Server2016 RDS farm 21.007.20091 update error

[UKRobster]

Since the 14th September we have had the following issues after Adobe Reader tried to update itself from 21.005.20060 to 21.007.20091

Server 2016 RDS farm. We get a bit of a mixture of things happening.
When opening from the start menu:

• Users get a windows installer prompt with a progress bar stating 'Preparing application for first use'
• Then an RdrServicesUpdater.exe - Application Error notification "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application." But Adobe opens fine.

If opening a PDF file from explorer it can open fine for 2 or 3 times in a row. But then get a mixture of the above. Sometimes the installer appears upon close.

Additionally the folder path C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader

contains multiple folders 'acrocef_1' through to 'acrocef_32' which is using 5.2GB of data on a very small C: drive.

I checked the link Basic Configuration — Deployment Planning and Configuration (adobe.com) 

It showed how to disable updates in the Adobe Customization Wizard. 
I had already used this wizard to check the box to 'Disable Product Updates' & create a transforms file to customize the installer.
When I checked in the registry at (As mentioned in post above)

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\
bUpdater DWORD was set to '0'

&
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\
bUpdater DWORD was set to '0'

But the link says to:
Disable updates to the web service plugins by setting HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\(product name)\(version)\FeatureLockdown\cServices\bUpdater to 0.
bUpdater within the cServices key did not exist.
I created this on our Development server (& in WOW6432Node) and restarted. Logged in as an admin no issues. Logged in as a user and still getting the same thing.

This seems like a bug with version 21.007.20091.
But if i revert back to 21.005.20060 - without a way to disable updates. How long until this issue come back by itself?

Please let's have a correct method to disable updates and a patch for current version.

We are getting so many support calls from users about this issue.

[AnandSri]

Hi @UKRobster 

Hope you are doing well and am sorry for the trouble you had. 

Would it be possible to share screenshots of the error messages you are getting? Also, please share the process monitor logs from the affected machine/user profile. Install the Process Monitor Tool, run it, reproduce the issue, save the log files and share the logs with us for further investigation.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

[UKRobster]

Hi @AnandSri 
I have added the screen shots of the isstaller prompt and the error.
I have used Acromon to gather log files. It produceds .dmp files. I tried compressign them but htis forum does not allow .dmp or .zip file attachments. How else can I get them to you?

[AnandSri]

Thanks for sharing the screenshots. I have shared the steps to share the logs by private message. Please check the message inbox.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[UKRobster]

@AnandSriThansk you.
Logs have bene sent.

I have another RDS server that I have been testing with.

This one I removed GPO to configure the Adobe Reader and unistalled the customized version.
I ran the standard .exe installer - without any customization from a transforms file.
Users do not get the installer box at each opening but do continue to get the error message.

[AnandSri]

@UKRobster Thanks for your cooperation. Please allow us some time to analyze the logs and we will get back to you with an update on the same email.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[matthewm10530886]

We have an rds pool with the same versions facing the same errors.

[Gast]

Hello Anand,

Do you any update or workaround on this case?

We have multiple servers farm in Azure running Windows 10 Multi-Session with Build 19042.1083 that have the same issues. The error message every application close is very irritating for you customers.

Thank you!

[AnandSri]

Hi @Deleted User 

Hope you are doing well and am sorry for the trouble.

We're still investigating the issue and have made some progress. However, as of now, we don't have any workaround available. But we'll share an update soon on this.

Thanks for your patience and for your cooperation on this.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

[OGDTABT]

Same issue on Win10 workstations.

Repair kicks in on C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroCEF

Each and eveytime Adobe Reader is started.

[defaultdyl61npo8fcp]

Same here in a RDS 2019 farm composed of 3 servers.

[Gast]

Yes, this is the kind of behavior that I did notice since 21.007.20091.

After further diagnosis, since the update, I found that something is triggering a Adobe repair for all users every time a user try to close the app:

"C:\Windows\System32\msiexec.exe" /i {AC76BA86-7AD7-1036-7B44-AC0F074E4100} CLEANUP_CEFFOLDER=1 DISABLE_FIU_CHECK=1 /qn

Deleting all acrocef_ folders seem to prevent the repair to happen and the users won't get the error on each application close. (Note that I  did a reboot and only tested this workaround for 15 minutes).

Hope we will have a fix very soon. Also, confirming that this workaround is a valid solution (or not) would be appreciated.

[default36mjd1jtwkxz]

Thank you for that, I am having the exact same issue on Server 2019 and since deleting these folders I haven't seen the issue again yet. It is the weekend and users aren't fully back in yet so not convinced it won't come back but for now it is holding steady

[defaultd7f3k5y9mbcb]

same issue in a citrix farm

[networks43949675]

This does appear to resolve it temporarily, but those folders come back.

I've created a powershell script that deletes them every five minutes.

$adobeReaderPath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\"
Function deleteAcrocefFolders($readerPath)
{
cls
Write-Host ""
Write-Host ""

if (Test-Path $readerPath) {
$Files = Get-ChildItem $readerPath | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "acrocef_*"} | Select-Object FullName
foreach ($File in $Files)
{
$FullFileName = $File.FullName
Write-Host "Deleting folder and contents >>> $FullFileName" -ForegroundColor "yellow";
Remove-Item -LiteralPath $FullFileName -Force -Recurse -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
}
deleteAcrocefFolders($adobeReaderPath)

[UKRobster]

I have not heard any more from support on this matter.
I am actually trying to roll back to 21.005.20060  and disable all updates until this is fixed.

I have the file and can install that version but now trying to ensure I have updates disabled.

[Gast]

This registery key should do the trick.

[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockdown]
"bUpdater"=dword:00000000

See documentation:

https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Wizard/online.html

Still also waiting for an update on this issue.

[default5r4e3m3y86mu]

Unfortunately this did not work for me. I tried several different server versions. 2012R2, 2016, 2019.

One thing that did work for me...for now...is renaming the Updater service to keep it from running. The issues only occured when the updater was running. The screen would flicker when the updater started back up after stopping it, this has yet to occur again.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\armsvc.old

[im74442211]

Is that still working for you? Getting the same issues on our server and after renaming that file a new version of the file just gets created a minute later

[Tui-Emma5FF7]

Were an MSP and I can confirm this is impacting at least five of our customers (various environments).

I've deleted said files under C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader.

At present I'm waiting for users to arrive in the office to test however under my admin account I cannot recreate the error.

Fingers crossed - I've had a support ticket open for five days on this issue with no response from Adobe support ugh...

[default5r4e3m3y86mu]

TUI, try renaming the service for now. I have confirmed with several clients that it has worked. Its just a short term fix however until Adobe can fix it.

[Tui-Emma5FF7]

I'll give that a go as well, thanks.

[BP_VitaliT]

Hi Tui, have you heard back from Adobe support yet?

[defaultiplvf7kwtfqi]

Any news from Support on this issue?

We're having this issue in our 2012 R2 RDS environment.

I was wondering if anyone has tried upgrading Adobe Reader to 64bit? I'm tempted to try it as from what I can see most in this post seem to be using 32bit.

[networks43949675]

We are also encountering this problem in a 2016 RDS farm.

@AnandSri, what should we be doing to workaround this problem?