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1 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader using SyAM

Management Utilities

The Third Party Software Deployment feature of SyAM Management Utilities can be used to

perform a silent installation of Adobe Acrobat or Reader across your network to managed client

machines. In this document we’ll show how to use Adobe Configuration Wizard to customize the

Reader installation. With this method you can install Reader with automatic updates disabled, or

with the end-user license agreement already accepted on the user’s behalf. The procedures that

we document here for Reader can also be used for Acrobat installations.

Requirements: Download the Reader installation executable and the Adobe Customization

Wizard installation executable from Adobe. To obtain the Reader installation that supports

enterprise deployment, you will need to contact Adobe and obtain a valid Distribution

Agreement. To request distribution rights, visit this page:

http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/rdr_distribution1.html

The version of Customization Wizard must be the same major release as the Reader

version. To download, browse to:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/

In the left-hand menu under Tool Downloads, click the Win Customization Wizard link. A link to

the Customization Wizard installation executable will appear on the page.

Windows target systems must have the SyAM System Client installed and reporting to SyAM

System Area Manager. Target systems must be discovered by Management Utility.

Step 1: Install Adobe Customization Wizard On the Management Utilities server, install Adobe Customization Wizard with default settings.

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2 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Step 2: Extract Reader Installation Files Place the Adobe Reader installation executable in the directory defined as the Default

Application Path. Open a command prompt and change to this directory. The following

command will start the Adobe Reader installation, which will extract the files to the specified

directory and then terminate without installing Reader. Use a subdirectory that does not already

exist, and specify the full path.

AdbeRdr11006_en_US.exe –nos_o”C:\apps\Reader11” –nos_ne

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3 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

In our example, C:\apps is the default application directory, and Reader11 is the subdirectory to

be created. Specify the name of the Reader installation file you’re using, and change the

directory name as appropriate. Please note that there is no space after the nos_o

parameter. The installation will create the directory that contains the files used by the

Customization Wizard, in particular AcroRead.msi and setup.ini.

Step 3: Run Adobe Customization Wizard From the Start Menu, run Adobe Customization Wizard. Go to the File menu and select Open

Package. Navigate to the directory created in the last step, and select AcroRead.msi.

Use the menu in the left pane of the Customization Wizard to navigate through the options

provided. Consult the Adobe documentation for detailed information. Some options we will

choose in our example:

Personalization Options

o EULA Option: Suppress display of End User License Agreement

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4 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Installation Options

o Run Installation: Silently (no interface)

o If reboot required at the end of installation: Suppress reboot

Shortcuts

o Desktop – Adobe Reader XI (right-click, then choose Remove. No desktop

shortcut will be installed)

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5 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Online Services and Features

o Disable product updates

When you are finished selecting options, go to the Transform menu and select Generate

Transform. Choose a file name (in our example we’ll use custom.mst) and save the file to the

directory where AcroRead.msi is located (in our example, the Reader11 directory.)

Exit the Adobe Customization Wizard. Do not save changes to AcroRead.msi.

Step 4: Create a Windows batch script Now we’ll create a small Windows batch script that will run the installation.

@ECHO OFF

msiexec /i \\192.168.100.151\apps\Reader11\AcroRead.msi ^

PATCH=\\192.168.100.151\apps\Reader11\AdbeRdrUpd11006.msp ^

TRANSFORMS=\\192.168.100.151\apps\Reader11\custom.mst /qn

exit

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6 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

In our example, \\192.168.100.151\apps is the Default Application Path as defined on the

Administration Settings page of the Management Utility, and Reader11 is the subdirectory we

created in Step 2 of this procedure. In your batch file, substitute the correct path for your

environment, as well as the correct name for the transform (.mst) file.

Some Adobe Reader installations are produced by adding a patch file (with .msp

extension) to an older version. The PATCH parameter should be omitted if no such file is

present in the directory where AcroRead.msi is located. Substitute the name of the patch

file found in that directory. In our example, we see that the patch file AdbeRdrUpd11006.msp

is present in our Reader11 subdirectory, so we include the PATCH parameter that refers to this

file.

Save the batch file (we’ll name our file Reader11.bat) and copy it to the network share specified

by the Default Application Path.

Step 5: Create a Third Party template In Management Utility, create a Third Party template. Enter a template name. Select the target

platform and authentication template. Enter the path to the network share (this will be filled in

already if the default path has been entered in Administration Settings) then click the Find Files

button and choose the installation batch file (e.g. Reader11.bat) from the drop down menu. Click

the Add button, save the template, and click OK to confirm.

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7 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Step 6: Deploy Reader to target machines To deploy the application, select a system or systems in the Groups area, then right-click to

display the context menu. Choose Deploy Third Party Software from the menu.

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8 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

Select the authentication template and the third party software template.

Click Run Job, then click OK to confirm.

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9 Deploying Adobe Acrobat or Reader

The job will begin shortly. When it’s completed, you can click the job’s View Details link in the

Status area to review the deployment.