App-V 4.5 Resource Kit: Application Virtualization SFT Parser Tool

Today's blog post is a continuation of the series covering the 5 resource kit tools released recently.

As its name implies, the SFT parser tool makes it easy to inspect and extract information from SFT files. The tool would be useful for administrators who want to validate large SFT files have been copied properly before deploying. It may also help with confirming the version of application binaries included in a package without having to stream the application to a test system.

The SFT parser tools provides a command line interface which enables integration with existing scripts:

C:\MSAppVirt_SftInfo_Setup_1.0.0.15100>SftInfo.exe

SftInfo [Options...] input-file [output-file]

Options:

-? [ --help ] generate help message

-A [ --abort-on-error ] do not try to recover from a serious error in the package

-M [ --metadata-output ] arg store metadata (folder/file information) in the specified file

-I [ --file-info ] arg display information about the specified file in the package

-F [ --files ] display all files (and their paths) in the package

-S [ --statistics ] display statistics on package structure and contents

-V [ --verify ] run validation tests on package structure

--input-file arg sft package to process

The first example below uses the –V option and shows a successful validation. The second example extracts properties of the winword.exe file from an Office 2007 package. An administrator can use the creation date to easily identify the version of binaries deployed without having to stream the application.

C:\MSAppVirt_SftInfo_Setup_1.0.0.15100>SftInfo.exe –V AR8_VIS_4.5.0. 1485.sft

Chunk: SMFF Version: 2 Offset: 0x0 Size: 29

Processing Softricity Header Chunk

Chunk: PROP Version: 1 Offset: 0x1D Size: 33

Processing Properties Header Chunk

Chunk: INDX Version: 2 Offset: 0x3E Size: 105

Processing Index Header Chunk

Chunk: CIDX Version: 3 Offset: 0xA7 Size: 149688

Processing Compressed Index Header Chunk

Processing Security Descriptor Header

Processing Index Entries....

Chunk: BMAP Version: 2 Offset: 0x2495F Size: 25651

Processing BlockMap Header Chunk

Processing BlockMap Entries...

Chunk: CONT Version: 1 Offset: 0x2AD92 Size: 416

Processing Content Description Header Chunk

Processing 4836 DATA Chunks............

Processing DATA Chunks is Complete

Verification Complete

C:\MSAppVirt_SftInfo_Setup_1.0.0.15100>sftinfo -I /Office12/WINWORD.EXE Office2007SP1_K8T_4.5.0.1485.sft

Chunk: SMFF Version: 2 Offset: 0x0 Size: 29

Processing Softricity Header Chunk

Chunk: PROP Version: 1 Offset: 0x1D Size: 33

Processing Properties Header Chunk

Chunk: INDX Version: 2 Offset: 0x3E Size: 105

Processing Index Header Chunk

Chunk: CIDX Version: 3 Offset: 0xA7 Size: 1526613

Processing Compressed Index Header Chunk

Processing Security Descriptor Header

Processing Index Entries....................................................

Chunk: BMAP Version: 2 Offset: 0x174BFC Size: 572591

Processing BlockMap Header Chunk

Processing BlockMap Entries...............................................

Chunk: CONT Version: 1 Offset: 0x2008AB Size: 426

Processing Content Description Header Chunk

Processing 124167 DATA Chunks...................................................

................................................................................

................................................................................

................................................................................

...................

Processing DATA Chunks is Complete

Information on file: /Office12/WINWORD.EXE

Short Name: WINWORD.EXE

Attributes: 32

Size: 0X55770 350,064

Creation Time : 08/28/07 23:16:00

Last Write Time : 08/28/07 23:16:00

Last Access Time: 09/09/08 10:21:37

You can download the SFT parser tool here.

Questions or feedback? We would love to hear from you at the App-V TechNet forums.

Tomorrow we’ll cover the App-V Client Log Parser Utility…