Resource Kit : The App-V Best Practise Analyzer

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We have some great resource kit tools that can really help new App-V admins to fine tune there app-v estate. The App-V Best Practise Analyzer is a really handy tool that you can use. How do you know whether your Management\Streaming Server has settings that result in sub-optimal server performance. Enter the Microsoft Application Virtualization Best Practices Analyzer tool. The App-V BPA is a tool used to scan an App-V Management or Streaming Server for configuration settings that could result in sub-optimal server performance. The App-V BPA produces standardized reports that are generated by the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer.

Key Features Included Are:
  • Scanning of local and remote servers
  • A single BPA installation can scan multiple servers
  • HTML-format report is displayed upon completion of the scan
  • XML-format report with the results of the scan is saved to the current directory
  • Warnings and errors have specific actionable guidance
  • Console-based operation

 

What will you need to run the tool:

1) .Net Framework 2.0 - https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en 

2) Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer - https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DB70824D-ABAE-4A92-9AA2-1F43C0FA49B3&displaylang=en 

3) Microsoft Application Virtualization Best Practices Analyzer - https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1A091960-1C9F-4BFC-9247-284E83C07D02&displaylang=en 

So how do we install and use this tool I hear you ask? Well lets go through it…

 

Make sure you have the .net framework 2.0 installed on your base machine.

 

Then install the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer, its a simple next next finish.

1) Run the MBCASetup32.msi or MBCASetup64.msi to start the installation and at the Welcome Screen click next

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2) In the End-User Licences Agreement screen Read through and accept the licensing information and click next

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3) In the Destination Folder screen decide your path for the installation. In this instance we will accept the default location (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer) and click Next

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4) At the Ready to install MBCA screen click Next

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5)And allow the installation to take place, You should end up with a completed installation screen at this point click Finish.

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6) Now Locate and run the AppVirtBPA.msi, the setup will run and a welcome screen will be displayed, click Next

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7) At the Licence Agreement Screen click I Agree and then click Next

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8)At the Select Destination Folder, decide where you want the installation to install to. For simplicity I have kept this install to the default location (C:\Program Files\Microsoft App-V Best Practices Analyzer)

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9) At the Confirm Installation click Finish

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10)The installation will now take place and a Installation Complete screen will appear, click Finish at this point.

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11) Now that everything is installed its now possible to run the App-V Best Practise Analyzer. Open a command prompt and change directory to where the AppVirtBPA tool is (you don't have to do this but I am just for simplicity), in this instance c:\Program Files\Microsoft App-V Best Practices Analyzer

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12) The BPA tool requires a specific command line, here is an output from the tool running /?

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c:\Program Files\Microsoft App-V Best Practices Analyzer>AppVirtBPA.exe /?

Microsoft Application Virtualization Best Practices Analyzer v4.5.1.1021

Description:
Analyze the configuration of an Application Virtualization server to detect potential discrepancies from recommended settings.

Usage:
AppVirtBPA [/server:<serverName>] [/help] [/hidehtml] [/MBCALocation:<path>] [/IFLocation:<path>]

[/server:<serverName>]          The machine name of the Application Virtualization server to be analyzed. Defaults   to localhost.

[/help]                         Displays this help. (Short form: /?)

[/hidehtml]                     Does not display the html report after it has been generated.

[/MBCALocation:<path>]          Path to MBCA.exe.  Defaults to in-registry value.

[/IFLocation:<path>]            Path to BPA IF file.  Defaults to current directory.

 

13) Now I am running this tool on my Management Server and want to gather information on the potential issues that I may have, to run the report I will execute the following command;

AppVirtBPA [/server:<serverName>]  [/MBCALocation:<path>]

AppVirtBPA.exe /server:APPVSRV /MBCALocation:"c:\Program Files\Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer\MBCA.exe"

 

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14) The App-V Best Practise analyzer will target my specified server and review the App-V Configuration for issues, It will then present you a html file which will have your report of potential problems. In this instance the Report gives me details that my Management Server and the App-V Database are on the same machine !!!! it also gives me a suggestion of moving the DB to another platform……. luckily this is just my test machine (so i wont be losing much sleep over this issue :o) )

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The reports in this instance are saved to : “C:\Program Files\Microsoft App-V Best Practices Analyzer” with a file called “report.htm”

 

Well that's pretty much it! Its a really handy resource. And will give you a quick report on some potential issues that may be affecting you.