WHS Project: Remote App Update…Closure.

About a year ago I started down the path of brainstorming different ways that I could expand my WHS with an add-in.  I started down the path of creating an add-in for WHS 2011 that offered the same functionality as the P80 add-in did for WHSv1.  After about 60 hours over the course of 3 months I worked on researching and developing my idea but I decided to shelf that project for now. I turned my focus to a different extension of functionality for Windows Home Server because of the broad possibilities that it could have to the WHS users.  Remote App was the idea and the basic concept is to use the same functionality that the Dashboard uses over Remote Desktop Services in the underlying Windows Server 2008 R2.  Sadly, this idea has fizzled down over time.  I started out by working in the Windows Server Solutions SDK for WHS but quickly found that AWIECO Remote Launcher offers that functionality through the Dashboard but is not as smooth and clean as I was wanting the solution to be.  I did not want to have to login to the Dashboard every time to launch a Remote App.  I wanted to be able to launch the Remote App right from the client desktop.  I then went down the path that did not include the SDK utilizing the natural server/client relationship.  I was looking for a solution that would allow me or even the user to drop in a *.exe and create a Remote App exactly like the Dashboard works.  This would then be a separate icon on your client machine but be executed on your WHS the same way the Dashboard is executed.

These are a couple of the paths I went down in my development phase.  I first created a high level step-by-step tutorial of how to setup and create a Remote Application on my WHS and deploy down to my client machine(s).  This is a good idea but as this solution is 100% user input there is a high probability for error in the process.  I was also unsure how great the adoption rate was for current WHS users to walk through the tutorial versus a automated install.  I then moved down the path of scripting.  After a bit of research I decided that PowerShell would be the best option with VB scripting being the second choice for me based off my current knowledge.  I decided to go with PowerShell because that is the native task automation framework built into Microsoft Server and Windows 7 (which I assume most of the WHS users are running Windows 7 client machines).  Using PowerShell works with the help of a module to deploy the Remote App and move from “install” to “execute” phase for the application.  This was the best and safest way that I found to complete the creation of a Remote App on WHS.  This is the best article I could find about deploying Remote Apps using PowerShell: Manage RDS RemoteApp with Windows PowerShell. 

The issue I came down to with this solution was the basic adoption issues that users and myself would have with running a script that was not the traditional *.msi or *.wssx as well as being from some guy and not a established/trusted developer for your WHS.  Most people don’t want to take the chance on installing software they are not confident in and trust on such an important machine.  I then quickly found my self back at the point of looking into the Windows Server Solutions WHS SDK.  But as I mentioned before this functionality has already been developed by AWIECO in their Remote Launcher add-in within the Dashboard.

I have learned a lot about Windows 7, Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Server 2008 R2, C#, VB, and PowerShell in this process and would not take any of that time back for something else.  I have not given up on searching for a way to add value and increase the functionality in the home storage space.  I have started the discovery phase again with the expansion of the remote WHS website shelved work there for me to explore more on as well if I choose.  I am finding the hardest part of the ‘discovery’ phase is the fact that we have not heard if Microsoft is going to be offering a WHS version of Windows Server 8 and with that in the air, it is hard to get motivated when the future of the product has not yet been defined.