Unpublishing shows App in use error even when there is no application process running in task manager - Reason

Question: Even though when application is closed and no process or child process is running behind, unpublishing the package still shows application is in use and creates a Pending Task entry in the registry key. What is the reason? why it fails?

Answer: This issue is happening because of the Dynamic Virtualization (Just In Time virtualization) provided by the App-V 5.0 SP2 and higher. There are some applications like office, visio etc which has shell integration's that tightly integrates with the Explorer and Internet Explorer by default and are processed to use the virtual components. This is to enable support for enhanced shell extensions like context menu, drag and drop handler, drop target handler,data object handler,property sheet handler,infotip handler,column handler and preview handler.

Closing the running application, Internet explorer and trying to unpublish still shows "App in use" error.Even if we try to run the Stop-AppvClientPackage command in an elevated powershell, it will kill the running application and the Explorer to which the shell is hooked. The explorer which got closed earlier in turn will automatically restart quickly, and so making the package to be in use.You can check this using Process Explorer and searching for AppvEntsubSystems32.dll or AppvEntsubSystems64.dll. This will reveal the process that is using them.







Also you can check in CMD by using the below commands.

Listdlls.exe -v -d AppvEntsubSystems32.dll (or)
Listdlls.exe -v -d  AppvEntsubSystems64.dll 

Listdlls.exe is available with sysinternals tool. You can download it from here.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb842062.aspx






You can see that explorer.exe and Iexplore.exe are present by default in the ProcessUsingVirtualcomponents key in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppV\Client\Virtualization

Not able to see App-V 5.1 client GUI - Reason & Solution

Recently I have seen many queries in Technet and other groups about whether there is an App-V 5.1 client GUI available or they couldn't see the client GUI after installing App-V 5.1 client.
So let me clear this confusion first.

Microsoft doesn't provide a client GUI for App-V 5.1.Though it has stated in the below links that there is an UI available for App-V 5.1, it doesn't provide any link to download nor has a separate shortcut which I confirmed by opening the MSI and had a look for any client UI shortcut.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt346490%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt346576%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

(Have posted in Technet about this false informations. check HERE.Hope MS will look into it.) 

We already know that it stopped providing GUI from App-V 5.0 SP2. Beginning App-V 5.0 SP2, Microsoft started providing a separate client GUI which can be downloaded from the below link.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=41186

Microsoft provides the client GUI as both windows installer (MSI) and App-V format. You can choose which one will suit your requirement. 

Don't get confused as both the files are in .msi formats. The first one is windows installer which installs the client UI (appv_client_ui_setup.msi) and the second one (appv_clientUI_package.msi) just extracts the .appv files.

Even for App-V 5.0 SP3 there was no separate client GUI provided by Microsoft.They asked to use the existing GUI that was provided for App-V 5.0 SP2 and it worked well for SP3 too.

Reference - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn858700%28v=vs.85%29.aspx 

Now the real question which many people asked me is that whether we can use the existing App-V 5.0 SP2 client GUI for App-V 5.1 as there is no UI? Will it work with App-V 5.1?

Yes, would be my answer. I recently tested this in my test lab and found it to be successful.I installed App-V client GUI from the above link in the machine where App-V 5.1 HF2 client is present.

Published some test apps and checked in the client GUI. It was visible. I was able to perform all the functionalities like repair,view applications and connection groups,update,download etc..

If you don't wish to use the GUI, you can use the Powershell commands which comes in handy. 

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt346552%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/appv/2012/12/03/app-v-5-0-client-powershell-deep-dive/

Also check the AppV_Manage tool provided by Tim Mangan. It works great for App-V 5.1.

(P.S I use this as it is great and I would recommend using it.)

Download Link - http://www.tmurgent.com/appv/index.php/en/resources/AppV_Manage/221-appv-manage-introduction

Internet Explorer getting crashed after upgrading App-V 5.0 SP2 or SP3 to App-V 5.1

After upgrading from App-V 5.0 Sp2 or App-V SP3 to App-V 5.1 , Internet explorer starts crashing for no reason.

The Application event log shows two possible errors:

1.Faulting module : EMET.DLL
2.Faulting module : NTDLL.DLL

This is a known bug with App-V 5.1. Some possible workaround is to either revert back to 5.0 or follow the below steps.

Solution:

Remove the following lines in the registry and IE 10 / IE 11 will stop crashing.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / AppV / Client /Virtualization

ProcessesUSingVirtualComponents

Data:

%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\iexplorer.exe

%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Internet Explorer\iexplorer.exe

You can also try removing the App-V 5.0 earlier versions manually and then install App-V 5.1 instead of upgrading to avoid this issue.

Though the above said step is just a workaround, it is not a recommended way to bypass this issue. We need to wait for Microsoft to come up with possible fix or service pack soon.

Technet post - https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/f1bdd607-dd05-450c-90b7-8fcd8b8bccc1/internet-explorer-1011-hangs?forum=mdopappv&prof=required