Feature reference 5 min read View Markdown

Alchemy August 2026#

For the most recent component versions of Alchemy, see Alchemy Current Component Versions.

Applies to: Alchemy

AppAcceleratorV (AAV)#

The following table outlines each version of AppAcceleratorV (AAV) that has been released this month, alongside the release date.

Note

The table is ordered in reverse chronological order, with the most recent release at the top.

Release Date	Version Number
12th August 2026	V4.7.2608.26947
4th August 2026	V4.7.2608.26944

New features#

There are no new features included within this month's releases of AAV.

Other enhancements#

There are no additional enhancements included within this month's releases of AAV.

Fixed issues#

The following issues have been fixed within this month's releases of AAV.

Release Date	Version Number
12th August 2026	V4.7.2608.26947

Affects Versions: V4.7.2608.26944: Fix Version: V4.7.2608.26947
Problem: Inside a package, an application that called MoveFileExA or MoveFileExW to rename a file onto a path that already existed had the existing file silently overwritten, even though the application had not asked for this. The expected result is that the call fails with error 183 (ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS). Renaming a directory onto an existing directory also returned error 5 (ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) instead of error 183. Applications that rely on these errors, for example to detect a stale lock file, behaved incorrectly, which prevented some Python distributions from starting their development environments.
Cause: The AAV hooks for MoveFileExA and MoveFileExW added the MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING flag to every call, regardless of the flags supplied by the application. The flag was added to support package isolation, but it was applied even when package isolation was not enabled.
Solution: The MoveFileExA and MoveFileExW hooks now pass the application’s flags through unchanged. A rename onto an existing file now fails with error 183 unless the application passes MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING, and renaming a directory onto an existing directory also fails with error 183. This matches the behaviour of Windows outside a package.

Note

An application that depended on the previous behaviour, by moving a file onto an existing file without specifying MOVEFILE_REPLACE_EXISTING, now receives error 183, exactly as it would on a native system.

Release Date	Version Number
4th August 2026	V4.7.2608.26944

Affects Versions: V4.7.2607.26937: Fix Version: V4.7.2608.26944
Problem: On Windows 11, Python’s os.stat and os.path.exists failed with WinError 3 for packaged files that were present and readable, so the files were reported as missing. Other file operations, such as opening a file, listing a directory or os.access, worked normally. This was seen when running Jupyter Notebook from a package, where notebooks that existed in the package did not appear.
Cause: Recent versions of Windows 11 can retrieve file metadata through the GetFileInformationByName API, which calls the native NtQueryInformationByName function in ntdll.dll. AAV did not hook NtQueryInformationByName, so the path of a packaged file was not redirected and the query failed with a path-not-found error.
Solution: AAV now hooks NtQueryInformationByName and applies the same file redirection as its other file hooks. The hook is installed only on versions of Windows that provide the function. File metadata queries for packaged files now succeed, so os.stat and os.path.exists report them correctly.

Auto Packager#

The following table outlines each version of Auto Packager that has been released this month, alongside the release date.

Note

The table is ordered in reverse chronological order, with the most recent release at the top.

Release Dates	Current Version Number	AAV Version Number
17th August 2026	V4.7.2608.6	V4.7.2608.26947
12th August 2026	V4.7.2608.4	V4.7.2608.26947
4th August 2026	V4.7.2608.2	V4.7.2608.26944

New features#

There are no new features included within this month's releases of Auto Packager.

Other enhancements#

The following additional enhancements are included within this month's releases of Auto Packager.

Updated component versions#

The following component versions have been updated:

Auto Packager 4.7.2608.2: Updated AAV component version to 4.7.2608.26944. Packages created with this release benefit from the file metadata fix for Windows 11 described in the AAV section of this page (PPD-5588).
Auto Packager 4.7.2608.4: Updated AAV component version to 4.7.2608.26947. Packages created with this release benefit from the MoveFileEx fix described in the AAV section of this page (PPD-5592).
Auto Packager 4.7.2608.6: Updated Package Runtimes component version to 4.7.2608.8. Packages created with this release benefit from the usage reporting improvement described in the Package Runtimes section of this page (PPD-5594).

Fixed issues#

No issues have been fixed within this month's releases of Auto Packager.

Package runtimes#

The following table outlines each version of Package Runtimes that has been released this month, alongside the release date.

Release Date	Version Number
17th August 2026	V4.7.2608.8

New features#

There are no new features included within this month's release of Package Runtimes.

Other enhancements#

There are no additional enhancements included within this month's release of Package Runtimes.

Fixed issues#

The following issue has been fixed within this release of Package Runtimes.

Release Date	Version Number
17th August 2026	V4.7.2608.8

Affects Versions: V4.7.2607.4335: Fix Version: V4.7.2608.8
Problem: Usage reporting identified each machine by a hash of its machine SID. Servers cloned from the same operating system image, without the image being prepared with Sysprep, share the same machine SID. Usage from these servers was therefore reported as a single machine, which under-counted the number of machines in the usage report.
Cause: A machine SID is only guaranteed to be unique when an image has been prepared with Sysprep. Servers deployed from a shared image that was not prepared in this way produced identical machine identifiers.
Solution: Package Runtimes now also sends two additional hashed identifiers with each usage event, whether the event is reported online or recorded in the offline usage report: a hash of the computer name and a hash of the machine’s firmware identifier. Only salted hashes are sent, not the original values. Servers deployed from a shared OS image are now reported as distinct machines. The existing machine identifier and licence validation are unchanged, and packages built with earlier versions of Package Runtimes continue to report usage as before. A package picks up this improvement once its Package Runtimes are updated to V4.7.2608.8 or later, for example by updating the package with Auto Packager V4.7.2608.6 or later.

Note

For more information on usage reporting, see Licensing and Usage Reporting Overview.