Last Wednesday, November 16th, VMware announced the availability of ThinApp 4.7 and Horizon App Manager 1.2. The combination of the two products enables cloud-based deployment of ThinApp packages with VMware Horizon Application Manager.
ThinApp 4.7 includes the following features:
- The ThinApp Setup Capture wizard includes an option to manage with Horizon Application Manager. When the checkbox is selected, ThinApp checks if the Horizon agent is installed natively on the client and is running. If the Horizon agent is found, the ThinApp package reports to the Horizon agent so that it can be controlled by Horizon Application Manager.
- Horizon Application Manager entitlement allows the delivery of ThinApp packaged applications to specified users and groups. The Horizon agent authorizes a ThinApp package to open, based on entitlements.
- ThinApp packages are registered by Horizon Application Manager and delivered to end points.
- The administrator can track usage of ThinApp packages by using Horizon Application Manager monitoring and reporting.
- The administrator can configure an Organizational URL for end points missing the Horizon agent.
More information on how to enable ThinApp integration with Horizon Application Manager can be found here, and is described in the ThinApp Horizon Integration Guide.
Horizon Application Manager provides ThinApp administrators with:
- Dynamic entitlement of users and groups to ThinApp packages
- Secure single sign-on access to a unified application catalog of virtualized Windows applications and SaaS and federated web applications
- A management interface to deploy and entitle your users to ThinApp packages
- Monitoring and reporting options to help you respond to any authentication issues and to be aware of application launches and closures
Horizon Application Manager includes the following components:
- Horizon Service
- Horizon Connector
- Active Directory (your own)
- ThinApp Repository (Windows Application Share)
- Horizon Agent
Within your firewall, along with the connector, is the ThinApp Repository, or Windows Application Share. This file share holds the ThinApp packages: the executables and the primary data containers with the virtual file system and virtual registry for each virtualized application.
Your own Active Directory is also a key component of Horizon. Users’ authentication data resides in the Active Directory, and the connector gathers this information to provide user access to ThinApp packages.
The Horizon Agent must be present on each desktop that runs Horizon-enabled ThinApp packages. If the Agent is not already installed on a desktop, the Horizon Service automatically initiates Agent installation when the user tries to launch a Horizon-enabled ThinApp package.
The Horizon Service provides both a user portal and an administration portal. The administrator uses the Horizon console to set up entitlement of users and groups to applications. Horizon entitlement leverages user profile information, without compromising Active Directory credentials. A single secure user ID serves for all applications. The administrator can also monitor and report on application launches and closures and other activities. The Horizon Service offers users a menu of SaaS and federated web applications, as well as ThinApp virtualized Windows applications. The user logs in to the user portal to activate optional applications from their IT organization, as well as to launch any of the applications they are entitled to.