With VMware ThinApp, applications are packaged into single executables that run completely isolated
from each other and the operating system for conflict-free execution on end-point devices.
Application packages can be deployed to different Windows platforms, eliminating costly
recoding and regression testing so you can easily migrate existing applications to Windows 7.
http://www.vmware.com/products/thinapp/overview.html
After several month of intense QA testing, SAP has released support for packaging the SAPGUI
with Thinapp. The support is documented in SAP support Note 66971.
Some excerpt from the Note: (please always download the latest version of the note from the SAP Notes system)
As of SAP GUI for Windows 7.20 patchlevel 5 the usage of SAP GUI on VMWare
ThinApp 4.6 (and higher) is supported:
o For the SAP GUI to work with Thinapp and Office 2003 you need to
change:
Search for "VirtualizeExternalOutOfProcessCOM=0 " and uncomment it
by removing the ";" at the beginning of the entry.
o For the SAP GUI to work with Thinapp and Office 2007 (2010) you
need to change three parameters in the "package.ini" file found in
the project folder
a) Search for the saplogon.exe entry and add an additional line with
"ForcedVirtualLoadPaths=%ProgramFilesDir%\Microsoft
Office\Office12\PPCORE.DLL"
For Office 2010 the entry looks like this:
"ForcedVirtualLoadPaths=%ProgramFilesDir%\Microsoft
Office\Office14\PPCORE.DLL"
b) Search for the saplgpad.exe entry and add an additional line with
"ForcedVirtualLoadPaths=%ProgramFilesDir%\Microsoft
Office\Office12\PPCORE.DLL"
For Office 2010 the entry looks like this:
"ForcedVirtualLoadPaths=%ProgramFilesDir%\Microsoft
Office\Office14\PPCORE.DLL"
c) Search for "VirtualizeExternalOutOfProcessCOM=0 " and uncomment it
by removing the ";" at the beginning of the entry.
Rebuild the package with "build.bat"
The usage of SAP GUI for Windows in conjunction with other virtualization
products like Microsoft App-V (Softgrid) is currently not supported.
This latest support statement is a result of the long term relationship between VMware and SAP
in supporting their joint customer needs.
Here you can find a whitepaper describing the details and installation process:
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/solutions/VMware-ThinApp-Virtualizing-SAP-GUI.pdf
Michael