Creating a clean software package environment

In this post we are going to discuss how to create a clean software packaging environment, or package street/package factory.

 1). It is highly recommended to use a virtual machine and a good tool is VMware Workstation for PC or VMware Fusion for Mac. If you use Windows 8(or higher), then you could use Hyper-V, which is free (see my other post HERE on how to enable this)
 
2). Choose an Operating System. Preferably Windows 7 32-bit or 64-bit (depends on what environment is most used in your company, possibly both are needed).
 
3). Create a 30 GB virtual hard disk and a 10GB virtual hard disk (used for page file) and attached to your virtual machine. If you have a SSD in your host system, it is recommended to point it to that disk (to achieve best performance)
 
4). Install Windows to the freshly created virtual hard disk(the 30 GB one)
 
5). Turn Off Automatic Updates then Run Windows Updates but only Security Updates, Service Packs, and other Critical Updates. Avoid Language Packs, Windows Defender, Internet Explorer Updates, and Driver Updates. You are best off not installing any dependencies like Visual C++ or .NET Framework. In this case, if your software complains then you'll know what .NET Framework your software package needs. You can then add it as a dependency (for instance when creating the package using Adminstudio).
 
6). Turn Off System Restore
 
7). Disable Extra Features from Programs / Add or Remove Windows Features you will not need. It is necessary to create a reference computer that is as clean as possible.
 
8). Create your page file. You may need to format your 6GB Hard Drive.

Right Click Computer -> Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced Tab -> Performance Settings -> Adjust for Best Perfomance -> Advanced Tab -> Change... -> Uncheck Automatically manage paging File size for all drives -> Check Custom size -> Click your Second 6GB Drive -> Take the amount of Physical Memory in your PC and double it for both Initial size and Maximum Size EX 2048 Physical is 4096 -> Click Set -> OK -> OK -> OK -> Restart
 
9). Turn off Services you don't need. Services.msc Double click a service, Choose Disabled, Click Stop, Click Apply. 
Services I disabled were:

• Disable BITS
• Disable MpsSvc (Windows Firewall)
• Disable wuauserv (Windows Update)
• Disable WSearch (Windows Search)
• Disable WinDefend (Windows Defender)
• Disable Themes
• Disable wscsvc (Security Center)

 
10). Install VMware Tools, Parallels Tools, VirtualBox tools, Hyper-V Integration Services etcetera. Whichever hypervisor you are using. Reboot when done
 
11). Install your MSI Packaging Tool, (for instance, Admin Studio, InstallShield, AppDeploy, EMCO, Orca) I'm using AdminStudio
 
12). Add anything else you think you may need. Now you can configure your Machine how you want it. 
 
13). Shutdown the machine and create a snapshot/checkpoint. Now you can use your MSI creating tool, and create snapshots when done. You can also use this machine to create captures.

Hyper-V - How to create a virtual machine

This blog describes the steps on how to create a virtual machine in Hyper-V. See this blog for more information on enabling Hyper-V in Windows 8. 

The required steps are the following:

1. Open the Hyper-V Manager using the start menu (type 'Hyper-V').

2. The Hyper-V Manager is opened. Go to Actions, to create a new virtual machine:

3. A wizard will appear. Click Next on the first screen. On the second screen you can give your virtual machine a name:

 

 

4. After giving the VM a name, click next to get the next screen. Here you can assign the amount of startup memory for your machine. We have chosen for 2 GB in the example.



 

5. Click Next again and Next to set an optional networkconnection (these settings can be altered later on if neccessary).

 

 

6. Click Next again to setup the settings for your virtual hard drive.

 

 

7. Again click next to setup the installation options. You can choose to boot from the network, load an iso or other bootable media, or to skip this step for now.  

 

 

8. Click next again for a summary of your settings, and click finish to end the wizard. 

 

9. You will return to the Hyper-V Manager. Here you will find an overview of all your virtual machines. Right-click your created machine, and click on Connect...

10. Now you will see the screen below. Here you can start, inspect, shut down and snapshot your virtual machine.

 

 

 

 

11. Press the on/off switch to start the computer. With the 'media' menu you can insert an iso to install Windows or Linux(as an example)

 



 



 

Free Hyper-V in Windows 8! How do I enable this?

Like some of you might already know, Hyper-V is a free feature in Windows 8 nowadays! This will save you an expensive VMWare license. The only thing what you need is to activate the feature (and also you'll need a computer with VT technology). Here's how:

1. Go to the Control panel, and browse to Programs and Features. 
   
2. Choose "Turn Windows features on or off"

 

3. Check the box in front of Hyper-V, and klik OK. Navigate through all the questions, and reboot your computer at the end when asked.







4. Once booted back up, you can find the Hyper-V applications in your Start Menu, when looking for "Hyper". Here is what you will see:

 

With the Hyper-V Manager you can create and manage new VM's!