Reader updates for low-bandwidth areas

[Guest]

I'd like to learn how best to plan Reader updates for a low bandwidth environment.

We are looking at using Intune to deploy updates to Win 7 Ent machines, and many of them will be areas of Africa with very restriced and costly bandwidth, typically in a small office with 5-10 other enterprise machines.

It's great that Adobe release quarterly security updates, but the last few have been about 50MB. 

Even though Intune and Win 7 Ent will allow machines on the same LAN to share an update (so it's only downloaded once from the Internet), a 50MB download is still fairly large and it could easily saturate a VSAT connection for a day.  Or if someone is on a BGAN connection, it could incur a $25 charge!  The BGAN is an extreme example though, since we'll have updates off for those people.

The main question would be is there any way to minimise the size of Reader updates, or will they always be about 50MB?

Secondly, is there an install switch that will disable the auto-check for updates?  (as that prompt is annoying for our clients and they do not have permission to install updates)

Thirdly, Intune wants to check if the software is installed before it deploy is, and can run a reg key check.  Where can I discover the relevant reg key for each new release of Reader?

I've checked http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/AdminGuide/sccm.html for the reg key info (SCCM is the closest to Intune) and checked http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/AdminGuide/cmdline.html to try and find a switch that disables auto-update, but no joy.

Any advice welcome- I'm only new to this!

[EnterpriseHelp · Accepted solution]

Hi eryan24,

• It looks like you may be downloading the full Reader. Updates are usually less than 20mb. See http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotes/11/11.0.04.html#elevenzerozerofour
• The pref you want is bUpdater. It's documented in the Preference Reference, Wizard Guide, and Admin Guide.
• Also check out disabling the ARM updater service at http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/AdminGuide/properties.html?highlight=updates
• You should probably use the Wizard to customize the installer. It supports using all prefs/properties.

HTH,

Ben

[Guest]

Thanks Ben, that's helpful.

I'll look into the Wizard, it sounds like the most promising path for us.