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We're probably reaching the threshold of having to increase headcount to accommodate the amount of general administration overhead there is with Citrix, so if we can do more with less by leveraging a new tool, may be win/win.

I don't have input personally on layering.. but timely enough, there is a CUGC/Liquidware FlexApp webinar next week, 6th Dec, 1p EST (-5GMT) https://mycugc.org/events/#/list

is the current process automated (packer/MDT/ansible)? Or just manually updating the Master MCS VMs when updates come out?

Automation probably better route. App Layering has improved composition engine.

I guess I assumed low hanging fruit like not stick driving everything was already done. Never assume Jon.

We have MDT in place to compile the gold images in an automated fashion, so that has at least been done.

coming from an environment that was very heavy applayering a couple year ago, i would never go back. 100% automation i the way to go. What don't you like about the current process or what takes the longest?

App Layering has had some nice updates and getting better.

Hello, Layering PM here. 🙂 Of course I am biased, but there is investment needed in any solution, leveraging automation or not. App Layering will remove much of the heavy lifting (by removing the repetitive changes needed to maintain like components across all the images), without requiring the up front and ongoing investment and maintenance in development of end-to-end automation. That said, I do understand the motivation to automate, since once you get to that point it will in theory be much lower TCO. What if you could have both though? We are actively working on a full API for App Layering... in this scenario you could move faster across all fronts. Removing repetition, and automating some/all of the overhead to doing it. On top of this, depending when you were last using App Layering, we have made many improvements to streamline the packaging and publishing process too, such as offloading compositing as @Jarian Gibson mentioned.

@Daniel Lazar What's the timeframe on the API release? Is it in preview now?

No still early development. Likely we will begin to have releasable capabilities further into next year. There is an API specification we can share to get feedback on the planned capabilities.