Migrating to App-V 5.1 from a previous version

With Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 5.1, you can migrate your existing App-V 4.6 or App-V 5.0 infrastructure to the more flexible, integrated, and easier to manage App-V 5.1 infrastructure. You can't migrate directly from App-V 4.x to App-V 5.1. If you're using App-V 4.x, you must migrate to App-V 5.0 first. For more information on migrating from App-V 4.x to App-V 5.0, see Migrating from a previous version

For more information about the differences between App-V 4.6 and App-V 5.1, see the Differences between App-V 4.6 and App-V 5.0 section of About App-V 5.0.

Improvements to the App-V 5.1 package converter

You can now use the package converter to convert App-V 4.6 packages that contain scripts, and registry information and scripts from source .osd files are now included in package converter output.

You can also use the -OSDsToIncludeInPackage parameter with the ConvertFrom-AppvLegacyPackage cmdlet to specify which .osd files' information is converted and placed within the new package.

New in App-V 5.1

New .xml files are created corresponding to the .osd files associated with a package; these files include the following information:

• Environment variables
• Shortcuts
• File type associations
• Registry information
• Scripts

You can now choose to add information from a subset of the .osd files in the source directory to the package using the -OSDsToIncludeInPackage parameter.

Before App-V 5.1

Registry information and scripts included in .osd files associated with a package weren't included in package converter output. The package converter would populate the new package with information from all of the .osd files in the source directory.

Example conversion statement

To understand the new process, review the following example ConvertFrom-AppvLegacyPackage package converter statement.

If the source directory (\\OldPkgStore\ContosoApp) includes the following files:

• ContosoApp.sft

• ContosoApp.msi

• ContosoApp.sprj

• ContosoApp_manifest.xml

• X.osd

• Y.osd

• Z.osd

And you run this command:

ConvertFrom-AppvLegacyPackage -SourcePath \\OldPkgStore\ContosoApp\ -DestinationPath \\NewPkgStore\ContosoApp\ -OSDsToIncludeInPackage X.osd,Y.osd

The following files are created in the destination directory (\\NewPkgStore\ContosoApp):

• ContosoApp.appv

• ContosoApp.msi

• ContosoApp_DeploymentConfig.xml

• ContosoApp_UserConfig.xml

• X_Config.xml

• Y_Config.xml

• Z_Config.xml

Description of conversion to *config.xml files

Each .osd file is converted to a separate, corresponding .xml file that contains the items listed here in App-V 5.1 deployment configuration format. These items can then be copied from these .xml files and placed in the deployment configuration or user configuration files as desired.

In this example, there are three .xml files, corresponding with the three .osd files in the source directory. Each .xml file contains the environment variables, shortcuts, file type associations, registry information, and scripts in its corresponding .osd file.

Description of conversion to user and deployment configuration files

The information from the .osd files specified in the -OSDsToIncludeInPackage parameter are converted and placed inside the package. The converter then populates the deployment configuration file and the user configuration file with the contents of the package, just as App-V Sequencer does when sequencing a new package.

In this example, environment variables, shortcuts, and file type associations included in X.osd and Y.osd were converted and placed in the App-V package, and some of this information was also included in the deployment configuration and user configuration files. X.osd and Y.osd were used because they were included as arguments to the -OSDsToIncludeInPackage parameter. No information from Z.osd was included in the package, because it wasn't included as one of these arguments.

Converting packages created using a prior version of App-V

Use the package converter utility to upgrade virtual application packages created using versions of App-V before App-V 5.0. The package converter uses PowerShell to convert packages and can help automate the process if you have many packages that require conversion.

What to know before you convert existing packages

When converting a package check for failing files or shortcuts. Locate the item in App-V 4.6 package. It could possibly be a hard-coded path. Convert the path.

Migrating clients

The following table displays the recommended method for upgrading clients.

Migrating the App-V 5.1 server full infrastructure

There's no direct method to upgrade to a full App-V 5.1 infrastructure. Use the information in the following section for information about upgrading the App-V server.

Other migration tasks

You can also do other migration tasks such as reconfiguring end points and opening a package created using a prior version on a computer running the App-V 5.1 client. The following links provide more information about these tasks.

• How to migrate extension points from an App-V 4.6 package to a converted App-V 5.1 package for all users on a specific computer

• How to migrate extension points from an App-V 4.6 package to App-V 5.1 for a specific user

• How to revert extension points from an App-V 5.1 package to an App-V 4.6 package for all users on a specific computer

• How to revert extension points from an App-V 5.1 package to an App-V 4.6 package for a specific user

Other resources for App-V migration tasks

Operations for App-V 5.1

A simplified Microsoft App-V 5.1 management server upgrade procedure