Reader 10.1 update deployment through SCUP losing customizations.

[Guest]

Hi All,

I am currently in the process of testing the deployment of Adobe reader updates through the published SCUP catalogs and SCCM in a very large enterprise environment. I have run into an issue whereby %95 of workstations appear to be falling in scope for the base 10.1 update package and not just the msp patch. When testing this 'Adobe Reader 10.1 English' update the result is all corporate customizations that were built into the original 10.0.1 package are removed and the application returned to default settings.

Is anyone able to provide any guidance on the deployment of Reader X updates through SCUP in such a way the corporate settings are not lost?

Regards,

Ben

[JainAkshat]

Hi Ben,

Please confirm what all settings are you loosing.

-Akshat

[Guest]

Hi Akshat,

Unfortunately we have a third party company repackage applications for internal use so to obtain a full list of customizations will take a little time however I am confirming this behaviour through previously hidden categories within the application preferences reappearing such as the 'Updater' entry. I believe our custom corporate settings were added through the customization tools provided by Adobe resulting in an MST which is installed with the base Reader 10.0.1 package.

I have also attempted to manually install the 10.1 msp update over our repackages Adobe Reader 10.0.1 install (AdbeRdrUpd1010_MUI.msp) and receive the following error.

'The upgrade patch cannot be installed by the windows installer service because the program to be upgraded may be missing, or the upgrade patch may update a different version of the program...'

Is there a reason why the 'APSB11-16 Reader Multi Lingual User Interface 10.1.0 Update \ AdbeRdrUpd1010_MUI.msp' would not a) scan for applicability when Reader 10.0.1 is installed and b) cannot be manually installed over an existing Reader 10.0.1 install.

At this time we cannot begin approving the 'APSB11-16 Reader English 10.1.0 Update \ AdbeRdr1010_en_US.msi' imported through the published Adobe catalog for deployment as it appears machines would revert to default settings such as having auto update re-enabled as an example.

Can anyone else confirm this behaviour whereby deploying 'APSB11-16 Reader English 10.1.0 Update' through SCCM\SCUP appears to perform a full reinstall of the application resulting in the loss of originally packaged settings?

Ben

Message was edited by: Ben2011 In reading the linked post below, am I to assume that the correct method to manage Adobe Reader 10.x in the enterprise with SCCM\SCUP is to redeploy the new quarterly updated base MSI's with MST's containing corporate settings and then only use SCUP to deploy interum quarterly patches? I was expecting that we can continue to use our packaged 10.0.1 base package and then deploy patches as released without having to redeploy the entire application each quarter. http://forums.adobe.com/thread/865822?tstart=0

[EnterpriseHelp]

Hi Ben,

First, the bUpdater setting is not one that's migrated. If you inspect the TransferRegistry table via the Wizard, Orca, etc, you can see what gets migrated.Not much.

You've figured out the right thing to do below: MSI's uninstall and reinstall the product and you should save your previous MST for future deployments, or keep a reference copy of the app from which you can leverage the registry settings each time. SCUP can't of course deliver anything but a generic installer as enterprises use different configurations. MSPs don't uninstall the product, so existing settings remain intact. Note that Adobe has implemented cumulative updates with 10.0 and beyond, thereby greatly simplifying keeping the product up to date.

Quarterly updates are cumulative to the last MSI (base install or in this case 10.1), and out of cycle patches (MSPs) are cumulative to the last quarterly. You can always remain up to date with no more than two installers in a chain. Also, MSIs will be rarely released, thereby further reducing the number of requisite installs or setting migration. 10.1 had a substantial number of fixes and feature enhancements and so is an MSI.

Since MSPs don't blow away existing settings, that makes your question even more relevant: "Is there a reason why the 'APSB11-16 Reader Multi Lingual User Interface 10.1.0 Update \ AdbeRdrUpd1010_MUI.msp' would not a) scan for applicability when Reader 10.0.1 is installed and b) cannot be manually installed over an existing Reader 10.0.1 install."  I don't know about this one. I suspect the MUI msp can only be installed over a MUI MSI. There are certainly significant registry level differences.

In any case, get the generic installer and install via an AIP or bootstrapper using an MST file to preserve the settings you want. Many folks also don't know that you can leverage a custom installation by simply using the Wizard to drag and drop registry dirs from a source computer to the target registry in the installer.

HTH.

Ben

[Guest]

Hi Ben,

Many thanks for taking the time to post a detailed response. It sounds like to manage Adobe Reader X in an enterprise environment where you wish to maintain custom corporate settings the process will be to perform a quarterly deployment of the Adobe Reader rollup MSI with the MST containing custom settings through the normal SCCM software deployment method and then inbetween these quarterly releases use SCUP and SCCM software updates to deploy MSP patches. It was our hope that we could use our current Reader 10.0.1 base package ongoing and just apply any future 10.x patches without having to redeploy any new base MSI's but this doesnt appear possible. This is a little disapplointing given the work now required to repackage and redeploy new base MSI's every quarter in a large enterprise environment.

Many Thanks

Ben

[EnterpriseHelp · Accepted solution]

Hi Ben,

There won't be MSI's every quarter. The 10.1 was unique in that it was the first major dot release. In fact, the hope is that they will be quite rare. You should be able to just apply MSPs (whether quarterly or an out of cycle patch) from here on out.

Ben

[Guest]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for clarifying, we will now look to deploy new minor patch releases through SCUP and the less frequent major update releases through traditional software deployment with MSI + MST. This is a much better situation then having to redeploy new base MSI's to the entire desktop fleet every quarter which was the impression I was previously getting.

Many Thanks

Ben

[Guest]

Akshat,

I'm hearing that the customizations are only overwritten if they were created with the reader customization tool. Alternatively they can be set via GPO. I can't fnd a link to the process of setting the cusomizations (mainly disable auto-updates) using a GPO. Is that documented anywhere?

Thanks

[EnterpriseHelp]

jmarcum,

Whether or not customizations are overridden has nothing to do with the Customization Wizard and its use in any workflow. What controls changes to deployed applications on an update is whether the new installer is an MSI or MSP. Deploying an MSP update leaves all settings alone. Deploying an MSI (e.g. 10.1) uninstalls the previous install and removes existing settings. MSIs will be released rarely, but you should still save and reuse your MST.

An alternative to predeployment setting configuration via the Wizard and and MST is to use post-deployment configuration via GPO. There is information about GPO in the admin guide (http://www.adobe.com/go/acrobatitinfo), but of course its third party technology so MS is probably the right place to go for extensive details.

You should also consider downloading the Enterprise Toolkit (formerly AIM-same location as admin guide) which contains the Preference Reference (400+ preferences documented) and other informational tools.

hth

Ben

[Guest]

You can't use the custom mst with SCUP. That's the problem. You guys should preserve our settings our your SCUP updates are useless.

[Guest]

Hi John,

Here in a 50k seat org we now only use SCUP for minor release updates for Adobe Reader\Acrobat and deploy major updates through the traditional SCCM software deployment for this very reason, at least as stated major releases should hopefully be rare so we can see some time savings from implementing SCUP and the Adobe catalogs. Adobe Flash through SCUP is much worse in that EVERY update is an MSI that performs a full uninstall\reinstall necessitating developing some other method to deploy the mms.cfg to disabled auto updates.

Cheers

BenM

[Guest]

Hoping this gets worked out eventually so that SCUP becomes more useful.

Typos courtesy of Apple. Sent from my iOS device.

[BusterF]

4 years later and we are running into this issue with Acrobat DC.  In our customization we are turning off all online services and when the patch is applied everything is being turned back on.