VMware View indicates a ThinApp package application is invalid

by Davoud Teimouri · Published 06/07/2013 · Updated 27/06/2017

Streaming Application

You may get this error when trying to scan a streaming application and the View Connection Server logs may report these errors:

12:35:31,020 ERROR <MessageFrameWorkDispatch> [ws_thinappmgmt] OpenPackage failed, path = \\thinappserver\ThinAppStore\WinSCP\WinSCP.msi. Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object
12:35:31,022 INFO <TP-Processor1> [ThinAppMSIManager] Application MSI with path:\\thinappserver\ThinAppStore\WinSCP\WinSCP.msi skipped. Reason:Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object

This issue occurs if all package components are not available during the scanning.

To resolve this issue, confirm that in addition to the application’s .msi file, the directory where the .msi file is located contains all associated .exe and .dat files that were created during the build process.

A streaming application has an .msi and an .exe file. If the .exe file is not present the application was not captured with streaming activated, rebuild the application with the MSIStreaming paramater’s value set to 1 in the package.ini file located at the project directory when the package is built.

Full Assignment Application

If this is Full Assignment application and all the files from the package is in the thinapp repository folder and the logs on the View Connection Server is showing error similar to:

12:57:12,529 ERROR <MessageFrameWorkDispatch> [ws_thinappmgmt] Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x80070715. The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file.
12:57:12,541 INFO <TP-Processor2> [ThinAppMSIManager] Application MSI with path:\\thinappserver\ThinAppStore\Aimetis\Aimetis.msi skipped. Reason:Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x80070715. The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file.

This issue occurs if the Thinapp package is not captured and built correctly.

To resolve this issue,

Ensure that the application is captured on a clean computer/virtual machine. Ensure that the Thinapp package will run on a virtual machine that is a clone of the master virtual machine for the pool desktops to which the application will be deployed.
Copy all files from the bin folder under the capture folder for the thinapp to the Thinapp repository.
Verify that your ThinApp packages are located on a supported network storage. ThinApp distribution by VMwareView requires that the packages are located on a Windows fileserver, or a fileserver that can support authentication and file permissions based on Active Directory computer accounts.

Primary data container or the executable icon is missing

This issue may also occur if the icon for the primary data container (PDC) or the project’s main executable is missing. The Primary Data Container must be an .exe file with an icon and cannot be a .dat file.

In this case, the View Connection server log reports these error in the debug logs:

2010-11-03 16:02:47,708 DEBUG <MessageFrameWorkDispatch> [ws_thinappmgmt] Discovering details for input MSI: < \\catl0fs800.corp.cox.com\esx_shared_vdi\MSIPackages\Oracle WorkFlow\bin\Oracle WorkFlow.msi2010-11-03 16:02:47,958 ERROR <MessageFrameWorkDispatch> [ws_thinappmgmt] OpenPackage failed, path = \\catl0fs800.corp.cox.com\esx_shared_vdi\MSIPackages\Oracle WorkFlow\bin\Oracle WorkFlow.msi. Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object2010-11-03 16:02:47,958 DEBUG <MessageFrameWorkDispatch> [ws_thinappmgmt] MSI skipped. Reason: Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object2010-11-03 16:02:47,974 DEBUG <TP-Processor8> [ThinAppMSIManager] Returned bag:{ \\catl0fs800.corp.cox.com\esx_shared_vdi\MSIPackages\Oracle WorkFlow\bin\Oracle WorkFlow.msi={ ThinAppType=ThinAppThin, SkippedErrorContext=OpenPackage, SkippedErrorCode=-1941831678, SkippedError=Error details. HRESULT hr = 0x8c420002. Internal error: unable to create API object } }”

To resolve this issue, add the RetainAllIcons=1 parameter within the PDC section of the package.ini file and then rebuild the ThinApp package.

Note: The RetainAllIcons parameter maintains all the original icons of the executable file listed in the Source parameter in the application. By default, to save the disk space, ThinApp keeps unused icons in the virtual file system and does not merge them to the .exe file. The RetainAllIcons parameter ensures that all icons for the PDC is assigned to the executable.

Note: An application cannot be scanned into the ThinApp repository if any binaries or shortcuts referenced by the application are outside the package, for example, on a mapped drive.

KB1028385: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1028385