all the details of applications accessed by end-users.

Provider Session: It is equivalent to session Id on session host server, in which one or multiple application sessions can run. E.g. having a provider session with running calculator, notepad applications in remote app mode under it.

App Sessions: An instance of application running under provider session. Notepad running in provider session.

Information available in App Session Section

Sr. No.	Column Name	Description
1	Username	Displays the username of the logged in user
2	IP Address	IP address of the server from app session is provided
3	Session ID	Remote Desktop Server session id of the user
4	No of Applications	Count of application sessions
5	Connection Profile	Connection profile applied on application session
6	Status	Status of App session, which could be Running/Initializing/ Disconnected
7	Remote Control	to perform session shadow on application session

Clicking on username, expands the details of app sessions running for the user and following information is displayed for application sessions:

Sr. No.	Column Name	Description
1	Application Name	Display name of the application, accessed by user
2	Server name	Name of session host server on which remote session (app session) is running in
3	VIP	Displaying virtual IP address assigned to application. If not enabled then VIP column will have value as Not Available
4	Status	Status of app session, which could be Running/Initializing/ Disconnected

Application Session Removal

Administrator can choose to remove specific application sessions and the section enables administrator to remove all the application sessions from all session host servers or terminate specific application sessions.

Terminate Specific Application Session: To terminate specific application session for a user, below mentioned steps can be used:
1. Go to Monitoring -- Sessions -- App Sessions
2. Click Username (User whose application session needs to be terminated)
3. This will expand and display the list of the application sessions running for the user
4. Select the application needs to be closed
5. Click Remove App Session(s)
6. On Confirm Action dialog,
  1. Select option Show message to specify custom message to be displayed to user while terminating the app session
  2. Specify Wait Time in minutes to allow user to keep the session for the specified time
  3. Click Remove
7. Selected remote app session will be closed and user will be notified as per specified options in Confirm Action dialog
Administrator can opt to remove single or multiple app sessions at a time.
Terminate Provider Session or Remove RDS Sessions of a user: In certain situations, administrator can opt to remove all application sessions of a user, termed as provider session removal. To remove provider session of a user, following steps can be used:
1. Go to Monitoring -- Sessions -- App Sessions
2. Select the Username (User whose application sessions/ provider sessions need to be removed)
3. Click Terminate Process(s)
4. Click Remove on Confirm Action dialog
5. User remote session from all the session host servers will be completely removed.