App Volumes and OST files

With the release of App Volumes 2.14 VMware now supports Cached Exchange Mode and Windows Search Indexing on writable volumes.

This means that when you use a User Installed Applications (UIA) only writable volume, the Microsoft Outlook and Windows Search indexes are now saved along with the Outlook OST file to the user’s Writable Volume if you have this configured in your User Environment Manager Console.

When you use a writable volume with User Installed Applications (UIA) plus User Profile, no DEM configuration is needed because it saves the complete user profile on the writeable volume.

Complete the following steps to set up OST file redirection to a writeable volume.

  1. Logon to the DEM Manager.
  2. Select User Environment > App Volumes and click Create.
  3. Specify the Name for the App Volumes Settings.
  4. Tick the checkbox “Store Offline Outlook Data File (.ost) on writable volumes”.
  5. Click Advanced.
  6. On the Advanced tab you can specify the folder where the Outlook OST file is redirected to. In my case I use the default location.
  7. The DEM configuration is now completed.
  8. Logon to the App Volumes Manager to create a writable volume.
  9. Click Writables > Create.
  10. Specify the username, select the template_uia_only.vmdk and click Create to create the writable volume.
  11. You can now logon with the specified user and configure Outlook.
  12. After you configured Outlook, open a Windows Explorer, browse to C:\SnapVolumesTemp\Writable\UEM\OST and notice that the .ost file is now located on your writable volume.

As you can see, the redirection of the OST file to a writeable volume is very easy to set up, but be careful. You still use a writeable volume for User Installed Applications! When your user has the administrative rights to manually install applications, these applications will be saved on the writeable volume to.

In another blog post I will cover how to create and edit a writeable volume to only save the Outlook OST file you redirected with VMware DEM.