Enable ConfigMgr integration in RES Workspace Manager

Last time I wrote a blogpost about ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 with App-V 5.0 integration. This time I installed RES Workspace Manager (WM) in my LAB environment. RES WM is a lightweight platform that allows you to manage every user’s workspace from a single console by separating it from the underlying infrastructure. As a result, changes to the infrastructure will not impact the user’s workspace.

With RES WM 2012 SR3 it's possible to publish packages (!) which are created in ConfigMgr also. Because the application model is not supported yet, App-V packages (integrated in ConfigMgr) cannot be used. Hope this is supported in a next release, because this will be a great feature! In this blogpost I will explain how to setup RES WM (for ConfigMgr usage) and how results are!
 

Before starting a few packages are needed in ConfigMgr, I created 5 of them. In RES WM it's needed to have ConfigMgr integration. Just follow these steps to do this:

-Start the RES WM console, under the Setup menu select "Microsoft System Center";
-Select the check box "Enable Microsoft System Center ConfigMgr Integration";
-You will need to enter the the ConfigMgr server that has the Management Point role installed;
-The credentials you supply will need to have sufficient privileges to the ConfigMgr environment;

-When you click the "Test Now" button, you see all the packages which are available in ConfigMgr.
 

Within the RES WM console create a new application and choose for ConfigMgr integration, just follow the steps given:
-In the RES WM console, under the Composition tab select Applications;
-Choose "New Application" and select Configuration and Add, select "Microsoft ConfigMgr";
-Select a program and package to install, and select OK;
-Select Properties and choose a title and default icon, and select OK;
-Choose Access Control, select type: "users and groups" Add user/group;
-That way only members of the group receive the application!
 
After that install a RES WM agent on all systems which you want to manage. I installed the agent on 2 LAB systems and restarted them. After restart shortcuts were published on my desktop immediately. When starting a shortcut, installation will be done by ConfigMgr.

In the ConfigMgr console you will see a temporary collection created with the system(s) in it, which will get the application. The temporary collection will be deleted afterwards automatically.

When choosing collection properties (you must be quick for that one) you will see that RES created the collection and put an deployment on it. In this case it will be a required (mandatory) installation.

On the client you will see that ConfigMgr is installing the application. Just fill in the "Custom status message" in application properties for this. Nice to see that Microsoft and RES doing things together here.

After deployment the application can be started and logfile can be shown in the "Setup - Microsoft System Center" tab. During a session new applications can be delivered when choosing "Refresh Workspace".

 

Hope that RES is supporting the application model in ConfigMgr soon, so App-V 5.0 packages (integrated in ConfigMgr) can be used also! Expect more on this topic when new releases are available.