Contents

Ex 4 - Shopping 5.6 - Working with Applications

Exercise Overview:

Working with Applications

Applications in Shopping are any items that a user can request from the Shopping portal. In most cases, the Application will be a piece of software that will be deployed by ConfigMgr when requested by the user – these are known as ConfigMgr Applications. However, an Application may also be an item of hardware, access to a secured system (Shopping can allow self-service of AD group membership) or anything else that the customer may want users to request through the Shopping portal – these are known simply as Applications. 

There are two other types of applications within shopping, both related to OS migrations. While Windows Servicing Assistant(WSA) is out of scope for this course, we will work with the OS Deployment application. Using Shopping for self-service Windows deployment is covered later.

Creating Applications

In this exercise, you will create some ConfigMgr Applications and a simple Application to observe the differences between them.

Create a Single ConfigMgr Application

1ETRNAP 

  1. Log on to 1ETRNAP as AppManager (this user should still be logged on from the previous exercise) and open the Shopping Admin Console
  2. Right click the Applications node and select NewConfigMgr Application
  3. On the Welcome page, click Next
  4. On the General Details page complete the fields as follows
    5. Name: Sales Application
    Description: Customer Database
    Cost: 0.00
  5. Select the Change Icon button, browse to \\1ETRNDC\ConfigMgrSource\Software\SalesApp and open SalesApp.msi. Choose any icon and click OK
    6. Appropriate icons can usually be sourced from the application's executable files (from a computer, which has the application installed). Some icons suitable for these labs can be found in 1ESHO04-55 Course Content\ShoppingIcons. Some cool icons can also be found in ddores.dll, ieframe.dll, imageres.dll, netshell.dll, pnidui.dll and wmploc.dll, which can all be found in the system32 folder.
  6. Note that the Properties control group at the bottom right of the General Details page has a checkbox labelled Mandatory, which is checked by default
    7. Mandatory indicates that the ConfigMgr deployment created by Shopping for this application will be Required and created with a Mandatory Assignment (i.e. it will run automatically without user intervention).
  7. Click Next
  8. On the User Categories page, click Next
    9. At this stage, no User Categories have been created. This Application will be added to the default Miscellaneous User Category.
  9. On the ConfigMgr Sites page, ensure All Sites is selected and click Next


    10. ConfigMgr Sites can be used in Shopping to define groups of computers to allow different management based on the assigned ConfigMgr site of the computer accessing the portal. For example, there may be an Application that should only be installed on computers in the Asia-Pacific regions, so the Application can be limited to the Asia-Pacific Regional Primary Site. If the portal is accessed from a computer that is not assigned to that site, the Application would not be available. ConfigMgr sites can also be used to manage Application licenses on a per-site basis (license management will be covered in the Lab Efficient use of Application Licenses).
  10. On the Central or Branch Management page, select Central Administrator and click Next
  11. On the Approval page select None and click Next
    12. Note that the Computer Category Based approval is disabled because there are currently no Computer Categories defined. You will be working with Computer Categories later.
  12. On the ConfigMgr Package and Program Details page select Application
    13. Note that the Shopping Application can be configured to run a ConfigMgr Program (associated with a Package), Task Sequence or Application. Task Sequences are typically used for OS Deployment but can also be used to install complex applications that have a number of dependencies or require specific logic at install time.
  13. Select Sales Application from the Application drop-down list. Note that by default, the installation is per machine, but this can be changed to a user-based installation. You also have the option to allow Shopping to remove the application. We'll cover that later, so for now click Next to accept these default settings
  14. On the Licensing Details page click Next (licensing will be covered in Efficient use of Application Licenses)
  15. On the Completing the New Application Wizard page, click Finish
  16. Refresh the Shopping console after a few seconds, and confirm that AppModel Status has changed from Pending to Creation Succeeded
    17. If the status doesn't change from Pending to Creation Succeeded after a minute, inform your instructor.

Using the Bulk Import Tool

When setting up Shopping initially, it is not desirable to create ConfigMgr Applications one by one. To address this, Shopping includes the Bulk Import tool. In this task, the Bulk Import tool will be used to import the rest of ConfigMgr Applications required for the subsequent lab exercises.

Shopping Applications and Icons: There is one important thing to keep in mind about icons in Shopping Applications. If you are creating a single application and click the Change Icon button, you may select graphics files, executables, .dll files, MSI files, etc. from which to retrieve icons. Once the application has been created and you want to change an icon, only graphics files (jpg, bmp, png, ico) are allowed. There are some graphic files for use with the lab applications. They are located in the 1ESHO04-55 Course Content\ShoppingIcons folder, accessed via the SkyTap Shared Drive shortcut on the desktop.

1ETRNAP

  1. In the Shopping Admin Console, right-click on the Applications Node in the Database Explorer (left pane) and note the two bulk import options - Bulk Import ConfigMgr Applications (All) and Bulk Import ConfigMgr Applications (New Only)
  2. Select Bulk Import ConfigMgr Applications (All) to open the Bulk Import Wizard showing all Packages, Applications and Task Sequences currently defined in ConfigMgr. Expand the window to see all the columns. The table below describes the columns presented in this interface

    3. Column

    Description

    (unnamed first column)

    The first column to the left of the Import column is used to display status. You will notice a warning icon in this column on some of the rows. You can hover over the icon to view the warning specific to the application on that row

    Import

    Use this column to select which applications from the list that you want the Bulk Import Wizard to import when you click Import. When you open the Bulk Import Wizard, all rows that have no warnings in the status column will be selected for import

    Application Name

    This name will be given to the Application in Shopping when it is imported. It is derived from the name of the Package or Application as defined in ConfigMgr, but can be edited. The Application Name has a maximum length of 50 characters.

    Install Package Name

    This column is a read-only representation of either the ConfigMgr Application or Package that is associated with the installation of the application to be imported. For Packages, this will display a combination of the Manufacturer, Package Name and Version details as defined in ConfigMgr. For Applications, this column simply shows the Application Name. It is possible to click on this field and modify some of the Package or Application options that will be reflected in other columns in this interface (e.g. Install Program Name, Can be Uninstalled, Uninstall Package, Uninstall Program)

    Install Program Name

    For Packages, this will show the name of the Program that will be used by Shopping to install the application from a computer. If there is only one program in the Package, this column will show that Program. If there are multiple Programs, this column will show the first one that includes the word install in its name.
    For Applications this column will simply show App Model (Machine) or App Model (User) depending on how the Application Program has been defined

    Can be Uninstalled

    This checkbox column indicates that an uninstall program has been defined for the Package or Application and that users will be able to remove the application from their computer through the Shopping portal

    Uninstall Package Name

    This column is a read-only representation of either the ConfigMgr Application or Package that is associated with the uninstallation of the application to be imported. For Packages, this will display a combination of the Manufacturer, Package Name and Version details as defined in ConfigMgr. For Applications, this column simply shows the Application Name. It is possible to click on this field and modify some of the Package or Application options that will be reflected in other columns in this interface (e.g. Install Program Name, Can be Uninstalled, Uninstall Package, Uninstall Program)

    Uninstall Program Name

    For Packages, this will show the name of the Program that will be used by Shopping to uninstall the application from a computer. This column will show the first Program in the selected Package that includes the word uninstall in its name. If the uninstall Program does not contain the word uninstall, you will need to manually select it by clicking this field.
    For Applications this column will simply show App Model (Machine) or App Model (User) depending on how the Application Program has been defined

    Branch

    By default, Shopping Application are configured for Central Administration. A check in this column indicates that the Shopping Application will be imported with the Branch Administration option enabled.

    Mandatory

    By default, all ConfigMgr Applications in Shopping are configured as Mandatory (Required in ConfigMgr 2012 terminology). To make an application available to a user or computer, you can uncheck this option.

    Reshoppable

    Check this field if you want users to be able to request the application more than once (i.e. 're-shop' the application) on any given computer. By default, once an application request has been completed, it is no longer available in the portal when the same user connects from the same computer

    Manufacturer

    This read-only column displays the Manufacturer as defined in the Package properties in ConfigMgr (or the Publisher in the ConfigMgr Application properties)

    Version

    This read-only column displays the Version as defined in the Package or Application properties in ConfigMgr

    Language

    This read-only column displays the Language as defined in the Package or Application properties in ConfigMgr

    Description

    This column displays the Comments as defined in the ConfigMgr Package properties or Administrator Comments as defined in the ConfigMgr Application properties

  1. Note the filter controls at the top of the Bulk Import tool as indicated below. Select different options and observe the effect. Switch back to the "All" filter before proceeding


  1. Note that Sales Application appears on the list
    2. You have already created an Application in Shopping for this in the previous task, however as you selected Bulk Import ConfigMgr Applications (All) the list shows all Packages and Applications available in ConfigMgr whether or not they have already been added to Shopping.
  2. Close the Bulk Import tool (using the Close button in the lower right hand corner), then right-click on the Applications Node and select Bulk Import ConfigMgr Applications (New Only)


    3. Note that Sales Application is no longer in the list as the (New Only) option only shows Packages and Applications from ConfigMgr that are not already associated with existing Shopping Applications.

  1. Clear the checkbox to the left of the Import column heading as indicated below to clear all currently selected applications and allow you to select specific applications to import

  1. Filter on App Model (Machine) in the Filter drop down menu

  1. Select each of the applications in the list except the 1E Client application and the Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003 application
    2. Do not be tempted to use the checkbox in the Import column header at this point to select all visible Applications then uncheck the 1E Client Identity and Microsoft Office Word Viewer 2003 applications! Although the view is filtered to only show machine-based App Model Applications, checking the top-level import checkbox will select all Applications that do not have any warnings, not just the ones shown on the filtered view.
  2. Modify Application Names and enter Descriptions (the Descriptions column is farthest to the right) for the selected applications according to the table below

    3. Install Package Name

    Application Name

    Description

    Adobe Reader 9

    Adobe Reader

    PDF File Reader

    Microsoft Office 2013

    Office 2013

    Microsoft Office Suite

    Microsoft Pro Photo Tools

    Pro Photo Tools

    Microsoft Photo Editor

    Microsoft Project 2010

    Project 2010

    Microsoft Project Planning Tool

    Orca

    Orca

    MSI Editor

    Paint.NET - x64

    Paint.NET - x64

    Image Editor (64-bit)

    Paint.NET - x86

    Paint.NET - x86

    Image Editor (32-bit)

    Quest PowerGUI® 3.2

    PowerGUI

    PowerShell Editor

    WinZip 16.0

    WinZip

    File Compression Tool

    XML Notepad 2007

    XML Notepad

    XML Editor

  3. Click the Import button in the lower right hand corner
  4. When the import completes, observe the results and then click OK
  5. The Bulk Import tool will return to an unfiltered view of all applications that have not been imported
  6. Filter the remaining applications to show only Package/Program
  7. Select ONLY the applications shown in the table below and enter the descriptions shown

    8. Install Package Name

    Application Name

    Description

    1E Training Phonebook 2.72 EN

    Phonebook

    Customer Phonebook

    Microsoft RDC Manager

    RDC Manager

    Remote Desktop Connection Manager

    Skype for Windows 7

    Skype for Windows 7

    Real Time Communication Tool

  8. Click the Import button in the lower right hand corner
  9. When the import completes, observe the results and then click OK
  10. Click the Close button in the lower right hand corner to close the Bulk Import tool. The imported applications now appear in the list of applications in the Shopping Admin Console
    11. When applications are imported in bulk, they are automatically set to Disabled. This is to allow any application-specific configuration to happen prior to being made available in the Shopping Web Portal.
  11. Open the properties of the Project 2010 application, change the cost to 500.00 and click OK
  12. Select all of the imported applications in the Disabled section (multi-select works in the Shopping Admin Console), right-click and select Enable Application
    13. You may notice that the AppModel Status value for the imported packages (legacy) will be "Not Applicable" while the status for the machine or user centric applications will be either "Pending" or "Creation Succeeded." This is to indicate that the ConfigMgr objects (collections, deployments) have been created (Creation Succeeded) or if they are queued up to be created (Pending). These tasks are performed by the Shopping Receiver component installed on the ConfigMgr server. For the legacy packages, the AppModel Status will always stay in the "Not Applicable" status, however the ConfigMgr objects will be created with the first request of the package. The Shopping Console view may be refreshed (F5) to observe progress.

Observe objects created in Configuration Manager

You will now observe the effects of the previous task in ConfigMgr.

1ETRNCM 

  1. Log on to 1ETRNCM as 1ETRN\SCCMAdmin and open the Configuration Manager console
  2. Select the Assets and Compliance Workspace, expand the Device Collections node and select the Shopping folder
    3. If the Shopping folder does not appear under Device Collections, refresh the console.
    The Shopping collection folder is created when the first ConfigMgr Application was created in the Shopping console. Note that this folder contains an install and uninstall Collection for each Shopping Application based on a ConfigMgr Application. The Collections are empty now – computers will be added to the collections as users shop for the Applications associated with them. Shopping Applications that are based on legacy Packages or Task Sequences behave differently – the Collections are created in a folder named <sitecode> - Shopped Applications when the first installation of the application is processed (i.e. when the first order for the application is completed). These Collections are named <sitecode> - <packageID> <program name>.
  3. Note that the Limiting Collection on all the collections created by the Shopping Receiver is Lab Workstations as we defined earlier
  4. Select the Monitoring workspace and then select the Deployments node. Note that the Shopping Receiver has created an Install and Uninstall Deployment for each Application that was added in the previous task
    5. Again, these deployments only exist for Shopping Applications that use a ConfigMgr Application (rather than Package or Task Sequence) for deployment. As with Collections, Deployments for Packages and Task Sequences are created when the first order for the Application is completed.

  1. Open the Shopping Receiver log C:\ProgramData\1E\Shopping.Receiver\v5.6.0\Shopping.Receiver.log and identify the activity in the log file associated with the creation of these Collections and Deployments (the example below shows the Adobe Reader collections and deployments being created)

Enable OS Filtering and Observe the Results

Shopping has the ability to allow an administrator to filter the available applications in the Shopping Web Portal to applications which are appropriate for the operating system version or architecture that exists on the computer that the web portal is being accessed from. We configured the rights for the Shopping Central Service account earlier to support this feature. In this exercise, we will enable OS Filtering and observe the results of that action.

1ETRNCM

  1. In the ConfigMgr console, select the Software Library workspace, expand Application Management and click on Applications
  2. Select the Paint.NET – x64 application and click on the Deployment Types tab at the bottom of the page
  3. Right-click on the Paint.NET – x64 deployment type, select Properties, and click the Requirements tab. Double-click the Operating System requirement type. Note that there is a requirement that states that the operating system must be one of:
    1. All Windows 7 (64-bit)
    2. All Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
    3. All Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit)
    4. All Windows 10 (64-bit)
  4. Cancel to close the properties page. Cancel again to exit the Deployment Type
  5. Repeat steps 306 through 308 for the Paint.NET – x86 deployment type, noting that it is configured for 32-bit architecture and does not include server operating systems
  6. Repeat steps 306 through 308 for the Microsoft Pro Photo Tools type and note that it is configured only for All Windows 7 (32-bit), All Windows 8.1 (32-bit) and All Windows 10 (32-bit)
  7. Select Packages under Application Management and select the Skype for Windows 7 package
  8. Click on the Programs tab at the bottom of the page and open the properties of the Install Skype program
  9. Select the Requirements tab and scroll down the list in the Only on specified client platforms section to find that All Windows 10 (32-bit) and All Windows 7 (32-bit) are selected
    10. The All Windows 10 (32-bit) platform is selected to support a lab exercise in the Nomad class, but we don't want to include it for the lab exercises in the Shopping class.
  10. Uncheck the All Windows 10 (32-bit) platform and click OK

1ETRNAP


  1. Log off of 1ETRNAP as 1ETRN\AppManager and log back in as 1ETRN\ShoppingAdmin
  2. Open the Shopping Admin console and select the Settings node
  3. Scroll to the OS Filtering section and note that the OS Filtering Enabled option is set to False – this is the default setting
  4. Click on OS Filtering Enabled and notice that a drop-down button appears at the far-right side of the value field
  5. Click the drop-down button and select True to enable OS Filtering
  6. Click on the Save button at the top of the Settings page
  7. Open the ShoppingCentral.log file in C:\ProgramData\1E\ShoppingCentral

  1. Restart the 1E Shopping Central service and watch the activity in the log file


The log file capture has been filtered to show only the lines that contain OSFilteringSyncWorker for better readability


Note that the OSFilteringSyncWorker component of the Shopping Central service evaluates five applications (highlighted lines above) at a time for pre-requisites, writes any that in a staging table (tb_SccmProgram_PreRequisite_Staging) and once it is done, the accumulated pre-requisites are written from the staging table to the pre-requisites table (tb_SccmProgram_PreRequisite).

Create a Non-ConfigMgr Application

In this task, you will create an Application in Shopping that is not associated with any object in ConfigMgr.

1ETRNAP

  1. In the Shopping Admin Console, right click Applications and select New Application
  2. On the Welcome page, click Next
  3. On the General Details complete the fields as follows


    4. Name: Samsung E1920 Monitor
    Description: Company standard 19-inch monitor
    Cost: 130.00


  4. Select the Change Icon button, browse to C:\windows\system32\SHELL32.DLL. Choose any icon and click OK
    5. Note that the Properties control group at the bottom right of the General Details page does not have the Mandatory option seen in the previous task, as this is not a ConfigMgr Application.
  5. Click Next
  6. On the User Categories page, click Next
    7. At this stage, no User Categories have been created.
  7. On the ConfigMgr Sites page, ensure All Sites and unmanaged clients is selected and click Next
  8. On the Central or Branch Management page, select Central Administrator and click Next
  9. On the Approval page select None and click Next
  10. On the Licensing details page click Next (as this is a hardware item, licensing is not applicable)
  11. On the Complete Wizard page, click Finish
    12. Note that the Applications node in the Shopping console shows Applications categorized by type (ConfigMgr, ConfigMgr 2012 – Machine Centric Application and Non-ConfigMgr)

Review the Applications

You will now observe the Applications in the Shopping Portal with a focus on the results of implementing the OS Filtering feature.

1ETRNW72 

  1. Log on to 1ETRNW72 as 1ETRN\User and open the Shopping portal (http://appstore)
  2. The Home page now shows most of the Applications you just added
    3. You will notice that Paint.NET – x64 is not listed. This is a result of enabling the OS Filtering Feature.


    The navigation panel now includes a menu item Miscellaneous (as there are now Applications to display in that default User Category). The Home page will show Applications from the Miscellaneous User Category by default, but you can also select the User Category from the navigation panel. As no User Categories have been defined yet, all Applications have been added into the Miscellaneous User Category and are therefore visible to all users.
  3. By default, Applications are displayed as tiles on the page. You can toggle between the tile view and list view using the controls at the top of the page
  4. Log off 1ETRN\user


1ETRNW101

  1. Log on to 1ETRNW101 as 1ETRN\User and open the Shopping website
  2. Note that the Skype for Windows 7 and the Paint.NET – x64 applications are not displayed
    3. We removed Windows 10 as a requirement for Skype for Windows 7, and Paint.net – x64 is for 64 bit architecture. Our Windows 10 machines are also x86.

1ETRNCM

  1. Open the Shopping website
  2. Note that Skype for Windows 7 and Paint.NET – x86 are not displayed

    3. Here we have demonstrated the filtering on both the OS and the architecture (32 vs. 64 bit). The server is a 64 bit OS. This is very useful when there are applications in the environment that are very specific to an OS or an architecture.

    It is important to note that if the Shopping website is accessed by a user that has admin rights in Shopping, the OS Filtering is ignored and all applications are displayed.

Organizing Applications with User Categories

In this exercise, you will create some User Categories to organize Applications into logical groups and to restrict availability of Applications to specific users. In the 1ETRN.LOCAL domain, there are two user groups, Sales Team and Development Team. We will use the groups to demonstrate how we can limit application that are visible to shoppers using User Categories.

Create a User Category for Sales Tools

In this task, you will create a User Category that will group Applications that should only be available to people in the Sales Team.

1ETRNAP

  1. Open the Shopping Administration console
  2. Right-click the User Categories node and select New User Category to launch the New User Category Wizard
  3. On the Welcome page click Next
  4. On the User Category General Details page enter the following details and click Next


    5. Name: Sales Tools
    Description: Items available to the Sales Team



  5. On the Permissions page, click Add, enter Sales Team and click OK then click Next
  6. Click Finish to close the Wizard

Create additional User Categories

1ETRNAP
  1. Repeat steps 343-347 of the previous task to create the following additional User Categories

    2. User Category

    Description

    Permissions

    Development Tools

    Items available to the Development Team

    Development Team

    Resource Access

    Resources for which access can be requested

    (none)

    Core Applications

    Core business applications

    (none)

    Microsoft Applications

    Microsoft Licensed Applications

    (none)

    Utilities

    General tools

    (none)

    Note that the last four User Categories do not have any specific Permissions associated with them. As such, they will be available to all users and are used simply to group applications logically in the web portal.
  2. In the Shopping Admin Console, expand the User Categories node in the Database Explorer pane and select each in turn to view the Applications currently assigned to each User Category
    3. Note that all the Applications are currently in the default [Miscellaneous] user category.

Add an Application to a User Category (Method 1)

In this task, you will add the Sales Application to the Sales Tools User Category by modifying the properties of the Sales Application.

1ETRNAP

  1. In the Shopping Console, select the Applications node, right-click Sales Application and select Properties
  2. In the Sales Application –ConfigMgr Application Properties dialog box select the User Categories tab
  3. From the list of defined User Categories, select Sales Tools and click OK
  4. Expand the User Categories node and select [Miscellaneous]. Validate that Sales Application no longer resides here
    5. By adding the Sales Application to a specific User Category (Sales Tools), the Application is removed from the default Miscellaneous User Category.
  5. Select the Sales Tools user category and note that Sales Application is now assigned to the Sales Tool User Category

Add an Application to a User Category (Method 2)

In this task, you will add the XML Notepad to the Development Team User Category through the User Categories node.

1ETRNAP

  1. In the Shopping console, expand the User Categories node, right-click Development Tools and select Add Applications
    2. Be sure to right-click Development Tools in the left-hand pane. If you right-click Development Tools in the right-hand pane, you will see a different context menu.
  2. In the Add Applications dialog box, select XML Notepad in the Unselected Applications list on the left and click the > button to add it to Selected Applications on the right
  3. Click OK
    4. Note that the XML Notepad application is now in the Development Tools user category and no longer in Miscellaneous

Add remaining Applications to User Categories

1ETRNAP

  1. Use either of the above methods to add the remaining Applications to the appropriate User Categories as follows
    2. For multiple applications, it's best to use the second method via the User Categories node in the shopping console, as it allows for multi-select.

    User Category

    Applications

    Core Applications

    Adobe Reader, WinZip

    Development Tools

    Orca, PowerGUI

    Microsoft Applications

    Office 2013, Project 2010

    Resource Access

    <EMPTY>

    Sales Tools

    Phonebook

    Utilities

    Paint.NET – x64, Paint.NET – x86, Pro Photo Tools, RDC Manager, Skype for Windows 7

  2. Click on each User Category and notice how the applications have been relocated. Note that the only 'Application' remaining in the Miscellaneous User Category is the Samsung monitor

Review the effects of this exercise

In this task, you will observe the audit trail that is maintained in the Shopping database for all console activity, and then observe the effects of the previous configuration tasks as the end users see them.

1ETRNAP

  1. From the Shopping Admin Console select the Event Log node in the Database Explorer pane
  2. Observe the events related to the actions taken in the previous step (the most recent events will be listed at the top of the list of events)
    3. The Event Log provides an audit trail of all Shopping Admin Console activity. Remember you can use Node Security to restrict access to the Event Log if desirable.


1ETRNW71 

  1. Log on to 1ETRNW71 as 1ETRN\user and open the Shopping web portal
    2. If you are already logged in as another user, log out and log in as user!

  1. Observe the User Categories available in the navigation panel


    Be aware that User Categories are only populated when the Shopping portal is first loaded in the browser and are not updated with a page refresh. If you make changes to User Categories while a browser session is already open, you will need to close the browser and re-open the Shopping portal to see these changes.
  1. Click on each of the Categories on the left-hand pane and note the Applications that are available for request in each Category, presented in the main area of the page
    2. The Development Tools User Category is only available because the logged-on user (User) is a member of the Development Team AD group that has been granted access to this User Category. The other User Categories have no permissions defined and are therefore available to all users.
    Note that the Sales Application is no longer available to this user. The Sales Application is now included in the Sales Tools User Category and as the logged-on user is not a member of the Sales Team AD group, the Sales User Category is not available to this user
    The Sales Application may still appear on the Home page if the page has been loaded from the Internet Explorer cache (since the Home page itself has not changed). A quick refresh should rectify this, but if that does not remove the Sales Application from the Home page, simply attempt to request it – it will say that it is not available for Shopping and remove it at that point.
  2. Select the Miscellaneous Category. Note that now the only Application available in this category is the Samsung E1920 Monitor
    3. Note that although the remaining category, Resource Access, created earlier has no restricted permissions (i.e. are available to all users), it does not appear in the Categories list. Why might this be? Ask your instructor if you're not sure.
  3. Log off User on and log on as 1ETRN\SalesUser
  4. Open Internet Explorer and go to the Shopping portal
  5. Note that the Sales User does not see the Development Tools category, but does see the Sales Tools User Category listed in the left-hand pane

Searching for Applications

While User Categories allow Applications to be logically organized into groups to make browsing applications easier, if a user is looking for a specific application it may not be immediately obvious which category to look in. In this task, you will learn how to search for an application rather than browse for it.

1ETRNW71

  1. From the Home page in the Shopping portal, enter "Microsoft" in the search box at the top-right of the page and press Enter
    2. Note the page title changes to Search Applications and the page shows applications that include Microsoft in the Name or Description.
  2. Enter custom in the search box, press Enter and observe the results
    3. The Sales and Phonebook applications are returned in the search results, as the descriptions both contain the word Customer. The search will return partial matches found in either the application name or description.
    If you did not input descriptions, you will not get the results back!

Shopping for an Application

You have now created some sample Applications and seen how User Categories can be used to logically group applications and restrict availability of Applications to specific users. In this exercise, you will request the Sales Application and observe the behavior as the request is processed and the application is delivered by ConfigMgr.

Shop for the Sales Application

In this task, you will request the Sales Application through the Shopping Portal.

1ETRNW71 


  1. Ensure you are logged on to 1ETRNW71 as 1ETRN\SalesUser and open the Shopping portal
  2. Use your preferred method (browse or search) to find the Sales Application
  3. Click the Request button and note that Request has been replaced by ORDER PLACED

  1. You should see the following banner appear in the page header
  2. In a few seconds, the banner will change as the status of the request changes

  1. Click the hyperlinked word here in the banner to go to the All Orders tab on the My Software page
    2. The banner will not be displayed for very long, so if you miss it, you can open this page at any time by click the  button in the top right of the page header then clicking on the All Orders tab.


    The All Orders tab shows everything that the logged-on user has ordered. Note the Status column indicates how far along the request workflow and deployment process that the order has progressed. In this instance, no Approval was required so the workflow progresses straight to deployment through ConfigMgr
  2. In the Search Applications box at the top of the page, enter sales and press Enter. The Sales Application tile is displayed in the search results again. Observe the Sales Application tile and note that the current status is also displayed here

Observe activity in ConfigMgr

In this task, you will observe the changes made by the Shopping Receiver in ConfigMgr to deploy the Sales Application to 1ETRNW71.

1ETRNCM


  1. In the ConfigMgr console, select the Assets and Compliance Workspace, expand the Device Collections node and select the Shopping folder
  2. Double-click the Sales_Application_Install_Device_Shopping Collection and note that the Receiver has added 1ETRNW71 into the Collection
    3. To confirm this is the correct collection you may want to display the Collection ID in Config Mgr (\Assets and Compliance\Overview\Device Collections\Shopping right click on the column list and add Collection ID

  1. Open the Shopping Receiver log file (in C:\ProgramData\1E\Shopping.Receiver\v5.6.0) and identify the steps where the receiver added 1ETRNW71 into the Collection

Note that once the Receiver has created and updated the objects in ConfigMgr, it then initiates a Policy Refresh on the client.
1ETRNW71
  1. Return to the workstation. Because of the Policy Refresh, the client should by now have received the policy and begun processing it. Depending on timing it may have already been installed (you will see the Sales Application icon on the desktop)
  2. Return to the Shopping Portal and go to the My Software page (click the button in the page header). The My Software tab shows the applications that have been installed by Shopping (just Sales Application now). Select the All Orders tab. The Status column should now show Installed
    3. Depending on how quickly you get to this point, you may need to wait for the ConfigMgr state message to be processed before the order status shows as Installed. The Shopping Receiver polls ConfigMgr (every 60 seconds by default, defined in the StatusMessageInterval in Shopping.Receiver.exe.config) for State Messages relating to the success or failure of deployments to computers and users, then updates the order status accordingly in Shopping and notifies the user via email.


    One important thing to consider is the frequency at which the ConfigMgr client sends State Messages to the management point. By default, it sends them in batches every 15 minutes. Although the Shopping Receiver polls every 60 seconds, it will not find the state message until it is forwarded to the management point by the client. The status of the installation in the Shopping portal as well as the "Application Successfully Installed" email will not occur until the State Message is received at the management point. The software can be successfully installed for up to 16 minutes before success is indicated. In the 1E Training Lab environment, the State Messages are configured to be sent up every minute. This will expedite the results in a lab environment, but is generally not a good configuration for production environments.
  3. Open Windows Live Mail from the start menu and note the email generated by Shopping notifying the user that the Application has been successfully installed
    4. Because the email may be delayed due to State Message batch processing, you can move on to the next lab for now and check back on 1ETRNW71 in a few minutes.
  4. Minimize all windows and look for the SalesApp.doc icon on the desktop. This confirms the application was deployed

Observe final activity in ConfigMgr

In this task, you will observe the changes made by the Shopping Receiver in ConfigMgr post deployment of the Sales Application to 1ETRNW71.

1ETRNCM


  1. In the ConfigMgr console, select the Assets and Compliance Workspace, expand the Device Collections node and select the Shopping folder
  2. Observe the Sales_Application_Install_Device_Shopping Collection and note that Receiver has removed 1ETRNW71 from the Collection

  1. Open the Shopping Receiver log file (in C:\ProgramData\1E\Shopping.Receiver\v5.6.0) and identify the steps where the receiver removed 1ETRNW71 from the Collection

Lab Summary

In this Lab we have seen how both non ConfigMgr Applications and ConfigMgr Applications are added to the Shopping Portal. ConfigMgr Applications are installed automatically, whereas non-ConfigMgr Applications (such as hardware, security access to file shares or corporate systems or anything really that the customer wants users to request through the portal) cannot be automatically delivered to the user.
The Sales Application used in this lab did not require any approval, so the application was automatically delivered to the user's computer within a few minutes of the request being made. In the real world, some Applications will require some form Approval before the application can be delivered, especially in the case of non-ConfigMgr Applications. 
In the next lab, we will work with Application Approval.

Next Page
Ex 5 - Shopping 5.6 - Application Approval