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pbc5501
Asked: 2012-09-19 01:47:11 +0800 CST

Adobe Reader 10.1.4 msi for Group Policy Deployment

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I need a self contained msi file to put in the SYSVOL folder so I can roll it out via Group Policy. I have seen various instructions of how to do this (e.g. http://www.itninja.com/blog/view/reader-x-10-1-3-mui - steps 1-5) which all seem to give the following instructions:

  1. Download the latest full release (ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/10.x/10.1.0/en_US/AdbeRdr1010_en_US.msi)
  2. Download the latest full release (ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/10.x/10.1.4/misc/AdbeRdrUpd1014.msp)

  3. Do an admin install of the full release:

    msiexec /a AdbeRdr1010_en_US.msi

  4. Slipstream the patch into the install that's just been created:

    msiexec /a {path to install}\AdbeRdr1010_en_US.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd1014.msp

Hey presto.

The problem is that I'm left with a small msi file (only about 2MB where-as it should be in the region of 45MB) and 4 folders containing the dependency files. Sure enough, when I try to install the msi from the SYSVOL location, it tells me it can't access the dependency files.

I don't have a great deal of experience in this, can anyone tell me where I've gone wrong or if there's a final step to package everything together?

adobe-reader

3 Answers

  1. I've never had to any administrative installs when using the Adobe Customization Tool. Simply make your changes, export the MST Transform file and install using the original MSI and your new Transform.

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  2. What you got is an aip (administrative installation point) instead of an msi. Unfortunately this is normal when slipstreaming msp into msi. Copy the whole directory to the server and point gpo to the msi inside. It will need and use the rest of the files from there. I don't know an easy way to compress everything back into an msi.

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  3. Best Answer

    Ok, so it looks like I hadn't properly understood the concept of the Administrative Install Points (AIPs). Reading the Enterprise Administration Guide helped clear this up (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/837/cpsid_83709/attachments/Acrobat_Enterprise_Administration.pdf#page=70).

    Rather than having to create a new msi with everything compressed inside for every minor update, you create an administrative installation on a network location, where you can quickly and easily slipstream in patches when they are released.

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