Capital™ How to create a Capital Appstream client

To use Capital in a cloud environment, we suggest using AWS Appstream. It is set up like a remote desktop and user access can be managed individually.

Usage of Appstream also allows a new install to be setup and tested without interfering with an existing deployment. When the new install is ready, you can update the Appstream fleet and use the new deployment immediately.

Step-by-step guide

1. Create Appstream base image with Image Builder

   1. Navigate to the "AppStream 2.0" service. Then select "Images" →  "Image Builder" →  "Launch Image Build"
      
       
   2. Select a base image type. Depending on your region, these may differ but we recommend a "Graphics Design Windows Server" base image or similar
      
       
   3. Enter the image information. This information only pertains to the image builder and will not apply to the images created from this builder
      
      Populate the following values:
      1. Name: Meaningful name which will help identify the builder setup and purpose
      2. Display name: If left blank, the name will be used
      3. Tags: Any identifier that will help you manage and track groups, if needed
      4. Instance Type: We recommend a standard Large for basic building - If you are using this to verify and test additional Capital functionality, an XLarge type is preferred.
          
   4. Set up the Appstream builder's network access
      
      Populate the following values:
      1. Default Internet access: Check if you will need internet access from the image builder and don't have a NAT gateway setup on your VPC
      2. VPC: VPC which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server
      3. Subnet: Subnet which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server
      4. Security Group: Security group which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server
          
   5. Click "Review" to ensure all your settings are correct, then "Launch" to start the image builder
       
   6. The image builder is now starting with the settings you selected. It usually will take around 5 minutes to provision and set up the machine. During this time the builder will have a status of "Pending".
      Refresh the page or click the refresh button to update the status.
      
      Once the image builder is ready, the status will change to "Running"
       

2. Install Capital client on the Builder

   1. Once the status changes to "Running" you can click "Connect" to start a builder session. A new tab opens with a remote desktop-like view
      
       
   2. Add the Capital installer to the builder
      
      You can do this by uploading an installer from your local system as above. This will take some time to complete depending on your region.
      If you opted to have internet access, you can instead download the Capital install from https://support.sw.siemens.com/en-US/product/861057055 (You will need your account information to log in)
       
   3. Install Capital client by following the installer instructions
      For the Manager and CIS locations, use the Private IP (or IPv4 DNS) for the EC2 instances where those servers are
      
       
   4. You will also need to create a system Environment variable to connect to the License server
      To get here, open the Start menu, type "Environment variable" and select "Edit the System Environment Variables"
      On this page, select "Environment Variables..."
      
      
      Add a new variable under the System variables section
      Variable: LM_LICENSE_FILE
      Value: Use the Private IP (or IPv4 DNS) for the License server EC2 instance
       
   5. Perform any other setup, installs, or customizations your users might need.
       

3. Create image from the builder

   1. Once the image builder has the installs and setup complete, click on "Image assistant on the main screen to start the image creation process
      
       
   2. You will need to add an application so users can access it in appstream.  Add Capital Launch from the directory where you installed Capital: <install>/bin/CapitalLaunch.exe
      
       
   3. Continue the steps through the Image assistant. At this point, we highly recommend switching users to "Test User" to ensure that the setup and configurations will be as expected for the end user
      Here also is where you will set the image name, description, and whether you want to always use the latest image
      At the end of this process, once all settings are confirmed, press the "Disconnect and Create Image" button to generate an image from the builder
      
      This will disconnect you from the builder and start image creation.  This may take around 20 minutes, where the builder image will have a status of "Snapshotting" and the resulting image will have a status of "Pending".
       

4. Create an Appstream fleet

   1. Navigate to the "Fleets" pane under "Appstream" and click "Create fleet"
       
   2. Populate the name, description, and add any tags you might want before clicking "Next"
      
       
   3. Choose the image that you created with the image builder
      
      Then click "Next"
       
   4. Configure which image type you want end users to use. Reference the Environment sizing spreadsheet to determine client needs, then select the image type that most closely matches those requirements.
      
      Select an On-Demand fleet type unless you need instant access to images. There will be an up-to 2 minute delay when logging in with On-Demand
      Other options will start faster but may significantly increase cost
      Once these selections are made, click "Next"
       
   5. Configure networking
      
      Populate the following values:
      1. VPC: VPC which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server
      2. Subnets: Subnets which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server
         If more than one subnet is defined, the Appstream fleet can still be used if one availability zone is unavailable. We recommend using more than one when able
      3. Security Group: Security group which can access Capital Manager, servers, and license server. This will generally be a client-specific security group set up in a previous step
          
   6. Click "Review" to review the settings and "Create" once you have verified the settings are correct
      
      This will create your Appstream fleet
       

5. Create Appstream Stack

   1. Navigate to the "Stacks" pane and click "Create Stack"
      
       
   2. Enter Appstream stack configuration
      
      Populate the following values:
      1. Name: Stack name that describes the Appstream stack contents
      2. Display Name: More human-readable name. If no Display name is populated, the name field will be displayed
      3. Fleet: The Capital client fleet that was created in the previous step
      4. Any other settings that are needed for your specific use case
          
   3. Configure "Enable Storage" options
      
      To retain temporary files, log files, and other user specific files, we recommend that additional storage is enabled and referenced in the Appstream image.
       
   4. Configure "User Settings" options
      
      Set up general user settings and ability to get or put files into the Appstream instance they are working on
      Some application settings can also be persisted across sessions if an S3 bucket is setup and accessible from the Appstream instance
       
   5. Click "Review"
      Once you have verified the settings are correct, click "Create"
      This will create an Appstream stack, which uses your Fleet
       

6. Start the Appstream Fleet

   1. Navigate to the "Fleets" pane under "Appstream"
       
   2. Select the Fleet that is used by the Appstream Stack, then select "Actions" → "Start"
      
      This will take around 20 minutes to provision the instances and start the Fleet
      Once started, the Fleet status will be "Running" and the fleet can be used by any assigned users
       

7. Create and assign users

   1. Navigate to the "User Pool" pane under "Appstream" and click "Create User"
      
      
       
   2. Populate the name and email address of the user
      
      
      Click "Create User". 
      The user will receive an email indicating that they now have an Appstream user account with instructions on how to login and a temporary password
      
       
   3. Add user to stack
      Once a user is created, they will need to be assigned to a stack, so select the user, then click "Actions" → "Assign stack"
      
      
      Choose the stack to assign to the user and whether you want them to be notified of this to their account
      
      Click "Assign stack"
      If multiple stacks are assigned, the user will need to select the stack they want to use each time they log in.
       

8. The user can now log into the Appstream instance and use Capital