App-V support
Nomad supports application virtualization (App-V) applications which are deployed as streamed content by Configuration Manager.
Note
Nomad only handles App-V applications that use Configuration Manager as the App-V server. It does not integrate with the standalone App-V server.
App-V streaming is a way of providing centrally managed applications to many enterprise users. The majority of the application's content is not downloaded until a user actually invokes the application for the first time, thus not wasting network bandwidth or the user's time until they need the content. The icons etc. for the application appear on the user's desktop, but the executable part of the application is held back until it is required.
Note
The executable part of the application is downloaded by the App-V client when required, it is not downloaded by Configuration Manager. This means that Nomad is not involved and the App-V client fetches it directly from the DP.
Nomad respects the Configuration Manager settings for fast and slow networks. For example, an App-V application's deployment type may specify streaming on a fast network but a full download on a slow network.
App-V supported versions
These versions of App-V are supported:
4.6 SP2
5.0 RTM, 5.0 SP1, 5.0 SP2
In fact Nomad is not even aware of App-V as such, just that certain files should be excluded from the application's content.
Partial content and Nomad elections
When Nomad downloads the non-executable part of a streamed application, it recognizes that it only has part of the entire content even when it has downloaded everything it has been told to. For App-V streamed applications, this initial download amount is reflected in the final job statistic as less than 100%. Typically, the non-executable part of a streamed application is less than 1% of the entire application. This percentage is accurately reflected when Nomad clients hold an election, including where Single Site Download is involved.
For example, if client A has a complete streamed download but then client B wants the entire download for some reason, B will fetch the partial download from A and then the rest (the executable part of the content) from the DP (if no other client has more content). In keeping with standard Nomad behavior, a client which has previously downloaded all the content will always win an election over clients that have downloaded partial content, even if the requesting client only requires the partial content.
Nomad FanOut mode is also supported for streamed applications.
Forcing a full download
App-V streaming support is enabled by default. If it needs to be disabled, update the CompatibilityFlags registry value. This will cause the entire content to be downloaded by rather than just the XML configuration files.
Restrictions
Multicast is not supported for streamed App-V applications
Space reserved in the Nomad cache will be for the entire package content size, not just the streamed content size
Full elections will take place if the partial content is re-requested for download by the Configuration Manager client even if that partial content has already been downloaded.