[wpkg-users] WPKG on Windows 8

jurgen.depicker at let.be jurgen.depicker at let.be
Tue Aug 28 15:44:15 CEST 2012


Dear Rainer,

I was wondering how you exluded the flashplayer activex, since you wrote 
on http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/2011-November/008252.html 
that you were against this non-feature ;-).

Did you use such a method as described in 
http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/2011-December/008424.html :
<profile id='CommonTools'>
     <package package-id='Foxit'>
         <condition>
             <check type="logical" condition="not">
                 <check type="host" condition="hostname" value="^TOTO$" />
             </check>
         </condition>
     </package>
     <!-- all your 30packages -->
</profile>

I don't think so, since the package as described on the wiki 
http://wpkg.org/Flash_Player includes both activex and plugin installers, 
and it is not immediately clear to me how you modified it.  Could you post 
your config to the list please?  I will add your changes to the wiki if 
you like.

PS: I'm using wpkg-gp 0.15 and it works without any issues (till now) on 
Windows 8.

Thanks for your efforts,

Jürgen
 

> From: Rainer Meier <r.meier at wpkg.org>
> To: "'wpkg-users at lists.wpkg.org'" <wpkg-users at lists.wpkg.org>, 
> Date: 27/08/2012 00:46
> Subject: [wpkg-users] WPKG on Windows 8
> Sent by: wpkg-users-bounces at lists.wpkg.org
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Actually I have decided today to spend some time on Windows 8 
> migration today. I 
> try to just report my results without any intention to start a war about 
user 
> interface discussions. So if you're going to reply please focus on 
technical 
> discussion of issues.
> 
> Here's a summary of my findings:
> 
> I did install WPKG Client 1.3.14 64-bit on Windows 8 Professional 
> 64-bit. I have 
> used wpkg.js version 1.3.1-RC12.
> The configuration I have used is the same as for Windows 7. This 
> includes some 
> post-installation changes I typically use:
> 
> sc config wpkgservice depend= NSI/Tdx/Afd/tcpip/LanmanWorkstation
> sc config wpkgservice start= delayed-auto
> 
> This will run the service delayed and usually works fine even for 
network 
> adapters reporting link ready even if the driver is not ready yet (see 
> discussions on the list for Windows 7).
> 
> My configuration also includes service termination after execution so 
the 
> service is not permanently running.
> 
> 
> Overall the migration to Windows 8 was very smooth. The only thing I
> really had 
> to adapt was to create a new profile for Windows 8 machines which 
> exclude some 
> packages. In my case:
> - Exclude FlashPlayer Active-X
>    (embedded in IE 10, so I prefer it to be updated via Windows Update;
>    although the version embedded currently is outdated)
> - Exclude installation of Microsoft Security Essentials
>    MSE is actually integrated into Windows Defender now. It won't 
install on
>    Windows 8 and report incompatibility
> - Exclude installation of Internet Explorer as IE10 is included already
> 
> And that's it basically. WPKG will just deploy all the packages fine.
> 
> 
> Some issues:
> - CAUTION: I found that the WPKG service is not restarted when you 
> shut down the 
> machine and re-start it. This is due to the new Windows 8 session resume 

> feature. During shutdown Session0 will not be terminated but will be
> hibernated 
> instead. So when the machine is powered on again the system session 
> is restored 
> from hibernate rather than fully booted. On one hand this provides very 
short 
> boot times but on the other hand services are not refreshed. So crashed 
> (unexpectedly terminated) services remain dead and also WPKG service is 
not 
> re-launched as some people might expect.
> Please also note that if you initiate a REBOOT rather than 
shutdown/restart, 
> then session 0 is actually terminated completely and then of course 
> also WPKG is 
> re-launched then.
> So if your users always just shut down properly, then you might have 
issues 
> getting WPKG re-launched without putting a task scheduler entry 
> which (re)starts 
> the WPKG service based on schedule.
> You have to expect that such installations will run WPKG basically 
> once a month 
> (after Windows Update installation and required real reboot) unless 
> you're going 
> to disable the feature entirely:
> - (Desktop) Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options
>    Click "Chose what the power buttons do" and disable "Turn on fast 
startup"
> 
> But I do not recommend this since fast startup actually provides really 
> accelerated startup on many machines (especially those without SSD).
> 
> I will have to check how WPKG-GP complies with Windows 8.
> 
> 
> - Only partially a WPKG issue but I found Windows 8 creating pinned 
"Start" 
> items for every installed application installed for the user which 
installs 
> them. When additional users log on to the machine they will find 
> empty "Start" 
> panel so users will have to pick all the programs from the "All 
> apps" menu only 
> found when right-clicking in the start screen. I am working on a script 
which 
> pins most important applications (Word, Excel, LibreOffice, 
> Firefox...) to the 
> start panel for new users via RunOnce registry key. So on very 
firstlogin the 
> start panel will not only contain app tiles.
> 
> 
> 
> Overall WPKG seems to work pretty well on Windows 8 without any changes. 

> Although packages might need some updates and new profiles will have to 
be 
> defined in some cases. The good thing is that we won't have to care 
about app 
> deployment as they are installed and updated via the store. Not sure
> if it would 
> be even possible to deploy apps via command-line from sources other than 
the 
> market or install them globally. I found already strange that in a 
multi-user 
> environment user A won't see apps installed by user B at all even if
> the appl is 
> free (well, might be license policy driven). As far as I know 
> Microsoft at least 
> promised providing tools to deploy apps in corporate environment to all 
users 
> but I guess it requires a system management center installation 
> which is perhaps 
> a bit overkill in smaller networks or at smaller schools.
> 
> 
> 
> Pending:
> - Try WPKG-GP
> - Get informationa bout app deployment and policies
> 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> wpkg-users mailing list archives >> http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/
> wpkg-users/
> _______________________________________________
> wpkg-users mailing list
> wpkg-users at lists.wpkg.org
> http://lists.wpkg.org/mailman/listinfo/wpkg-users
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wpkg.org/pipermail/wpkg-users/attachments/20120828/8f471c4d/attachment-0002.html>


More information about the wpkg-users mailing list