Release Notes

# AdminStudio 8.0

# ZENworks Edition

## November 29, 2006

Introduction | System Requirements | Components | New Features | Resolved Issues | Known Issues

### Introduction

AdminStudio provides systems administrators with the fastest solution for preparing reliable applications and patches for enterprise deployment, offering a complete suite of automated packaging, customization, conflict resolution, and quality assurance tools. AdminStudio provides enterprises with a structured, repeatable application preparation process that provides consistent, trouble-free software deployments every time.

Whether your organization is migrating its legacy software to the Windows Installer format or looking to standardize desktop configurations and enforce corporate standards enterprise-wide, AdminStudio is the only solution you need. With AdminStudio, you get a network of reliable and manageable applications that increase employee productivity and decrease management costs.

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### System Requirements

This section lists the requirements for AdminStudio client tool machines, enterprise tool machines, and database servers.

##### AdminStudio 8.0 Client Tool Machine

The recommended system configuration for a machine running the AdminStudio 8.0 client tools is:

Item | Description
--- | ---
Processor | 500 MHz or greater
RAM | 256 MB or greater (512 MB preferred)
Hard Disk | 1.1 GB
Display | Designed for XGA at 1024 x 768 resolution or higher
Operating System | Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server. Predeployment Test and SMS Web Console require Microsoft IIS 5 or later.
Browser | Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
Privileges | Administrative privileges on the system

##### Application Catalog Database Server

The recommended system configuration for a database server to store AdminStudio application catalog databases is:

Item | Description
--- | ---
Processor | 1 GHz or greater
RAM | 512 MB or greater (1 GB preferred)
Hard Disk Space | 80GB or greater
Operating System | Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server (SP3) or Windows 2003 Server
Database Software | AdminStudio 8.0 supports SQL Server and Oracle databases: SQL Server 7.5 (SP4) or 2000 (SP3a), installed with case-insensitive dictionary sort order and ISO-8859-1 character set (use sp_helpsort T-SQL command for more information) Oracle 8i is the minimum requirement, but Oracle 9i or later is highly recommended

##### AdminStudio Enterprise Server

The recommended system configuration for a machine running the AdminStudio 8.0 Enterprise tools (Security Console, Report Center, Job Manager) is:

Item | Description
--- | ---
Processor | 1 GHz or greater
RAM | 512 MB or greater (1 GB preferred)
Hard Disk Space | 30 GB or greater
Operating System | Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server (SP3) or Windows 2003 Server
IIS | IIS 5.0 or IIS 6.0
.NET | .NET Framework 2.0 (including ASP.NET 2.0 registered with IIS)
MSXML | MSXML 4.0
Running on a Domain Controller | If running on a domain controller, you will have to implement one of the procedures described in the Microsoft Developer Network topic Running ASP.NET on a Domain Controller (available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/wss/wss/_exch2k_running_asp_net_on_a_dc.asp).

##### Software Repository Server

The recommended system configuration for the machine that stores the Software Repository files is:

Item | Description
--- | ---
Processor | 512 MHz or greater
RAM | 512 MB or greater
Hard Disk Space | 60 GB or greater
Operating System | Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server (SP3) or Windows 2003 Server

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### Components

AdminStudio 8.0 is available in the following Editions.

##### ZENworks Edition

AdminStudio 8.0 ZENworks Edition includes the following components:

- Repackager
- Tuner
- Distribution Wizard (Customized for ZENworks)

##### Standard Edition

AdminStudio 8.0 Standard Edition includes the following components:

- Repackager
- Distribution Wizard
- FLEXwrap Assistant
- InstallShield 12
- Tuner
- Application Isolation Wizard
- SMS Web Console (Limited)

##### Professional Edition

AdminStudio 8.0 Professional Edition includes all of the Standard Edition components plus the following additional components:

- ConflictSolver
- Application Manager
- OS Snapshot Wizard
- QualityMonitor
- Predeployment Test
- SMS Web Console (Full)

##### Enterprise Edition

AdminStudio 8.0 Enterprise Edition includes all of the Professional Edition components plus the following additional components:

- PackageExpert (New!)
- Patch Impact Manager
- Job Manager
- Report Center
- Software Repository
- Security Console

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### New Features

#### Standard and Professional Editions

##### AdminStudio 8.0 Includes InstallShield 12

AdminStudio 8.0 includes InstallShield 12 as its Editor. InstallShield 12 helps software producers to get ready for Vista with support for technologies associated with Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. These include:

- Ability to target Windows Vista systems
- Scanner to check your installation for compatibility with new Microsoft Windows Vista (Beta 2) capabilities
- User Account Control support
- Digital signature enhancements
- Support for minimizing reboots through the Restart Manager infrastructure
- Support for documentation about custom action behavior
- Setup prerequisite enhancements

Also, the quality of InstallShield has been improved for this release: more than 140 issues were resolved in InstallShield 12.

##### Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Provided

The evaluation experience in AdminStudio 8.0 has been enhanced to use Microsoft SQL Express instead of Microsoft Access. A new QuickStart feature provides you with an Application Catalog pre-populated with sample data to facilitate the evaluation experience. If you do not have an SQL or Oracle database available during your evaluation, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express will then be automatically installed on your machine (with no user input required).

#### Enterprise Edition

##### New Package Testing Tool: PackageExpert

PackageExpert is an extensible data-driven testing framework for automating testing and resolution of Windows Installer (.msi) software packages. You can use PackageExpert to check the integrity of your Windows Installer packages and automatically resolve any errors that are found. PackageExpert can also identify and resolve any issues packages would have when deployed on the Windows Vista OS. Also, you can add your own XML-based custom tests.

##### Integrated Security Console with the AdminStudio Enterprise Tools and Workflow Manager

The AdminStudio Enterprise Server tools (Job Manager, Report Center, SMS Web Console) have been integrated with Workflow Manager and now use the same security model. You define users and roles/permissions for AdminStudio client tools, AdminStudio Enterprise tools, and Workflow Manager all from the same user interface. Security can still be Server-based or Windows authenticated (LDAP). This feature is only available if you have purchased both AdminStudio Enterprise Edition and Workflow Manager.

##### Tighter Integration with Workflow Manager

Because AdminStudio and Workflow Manager are now integrated into a single interface, you can easily have the AdminStudio client tools, the AdminStudio Enterprise tools, and Workflow Manager all connected to the same Application Catalog database. This allows you to link a package with its associated Application Request and produce integrated reports that contain package data originating from both AdminStudio and Workflow Manager. You can choose to activate AdminStudio Enteprise Server or Workflow Manager or both simply by entering serial numbers. This feature is only available if you have purchased both AdminStudio Enterprise Edition and Workflow Manager.

##### Report Center Enhancements

Report Center was recoded in ASP.NET and is now shared across AdminStudio and Workflow Manager in a web interface. Report Center now offers an interactive Package Report, which has links across the top of the report to access different types of package information. You can search for specific information, export a Package Report in PDF format, and—if you have purchased both AdminStudio Enterprise Edition and Workflow Manager—you can click a link to jump to a package's related Application Request Report. You can also choose to "archive" a report to capture a snapshot of package information as of a specific date and time. The report is then saved in PDF format and is listed in the Archived Reports list on the Report Center start page.

##### Job Manager

Job Manager was recoded in ASP.NET and is now part of the integrated Workflow Manager/AdminStudio Enterprise Server platform. Job Manager's user interface has been streamlined, simplified and made consistent with other Enterprise Server tools. Also, now you can select to send out a Job Alert email notification upon both success and failure, instead of either success or failure.

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###

Resolved Issues

The following issues have been resolved in AdminStudio 8.0.

##### IOC-000052410

In Patch Impact Manager, the Update Patch File selection on the Patches menu is now enabled for users with the Application Manager/Conflict Solver Conflicts/Modify Data Role permission. Previously, when connected to an SQL Server database, this menu item was only enabled if the user was an administrator on the DB server.

##### IOB-000005226

In ConflictSolver, the version data in a package name is now retained after the package is renamed.

##### IOC-000043218

You are now able to connect to the AdminStudio Enterprise Server database from the Predeployment Test Reports Web site.

##### IOC-000052537

When a file located in a subfolder of the [USERPROFILE]Local Settings directory was included in a Repackager build, the build would generate an error. This issue has been resolved.

##### IOA-000026915

Repackager now sets the merge module destination based upon the destination of the component that requires the merge module. Previously when repackaging an installation that contained a shared resource, Repackager, by default, included a merge module that installed that shared resource file. This sometimes resulted in the file being installed to a different location than where the legacy installation placed the files.

##### IOC-000052226 & IOC-000040251

Previously, the number of merge modules that you could import into Application Manager using the File/Open dialog box was limited due to a character limit on the Open dialog box's file name strings. This character limit has been expanded to accommodate multiple file selection.

##### IOC-000042256

Previously when Repackager built an .msi package that attempted to install files to different folders with the same name, that package generated multiple ICE30 errors when tested. This issue has been resolved.

##### 1-LZ8LG

Previously, if you ran Repackager on Windows 2003 Server with Terminal Services set to Medium security mode, you would get an "insufficient memory" error. This issue can be resolved by setting Terminal Services to Relaxed security mode.

##### 1-12XXLL

Previously, when AdminStudio was installed on a machine and a new user logged onto the machine, the Windows Auto Repair dialog would open. This issue has been resolved.

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### Known Issues

For a complete list of known issues that pertain to the AdminStudio 8.0 and Workflow Manager 4.0 releases, see Knowledge Base Article Number Q112551.

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