Dell KACE
AppDeploy

DELL KACE K1000

Management Appliance

The easy-to-use, comprehensive and affordable systems management solution.

 

Virtual Kontainers for Simple Application Deployment and Management

A Powerful, Easy New Way to Deploy and Manage Key Applications

Effectively deploying and managing desktop applications is time-consuming and challenging. From researching an application’s automated installation capabilities and repackaging, to testing across all desktop configurations, to confirming that its eventual removal does not cause issues, getting applications deployed and removed is a chore. Add the need to manage licenses and control usage, and it becomes clear that traditional software distribution and management on corporate networks can be a significant drain on IT resources.

KACE Virtual Kontainers offer a powerful solution that can address all of these challenges. With Virtual Kontainers, users need not install an application in order to use it. Applications run in their own encapsulated container separate from the operating system , simplifying application deployment, management and removal. With Virtual Kontiners, all deployments are silent and gone are the application conflicts and OS slowdown and “decay” that traditional installation and removal can create.

So why doesn’t everyone virtualize applications? Application virtualization solutions are notorious for their high cost and complexity. KACE Virtual Kontainers are different and are designed to provide users with an easier, faster, and significantly less expensive alternative for managing key applications and offers all these functions via a single, integrated web-based console.

Creating Virtual Kontainers

KACE Virtual Kontainers make it easy for administrators to quickly create and update Kontainers for Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader and Firefox by providing a variety of simple ways to generate them.

  • Web-based Console: Unique to KACE Virtual Kontainers is the ability to automatically create a Kontainer from the K1000 Management Console. Simply provide a setup and target a computer to initiate the process. This can be completely hands-off by providing a silent installation command line, or by using the installation wizard so that the installation can run interactively. Once complete, the resulting installation is not applied to the target system, but contained in a Kontainer package that is then uploaded to the K1000 Appliance for deployment purposes.
  • Client Side Application: The Kontainer Creation Utility is also provided for those that prefer handling everything from a Windows workstation interactively.
  • Patches and Updates: When it comes time to update, patch or modify a virtual Kontainer package, it is a simple process to apply such changes directly to an existing Kontainer package, rather than having to start from scratch. This same process can even be used to add additional applications to an existing package in order to simplify deployment and management of any applications one may wish to deploy as a group.

Deploying Virtual Kontainers

Deploying these Kontainers is easy to do and many options for customization are provided.

  • Centralized Deployment: Administrators can set the initial configuration, what shortcuts should be exposed to the user on the start menu, and what file extensions should be associated with the application Kontainer. They can choose to identify the application as a Virtual Kontainer, or make it completely transparent to users so that they are unaware of the underlying technology. The user sees nothing during the deployment process; once the Kontainer is deployed, the shortcuts for the application are instantly made available on the start menu just as it would be if traditionally installed.
  • User Portal Deployment: Kontainers may also be deployed to a web-based user portal for self-service distributions. Administrators may choose who sees which applications and users may then trigger deployments themselves, if and when desired. This helps to reduce desktop clutter by only deploying applications that the user wants, while saving support staff the time of fielding requests for ad-hoc deployments.

Managing Virtual Kontainers

KACE Virtual Kontainers provide unprecedented visibility and control. The ability to easily see where Kontainers are deployed and where they are currently being used with several remote management features are just a click away:

  • Revert a Kontainer to its original state: If the application is misbehaving or a user has configured an application in an undesired state, it can be quickly reset back to its original state to get the user immediately productive again.
  • Remove Kontainers: Retiring an application is as easy as clicking the Remove From Host button. No longer does removal of an application need to involve a risky deletion of files and registry entries from the system.
  • Disable Kontainers: In the event an administrator does not want an application used, there is no need to remove the Kontainer; simply disable the Kontainer and users will be advised the application has been disabled should they attempt to execute it.
  • Launch and Terminate Applications in a Kontainer: Remotely start and stop an application from running inside a Kontainer from the admin management console. This can be useful in helpdesk operations where remote assistance is being provided.