App Distribution Catalog

Use the App distribution > App catalog page to view a summary of configured apps and their deployment status. You can also create apps, packages, and bundles and distribute them. You can create an app using Manual or Wizard workflows.

  • Wizard Workflow – Allows you to create your app quickly and easily.

  • Manual Workflow – Provides you more flexible option if you are an advanced user, you can configure app settings on your own.

Choose the workflow that best suits your needs.

Follow these steps to create and distribute an app. Select links in the steps for more detail on that step.

  1. Select App distribution > App catalog.
  2. Click Add. The following options are displayed.
    • Windows: This is a manual process for creating each installation package action. The Windows option allows applications to be deployed to a Microsoft Windows operating system. This option creates an app with no preconfigured actions, allowing the you to add actions manually.
    • Windows package manager (winget): This wizard allows you to select apps available in the Windows Package Manager API, known as winget. The Windows Package Manager provides access to a large library of application installers from the Windows Package Manager repository, enabling quick creation of apps in the App Distribution app catalog. The selected apps are installed on Windows 10/11 devices using the native winget application. Once an application is selected, its details are automatically populated in the Overview tab, and a corresponding Package Manager Action is created in the Package tab for that specific winget app.

    • Import EPM package: This wizard allows you to import Ivanti Endpoint Manager (EPM) packages into the Neurons App Distribution format. The Import EPM Package wizard enables the selection of locally saved Ivanti EPM packages that were exported in the *.ldms format.

      Once a package is selected, the upload process uses the EPM package name in the Overview tab and translates the EPM package actions into corresponding Neurons App Distribution actions in the Package tab.

    • Bundle: This wizard allows you to select existing apps and bundles to group them into a new bundle. The Bundle option displays a filtered view of the App Catalog page. Apps that do not have any package actions, or bundles that already contain another nested bundle in their action list, will not be shown in the Bundle wizard. One or more of the displayed apps or bundles can be selected.

      When the bundle is created, the Overview tab will display a comma-delimited list of the originally selected apps in the Description section. In the Package Manager, a separate Run App Package action will be created for each selected app.

      If the selected apps have prerequisites or dependencies, the order of actions in the Package Manager can be adjusted to control the installation sequence.

      For the steps to create bundles, see Bundling the apps section.

  3. On the Overview tab, select Untitled (x) at the top and give your distribution a name. You can also enter a more detailed Description and specify whether this app should allow an On-demand install. You can initiate on-demand installs on the Devices page after creating an app distribution. For details, see Installing an app from the Devices page.
  4. On the Package tab, use the package actions builder to create your package.
  5. On the Distribution tab, specify the Targets, App configurations, and Installation Schedule.

Additional information

Bundling the apps

You can bundle the apps and their package contents. This bundled package simplifies distribution, installation, and management of the app, ensuring that all necessary parts are included and correctly structured for the app to function properly on a device or system.

  1. Select App distribution > App catalog.

  2. Select Bundle from the Add drop-down menu.

    A bundle wizard of apps with packages configured is displayed. The Package type differentiates a normal app and a bundle in the list. This list of apps only shows apps that have packages configured. The nested bundles are not displayed in the list.

  3. Select the apps and bundle you wish to add to a bundle.

    A bundle can include another bundle, but they cannot be nested beyond that. Nesting refers to including a child app or bundle inside a parent bundle. For example, if you have a common apps bundle and then create a finance apps bundle that includes this common app bundle, the finance bundle is flagged as a nested bundle. This prevents the finance bundle from being included in another bundle.

  4. Click Create bundle with run app actions.

    The bundles are identical to regular apps in terms of the Overview and Distribution, with the only difference being that Run app actions are shown in the Package view.

  5. On the Overview tab, select Untitled (x) at the top and give your distribution a name. You can also enter a more detailed Description and specify whether this app should allow an On-demand install. You can initiate on-demand installs on the Devices page after creating an app distribution. For details, see Installing an app from the Devices page.
  6. On the Package tab, use the package actions builder to create your package.
  7. On the Distribution tab, specify the Targets, App configurations, and Installation Schedule.