Here's another deployment process, this time for Adobe Reader.
Adobe updates typically come downloaded as an exe file. To get a deployable msi, Adobe requires you apply for a distribution license here. Once you have that license you can download the msi files. For Adobe Reader, you can then use the Adobe Customization Wizard to create a mst that changes options, disables autoupdate, etc. Download it here.
If you don't want to create your own, here’s a link to my mst.
One issue with this process is that the msi they give you for download is the base version of the current release (for example 9.4, not 9.4.4 with all the security updates) To get your installation msi up to date, it requires a couple more steps:
1. You can get the base 9.4 msi here: ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/9.4.0/en_US/
2. Download the latest 9.4 MSP patch files from here (currently 9.4.4): ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/9.4.4/misc/. *You actually need each incremental patch file to get the base msi up to date, so download the 9.4.3 and 9.4.2 files as well. (You don’t need 9.4.1)*
3. Create a network installation point for Reader by running the following from a command prompt:
msiexec /a AdbeRdr940_en_US.msi
Follow the prompts and specify a directory that you will use as your installation source in Group Policy.
4. Once it has been created, put the patch files in the same directory.
5. Open up a command prompt, then navigate to that directory.
6. Run the following commands one after the other:
msiexec /p AdbeRdrUpd942_all_incr.msp /a AdbeRdr940_en_US.msi /qb
msiexec /p AdbeRdrUpd943_all_incr.msp /a AdbeRdr940_en_US.msi /qb
msiexec /p AdbeRdrUpd944_all_incr.msp /a AdbeRdr940_en_US.msi /qb
You can then delete the patch files. Copy the transform you created with the customization wizard to this network installation folder and deploy.
Posted this to the Ohio TechCoords listserv today and thought it would be a good one to document here.
I’ve taken a lot of info from appdeploy.com to make a nice mst file which does a bunch of things, including disabling update check, removing the system tray icon, uninstalling old versions upon installation, and add some registry settings that help resolve an issue which used to cause the installation to hang at log on. I’ve uploaded it here if anyone would like to use it.
To get the msi file from the latest Java Runtime, do the following:
1. Download the Offline Java SE Runtime Environment 6 Update # file here. The file should be named something like jre-6u24-windows-i586-s.exe.
2. Double-click on the EXE to begin the installation.
3. When the "Welcome" screen appears, DO NOT click next.
For XP browse to: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Sun\Java\jre1.6.0_24\. Copy the entire folder to your network installation source directory.
For Vista/7 browse to: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Sava\jre1.6.0_24\. Copy the entire folder to your network installation source directory.
4. Put the mst from above in this folder and deploy with Group Policy.
