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Understanding Deployment Options
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Virtualize allows you to configure dedicated Virtualize servers—always-running machines that host the specified virtual assets in order to provide the appropriate team members and project stakeholders continuous, stable access to virtualized resources. With such a server, the team gains centralized virtual asset access and management. Such Virtualize servers can be accessed and managed remotely from your team’s various Virtualize desktop installations.
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Recommended Workflow
The recommended workflow is to first use the Virtualize Desktop GUI to deploy a newly-created virtual asset to a "staging" remote server in order to validate that it works as expected and to fine-tune its behavior. You can think of this as your dedicated staging server for testing newly-created virtual assets.
Then, once the virtual asset is operating properly, you can use the Virtualize Desktop GUI to move it to a "production" Virtualize server for centralized, team-wide access. You can think of this as your dedicated "Production" server where your created virtual assets are actually consumed. This re-deployment can be done by simply dragging the related .pva file from the remote "Staging" server to the remote "Production" server host (in the Virtualize Server view).
Deployment in the VirtualAssets Project
As of Virtualize 9.6, virtual assets must be deployed in the VirtualAssets project. If you have any existing assets deployed in other projects, they will be represented in the Virtualize Server view in the Virtual Assets (other projects) folder:
These assets can remain deployed in the current location until you start updating them. When you are ready to modify them, move the virtual assets (and any dependent files) to the VirtualAssets project.
Deploying Virtual Assets
There are several ways to deploy virtual assets:
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Detailed instructions are provided in the following sections.
Using Drag/Drop or Copy/Paste
The fastest way to deploy a virtual asset to a local or remote server or to move virtual assets from one server to another is as follows:
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Alternatively, you can deploy virtual assets to the local server by adding the related .pva file to the VirtualAssets project (through drag and drop, copy/paste, or a source control update).
Using the Add Virtual Asset Wizard
If you want additional control over the deployment process (e.g., if you want to modify the default endpoint), you can deploy virtual assets to the local server as follows:
- In the Virtualize Server view, right-click the node indicating where you want to deploy the virtual asset, then choose Add Virtual Asset.
- Specify the path to the Responder suite that contains your Responder tools, then click Next.
- Modify the endpoint if desired, then click Finish.
Customizing Virtual Asset Deployment
For details on how to customize advanced options for virtual asset deployment, see Configuring Server and Deployment Settings Virtualize.
Re-Deploying Modified Virtual Assets
Virtual Assets get redeployed automatically whenever you make a change in the asset and save the change. Any time that you open an already deployed .pva on the local server, modify it, then save the editor, it will redeploy automatically. Automatic redeployment of all virtual assets also takes place when a data source file (Excel spreadsheet [.xls or .xlsx] or CSV) is modified.
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- In the Virtualize Server view, right-click the appropriate machine node, then choose Re-Deploy All Virtual Assets from the shortcut menu.
Organizing Deployed Virtual Assets
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If you want to organize the deployed virtual assets in the VirtualAssets project into logical groupings, you can specify a hierarchical structure. For instance, if you wanted to organize virtual assets into 4 projects, each which is organized by project components, you might create the following structure:
You can specify a hierarchical structure from the:
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Any changes made in one area will be automatically reflected in the others.
Organizing Virtual Assets from the Virtualize Server View
From the Virtualize Server view, you can perform the following actions to organize virtual assets:
- Add folders and subfolders (via right-click commands)
- Rename folders and subfolders (via right-click commands)
- Copy and paste virtual assets, folders, and subfolders (via right-click commands)
- Drag and drop virtual assets, folders, and subfolders
- Delete virtual assets, folders, and subfolders (via right-click commands)
Notes
- If you delete a virtual asset from the Virtualize Server view, you will be given the option to remove the corresponding .pva from the server.
- Folders with deployed assets will be marked with a special icon.
- (For users migrating from version 9.5 and earlier) If you have assets that were previously deployed in projects other than the Virtual Assets project, the Virtualize Server view display them in under a folder with the name of their respective project. No folder hierarchies will be reflected in such assets.