Scripts!

Hello everyone. Welcome to another Appzero tutorial. In this tutorial we are going to present you the use of scripts to customize the behavior of your VAA.

Today I will show you how to use scripts with our software. The use of scripts can greatly customize your VAA and can help you improve the experience for users.

For this example we will be using an Apache VAA.

Open the VAACreator and select System Snapshot

Then enter Apache2.2 for the Snapshot name

The System Snapshot will be created.

Once this is done install Apache with all the default options. Then open up your browser and navigate to http:\\localhost .You will see It Works, then close the browser and open up the VAACreator and select Create Virtual Appliance (VAA).

Enter apache2.2 for the VAA Name.

Select the Apache2.2 Snapshot we took earlier and click next.

You will then arrive at the VAA Review screen, click on next.

The VAA will build itself, then click on next in the configuration screen.

Click on finish!

Then you will dock and start the VAA with dock c:\appliances\apache2.2 and

appzstart c:\appliances\apache2.2

Now you should have an output similar to this.

Run a list command to make sure Apache2.2 s docked and started.

Now lets say I move my VAA to an other computer that already has an application that uses port 80(default port used by Apache) the VAA will not function correctly.

Here is where the scripts come in. You can write a script that will check the ports on the computer before the VAA docks or starts. Go ahead and open c:\appliances\apache2.2\scripts folder.

You will see all the different scripts. We will be using AfterDock.cmd because we need dock the VAA first to push the services to then get the port and check if it is used or not.

Open up AfterDock in a text editor and enter the following script

@echo off
set CheckPort=80
REM >nul ping 127.0.0.1 -n 2
REM All locally defined variables are only good until "endlocal"
setlocal enableextensions
REM If that port is in use, then get the Process ID
for /f "tokens=4,5" %%i in ('netstat -ano ^| findstr :%CheckPort%') do (
set ProcessID=%%i
set ProcessID2=%%j
)
REM Get the name of the executable which is using that port.
if defined ProcessID2 for /f "tokens=1" %%k in ('tasklist /fi "PID eq %ProcessID2%"') do (
set ProcessUsingPort=%%k
) else (
if defined ProcessID for /f "tokens=1" %%l in ('tasklist /fi "PID eq %ProcessID%"') do (
set ProcessUsingPort=%%l
))
>usermsg.vbs ECHO Set wshShell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
REM Set a flag if we have any port errors
set PortProblems=0
if defined ProcessUsingPort (
set PortProblems=1
)
REM If we have any port errors, display the appropriate port error message
if %PortProblems%==1 (
if defined ProcessUsingPort (
>>usermsg.vbs ECHO wshShell.Popup "Apache requires port %CheckPort% to be free, but it appears that this port is currently in use by '%ProcessUsingPort%'!" ^& vbCrLf ^& _
>>usermsg.vbs ECHO "Please free up the port and then try again.", 0, "Apache Self-Extracting VAA"
))
WSCRIPT.EXE usermsg.vbs
DEL usermsg.vbs
endlocal
:END

Run the script with the VAA docked and started, you will see this message

Now save everything, undock the vaa and redock/start it. If the port 80 is not taken by another application you will not see the message and the VAA will dock and start without any issues! If the port 80 is used an error message will pop-up for the user asking him to free the port.

I hope you found this tutorial interesting. As you can see there are many ways to customize the behavior of a VAA in a system. Drop me a line of you have a particular case you would like to see covered with the use of scripts.

AppZero 4.8 New Features

Hey guys, today I want to talk to you about a new feature in the upcoming AppZero release. This feature is called: AppMobilizer. What it basically does is reach to an existing computer with an application already installed and configured, and bring it back to the target system.

When I first started testing this feature I was skeptical, I didn’t think much of it. Thought it would be hard and complicated to use. But as soon as I saw a demo of it in action I was mesmerized. Let’s put things into perspective here, since you are the one reading this blog, YOU are probably the tech savvy guy that everyone goes to see? If your company allows it, you are most likely running Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome. In that mix, you probably have a lot of add-ons that make your life easier. Well imagine installing your browser and all your add-ons / configurations for a co-worker in 4 easy steps!

To use this feature, you need:

Two computers connected to the internet or on a LAN (Basically, they need to be able to talk to each others.)

AppZero 4.8 Software

Turn on Remote Registry on the Source Computer. (Via services.msc)

And most important, you need to be prepared to be amazed!

In this Tutorial we will be moving an existing Opera Browser to a new Target system, and then we will move AdBlock.

Step 1:

Create an empty VAA like so:

Step 2:

Then Open up the AAC (AppZero Administrative Console) and go to the Tether tab.

Check the Use Tether Checkbox, and then enter the Source name where the Opera is already installed. Enter the user name and the password associated with the Source computer.

If you want to test your connection you can click on “Get Remote Services”. If the list populates itself you are successfully connected.

Step 3:

Once this is done go to the Appliance Settings Tab, set the default App to the Opera path on the source system.

Step 4:

Save that and then click on, once the VAA is docked click on

After you click on the VAA will start copying files and folders from the Source to your Target. Once enough files are copied to run the application it will start up.

Click on Yes or No to use Opera as your default browser.

And Voila! We successfully ported over Opera. As you can see the default home page is www.appzero.com

Step 5: Extra

Now to take this one step further, go on your source system and install AdBlock, it can be found at the following link : https://addons.opera.com/en/addons/extensions/details/opera-adblock/0.52/

Once it is installed, use it to block an image on your default webpage, I used it to block the “Get AppZero” Image. Now simply close Opera on your source system, re the VAA and witness the power of AppMobilizer!

Thanks a lot guys and see you next time for another interesting tutorial of AppZero!