Upgrading to 9.2 Path!

[Guest]

I was unable to upgrade to 9.2 from 9.0 with slipstreaming as per Adobe's site.  Then I found this post on another site.  It worked like a charm.  Do Not Apply 9.1.3 patch. It would be nice if Adobe would update their website.

This document would be relevant if they had updated it when 9.2 came out.  But they haven't yet.
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/498/cpsid_49880.html

After a bit of trial and error, this is the order you must patch to get 9.2 into your AIP:
9.0 -> 9.1.0
9.1.0 -> 9.1.2
9.1.2 -> 9.2.0

If you already have 9.1.3 in your AIP, you'll have to create a new AIP from the original source.

[Guest]

This is because you cannot slipstream security patches.  Security patches are always updated in the cumulative quarterly updates.  The cumulative quarterly updates are the only ones that can be slipstreamed.

For Adobe 9 the cumulative patches are 9.1.0, 9.1.2, and 9.2.0 and the security patches are 9.1.1 and 9.1.3

For Adobe 8 the cumulative patches are 8.1.0, 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.6 and 8.1.7 and the security patches are 8.1.4 and 8.1.5

[Guest]

Again, it would be nice if Adobe would document that information on the website so it would be easier.

[web1c]

So what is the best way to deploy the latest version of Adobe 9 Volume License? We have Acrobat Standard 9.0 on an administrative install on a network share and it's deployed via Active Directory Group Policy, but it is difficult to get the installations updated to the latest security patch level from 9.0.

I read that slipstreaming causes Volume License to become retail?  Sounds ridiculous. http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/138793-slipstream-adobe-acrobat-9-pro/page__view__findpost__p__891733

If we can't slipstream the latest security patch into our administrative install because patches can't be slipstreamed as claimed above, then how can we automatically update those with a version of 9 below the current 9.3.1?

[Guest]

Patching an Adobe 9 Administrative Install Point that uses a Volume License Key is not something you can do right now due to an Adobe bug.  This used to work in Adobe 8 but as soon as you patch an Adobe 9 AIP is makes the VLK not work properly.  Thus, you can's slipstream these updates like you want to do.  Until Adobe resolves this issue, I am afraid there isn't much you can do.

If you had retail codes you could patch your AIP like this:

9.0.0 -->  9.1.0 ---> 9.1.2  ---> 9.2.0 ---> 9.3.0

Do not apply patch 9.3.1 because it is a security patch, not a cumulative update.  If you apply this patch the next cumulative update that is released will not slipstream into the AIP properly and you will have to recreate the AIP in order to apply the next cumulative update patch.  Patches 9.1.1, 9.1.3, and 9.3.1 are security patches and are always included in a subsequent cumulative update.

[web1c]

We do not have Retail keys.

We have alot of users with Adobe Acrobat 9 in varies states of update between 9.0.0 and 9.3.0 and we need to get them all updated to 9.3.1 ASAP.

So this can only be done manually at each PC one at a time for everyone using a volume license of Acrobat 9?

Can a batch script of some kind be made to automatically update existing installs to 9.3.1?

[Guest]

Using group policy with batch files is the best way to go to accomplish what are trying to do even without this Adobe bug.  Patching the AIP only allows you to install Adobe fully patched onto a new computer.  It would never allow you to make sure all computers get upgraded with new patches.  You can use a batch file to determine versions of dll files in an Adobe 9 install then have it run the needed patches.  This batch file would become a logon script for group policy then you simply have to make every user sign into their computer, then when the script is done and patches are applied, reboot their system.

[web1c]

That's really easy to say "all you have to do is..." but it seems really complex without any directions since there are many at different levels of security patches.   We would rather just reinstall them all to a known patch level of 9.3.1.

[Guest]

Last I checked this is the Enterprise installation forum.  Enterprise typically means 50+ users.  I would contact your IT department and ask them to make this script.  It is something that is fairly trivial for a good IT department.  If scripting is not your thing, you should buy SCCM:

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/configurationmanager/en/us/default.aspx

How do you deploy security updates to your other applications?  Most Enterprise environments that I have worked with use tons of scripts like the one I describe, SCCM, or they use an imaging solution so all they have to do is install the patches into their base image then roll the images out using a mass deployment tool.  I would highly suggest investing in such a tool if you have 50+ users.

[web1c]

Only our Microsoft products need this much patching and we have WSUS to centrally manage that.

With Adobe having so many products that need so many patches so frequently, they really need to make a similar product to centrally manage the patches. This is unbelievably archiac process to update to keep Adobe products up fully patched

Our company is not going to buy System Center for just patching Adobe products when we have managed to patch everything else without it as a workaround for Adobe breaking the normal patch process on Volume License Key verisons of Acrobat 9.

We should be able to just patch the AIP and redeploy a fully patched version via a GPO. It shouldn't be that complicated that we need custom scripting to apply critical security patches.

Adobe screwed this up and they should have fixed this by now since it has been broken for several months based on the dates of previous threads about that issue.

[ghbpiper]

I agree.  With all the talented engineers at adobe (though at the  moment they all seem to be involved in something else) one would think  that they would issue a fix or document a work-around.  This is probably naive on my part but it just seems ridiculous.  I guess they just don't care.

[sweetseater]

I also ran into the Volume Licensing turning into Retail License bug. And Adobe is demanding I pay for a support contract to help me with it. Absurd.

[EnterpriseHelp]

If you're applying all the patches in the right order per the AIP doc (no quarterly's over security patches: see http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/837/cpsid_83708.html for ID), then please describe the exact steps to reproduce what you call a bug and the result.

thanks,

Ben