Thinapp instructions for VMware Horizon Client 4.8

Below are instructions to thinapp the VMware Horizon Client. (version 4.8.0 build 8547331)

A Thinapped version of the VMware Horizon Client might be very useful in situations where you do not want to or cannot install software on your Windows PC.

Build Capture & build machine

• Windows 10 (fully patched)
• Install latest VMware Thinapp version (5.2.3 build 6945559 at the time of writing)
• Make sure the capture & build machine has Internet access
• Install VMware Tools if they are not yet installed
• Uninstall Microsoft Microsoft Visual C++
• Power off the Capture & build machine
• Take a snapshot with the name “clean State’

Prepare the Capture & build machine for capturing a thinapp package

• Revert the Capture & build machine to snapshot “clean State”
• Power on the Capture & build machine
• Log on with a local administrator account
• Download the latest VMware Horizon Client for Windows from http://www.vmware.com/go/viewclients
• Copy the VMware Horizon Client installation files to the capture & build machine to the desktop

Prescan

• Power on the Capture & build machine
• Log on with a local administrator account
• Launch “Thinapp Setup Capture”
• Click “Next” on the “Setup Capture – Welcome” screen
• Click “Prescan” on the “Setup Capture – Prescan” screen
• Wait for the prescan process to finish (this takes a few minutes)
• When the prescan process is finished minimize the “Setup Capture – Install Application” screen

Application installation

• Install VMware Horizon Client
  • Double Click “VMware-Horizon-Client-4.8.0-8547331.exe”
  • Choose “Custom installation”
    • Where to install: leave default
    • Internet Protocol: IPv4
    • Additional features:
      • USB redirection: NO
      • Log in as current user: NO
      • Default Connection Server: leave blank or type your preferred Horizon View connection server
      • Virtualization pack for Skype for Business: NO
      • 32-bit Core Remote experience: NO
      • Install HTML5 Multimedia Redirection Support: NO
    • Select “Agree & Install”
• When the installation finished click “Launch”
  • Select settings (3 horizontal bars in the right-hand top corner)
    • Select Software updates
    • Unselect “Enable update notifications”
    • Close the “Software Updates” screen
• Close the VMware Horizon Client

PostScan

• Maximize the “Setup Capture – Install Application” screen
• Click “Postscan”
• Wait for the postscan process to finish (this takes a few minutes)

Thinapp Settings

• “Setup Capture – Entry Points”:
  • Select only “VMware Horizon Client.exe”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Manage with VMware Workspace”
  • Do not select “Manage with VMware Workspace”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Groups”
  • Select “Everyone”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Isolation”
  • Select “Full write access to non-system directories (Merged isolation mode)”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Sandbox location”
  • Select “User Profile (%Appdate\Thinstall)”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Quality Assurance Statistics”
  • Select “No – Do not send any information to VMware”
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Project Settings”
  • Inventory name: VMware Horizon Client
  • Project location: leave th default location
  • Click “Next”
• “Setup Capture – Package Settings”
  • Primary data container:
    • Select “Use one of the entry points: VMware Horizon Client.exe”
  • Do not select “Generate MSI package”
  • Do not select “Compress virtual package”
  • Click “Save”
    • Click “Yes” when the message appears “You should select the .dat file as primary data container… Are you sure…”
  • Wait for the “Save project” process to finish (this takes a few minutes)

Build

• “Setup Capture – Ready to build”
  • Click “Open Project Folder”
    • A new Windows Explorer window will open automatically
    • Delete the below from the project folder
      • %Common AppData%\VMware\logs
      • %Common AppData%\VMware\VDM\logs
      • %Local AppData%\VMware\VDM\logs
      • %Program Files Common%\ThinPrint
      • %Program Files Common%\VMware\ThinPrint
      • %ProgramFilesDir%\VMware\VMware Horizon View Client
        • rc_de_de_407.dll
        • rc_es_es_40a.dll
        • rc_fr_fr_40c.dll
        • rc_ja_jp_411.dll
        • rc_ko_kr_412.dll
        • rc_zh_cn_804.dll
        • rc-zh_tw_404.dll
      • %ProgramFilesDir%\VMware\VMware View Client\messages
        • > all folders (EXCEPT “en” if it is available)
      • %ProgramFilesDir%\VMware\VMware View Client\DCT
      • %ProgramFilesDir(x64)%\Common Files\ThinPrint
      • %ProgramFilesDir(x64)%\Common Files\VMware\ThinPrint
      • %SystemRoot%\Installer
    • Close the Windows explorer folder
  • Click “Edit Package.ini”
    • Notepad will open the file package.ini
    • Change “Compressiontype=None” to “CompressionType=Fast”
    • Change “;MSIStreaming=0” to “MSIStreaming=1” Make sure you remove the “;” before the line
    • Add the following lines just before the [Isolation] section
      • [Filelist]
      • ExcludePattern=*.bak,*.msi.*.mst,*.cab,*msp,*.log,*.etl,*.bin,
    • In the section [VMware Horizon Client.exe]
      • Change the Value after “Icon” to “%ProgramFilesDir%\VMware\VMware Horizon View Client\vmware-view.exe”
    • Close notepad and save the file package.ini in it’s default location
  • Click “Build”
  • Wait for the “Build project” process to finish (this takes a few minutes)
  • Select “Open folder containingproject executables after clicking Finish”
  • Click “Finish”
• File explorer will open where you can find the Thinapped VMware Horizon Client executable