Using ZfD Application Management, you can distribute (install) applications to workstations and uninstall the applications you've distributed. The following sections introduce the components involved in Application Management and provide additional information about distributing, uninstalling, and caching applications:
ZfD Application Management consists of three main components:
For an application to be distributed to a workstation, the application must first have an NDS object that defines the information required to distribute it. ZfD Application Management includes a ConsoleOne® snap-in that enables you to create Application objects in NDS. Application objects define information such as:
Application objects give you tremendous control over how applications are distributed. For example, you could create an Application object that installs an application to the user's workstation and then immediately runs the application. Or you could create an Application object that automatically installs files when the user logs in to a workstation and then disappears from the workstation's desktop. You could even create Application objects that are available for a certain period of time or only on specific days.
In addition to adding Application objects to NDS, the Application Management snap-in adds new property pages to the following objects: User, Group, Workstation, Workstation Group, Organizational Unit, and Organization. These property pages let you associate applications with a specific user, a specific workstation, groups of users, groups of workstations, entire organizational units, or entire organizations.
Distributing an application to a workstation can require various changes to the workstation, such as modifying the workstation's settings and installing the application's source files. All these changes must be recorded in the Application object.
To help you create Application objects that contain the correct distribution information, ZfD Application Management provides the snAppShotTM utility. SnAppShot creates application installation packages that consist of two types of files: an Application object template (.AOT) file and one or more application source (.FIL) files.
The .AOT file contains information about the application source (.FIL) files that will be installed and the workstation settings that will be modified to support the application. When you create an Application object, you can specify the .AOT file to use as the template for the Application object, in which case the .AOT information is used to populate the Application object's information fields (source files location, installation target directory, Registry settings, .INI files, shortcuts, and so forth).
To use snAppShot to create an installation package for an application, you start snAppShot on a workstation that does not have the application installed. SnAppshot records the changes that occur on the workstation as the application is installed. As the installation proceeds, snAppShot captures the differences between the workstation's pre-installation configuration state and the workstation's post-installation state, compares the two pictures, and records any differences in the .AOT file. SnAppShot also tracks all of the files that are installed to the workstation. These files, which become the application source files, are copied to a network source location, renamed numerically, and given a .FIL file extension.
SnAppShot can be used on Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000 workstations.
Novell® Application LauncherTM and Application Explorer are workstation applications that display Application object icons on users' workstations and perform various application management functions, such as distributing (installing) applications, uninstalling applications, and caching applications. Application Launcher and Application Explorer display only the Application objects to which the user or workstation has been associated (granted rights).
Application Launcher is a standalone desktop window. With Application Launcher, users can create personal folders (if you've given them the appropriate rights), refresh applications, change views, and get information about folders and applications.
Application Explorer also provides a standalone desktop window. Application Launcher limits you to displaying Application objects only in the Application Launcher window, but Application Explorer lets you display Application objects in the Application Explorer window, the Start menu, the Quick Launch toolbar, the system tray, and the desktop.
Both Application Launcher and Application Explorer can be used on Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000 workstations. The main difference is that Application Launcher can be used to replace the Windows desktop, providing greater administrative control of users' workstations, while Application Explorer extends the desktop and allows users to access Application objects from multiple locations.
You control whether users run Application Launcher/Explorer by including the appropriate executable commands in users' login scripts.
Application Launcher/Explorer requires the Novell ClientTM to be installed on the workstation.
ZfD Application Management provides the ability to distribute applications to Windows 95/98 and Windows NT/2000 workstations. You can:
Any application (including MSI-based applications) distributed through ZfD Application Management can be uninstalled. The uninstall includes the deletion of all files, .INI entries, and registry entries associated with the application. Shared DLL references are observed.
Each user's workstation contains a local cache that contains information about applications installed on the workstation. When you uninstall an application, this cache is used to ensure that the appropriate files and settings are removed from the workstation.
By default, users are restricted from uninstalling applications themselves; however, you as a system administrator can enable users with this capability, or you can limit application uninstall to yourself and other system administrators.
Application caching enables users to install, run, and verify (repair) applications while they are disconnected from NDS.
ZfD Application Management creates a hidden cache directory (NALCACHE) on the root of each user's workstation. This cache directory contains the NDS information required to run an application when the workstation is disconnected from NDS. If the application has already been installed to the workstation and the user disconnects from NDS, the application will continue to run just as if the user were still connected.
The cache directory also can contain the application source files and other information required to install the application or verify (repair) problems that may occur with the application while in disconnected mode. For example, if a user does not install the application before disconnecting from NDS, he or she can still install it if the application has been cached to the workstation's cache directory.
To ensure that users will always have mission-critical applications when disconnected, you can configure Application objects to be cached automatically when you associate the Application objects with users. This is called a forced cache. In addition, you can configure Application Launcher/Explorer to display the Application Management dialog box. This dialog box, which is turned of by default, enables users to select which applications they want to cache to their workstations' local drives.
To save disk space, application files are compressed before being stored in the cache directory.