Breaking apart the onboarding pipeline

A new onboarding experience takes the existing automated end-to-end onboarding and testing pipeline and gives you the option of more granular control over the onboarding process.  You can now manage the onboarding of application packages in a way that suits you and your team. 

Check out the What’s new Guide for the Danube release here for more details.. 

Onboarding Report 

As part of the new onboarding experience, we have also created a new onboarding report that makes it easier to keep stakeholders up-to-date on progress.  The report can be downloaded in Excel format allowing you to visualize the metrics and details that are important to you.  

Download as .intunewin file 

Building on the existing export to Intune capability it is now possible to download a .intunewin file instead of exporting it directly to an Intune instance.  This is especially useful for ad-hoc testing in environments not connected to you Rimo3 Cloud tenant, or scenarios where security might not allow for connectivity between Intune and a 3rd-party platform. 

Removing Task Runners from the domain during deprovisioning  

In a domain joined scenario Task Runners are now removed from the domain as part of the deprovisioning step.  This reduces the risk of Task Runner computer accounts being tombstoned if the device is not used for testing for an extend period of time.   

Password Security and Multi-factor Authentication improvements 

The minimum password length has been increased to 8 characters; this doesn’t affect existing password but will be enforced the next time you change your password.  Additionally, we have updated the behavior of the Mutifactor Authentication settings.  Now, when MFA is enabled for all users in a tenant a token is required by default for every login.  However, if you only want users to be required to provide an MFA token after a certain period of time this is now configurable in minutes instead of hours. 

API and SCCM Packages & Programs Tech Previews 

We are excited to announce two new Tech Previews: 

• Rimo3 Public API - As we continue to increase coverage of the Rimo3 Platform with our Public API the newest endpoints covering more onboarding, testing, modernization, and administration activities are now available for preview. 
   
• SCCM Packages & Programs – The Rimo3 Legacy to Modern story continues with the availability to preview support for importing Packages & Programs from SCCM for testing and export to the modern management plane of you choice, such as Intune. 

Get in contact for more information on how you can participate in a Tech Preview. 

Other updates and improvements 

• A Gateway must now be deployed, and be online before you can complete the Onboarding Questionnaire for a new tenant. 
• It is now possible to log out directly from the onboarding questionnaire. 

• A bug that in some circumstances prevented multiple dependencies from being added at the same time has been fixed. 
• Searching General Settings now produces more relevant results. 

Domain Join Improvements 

Joining Rimo3 resources to a domain and maintaining the AD credentials used is not automated through a portal hosted within the customer’s network on the Gateway.  z

In the new portal you can specify: 

• A service account to use for joining the Gateway and Task Runners to the domain 
• The domain to join 
• An optional OU Path where AD accounts for the Rimo3 resources will be created 
• An Azure Key Vault, hosted in the customer’s Azure Subscription, where the domain join details will be securely stored. 
• Auto login credentials used by the Gateway and Task Runners for testing. 

Furthermore, you can use the portal to maintain the credentials for the Domain Join Service Account and auto login user. 

Bulk Tagging 

This release introduces a bulk tagging option to the action menu released previously, allowing multiple packages to be tagged and untagged at the same time. 

MSIX Packaging Tool & Modernize OS 

Following the release of the April 2023 version of the MSIX Packaging Tool Modernize Task Runners will now be provisioned with the latest version of the packaging tool on Windows 11 22H2. 

Rimo3 Public API Enhancements 

With the ongoing enhancement of the Rimo3 Public API new API endpoints have been introduced in this release for: 

• Connectivity and export to Intune 
• Connectivity and export to Nerdio Manager 

• Connectivity and Import from Config Manager 
• Managing Task Runners and Custom Images 

Full details can be found in the Rimo3 Public API Swagger documentation, accessible from the Integrations hub in your tenant. 

New Persistent Task Runner 

A new persistent Task Runner type has been added to specifically handle sequences that don’t install packages, such as Import and Export sequences, reducing the time for these sequences to run from minutes to seconds. 

By default, an agent for the persistent Task Runner will be installed on the Gateway, and because the Gateway is always on this means Import and Export sequences will start immediately without needing to wait for a Task Runner to be provisioned. 

If needed, additional persistent Task Runners can be added on the Task Runner Config page under the Advanced menu. When a Persistent Task Runner is added it will be automatically provisioned in the Rimo3 Resource Group in Azure and remain running even after being used for testing.  When a Persistent Task Runner is deleted, it will also be deprovisioned.  The Persistent Task Runner agent on the Gateway cannot be deleted. 

Uninstall is now optional 

Uninstalling applications during the Intelligent Smoke Test is now optional and this can be achieved in 2 ways. 

Firstly, the uninstall field is no longer mandatory and can be left blank when adding packages manually. 

Secondly, there is now a tenant level setting that can be used to control the uninstall behaviour for all packages.  This can be found under General Settings on the Advanced menu and is called “Host.TenantSmokeTestSettings.PerformUninstallStep”.  

The values of this setting are: 

• Always – If an uninstall command is present the uninstall will always be performed for all package types. 

• App Volumes/MSIX Only – Only modern package formats will be uninstalled, uninstall won’t be performed for any other package type. 
• Never – No uninstall will be performed for any package type, including modern package formats. 

Bulk Delete 

Packages can now be selected on the dashboards and bulk deleted.  If a selected package is part of a running sequence it cannot be deleted and will be skipped. 
 
 

Other improvements & fixes 

• The way exit codes are handled has been consolidated for all relevant package types and improved to include better messaging for required, forced and unexpected restarts. 
• The Windows Installer Fast Retry exit code is now explicitly handled and installs/uninstalls can be configured to retry the install/uninstall action up to 6 times with an interval of up to 10mins between retries if another Windows Installer action is in progress. 
• The Wowza Video Player has been updated to Video.js player for playing live video and video playback. 

Flexible resource naming & Azure Marketplace offering 

The resource names of most Rimo3 resources created in the customer Azure subscription can now be customized via a new Marketplace offering.  The marketplace offering allows customers to: 

• Choose an existing, empty resource group or create a new one 
• Create a new storage account 

• Choose an existing virtual network or create a new one 
• Manage the subnets of an existing virtual network or create a new subnet 
• Name the Gateway virtual machine, disk and network card resources 

Existing customers can take advantage of flexible resource naming by migrating Rimo3 resources that are using prescribed resource names to a new custom named resource group. 

Upload/Download improvements 

Improvements have been made to how packages are uploaded to the Rimo3 platform.  Packages can be uploaded from the local machine or imported from a shared location such as Azure Blob storage, OneDrive or Google Drive.  Packages are uploaded/imported directly to Azure storage and are now scanned for malware as part of the import sequence.  The time to upload and import packages is now notably quicker, uploads are more reliable, and the upload size is no longer limited to 4GB when importing from a shared location. 

Modernized applications are now automatically stored in blob storage ready for download which significantly improves the download time of MSIX and App Volumes packages.  Packages modernized before this release will automatically be copied to blob storage the next time they are downloaded. 

Rimo3 Public API 

The Rimo3 Public API has been updated in line with the changes to how packages are uploaded and downloaded.  Details of the changes can be found in the new Swagger documentation, there is now also a Postman collection for the Rimo3 Public API, both of which can be accessed via the Integrations page. 

Windows 10 2004 Support 

As Windows 10 2004 and Windows 10 2004 multi-session is no longer available in the Azure marketplace as a vanilla image it has been removed from the Onboarding and Change OS questionnaires.  If you have Windows 10 2004 currently selected as a current or target OS you will be prompted to change it next time you login.  Custom Images that use Windows 10 2004 or Windows 10 2004 multi-session are not affected. 

Other improvements & fixes 

• Prompt for expired password now occurs before selecting a tenant and entering MFA token. 

• Orphaned task runners are now automatically removed by the Gateway on a schedule. 
• Fixed bug in Rimo.launcher that affected shortcuts after re-signing MSIX packages. 
• Fixed bug when fetching Azure extensions log for some custom images. 
• It is now possible to rediscover and rebase MSIX packages. 
• Improvements to how environment variables are expanded in install/uninstall commands. 

• The upload load option is disabled if the storage account connection string is not set. 
• Running and queued Sequences can now be bulk canceled. 

VMware App Volumes Capture 

In the latest release of the Rimo3 Cloud platform we have introduced the ability to automatically capture legacy application formats such as Windows Installer, setup EXE’s and script installers as VMware App Volumes 4 packages. 

The automated capture process produces both Vmdk and Vhd files allowing customers to download the resulting packages from the dedicated App Volumes Modernization Dashboard and import them into the VMware platform of their choice. 

Captured packages are also automatically onboarded into the Rimo3 Cloud Platform for testing against ongoing change in your environment. 

Modernization Wizard 

With the introduction of App Volumes capture customers now have the choice of 2 modern package formats, therefore imported and uploaded packages will no longer be automatically converted to MSIX.  Instead, customers can now choose when to embark on their legacy to modern journey using the new Modernization Wizard which allows customers to choose between the App Volumes and MSIX modern package formats and makes it easier to select which applications to modernize. 

The modernization wizard provides a filtered list of successfully onboarded applications that are suitable for modernization to the selected format, ensuring that compute resources are not used to attempt modernization on applications that can’t be converted or captured. 

Export to Intune Improvements 

Export to Microsoft Endpoint Manager Intune now supports exporting AppV packages.  AppV packages that are not suitable for conversion MSIX will be wrapped in a .Intunewin file and exported as a Win32 LoB app. 

Additionally, the Intune configuration page has been updated with a setting to force all exported application to be exported as Win32 LoB app. 

When enabled the following package types will be wrapped in a .Intunewin file for export to the selected Intune instance:

• MSI
• AppV
• Script Installer 
• Manually added User defined packages 
• MSIX 

Windows 10 & 11 22H2 Support 

It is now possible to select Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 22H2 as vanilla operating systems as well as when configuring Custom OS images for testing. 

Other improvements 

• Improvements have been made to the Sequences page to improve the load time for customers with thousands of completed sequences. 

Export to Intune

The new Export to Intune feature of Rimo3 Cloud completes the journey of application that have been imported from Endpoint Manager Configuration Manager and converted into modern MSIX packages by enabling these packages to be exported to Intune where they can be deployed to modern cloud workspaces such as Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365.

Applications that have been successfully converted to MSIX packages and automatically tested for compatibility with the MSIX format and a modern operating system can be exported to Intune in bulk from the Modernize Dashboard.

Additionally, applications can be exported to Intune individually from the Package Details screen as either an MSIX or in their original package formant. Based on the package type and where it was acquired from the platform will automatically determine the appropriate application type to create in Intune:

• MSIX packages are exported as Windows Universal line-of-business apps

• MSI packages with no command line customizations or external files are exported as Windows MSI line-of-business applications.

• All other supported package formats, such as Setup EXE’s, script installers and MSI’s with command line customizations or external files will be automatically wrapped with in the Intune wrapper format and exported as a Windows app (Win32)

Export to Nerdio Manager for Enterprise

The new Export to Nerdio feature provides Nerdio customers with the ability to export applications that have been converted to MSIX packages and automatically tested against a modern OS in the Rimo3 platform to Nerdio where they are automatically converted to MSIX App Attach Images.

Any applications that have been successfully converted to MSIX can be selected for bulk export to an MSIX App Attach Storage Location configured in Nerdio Manager for Enterprise.

MSIX packages can also be exported to Nerdio Manager for Enterprise from the Package Details screen of the MSIX package.

New Integrations Hub

With the addition of the Intune and Nerdio integrations we have introduced a new Integrations Hub. From the Integrations Hub you can configure integrations with Configuration Manager, Intune and Nerdio as well as initiating Imports/exports.

Other

• The tenant creation script has been updated to accommodate recent and upcoming changes to Azure PowerShell cmdlets and the Microsoft Graph API.
• The Onboarding Dashboard has been updated to explicitly show the Discovery and Baseline Smoke Test results of each package as well as the overall Onboarded status of the packages.

Onboarding Dashboard 

The new Onboarding Dashboard brings a number of significant updates to the Rimo3 Cloud UI.  Starting with the Dashboard itself, all applications that have been added to the platform, either through import, upload, manually added or conversion, are accessible from the new dashboard with their onboarding status.  The Onboarding dashboard will be the default landing page when logging into the Rimo3 Platform. 

Filters make it easier to identify fully onboarded applications as well as the issues that may be preventing an application from being onboarded.  The onboarding dashboard also displays any tags associated with the applications, tags are also searchable. 

The Sequences screen is now accessible directly from the onboarding dashboard and there is a fresh new look for adding packages to the platform via upload, manual creation, and import from Config Manager. 

In keeping with the look and feel of the Onboarding Dashboard the dedicated testing dashboards have had a refresh too and only applications that have been fully onboarded will be displayed on the dedicated testing dashboards making it easier to identify and investigate failures related to the specific test being undertaken. 

Modernization on Windows 11 

Modernization now defaults to creating MSIX packages on Windows 11 with the latest version of the MSIX Packaging Tool which means that your applications are ready for Windows 11 even if you are not. 

MSIX packages created on Windows 11 will still be compatible with MSIX on Windows 10 though features such as support for context menus which are only available on Windows 11 will not be available until you migrate.  When you are ready to migrate to Windows 11 your existing MSIX packages will be ready to take advantage of these features without having to be repackaged. 

As with all MSIX conversions in the Rimo3 platform each new MSIX package is tested against your chosen target environment, whether it be Windows 10 or 11, to validate the success of the conversion. 

Other Improvements 

• Auto-login credentials on the Gateway are now encrypted by default. The Sysinternals Auto-login tool can be used to manage the encrypted credentials should you need to: 

• Change the auto-login account and/or password 
• Update an existing Gateway to use an encrypted password 

• The way dialog boxes are handled during the Intelligent Smoke Test has been improved to provide more information about detected dialog boxes and ensure that the Intelligent Smoke test only interacts with dialog boxes when appropriate. 
• The auto-login account on the Gateway and Task Runners is now automatically added to the local admins group during provisioning to ensure that required permissions are available to the Gateway and Task Runner Agents and to negate the need for this to be enforced by polices. 

Add and amend storage account access key 

Customers who have linked their Rimo3 tenant to an Azure Subscription may need to rotate the access keys associated with the storage account used by the Rimo3 Platform.  Starting in the Ventura release the access key used to access the storage account can be amended via the customer’s tenant details screen.  The access key is obfuscated by default and can be viewed by toggling the unhide/hide button. 

Additionally, in scenarios where network settings prevent the access key from being saved during the tenant linking process the access key can be manually set via the same screen after the tenant linking script can completed. 

Provisioning Task Runners for troubleshooting 

It is now possible to provision a Task Runner for up to 2 hours to allow for troubleshooting.  Customers can select which type of Task Runner to be provisioned, depending on what needs to be investigated, and for how long (max. 120mins.)  The customer can then RDP to the provisioned device once it is available and carry out the necessary troubleshooting.  After the configured time the Task Runner will be automatically deprovisioned. 

Domain Join Improvements 

Improvements have been made to the provisioning process for Task Runners where some operating systems did not always join the domain successfully.  Additionally, the domain suffix can now be set on the Task Runner Config screen. 

Task Runner logs moved to customer storage account

Task Runner logs have been moved to the per customer storage account. Customers who are leveraging Azure Subscription Linking with their Rimo3 tenant will be able to access the log files via the Azure Portal or Azure Storage Explorer for troubleshooting.

Console updates

The install and uninstall steps now show the full install or uninstall command being used to make troubleshooting package install and uninstall issues easier.

Performance averages display to 2 decimal places

Performance results that average to less than 1% are now rounded to two decimal places instead of displaying as 0%.

Filename hidden on Package Details

Following feedback from customers the filename field on the Package Details screen of manually added packages has been removed. This field is primarily used to support imported MSI and AppV packages and was found to be confusing for customers when displayed for manually added packages.

Config Manager Import logging enhanced

Following feedback from the field logging in both the console and the Task Runner logs has been enhanced to make it easier to identify applications that are not imported, this includes:

• Applications that are not supported deployment types, e.g. mobile apps, Microsoft Store Deep Links
• Applications that are not configured with a content location
• Applications that do not exist in the configured content location

Multi-session Intelligent Smoke Test

The San Diego release makes the much-anticipated Rimo3 Multi-session Intelligent Smoke Test available to all customers. Building on the existing Intelligent Smoke Test (IST) the Multi-session smoke test launches applications concurrently in different user sessions on a multi-session capable version of Windows to provide the same revolutionary insights into the application’s behavior in each session as the existing IST.

These insights help customers moving to a multi-session OS for the first time understand which applications are suitable for concurrent use, such as when looking to leverage shared Windows 10/11 session hosts in AVD (Azure Virtual Desktops).

Discover applications in customer locations

It is now possible to configure the Discovery task to scan custom locations, in addition to the Program Files, Program Files (x86) and LocalAppData folders, for application executables. This enables executables installed to these custom locations to be selected for testing if they are not already targeted by a shortcut.

The Discovery task now also includes a configurable post install delay so that installers that run asynchronous post install activities have time to complete once the main installer has finished. This ensures that resources such as shortcuts that are created by separate processes post install are captured by the Discovery task to be included in the Intelligent Smoke Test.

Exclude Uninstall Shortcuts from the Intelligent Smoke Test

Some applications, when installed using an “all defaults” install, will include a shortcut to uninstall the application. This can potentially impact the automated Intelligent Smoke Test therefore if such shortcuts are detected during Discovery they will not be automatically selected for testing. If a legitimate shortcut is incorrectly identified as an uninstall shortcut it will be possible to edit the Package Detail in Rimo3 Cloud and reselect the shortcut for testing.

As can be seen in the screenshot above an uninstall shortcut was identified but it was not automatically selected for testing.

Customer OS Image Testing (Azure) 

The Customer OS Image Testing feature enables custom images to be used for testing in Rimo3 Cloud tenants that have been linked to a customer’s Azure Subscription. The feature allows customers to configure additional Operating Systems that reference Managed Images in Azure to be used when provisioning Task Runners. Customer images can include core applications and dependencies such as Office and C++ Runtimes that other applications may depend on. 

Combined with Azure Subscription Linking, which allows for Task Runners to be domain joined and gives access to backend systems, such as databases and license servers, Customer OS Image Testing completes the contextual relevance testing story.  

Customer OS images can be added for Windows 10 1507 and later and Windows Server 2012 and later. 

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Import  

The ConfigMgr Import feature enables customers to import application packages into an Azure Subscription linked Rimo3 Cloud tenant. Importing applications from ConfigMgr improves the onboarding experience by removing the limitations of package upload, such as maximum upload size, and ensuring that custom install switches and properties are used without having to be manually configured. 

The feature will import Applications from ConfigMgr with a Deployment Type of Windows Installer (MSI), AppV5 as well as Script Installers. 

The import also includes logic to automatically remediate install and uninstall commands that contain switches that would result in user interaction being required.  This ensures that the automated processes can run completely unattended. 

Azure Subscription Linking 

Azure Subscription linking is the first step towards bringing full contextual relevance to the Rimo3 Cloud platform. This capability creates key resources, such as the Gateway and Task Runners previously hosted by Rimo3, within an enterprise’s Microsoft Azure Subscription enabling connectivity to backend dependencies such as databases and license servers. This increases the scope of applications suitable for analysis by the platform. 

Customer tenant linking also paves the way for the upcoming Custom Images feature, to complete the full contextual relevance testing story, as well as Import from Endpoint Configuration Manager, to improve the application onboarding experience and mitigate several restrictions imposed by the package upload.

On-Demand Task Runner Provisioning & Deprovisioning 

The new provisioning and de-provisioning feature in Rimo3 Cloud creates Task Runners on-demand, inside linked Azure subscriptions, when they are needed and removes them once testing has been completed. This helps ensure that resource costs are kept to a minimum. The feature also allows multiple resources to be created in parallel, significantly reducing analysis times, making testing up to 3 times faster with no increase in cost. 

Rimo3 Task Runners are created on-demand from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace in a matter of minutes when a test is started. They are kept for the duration of the test before being de-provisioned when no longer needed. 

The on-demand provisioning of test resources is also the precursor for a new onboarding and test execution experience, coming in a future release, that will allow testing to be carried out on multiple OS combinations to reflect whatever or migration scenario you need to test.

Support for Windows 11 

Starting with this Rimo3 Quincy release, Windows 11 will be available as an OS to select for testing using the recently added Azure Marketplace images. Both Windows 11 21H2 single and multi-session releases will be available. This helps enterprise customers prepare and plan for Windows 11 migrations.

Please note that this is in preview testing only and Windows 11 is not yet fully supported. There are known issues with video capture. Please reach out to technicalsupport@rimo3.com with feedback on the new Windows 11 preview testing.

In addition to Windows 11, the switch to marketplace images for provisioning Task Runners means that Windows Server 2022 is now also available to select as part of the Mange and Migration Suitability workflows. However, Windows 10 1903 and older are no longer available to select for any workflow as they are not available in the marketplace. Customers still using releases of Windows that are no longer available in the marketplace will be able to onboard them as part of the upcoming Custom Images capability.

Automated Jumpstart Analysis Report 

The Application Jumpstart Analysis report is an overview of the results for the applications that have been analyzed through the Rimo3 Cloud platform. This report is meant to give you insights into each application so you can make an informed decision as to whether they can be deployed to your desired workspace; physical, virtual, or cloud-based.  

• Reduce risk. Ensure that applications will work post-migration. 
• Reduce Time to Value. Automate testing to gather data and understand application performance across your application portfolio. 
• Embrace Change. Adopt and optimize the new normal – Microsoft’s agile continuous ‘as-a-service deployment model. 

By leveraging this report, the user will be able to understand the suitability of their application portfolio across different delivery models to ensure that they can deploy the right application to the right platform to drive a great user experience. The data that has been captured will provide application suitability for migration with insights focusing on: 

• Application Compatibility 
• Azure Virtual Desktop Suitability 
• Windows 10 Multi-session Suitability 
• Application Performance 
• MSIX Suitability 

The assessment results will be broken down into subsets. The first will be an overview of the entire application subset to identify trends around the data points for the estate as a whole. The second will be an application-specific breakdown with data and guidance on how to best deploy each application post-migration. 

Changes when Manually Adding applications 

Following customer feedback, we have updated the page for manually adding application packages to remove the “Filename” field.  When manually adding application packages the full install command, including the installer file name and command-line switches, should be entered in the “Install Command” field. 

The Modernize Dashboard now displays the result of the Post Conversion Smoke test performed on the Target Operating System. This more closely aligns with the goal of the modernize workflow.

Two minor bug fixes were also completed:

• A minor defect causing a small number of AppV packages to fail installation has been rectified.
• Several minor typos have been corrected in the initial questionnaire.

Standard and Partner Tenants now display the tenant logo in the top left hand corner of the screen making it much easier to identify which tenant you are currently accessing. The Tenant logo can be uploaded from the Customers screen found in the Admin menu.

Outlined below are the major bug fixes included within this release.

• Converted MSIX packages now correctly inherit their dependencies. A converted package will have the same dependencies as its pre-conversion self.
• Notifications are now correctly aligned within the notification area.
• AppV packages that include package versions are now correctly imported and their userconfig file are correctly identified.
• Several minor grammar errors in text throughout the system, including in the initial questionnaire, have been fixed.

With Rimo3 joining Microsoft’s Azure Migration and Modernization Program (AMMP), we have added the ability for a specialist report outlining all the packages within the system and identifying their best deployment environment.

Building on last sprints for Rimo3 Cloud, the focus was on improving the overall stability of the system. Outlined below are the major bug fixes included within this release.

• Several issues relating to status as they are reported in the Excel exports on each of the dashboards have been addressed. We have also made it clearer when a default response is returned because no data is available.
• Several statuses were incorrectly being reported on all dashboards, these now appear correctly and correspond with the data exported form the Excel export.
• A server error was stopping pre-existing tags from being edited, this has been corrected and tags are now editable.
• A critical error was causing an application crash when package details were edited and then saved. This has been fixed and package details are now properly saved after edit.
• Task Runner deletion is now handled properly, and task runners are removed from the database.
• Several minor UI and validation errors have been addressed within notification pane and Operating System selection drown.

Knoxville is the eleventh named release of Rimo3’s revolutionary automated testing platform Rimo3 Cloud. This minor release completes the current set of enhancements to the user interface as we continue to bring management and administration screens up to the new UI standards to improve usability and the user experience.

The user profile screen has been brought up to the new UI standards and users can now edit details without also needing to update their password.

In line with the recent announcement from Microsoft that Windows Virtual Desktop has been rebranded as Azure Virtual Desktop, the WVD Suitability dashboard and associated components have been updated to reflect this change.

Jackson is the tenth named release of Rimo3’s revolutionary automated testing platform Rimo3 Cloud.  This release continues the enhancements to the user interface as we continue to bring management and administration screens up to the new UI standards to improve usability and the user experience. 

A number of new screens, accessible from the Advanced menu, have been added to the user interface including Tag Management to group applications for searching and reporting.  Tags can be created on the fly by tagging applications from the Package Details screen, or tags can be pre-created from the Tag Management screen.  Existing tags will be suggested when tagging applications to ensure consistency in tag usage. 

The Tag Management screen also allows tag types to be created such as Location, Department, Importance, etc.  Tags and Tag Types can also be removed using the Tag Management screen.

The release includes updates to the screens for creating, deleting & managing customer Tenants, including disabling access to the tenant, managing Privacy Settings to prevent screenshots and video from being captured for any applications, privacy settings can be managed for individual application as well.

Additionally, user management screens have been updated to enable the creation, deletion, and management of users.  Users can be pre-created by completing the New User screen, alternatively, they can be invited via e-mail and complete the registration details themselves.

We have also updated the Task Runner Config screen which allows Partners more detailed management of the Task Runner devices that are used for conversion and testing such as recreating specific devices or adding and removing additional devices as needed.  For now, this screen is read-only for customers.

Indianapolis is the ninth named release of Rimo3’s revolutionary automated testing platform Rimo3 Cloud. This release focuses on a number of enhancements to the user interface as we continue to bring more management and administration screens up to the new UI standards and improve usability and the user experience. 

Suitability is now WVD Suitability 

Following customer feedback, after the introduction of the Migration Suitability dashboard in the previous release the Suitability dashboard has been renamed to “WVD Suitability” to clearly differentiate the two dashboards. The functionality of these dashboards remains the same with Migration Suitability focusing on enabling customers to make data-driven decisions when planning to migrate a VDI or server-based computing environment to a new operating system or environment, while WVD Suitability enables customers to understand the suitability of applications for WVD in their current format, suitability for conversion to MSIX and the soon to be more generally available suitability for multi-session.

New flyout for Advanced menu items

As we continue to enhance the management and administration screens we have updated the Advanced menu to a flyout to accommodate all the new menu items.

New and Updated Management and Administration screens

The Indianapolis release includes 3 updated screens, including the Support Request form enabling customers to request support directly from within the Rimo3 Cloud platform and attach artefacts such as screenshots (.png, jpg, .jpeg) and other supporting files (.txt, .log, .json, .zip). The maximum upload size is 10MB:

The Smoke Test settings screen, which allows you to control the duration of the evaluation period of the Intelligent Smoke Test.  The evaluation period is time given for an application to launch and for the Intelligent Smoke Test to find and interact with any “interesting clicks”.

The General Settings screen allows configuration of the tenant such as enabling multi-factor authentication for all users to send an MFA token to the user’s registered e-mail address, MFA token validity to configure how often users need to provide a new token when logging in, session duration to set how long before inactive sessions time out and performance thresholds to customize warnings for high resource usage by applications during the Intelligent Smoke Test.

Houston is the eighth regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and introduces the Migration Suitability Dashboard.

Migrating with confidence:

Migrating your VDI or server-based computing environment to a new operating system or environment requires an understanding of how these changes will impact your applications and the user experience. With Rimo3’s revolutionary automated testing the Migration Suitability Dashboard enables you to make data-driven decisions when planning your migration by rapidly testing all your applications against any changes to your operating environment, allowing you to understand the potential issues or give you the confidence to progress with migration.   

Also included in the release: 

• Friendly sequence names to support searching and filtering of historical testing activities  
• Updates and improvements to resource administration screens that expose the current state and configuration of test environments
• Package type column added to dashboards 

Upcoming Release: Indianapolis

Green Bay is the seventh regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and introduces testing MSIX packages to the Manage Dashboard.

MSIX – Conversion is only the start of the journey

In addition to existing support for modernizing MSI and AppV packages to MSIX the Green Bay release now includes support for Modernizing non-packaged formats such as silently installable setup EXE’s and unattended script files, e.g. .cmd/.bat, .vbs and .ps1 files.  Furthermore, once applications are converted to MSIX you can continue to test them against new releases of Windows via the Manage Dashboard.

Upcoming Release: Houston

#didyouknow… Green Bay is the oldest city in Wisconsin and is located at the southern end of Green Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan named for the color that the water and shore turns in early spring.  With a population around 104,00 it is the smallest city to host an NFL Team, the Green Bay Packers, which is also the only NFL Team to be owned by its fans.

#didyouknow… The Green Bay release of Rimo3 Cloud introduces improvements to Modernization and ongoing management of MSIX packages with support for converting non-packaged formats to MSIX and the ability to test MSIX packages against new release of Windows 10 via the Manage Dashboard.

The Fort Lauderdale release is the sixth regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and introduces the much-anticipated Multi-session Smoke Test.

WVD Suitability – Multi-session Smoke Test

In addition to a number of fixes to address minor defects and known issues this release of the Rimo3 Cloud platform makes the Multi-session Smoke Test available for preview.  With the Multi-session Smoke Test partners and customers are able to not only understand which of their apps will work on a multi-session version of Windows 10 but also whether or not they can be used concurrently on pooled session hosts in Windows Virtual Desktop. For more information about Windows 10 Multi-Session or to arrange a demo please get in contact.

 Also included in the release:

• Improvements to Notifications for storage limits and ordering of notifications
• Improvements to the creation of test environments
• Improvements to the reconversion of MSIX packages

Upcoming Release: Green Bay

#didyouknow… Home toRimo3 CEO Mike Welling, and his favorite restaurant, Fort Lauderdale is the yachting capital of the world and lays claim to being the “Venice of America” because of all its canals, though interestingly it is twinned with Rimini in Italy.

The city takes its name from three forts named after Major William Lauderdale, commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first of those forts. It was over 50 years after the forts were abandoned that the city of Fort Lauderdale was established in the same area.

#didyouknow… The Fort Lauderdale release introduces the much anticipated 3rd pillar of the Rimo3 Cloud WVD suitability assessment, Windows 10 Multi-session. Customers now have the ability to not only understand which applications that can take to #WindowsVirtualDesktop and which apps they can #modernize and deliver to WVD as MSIX and MSIX App Attach but also understand which applications will allow them to take advantage of Windows 10 multi-session pooled session hosts which can dramatically reduce the per user cost of WVD devices.

The El Paso release is the fifth regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and includes further enhancements to the Public API as well as a number of other minor updates and fixes.

Getting ready for something new

Following the release of major updates to the Rimo3 Public API the El Paso release rounds out those changes with support for uploading applications and downloading converted MSIX packages via the API.  El Paso also contains a number of minor updates and fixes while we work on something new and exciting behind the scenes.  These updates include:

• Support for Operating Systems that require Generation 1 VM’s
• Improved validations when selecting Operating Systems
• Improved handling of and notifications for duplicate packages

Support for testing on the following Operating Systems has also been added:

• Windows 10 20H2 x64

Upcoming Release: Fort Lauderdale

#didyouknow… Known as “The Sun City” due to an average of 300+ days of sun a year El Paso also hosts the annual Sun Bowl college football game, the second oldest bowl game in the US.

Sitting on both the US/Mexico board as well as the Texas/New Mexico border, El Paso is closer to the state capitals Phoenix and Santa Fe on the US side and Ciudad Chihuahua and Hermosillo in Mexico than its own state capital of Austin. It is also closer to LA in California than it is to Orange, the easternmost city in Texas.

#didyouknow… Building on the previous release of Rimo3 Cloud the El Paso release adds upload and MSIX download capabilities to the recently updated Rimo3 Public API as well as a number of other minor updates and fixes while we work on something new and exciting behind the scenes, to help customers and partners realize even more of the benefits of Windows Virtual Desktop.

The Denver release is the fourth regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud bringing enhancements to the Rimo3 Public API, support for unpackaged formats and additional Operating Systems.

Enabling Partner services and value add

The Rimo3 Public API is a RESTful Web-service designed to enable partners and customers to leverage the power of Rimo3’s automated testing capability in their own services and processes. The latest version, released as part of Denver, is v2.0 and has been updated with support for the Rimo3 cloud platform and now also includes added support for retrieving performance results. For more information about the API or to arrange a demo please get in contact.

The Denver release additionally includes the ability to manually upload applications that are not delivered in traditional package formats, e.g. silently installable EXE’s and unattended scripts (.bat/.cmd etc.)

Support for testing on the following Operating Systems has also been added:

• Windows 10 2004 x64 (Multi-session)
• Windows 10 1809 x64
• Windows server 2012 x64 (Datacenter)
• Windows server 2012 R2 x64 (Datacenter)

Upcoming Release: El Paso

#didyouknow… Nicknamed the “Mile High City” because its official elevation is exactly 1 mile Denver is also the fourth release of Rimo3 Cloud.  But where does the city of Denver feature in other rankings?

Well, 2020 saw Denver record the fifth driest year since records began in 1872, it was the third hottest market for millennial homebuyers in 2020, which is probably because it is the second most gentrified city in the US according to another 2020 report, so it is not surprising that in 2016 Denver was ranked as “the no1 best place to live” in the US.

#didyouknow… And in keeping with its namesake the Denver release is, of course, “the no1 best release of Rimo3 Cloud ever.” Amongst other minor updates Denver includes v2.0 of the Rimo3 Public API, the ability to manually upload applications in non-traditional package formats and support for additional versions of Windows 10 and Windows 10 multi-session for WVD. So, whether you are taking your first steps to understanding the Suitability of your apps for Windows Virtual Desktop, or you are ready to Modernize your apps with MSIX or you are looking to Manage an existing WVD or legacy on-prem environment we have you covered.

The Chicago release is the third regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and brings a number of stability updates to the platform.

Strengthening the foundations for future growth

Previous releases of Rimo3 Cloud laid the foundations for our Suitability, Modernize and Manage features that enable customers and partners to understand, prepare for and navigate the uncharted waters of Windows Virtual Desktop, MSIX & MSIX App Attach, and the ever-changing Windows-as-a Service environment.

In the Chicago release we have put a tremendous effort into ensuring that those foundations are sound so that they can support the future growth and evolution of the platform.

Upcoming Release: Denver

#didyouknow..#didyouknow... #Chicago is home to our very own CTO, @Samit Halvadia who shares one of his favorite facts about Chicago: In 1900, to overcome the city’s water sanitation problem, the flow of the Chicago River was permanently reversed by the construction of a new canal joining the Chicago River with the Des Plaines River.  The system was extended and perfected with several other canals and would eventually be named a “Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium”

#didyouknow#didyouknow… Just as the opening of the main canal in 1900 was a milestone in the history of the “Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal” so too is the Chicago release a milestone for Rimo3 Cloud as both the maiden voyage of the platform with customers onboard and the foundation for future expansion and improvement.

The Boston release is the second regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud and the first major update to the platform. 

Suitability Dashboard – Windows Virtual Desktop and MSIX 

The Boston release introduces the Suitability Dashboard to the Rimo3 Cloud Platform, enabling customers and partners to better understand the suitability of applications running on a multi-session version of Windows 10 in both the current package format and as an MSIX. 

Boston also includes improvements to feedback on environment creation and application onboarding such as e-mail notifications, new in platform notifications and a status bar the progress and estimated remain time for these activities. 

Support for testing on the following Operating Systems has also been added: 

• Windows 10 1809 x64 (Multi-session) 

Upcoming Release: Chicago 

#didyouknow… Boston boasts a number of firsts in America, unsurprisingly as one of the oldest cities in the US. 

Some of these US firsts include the first public park, the first free municipal library as well as the first subway and police force.  The first Public school was also in Boston as was the first lighthouse and the first chocolate factory.  As for international firsts, the first-ever telephone call was made in Alexander Graham Bell's Boston laboratory. 

#didyouknow... As the creators of the world’s first automated application testing platform Rimo3 are no strangers to firsts either. Rimo3 Cloud is the natural evolution of that platform and Boston continues the evolution with the formal introduction of the Suitability dashboard enabling customers and partners to better understand the suitability of applications running on a multi-session version of Windows 10 in both the current package format and as an MSIX. 

The Atlanta release is the first regular named release for Rimo3 Cloud. These regular updates bring continuous improvement and new features to the Rimo3 Cloud Platform.

Minor updates and cosmetic improvements

The Atlanta release is a minor update that builds on the previous Partner Release. Amongst other cosmetic improvements and bug fixes, this release introduces new screens for Package Review, for packages that can’t automatically progress after import, and Package Details, where relevant package details can be amended and testing activities can be re-triggered for individual packages.

Atlanta also includes improvements to notifications when duplicate packages are uploaded as well as when there are imported packages that need reviewing. 

Support for testing on the following Operating Systems now include:

• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2019

Upcoming Release: Boston

#didyouknow… Atlanta is the capital of the US State of Georgia. Named after the Western and Atlantic Rail Railroad the original settlement was simply known as Terminus before being renamed Marthasville after the then Governor's daughter. It was incorporated as Atlanta on December 29, 1847. Atlanta is known as "The city in a forest" due to the number of trees growing in the city, as of 2017 nearly 48% of the city was covered in vegetation.

Rimo3 Cloud delivers a new, user-friendly approach across our automated testing platform with application suitability, modernization, and management features, and more. We are now supporting a smooth application modernization experience enabling Microsoft, VMware, and Citrix Partners to increase services revenue and remain ahead of the competition. 

A Services Growth Opportunity Too Big to Miss  

Virtual desktops have been around for years, promising a remote workspace solution of the future. Windows Virtual Desktop, the latest DaaS offering from Microsoft and its growing Azure Cloud takes VDI to a whole new level and eliminates the past technical limitations. It offers measurable benefits and outcomes for businesses, such as the ability to remote work, address replacement of aging hardware and costs, datacentre capacity constraint and regulatory requirements, and cost-effective, on-demand scaling for seasonal workers, and more. 

Partners in the Microsoft, VMware, and Citrix ecosystem who provide a managed service for customers needing to work remotely and deliver the future workplace have a generation opportunity to enhance profitability, growth, and service differentiation with Windows Virtual Desktop.  

Partner with Application Expertise to Focus on Driving Azure Consumed Revenue & Retiring Quota 

All the factors contributing to building a virtual desktop are now all-in place – a robust cloud infrastructure, excellent connectivity, and a seamless user experience with Windows 10. However, with a few critical dependencies to understand, applications are often one of the most important, yet overlooked aspects of any migration.  

For Windows Virtual Desktop, they are crucial. Application compatibility and performance, and the need to modernize existing application formats into MSIX, Microsoft's new delivery format for all MSFT products, are more critical than ever. How will you know what applications are Windows 10 multi-session friendly quickly and at scale? Or how many users can access the same application before performance is impacted? Rimo3 Cloud gives Partners access to an application suitability, modernization, and management service that simplifies the planning, costing, and transformation process and enables focus on driving Azure Consumed Revenue (ACR) or retiring quota.  

Release Overview: Rimo3 Cloud for Partners  

Rimo3 Cloud builds upon its existing application testing capability to bring to market an automated Application Modernization Platform. It's easy to use, scalable, and cloud-based for Partners to accelerate the adoption of application workloads in Azure by rapidly determining the suitability and modernizing them. Through this automated process, Rimo3 will help Partners drive Windows Virtual Desktop adoption at scale for customers. Rimo3 Cloud’s new will feature a new dashboard - driven approach, focusing on Suitability, Modernization, and Manage.

• Application Suitability for Windows Virtual Desktop: Remove the Manual Component of Modern Application Assessment for Windows Virtual Desktop & MSIX Transformation. Assess the candidates suitable for moving to Windows Virtual Desktop with the option to modernize to MSIX with Rimo3 Cloud. Save time by automatically scanning your portfolio to determine which applications are suitable candidates for MSIX conversion.  Results are reported in the Suitability Dashboard and are exportable to Excel. Learn more about Rimo3 Cloud Application Suitability here. 
• Application Modernization for Windows Virtual Desktop: Automatically Test, Convert, And Test Again in Minutes. Remove the complexity in modernizing applications for painless and quick onboarding to Windows Virtual Desktop. Use intelligent testing to understand the package pre-conversion, convert the application, test the MSIX package post-conversion – if it fails, apply automated remediations. Rimo3 achieves nearly double the success rate against other traditional tooling, including Microsoft’s conversion tool. Learn more about Rimo3 Cloud Application Modernization here. 
• Application Management for Windows Virtual Desktop: Deliver Quality Packages to Facilitate MSIX Adoption at Scale. Deploy fully tested quality packages with complete confidence. Then post deployment, continually test your applications against monthly Cumulative Updates and newer Windows versions, as they are released, in your Windows Virtual Desktop. Results are reported in the Manage Dashboard and exportable to Excel. Learn more about Rimo3 Cloud Application Manage here. 

Press Release for Rimo3 Cloud Release Key Takeaways 

• Rimo3 Cloud was recently deployed by a market leader in enterprise application software who needed a solution to modernize their large and complex application estate, manage MSIX adoption at scale, and migrate and successfully begin their journey to Windows Virtual Desktop via InTune.    
• Working alongside our customer, Rimo3 onboarded 114 packages and identified 61 packages as unsuitable for conversion, successfully converted 41 of the remaining 53 packages, and achieved an 82% conversation and remediation rate leveraging our automated process taking 18 minutes per application unattended – all over the course of a weekend. 

Upcoming Release: GA  

Keep an eye on this space as we start innovating our dashboards to focus on Multi-session readiness, and data-driven dashboards around Informed Application Delivery. 

Rimo3’s 2.0 release delivers extended innovations across the entire Enterprise platform with performance features and more. We are now supporting an enhanced application testing experience enabling greater visibility, integration, and guidance prior to deploying an update.

Release Overview:

Rimo3 builds upon its existing application testing capability by providing insight into the final tenant of the application experience – performance. By now understanding all three tenants of application testing – compatibility, performance, and functionality – we can apply our intelligence to start making decisions to ensure that the right application is being delivered to the correct user, platform, and compute for a great experience. Welcome to the era of informed application delivery!

The Driving Engine: Rimo3 Intelligent Smoke Test™

The driving engine behind understanding the complete application experience is our automated Intelligent Smoke Test. Designed around the principle that, to test applications at scale across multiple operating environments, it must be smart and completely unattended. And with fast results, you can achieve the optimal experience for your user without any impact. Rimo3 guides you on whether the application will install, work and if it will work well by determining the binary results (yes/no) on the tenants of compatibility and functionality, and providing insight around the application step performance during the execution of the application. Test thousands of applications across multiple physical, virtual, and cloud-based workspaces with no impact to the users – all in the context of the configurations of your desired environment.

• Application Performance Step Insight: Complete View of Impact Across All Workspaces Pre-Deployment For Informed Decisions Based On User Needs. Understand if an application will work in a more modern physical, virtual, and cloud-based environment with guidance on managing continuous change. Rimo3 leverages automation to capture metrics such as CPU, memory, disk, network, and GPU. You can drive the process, productivity and consistency to assess the impact on your application performance before deployment. Obtain a complete picture of whether the user can use the application the way they want to, and answer the fundamental question – should I deliver the application on the new platform?
• Cumulative Updates: Retrieve Results Within Hours, Fix Before Fail, and Deploy Updates Without Impacting Users. Say goodbye to the extremes: manual 45-day patch release cycles or your test-free, fingers crossed “spray and pray” tactic. Assess the impact of deploying any cumulative update – in context to your physical, virtual, and cloud-based workspace – to address security vulnerabilities, compliance, and governance standards with minimal effort. Native integration with Microsoft ensures access to the latest cumulative update and KB’s.
• Public API: Systems and Data Integration for Faster Application Decision Making and Extended Reporting Capabilities. Leverage Rimo3 application knowledge with your business intelligence platforms and guidelines to simplify how you integrate application test results with any third-party system or product. Bring data from inside the Rimo3 platform into your management and migration tools such as ServiceNow, Tableau, Splunk, Excel, Migration Studio – and more – to make informed decisions faster.
• Watch 2.0 Release Demo Video. Samit Halvadia, CTO Rimo3 explains the benefits of the 2.0 release >

Upcoming Release: Application Modernization Platform

Rimo3 is educating, evolving, and retooling existing services and processes to make the shift from “coping with change” to “embracing change”. The Application Modernization Platform launching in October 2020 designed to help with the migration and adoption of Windows Virtual Desktop. Rimo3 Cloud provides deployment ready MSIX packages for physical, virtual, or cloud-based workspaces. And, the technology to manage and keep up with continuous change.