Automate the complete capturing process using App Volumes Tools

Why?

With the release of App Volumes 2103, an extra option has been added to the installer. Now it is possible to select and install App Volumes Tools on a Windows 10 machine. The new appcapture Command-Line and PowerShell tools can be used to package applications without the App Volumes Manager Console. This command enables customers to automate packaging with silent installers and package in both the VMDK and VHD formats simultaneously. It also provides other useful tools to convert between VHD and VMDK and work with the MSIX app attach formatted packages.

To install App Volumes Tools select “Install App Volumes Tools” and “Install”

App Volumes Tools installs the following Cmdlets:

How?

In this example I want to be able to go through the following steps automatically using a powershell script.

To go through all these steps I need more than just the App Volumes Tools commands. I will also have to use the App Volumes API. Despite the availability of an API explorer, I still had to do some research. I used the tool Fiddler to find out what Rest API calls were made from App Volumes at certain steps.

Prepare the capturing machine

In the following example I installed the App Volumes Tools on a Windows 10 20h2 Operating System. According to the vmware documentation, the machine must meet the following prerequisites:

Ensure that you start a new capture every time on a clean virtual machine.
Ensure that the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows is disabled.
You must run the command-line capture program as an administrator.
Ensure that the command-line capture program utility is installed at C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\AppCapture.
Configure WINRM for the communication between the Capturing VM and the machine which will start the script.

In this example I also provided the virtual machine with the following requirements:

Autologon for Administrator enabled (to record the entire process)
Chocolatey installed
PowerCLI installed to Start and Stop the VM and als to revert the VM to the right snapshot

The App Volumes tool is very easy to use. I only needed a few lines of script to start the capture process, install the applications “VLC” and finish the capture process as you can see below.

#Starting, Installing and Finalizing the App Volumes Capture Process 
Write-Host "Capturing, Installing and Finalizing are initiated" -ForegroundColor Green $Destination = "\\" + $AppVolServer + "\C$\Program Files (x86)\CloudVolumes\Manager\ppv\packages_templates" 
Invoke-Command -ComputerName w10-tools -ScriptBlock { Start-AVAppCapture -Name $using:App ; 
                                                      choco install $using:App -y;
                                                      Stop-AVTask } -Credential $WinRMCred

Result!

With this example I would like to show you how easy it is to package an application using the App Volumes Tools and some extra scripting. The total package process of the VLC application including copying to the datastore and importing into the App Volumes Manager only took 5 minutes as you can see in the video below. After filling all the variables I only had to adjust 1 field ($App) in the PowerShell script.

The script

This is the complete PowerShell script I used. You only have to fill the variables and you are ready to go.

#Application Name (The installation name known by Chocolatey)
$App              = "vlc" 

#vCenter + VM variables
$Vcenter          = '<Your_Vcenter_Server>'
$Vcenter_User     = "<Your_Vcenter_User>"
$Vcenter_Password = "<Your_Vcenter_Password>"
$Package_VM       = "<Your_Package_VM>"
$Snapshot         = "<Your_Snapshot"

#WinRM variables
$WinRMUser        = "<Your_WinRMUser>" #Domain\User
$WinRMPassword    = ConvertTo-SecureString "<Your_WinRM_PAssword>" -AsPlainText -Force
$WinRMCred        = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList ($WinRMUser, $WinRMPassword)

#App Volumes variables
$AppVolServer     = "<Your_App_Volumes_Server>"
$AppVolUser       = "<Your_App_Volumes_User>"
$AppVolPassword   = "<Your_App_Volumes_Passwird"

$Datacenter       = '<Your_DataCenter>'
$Datastore        = '<Your_DataStore>' 
<#I found the datastore UID by using this command:
 $Body = @{
        _       = 1619177827157 
}
$GETDS = Invoke-WebRequest -WebSession $Login -Method get -Uri https://$AppVolServer/cv_api/datastores -Body $Body
$GETDS.content | ConvertFrom-Json | select package_storage #>
$file             = 'files[]'
$files            = 'packages_templates/' + $app +  '_workstation.vmdk'

#Connect to vCenter Server
Write-Host "Connect to Vcenter Server" -ForegroundColor Green
Connect-VIServer -Server $Vcenter -User $Vcenter_User  -Password $Vcenter_Password

#Revert capturing VM to package snapshot
Write-Host "Reverting the capturing VM to the right snapshot" -ForegroundColor Green
Set-VM -VM $Package_VM -SnapShot $Snapshot -Confirm:$false

#Start- capturing VM
Write-Host "Starting the capturing VM" -ForegroundColor Green
Get-VM -Name $Package_VM | Start-VM

#Waiting for WIRM
Write-Host "Waiting for WINRM" -ForegroundColor Green 
DO {$svservice = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Package_VM -ScriptBlock {Get-Service -Name svservice} -Credential $WinRMCred
    }Until($svservice.Status -like "running")

Write-Host "Almost ready to start....." -ForegroundColor Green
sleep -Seconds 60

#Starting, Installing and Finalizing the App Volumes Capture Process
Write-Host "Capturing, Installing and Finalizing are initiated" -ForegroundColor Green
$Destination   = "\\" + $AppVolServer + "\C$\Program Files (x86)\CloudVolumes\Manager\ppv\packages_templates"
Invoke-Command -ComputerName w10-tools -ScriptBlock  {  Start-AVAppCapture -Name $using:App ;
                                                        choco install $using:App -y;
                                                        Stop-AVTask } -Credential $WinRMCred


#Waiting until the VM is available after the reboot
write-host "VM is restarting and finalizing the Capture Process........" -ForegroundColor Green
sleep -Seconds 30
DO {$WinRMService = Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Package_VM -ScriptBlock {Get-Service -Name WinRM} -Credential $WinRMCred | Out-Null
    }Until($WinRMService.status -ne 'running')

#Waiting until the VMDK and JSON files are created
Write-host "Waiting for VMDK and JSON files are created" -ForegroundColor Green
$TestPath = "C:\Programdata\VMware\AppCapture\appvhds\" + $app + "_workstation.vmdk"
Do {$VMDKPresent = Invoke-Command -ComputerName w10-tools -ScriptBlock {Test-Path -Path $using:TestPath} -Credential $WinRMCred
}While($VMDKPresent -like 'False')

sleep -Seconds 10

#Copy .JSON + .VMDK to App Volumes Management Server
Write-Host "Copy .JSON + .VMDK to App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
$share  = "\\" + $AppVolServer + "\C$\Program Files (x86)\CloudVolumes\Manager\ppv\packages_templates" 
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Package_VM -Credential $WinRMCred -ScriptBlock {
    $drive = New-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem -Root $using:share -Name AppVol -Credential $using:winrmcred
    $JSON = "C:\ProgramData\vmware\appcapture\appvhds\" + $using:App + ".json"
    $VMDK = "C:\ProgramData\vmware\appcapture\appvhds\" + $using:App + "_workstation.vmdk"
    Copy-Item  -Path $JSON -Destination AppVol:\ 
    Copy-Item  -Path $VMDK -Destination AppVol:\ 
    Pop-Location
    Remove-PSDrive $drive
}
Write-Host ".JSON + .VMDK copied App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green

#Logging on to App Volumes Server
Write-Host "Logging in to App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
$Body = @{
        username = $AppVolUser
        password = $AppVolPassword
}

#Ignore Certificate errors while I am not trusting the default App Volumes certificate
add-type @"
    using System.Net;
    using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
    public class TrustAllCertsPolicy : ICertificatePolicy {
        public bool CheckValidationResult(
            ServicePoint srvPoint, X509Certificate certificate,
            WebRequest request, int certificateProblem) {
            return true;
        }
    }
"@
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::CertificatePolicy = New-Object TrustAllCertsPolicy

$LoggingIn = Invoke-WebRequest -SessionVariable Login -Method Post -Uri https://$AppVolServer/cv_api/sessions -Body $Body 
Write-Host $LoggingIn.Content -ForegroundColor Green
Set-Variable -Name Login -Value $Login -Scope global

#Uploading VMDK and JSON to Datastore
Write-Host "Uploading VMDK and JSON to Datastore" -ForegroundColor Green
$Body = @{
        datastore = $Datastore
        $file     = $files  
}
$Upload = Invoke-WebRequest -WebSession $Login -Method Post -Uri https://$AppVolServer/cv_api/volumes/preload -Body $Body
Write-Host $Upload.content -ForegroundColor Green

#Waiting for JSON and VMDK while they are uploading to the App Volumes Manager
Write-Host ".JSON and .VMDK are being uploaded to the App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
DO {$pending_jobs = ((Invoke-WebRequest -WebSession $Login -Method Get -Uri "https://$AppVolServer/cv_api/jobs/pending").content | ConvertFrom-Json)
    }UNTIL($pending_jobs.pending -eq "0")
Write-Host "Files are succesfully uploaded" -ForegroundColor Green

#Importing Application/Package from datastore
write-host "Importing Application/Package from datastore to App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
$AVDatacenter  = 'data[datacenter]'
$AVDatastore = 'data[datastore]'
$Path        = 'data[path]' 
$Delay       = 'data[delay]'

$Body = @{
        $AVDatacenter = $Datacenter
        $AVDatastore  = $Datastore
        $Path         = "appvolumes/packages_templates"
        $Delay        = "true"
        
}
$Import = Invoke-WebRequest -WebSession $Login -Method Post -Uri https://$AppVolServer/app_volumes/app_products/import -Body $Body
Write-Host $Import.Content -ForegroundColor Green

#Importing Application and Package from Datastore
Write-Host "Application and Package are being imported in App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
DO {$pending_jobs = ((Invoke-WebRequest -WebSession $Login -Method Get -Uri "https://$AppVolServer/cv_api/jobs/pending").content | ConvertFrom-Json)
   }UNTIL($pending_jobs.pending -eq "0")
write-host "Application and Package are succesfully imported in App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green

#Removing  .JSON + .VMDK from the App Volumes Management Server 
Write-Host "Removing .JSON + .VMDK from the App Volumes Manager" -ForegroundColor Green
$share  = "\\" + $AppVolServer + "\C$\Program Files (x86)\CloudVolumes\Manager\ppv\packages_templates" 
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Package_VM -Credential $WinRMCred -ScriptBlock {
    $drive = New-PSDrive -PSProvider FileSystem -Root $using:share -Name AppVol -Credential $using:winrmcred
    $JSON = "AppVol:\" + $using:App + ".json"
    $VMDK = "AppVol:\" + $using:App + "_workstation.vmdk"
    Remove-Item  -Path $JSON  -Force
    Remove-Item  -Path $VMDK  -Force
    Pop-Location
    Remove-PSDrive $drive
}

#Revert capture VM to capture snapshot
write-host "Revert capture VM to capture snapshot" -ForegroundColor Green
Set-VM -VM $Package_VM -SnapShot $Snapshot -Confirm:$false

#Diconnect from vCenter
write-host "Diconnect from vCenter" -ForegroundColor Green
Disconnect-VIServer -Server $Vcenter -Confirm:$false

Write-Host "###################################################################################################" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "###################################################################################################" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "##    The Application is succesfully captured and is now availabe in the App Volumes Manager     ##" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "###################################################################################################" -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "###################################################################################################" -ForegroundColor Green


01/17/2022
Roch Norwa

Great writeup Roderik!
Have you thought about using esxcli vmkfstools command in your powershell script to clone and convert workstation type of vmdk file into vsphere type ? That might be faster and easier than uploading through ppv folder.
- Reply
  
  02/01/2022
  Roderik de Block
  
  Hi Roch, thank you for your feedback. This is definitely worth trying.

05/13/2022
Ales

Roderik, at first great work … I am just wondering in which phase are you capturing (converting) app into vmdk please? I see you capture it in one step as vhd and then you are waiting for metada and json file created, but how if you end up with vhd file?
- Reply
  
  05/13/2022
  Roderik de Block
  
  Hi, The Start-AVAppCapture commands generates a .vmdk, .vhd and .json file by default.

05/27/2022
Ales

Hi Roderik, how do you manage to create the package into already existing application (in AV console) by this script please?
- Reply
  
  02/06/2023
  Michael
  
  +1 for this.
  I automated the package creation as well but failed to do the import in existing application.

07/05/2022
Naveen

Hi Roderik, can you help with the command/api script to assign AD user/group to appvolumes(4.x) application.
- Reply
  
  07/06/2022
  Roderik de Block
  
  Hi Naveen,
  
  I have not assigned an App Volumes 4.x application by code yet. But you can find the API Explorer over here : https://developer.vmware.com/apis/1243/app-volumes-rest#/Applications/post_app_volumes_app_assignments
  - Reply
    
    07/06/2022
    Naveen
    
    Thank you! for the response. i already tried that and its giving error “bad request from server”. i also followed this article but it didn’t successful for me.
    https://childebrandt42.wordpress.com/2021/09/22/appvolumes-4-x-api-with-google-chrome-and-powershell/

03/29/2023
Pierre

Hello Roderik,
My team and I are trying to automate application capture using Ansible.
Only when starting the capture the command timeout. To avoid this the only solution is to connect to the machine and in this case the process can be done. The same goes for stopping the capture.
Do you know what could cause this?
The VMware support tells us that this is not supported and can’t give us any more answers…
Thanks in advance.
- Reply
  
  04/03/2023
  Roderik de Block
  
  Hi Pierre,
  
  I haven’t seen this behaviour before and not sure what is causing your issue.
  
  Regards, Roderik
- Reply
  
  08/29/2023
  Michael F.
  
  You need to have an interactive logon.
  Just set autologon in your ansible script, reboot and afterwards start your capture script.

Automate the complete capturing process using App Volumes Tools

Why?

How?

Prepare the capturing machine

Result!

The script

Roderik de Block

12 Comments

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