Assistant paquet PSADT is a tool that helps you package applications without the need to write or edit PowerShell scripts. Plus, it’s completely free.

Consistent naming conventions for deployment packages

This is XOAP’s naming convention. All installation and configuration packages are named after this defined concept. The naming concept is mandatory for all packages because the frontend relies on that structure to show package information.

Naming convention structure:

TYPE_Manufacturer_Name_Version_OperatingSystem_Platform_Language

Consistent package naming convention

According to the example below, the naming convention and the possible options are being described:

APP_Citrix_VDAServer_1912_W2K19_x64_Any

• Type: APP means Applications. Possible values for the type are:
  • APP = Application
  • USR = User configuration
  • SYS = System configuration
  • DRV = Driver
• Manufacturer: in this case, it’s Citrix for the application
• Product: in this case, it is the VDA Server
• Version: of the product – in this case, 1912
• Operating System: in this case, it’s W2K19. Possible values for the operating systems are:
  • W7
  • W8
  • W81
  • W10
  • W11
  • W2K8
  • W2K8R2
  • W2K12
  • W2K12R2
  • W2K16
  • W2K19
  • W2K22
• Architecture: in this case, it’s x64. Possible values for the architecture are:
  • x86
  • x64
  • Any
• Language: in this case, it’s set to any. Possible values are:
  • EN
  • DE
  • Any

Packages must not use spaces, only underscores to separate the areas.

The post Intro to PSADT Package Wizard appeared first on XOAP.

The PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit has been developed (and tested) to work with a wide range of Operating Systems from Windows XP to Windows 8.1 (and the Windows Server equivalents) to provide enterprise-wide compatibility. The system requirements are as follows:

• PowerShell 2.0
• Windows NT 5.1 and above

While we have attempted to maintain this backward compatibility through the lifecycle of the toolkit, the degree of testing performed across older Operating Systems such as XP and Vista is limited as the bulk of testing is performed on the latest OS versions. However, the toolkit has widespread adoption in the enterprise from SMEs to large multinationals so there is safety in numbers and the assurance that the toolkit has been put through its paces on hundreds of thousands of clients around the globe.

Licensing information

The PSADT is licensed with the GNU Lesser General Public License. This paragraph is a copy of the original location at https://psappdeploytoolkit.com/.

PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit – Provides a set of functions to perform common application deployment tasks on Windows.

PSApppDeployToolkit is licensed under the GNU LGPLv3 License – (C) 2024 PSAppDeployToolkit Team (Sean Lillis, Dan Cunningham and Muhammad Mashwani).

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this program. If not, see GNU Licenses.

For any further questions please contact the creators of the PowerShell AppDeployment Toolkit.

PSADT framework

Download our customized PSADT framework (required for frontend-specific information) and extract the contents to a local folder e.g. “C:\toolkit”. The folder structure should look like this:

You can download the source from our GitHub repository xoap-psadt-framework-template.

If you are using our PSADT Package Wizard be sure to use version 1.0.603.0 for PSADT versions below 3.9.0 frameworks and 1.1.610 above 3.9.0.

The PSADT Package Wizard can be found in your Application Management subscription.

Our customized framework has some extensions that make it more usable with SCCM deployments and our XOAP implementation. Have a look at the extension.ps1 inside the custom framework for more info.

The PSADT template can be customized to your own needs. If you need some extensions, simply change the function inside the framework and use it for your applications as a baseline.

Be sure not to remove the Register-Installation part of the extensions.ps1 because otherwise the PowerShell DSC module responsible for installation of the applications will not work anymore.

Packages folder

Create a folder on your machine or a file share. This folder will be used to store the created installation packages e.g. “C:\packages”.

The post Prerequisites appeared first on XOAP.

Everything about the Set-StrictMode can be found ici.

Parameterized deployment packages

Always parameterize your installation packages without hard coding values into them. During the deployment, you can pass the values to the package. 

The post Security appeared first on XOAP.

If you’re not a XOAP user

You do not have to be a XOAP user to install our free PSADT Package Wizard. Simply download it here in a few clicks and start creating packages faster than ever.

If you are a XOAP user

Please download the installation files inside your account.

Watch out for XOAP_PackageWizard_1.0.603.0.zip. inside your Workspace:

Download the file and extract it to a folder of your choice. Either start the installation through the PSADT package or the setup.exe inside the files folder.

Configuration

Start the PSADT Package Wizard via the Start Menu or the icon on the desktop.

Accept the license and proceed with Démarrage:

First, we need to configure the toolkit path et le package library path:

Insert C:\toolkit in the toolkit path field and C:\packages in the packages path field. As soon as you integrate the path to the toolkit correctly you will see that the toolkit settings fields are propagated with the standard settings from the PSADT Toolkit.

Feel free to change them as needed. These settings will apply to every new package you will create with the PSADT Package Wizard. Existing packages won´t be changed.

Cliquez sur Économiser.

Now switch to the packages view. We are ready to start creating new PSADT packages.

The post Install and configure appeared first on XOAP.

You can create a new folder inside the root folder or click on Add Package (Alt+P).

Package

A new window opens. This is the first step of the packaging process.

Choose the type of the package. You can choose between:

• Application
• User Configuration
• System Configuration
• Conducteur

Depending on what you choose, the folder for the new PSADT Package is automatically prefixed with.

• APP
• USR
• SYS
• DRV

Let’s choose Application for this packaging example. Now we need to include the binaries of the application. Installation files are stored in the Files directory, Support files (e.g. transforms files or license files) in Support Files. Choose ADD Directory if you want to add directories with subfolders or choose ADD FILES if you want to add a single installer file.

In this example, we will add a simple MSI file: profilemgmt_x64.msi. You can see it in the file overview (as shown in the screenshot above). Now click on NEXT STEP or press F9.

Application variables

In this section, we will configure the PSADT application variables. These variables are used to create the final folder name. In this case: “APP_Citrix_Profilemanagement_203025008_W10_x64_Any”.

Vendor

If you are using an MSI the vendor, name and version fields are automatically propagated in the fields. The vendor name field should only contain the following characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, – and space.

Nom

This is the name of the application. If you are using an MSI the name field is automatically propagated. The vendor and name fields are only allowed to contain the following characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, – and space.

Version

This is the version of the application. If you are using an MSI the name field is automatically propagated. The vendor and name fields are only allowed to contain the following characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, – and space.

Operating system

You can choose from the following list:

• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019

Architecture

You can choose from the following list:

• x86
• x64
• Any

Language

You can choose from the following list:

• Any
• EN
• DE
• NL
• DA
• ES
• PT
• FR
• IT
• JA
• NB
• SV

Revision

The revision field is used to define the package revision. Every time a package is changed, the revision field should be updated by the application packager.

Script version

This field defines the overall script version of the PSADT application package.

Script date

This is the date of the script change.

Script author

This field is used to insert the creator of the PSADT application package. The PSADT Package Wizard takes the currently logged-on user from a Windows machine to autofill this field.

Custom application variables

You are also able to add custom variables to the script that you can use to further parameterize the application package.

The following parameters are available:

• string
• string []
• char
• char []
• bool
• switch
• int
• int []
• decimal
• single
• double

When you are done with adjusting all values click on NEXT STEP or press F9.

Installation

Now you are in the installation area where you will define the following installation phases:

• Phase pre-installation: this is the phase where you can define the PowerShell commands that should run before the installation

• Phase installation: this is the phase where the actual installation of the software takes place

• Phase post-installation: in this phase, you can define the commands that should run after the installation

Important Package Wizard areas

The following areas need special attention in this window:

Resulting script command line

This is the command line that will be inserted into the script area.

Toolkit function builder

This is the main area that can be used to insert the necessary script commands.

Script code for installation

This is the area with the final script code.

Let’s move on and open the Toolkit Function Builder. You see a search bar in the lower left. This is where you can search for functions that are available in the PSADT framework. In our case, we’ll search for”*msi” and the search will return a function named “Execute-MSI”. Click on the function.

You see that a second window appears in the middle, click on the window to activate it. This window contains all the parameters that are available within the function. Grey rows indicate the required fields, a path is therefore required.

We can choose other parameters by clicking on them. We will choose Action as well.

You see that a third window appeared. Let us click on the third window. This window is used to configure the parameters. Action is a dropdown field that is automatically created out of the options the framework delivers. The Path parameter can be adjusted manually or by using the Value Browser that opens automatically when you select the path field.

Value browser

The Value Browser has the following functionality:

• Paths: You can navigate to paths available on your system.
• Directories: These are the directories you integrated in the first packaging step where you integrated the MSI file.
• Files: This is the “Files” folder within the PSADT framework.
• SupportFiles: This is the “SupportFiles” folder within the PSADT framework.
• Variables: Here you can find all environment variables available on your system.

Click on Files to add the MSI we integrated in the first step. The path to the file is automatically inserted with the variable for the directory. Choose Installer as action.

Now choose the INSTALLATION area in the lower window and place your cursor at the location you want to insert the command. We should place the cursor somewhere below the following are:

## <Perform Installation tasks here>

Have a look at the Resulting Script Commandline area above the Toolkit Function Builder. You see the following command:Execute-MSI -Path "$dirFiles\profilemgt_x64.msi" -Action "Install" copy

Click on the ADD button on the right side to insert the command in the INSTALLATION zone.

You can now save this package. The packaging process will be closed, and you will be brought back to the Dashboard view where you can find your package. You can click on the package to edit it again. Switch to the INSTALLATION area again.

Click on INSTALL. The installation of the package will start on your local machine. After the installation finishes you will see a fourth window in the script code for INSTALLATION avec le RESULT. Here you will find the installation log that is also written to C:\Windows\Logs\Software. You can change the log file location in the framework settings. To change the location switch to the Paramètres area in the Package Wizard.

Remember that this change is made for all consecutive packages you create later from within the Package Wizard.

If you change the location of the log file, the frontend will not be able to show the log files anymore. So be sure you have exceptional reasons to change the standard setting.

We now have a working installation of the package. Now let´s move on to the UNINSTALLATION area by choosing NEXT STEP or by hitting F9.

Uninstallation

This area works exactly like the INSTALLATION area. The only difference is the UNINSTALLATION areas that are available:

• Phase pre-uninstallation: this is the phase where you are able to define the PowerShell commands that should run before the UNINSTALLATION
• Phase uninstallation: this is the phase where the actual UNINSTALLATION of the software takes place
• Phase post-uninstallation: in this phase, you can define the commands that should be run after the UNINSTALLATION

Let´s use the exact same process to configure the UNINSTALLATION. First, use the Toolkit function builder to search for “MSI”.

Choose the function Execute-msi and select the second window to choose the parameters.

Switch to the third window and configure the Action parameter and fill in the patch to the installation file with the help of the value browser.

Choose the UNINSTALLATION window and place the cursor at the location you want to insert the command. Add the command by clicking on the ADD bouton.

Now you are ready to save the package or to start the UNINSTALLATION process on your local machine. Proceed with the UNINSTALL button to uninstall the package. Again the log file from the installation is shown in a fourth window. If everything was successfully executed, you can save the package. Click the SAVE button or hit F5.

We are now back in the Dashboard view.

Completion area

The Completion area shows you a summary of the integrated files and script blocks. It also shows you the resulting deployment script code.

That is it. You can now proceed with uploading the package to XOAP.

Known issues

Using “Write-Output” PowerShell cmdlet in the PSADT Package, creates an erorr 400 during installation of the application using XOAP. Instant of “Write-Output” use “Write-Host”.

The post Create packages appeared first on XOAP.

Script content

<#
    .SYNOPSIS
        This is a script to create compressed files for the Package Management upload.

    .DESCRIPTION
        In order to upload PSADT packages successfully to infra.XO with the frontend all  PSADT Packages must be zipped.
        The folders must not contain any other subfolders (this happens if you create zipped files with a Mac or some other zippers available).

    .NOTES
        File Name       : xoap-compress-subfolders.ps1
        Author          : XOAP.io - info@XOAP.io
        Requires        : PowerShell V2 (please change as needed)
        Script version  : 1.0.0
#>

$packagepath = Read-Host "Please input the path to the PSADT Packages folder"
$folderlist = Get-ChildItem -Path $packagepath -Directory

function ZipFiles( $zipfilename, $sourcedir )
{
   Add-Type -Assembly System.IO.Compression.FileSystem
   $compressionLevel = [System.IO.Compression.CompressionLevel]::Optimal
   [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::CreateFromDirectory($sourcedir,
        $zipfilename, $compressionLevel, $false)
}

Foreach ($Folder in $folderlist)
{ZipFiles "$($Folder.Fullname).zip" "$($Folder.Fullname)"}

Use this script to assure that the folder structure within the zipped file is created as expected by our upload process. Some zippers create sub-folders within a zip. In this case, the upload process might fail.

The post Upload packages appeared first on XOAP.