HTTP 500 Internal Server Error is thrown when accessing the App Volumes Manager webpage after upgrading VMware App Volumes Manager from 2.6.0.1226 to 2.12.0.70

Problem

You’ve completed an upgrade of VMware App Volumes Manager from 2.6.0.1226 to 2.12.0.70:

… by uninstalling the old version then reinstalling the new version using the same database but notice that launching the Apps Volume Manager now display the following HTTP 500 Internal Server Error:

Reviewing the logs on the App Volumes Manager server in the folder:

C:\Program Files (x86)\CloudVolumes\Manager\log

Reveals quite a few large 200MB+ logs:

Opening these logs file in Notepad++ shows the following error repeatedly logged:

[2017-01-17 00:25:04 UTC] P2236R698508  INFO Started GET "/cv_api/version" for 127.0.0.1 at 2017-01-16 20:25:04 -0400

[2017-01-17 00:25:04 UTC] P2236R698508  INFO Processing by CvApi::VersionsController#show as */*

[2017-01-17 00:25:04 UTC] P2236R698508 ERROR    Manager: Unhandled request exception: ODBC::Error: 42S02 (208) [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Invalid object name 'ldap_domains'.: EXEC sp_executesql N'SELECT TOP (1) 1 AS one FROM [ldap_domains]'

[2017-01-17 00:25:04 UTC] P2236R698508 ERROR    Manager: Inspecting Array (21028620) (from log block)

Solution

I’m not much of an expert with App Volumes so I called support to have an engineer review the logs and was told that the line:

[2017-01-17 00:25:04 UTC] P2236R698508 ERROR    Manager: Unhandled request exception: ODBC::Error: 42S02 (208) [Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Invalid object name 'ldap_domains'.: EXEC sp_executesql N'SELECT TOP (1) 1 AS one FROM [ldap_domains]'

… indicates that a table in the SQL database named ldap_domains was missing.  Reviewing the database via Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio confirms the missing table:

The engineer classified this as a catastrophic error during the upgrade and said that it looks like many of the other tables were not created during the upgrade.  He wasn’t completely sure but the issue may have been due to the major jump in version and the schema changes between the versions.  At this point, the suggestion was to restore a database backup and attempt to reinstall or reinstall with a new database and reconfigure the configuration with the existing AppStacks.  This environment was only used by 20 users so I decided to perform a reinstall and reconfigure.

To ensure that the previous created AppStacks are imported, ensure that you select the same datastore containing all the AppStacks during the initial configuration after the new install:

Not exactly the best solution but since I’ve configured Active Directory groups to grant access to the applications, it was easier for me to go this route than try to perform a restore and then upgrade again:

Licensing VMware App Volumes

I recently had to assist a client with licensing their VMware App Volumes software as the trial period was coming to an end and I noticed that the process was a bit confusing so I thought I’d write this short blog post in case someone runs into the same issue.

Problem

Logging into the My VMware portal after purchasing your VMware App Volumes licensing will display the following 15 character license key:

xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

What I thought I needed to do was simply copy the serial key and paste it into the console but when I launched the App Volumes Manager, clicked on the Licensing tab, then Edit:

I quickly noticed that I was asked to upload some sort of a license file with a .key extension:

Solution

While I’m not really sure what the serial key is for, the way to license the App Volumes Manager is to actually navigate back to My VMware and to the downloads section:

As shown in the screenshot above, an Unlimited Desktops key file is available for download under the App Volumes ISO item. Proceed to download the file to the server:

Then upload the file in the licensing section to license VMware App Volumes:

Updating an AppStack in VMware App Volumes

This post serves as a continuation of my previous post:

Creating and AppStack with VMware App Volumes
http://terenceluk.blogspot.com/2015/11/creating-and-appstack-with-vmware-app.html

… mainly to demonstrate the process of updating an AppStack that has already been created.

Step #1 – Select the AppStack that needs to be updated

Begin by logging into the App Volumes Manager, navigate to Volumes, AppStacks, expand the AppStack that you would like to update and click on the Update button:

Provide a new name for the AppStack and select (or use the default) storage configuration:

Confirm the prompt for updating the AppStack:

Upon completion, you would now notice a new AppStack created in addition to the one that you are trying to update.  What the wizard basically did was duplicate the existing AppStack to create one for you to modify hence why you had to use a new and unique name.  Proceed by clicking on the Provision button:

Select the virtual machine that you’ll be using to mount this AppStack on and then update the associated application:

Confirm the provisioning:

You will now be brought back to AppStack summary basically displaying the same information that would be presented if you were creating a new one:

Step #2 – Update the application

Proceed to logging onto the virtual machine that you are using for the provisioning process and install the update to the application:

The following message will be displayed:

Installation complete? System will reboot

Click YES to finish and reboot computer.

Or Click No to continue provisioning.

Proceed by clicking on the Yes button then OK:

The following message will be displayed once you have logged in after the restart:

Provisioning successful (exit code 0)

Click OK, then return to the App Volumes Manager to assign the AppStack.

Navigating back to the App Volumes Manager will show that the AppStack is now ready to be assigned:

Creating an AppStack with VMware App Volumes

This post serves as a continuation of my previous post:

Installing and performing initial configuration of VMware App Volumes Manager http://terenceluk.blogspot.com/2015/11/installing-and-performing-initial.html

… to demonstrate how to create an AppStack once you have VMware App Volumes deployed in your environment.

Prerequisites

1. In order to create an AppStack, you’ll need a virtual machine to mount an empty AppStack to capture the application that is being installed.  With this in mind, you can either use a plain vanilla Windows install with no applications installed on it to avoid conflicts or, which I have found to be the better option, use the master image that you’ll be mounting the AppStacks on.  The reason why the latter appears to work better is because if you had Microsoft Office installed on your master image, it’s better to the master image to deploy an AppStack with Visio.  Not doing so caused all sorts of problems for me when attempting to mount a Visio AppStack to the master image. 
2. You will need to deploy the App Volumes agent on the virtual machine that you will be using to create an AppStack.  If you are using your master image then this would not be a problem because it would need the agent to have AppStacks mounted onto it.

Step #1 – Install the App Volumes agent onto the virtual machine used to create the AppStack

Begin by logging onto the virtual machine that you will be using to create a new AppStack and launch the VMware App Volumes installer:

Proceed through the wizard:

Select Install App Volumes Agent:

Type in either the IP address or FQDN of the App Volumes Manager server:

Complete the installation:

Restart the virtual machine:

Step #2 – Create the new AppStack

Log onto the VMware App Volumes Manager administration console, click on Volumes and then AppStacks, then click on Create AppStack:

Fill in the appropriate fields as such:

Selecting Perform in the background will allow you to continue through the creation immediately while selecting Wait for completion would keep you on the screen until the empty AppStack is created:

A summary of the empty AppStack that is ready to be provisioned will be displayed:

Proceeding to click on the Provision option will bring you to the following screen that allows you to search for the virtual machine to mount the AppStack and deploy the new application:

Hitting the search button with nothing filled out in the Find Provision Computer text box will list all the virtual machines with the agent installed that the App Volumes Manager can detect:

Select the virtual machine prepared in step 1 and click on Provision:

Confirm the provisioning:

Note the new AppStack created:

Reviewing the settings of the virtual machine selected will show that a new hard disk has been mounted to it and this is the hard disk where the new application files will be redirected:

Step #3 – Install the application

Proceed and log onto the virtual machine with the empty AppStack mounted and you will see the following message displayed:

App Volumes

You are now in provisioning mode.

Click OK only after you have completely installed all applications you wish to provision to this AppStack.

Proceed to install the application and once completed, click on the OK button in the prompt:

The following message will be displayed:

Installation complete? System will reboot

Click YES to finish and reboot computer.

Or Click No to continue provisioning.

Proceed by clicking on the Yes button then OK:

The following message will be displayed once you have logged in after the restart:

Provisioning successful (exit code 0)

Click OK, then return to the App Volumes Manager to assign the AppStack.

Note that the settings of the virtual machine should show that the hard disk 2 has been removed:

Navigating back to the App Volumes Manager will show that the AppStack is now ready to be assigned:

Proceed with clicking on the Assign button then searching for the user or group you want to assign the AppStack to:

What’s also worth noting is that you can also limit which computer this AppStack can get attached to regardless of whether it is assigned to the user or group specified:

Select the desired option:

The AppStack is now assigned:

If the AppStack is assigned immediately, you should be able to see a new hard disk attached to the virtual machine that the assigned user is logged on:

Logging onto the virtual machine should also show that the application is available: