SR5 PowerFuse update

This friday, April 24th, RES Software released Service Release 5 for PowerFuse 2008. This is a major overhaul which includes many new enhancements, and fixes alot of issues.

The update can be downloaded from the RES portal. As usual there 4 different downloads to consider: Either the full installer for new installations, or the PowerPacks, either the unattended or the manual version. Besides that, there is also the stand-alone Console installer, if you need it. Remember to have your credentials for the portal handy when you use these links. Some of the enhancements in PowerFuse 2008 SR5 are:

• Additional environment variables when configuring User Preferences
• Configure cache timer interval
• Configure groups as application manager
• Configure MemoryShield to count open tasks of an application only once
• Exclusions in User Preferences
• File version included in pwrcache errors in common Error Log
• Force logoff of disconnected sessions after timeout
• Import file type associations for applications
• Import settings from Flex Profile Kit INI files into RES PowerFuse as User Preferences
• Improved method to handle desktop items
• Install Updates and Shutdown option added
• Instant LogOff user profile cleanup no longer active for Microsoft Windows Vista/2008
• NetGuard dump extended with computer/server name
• Republish all applications in a Citrix Server Group
• Silent refresh of RES PowerFuse sessions
• Support for VMware View 3.1
• Unmanaged applications optionally available to all users
• Use Active Directory property “displayname” instead of fullname”

The complete and detailed release notes for SR5 are available to review here:  

Important note. This Service Release includes several new registry settings and environment variables. The reference documents maintained maintained on this site are being updated accordingly:

RG005 – PowerFuse Tips & Tricks

RG006 – Variables, Tags and Functions (more info is being added as we learn about the new variables)

SR1 Wisdom update

Okay, this is some old updates which have been sitting in the queue for a while without getting published. Nevertheless, there’s some good info in here on how to upgrade Wisdom.

March 27th, RES Software released an update package for RES Wisdom. The Service Release 1 package for Wisdom 2009 is available for download from the RES Portal. The update can be downloaded here (this requires you to have a valid SA logon).  So, what’s new in this update you might ask? There’s a good deal of fixes:

Have a look here for more info:  

If you havent’ tried upgrading Wisdom before, don’t worry. It’s piece of cake (really, it is! :) Essentially, you fire up your console and point to the update package, which is automagically uploaded and distributed thereafter. All the agents, dispatchers and consoles will upgrade themselves without you having to do anything.

1) You download the .WUP file (Yes, WUP is short for Wisdom Update Pack :). Start your Wisdom console and go to Infrastructure | Datastore | Setup | Components.

2) Here you use the button, and it’s pretty much a next, next finish job from there.

The mere thought of having a production system upgrade itself on a massive parallel scale,  may scare the  living daylights out of you. If it does, it just proves you’re still sane! :) Seriously, Wisdom is one of the most stabile platforms out there and it handles itself very safe and sanitary. One of the very little known facts of the product is that you can actually downgrade to an earlier update package version. So, if something isn’t working right, it’s possible to do a rollback. The version range where this is possible has yet to be determined, but we will ammend this post as soon as this has been clarified.

Happy upgrading

/TRG

Switching off – Still a good idea!

Remember a little while back, we looked into how much money can be saved by turning off computers? An article was posted last month on how and how much money you can save if you can turn off selected computers and servers for a few hours every week. In case you missed it, the article can be read here. 

To make  the point that we here at RESguru.com are not completely bonkers (that is besides the point :), here’s a newspaper clip from the Reading Post (in the UK) of Febuary 11th. Click on it to view full-size.

PowerFuse SR4 is out

This friday RES released Service Release 4 for PowerFuse, which fixes a whole bunch of nice stuff. It’s been a bit quiet on the blog this week. Plenty of stuff to do, and even less time to do it in. Nevertheless, stay tuned for some nice upcomming technotes, buildingblocks etc.

In the meantime, have a look at the releasenotes for SR4 here:

More Buildingblocks!

Looks like there’s now a buildingblock section at the RES forum.  It’s even a publicly accessible place – Nice!However, these are not RES endorsed nor certified buildingblocks. Guess it’s the same groundrules which applies around here. Anyway go have a look here