Software Deployment

I downloaded the Adobe Customization Wizard 9 and created executables for both the Standard and Pro versions of Acrobat 9. I'm using Wise to generate the executable.

I am not getting this part....

Use the ACW, it creates a transform so that you can now install with msiexec /i with the transform list. Otherwise u can use the setup.exe provided that will install the msi & reference the edited setup.ini file for the MST location.

So, why are you in wise again creating EXEs..??

I'm using Wise to pull all the various files together into 1 executable that installs silently without user intervention. Plus it's the process that's in place where I work. I just tested with previous versions, and don't get the same result, so I'm pretty certain the problem is related to something I'm doing/not doing.

RonW,

forget Wise for the moment - it's just confusing the issue.

Use the Adobe Customisation Wizard to create an MST file and then test it by calling the MSI with the MST file from the command line with a verbose log.

If it's still not working check the log to see what it's missing - if it's the MST, as before, then check your command line as it can't be correct.

I can't for the life of me think why you would then wrap it in a Wise executable, the main deployment tools, such as SMS and Marimba, deploy and report back on naitive MSI installation files better than a wrapped exe.

Hope this helps,

Dunnpy

which folder did you do your customizations in. If you look @ setup.ini for both std & pro, do u have a commandline that reads something like CmdLine=TRANSFORMS="AcroPro90.mst"??

Hi, kiptek. I'm doing my customizations in an MSI folder on my hard drive. I verfiied that I have the command line reference in setup.ini. Here's setup.ini in its entirety:

[Startup]
RequireOS=Windows XP
RequireMSI=3.0
RequireIE=6.0.2600.0
CmdLine=/sall /rps
[Product]
msi=AcroStan.msi
CmdLine=TRANSFORMS="AcroStan.mst"
[Windows XP]
PlatformID=2
MajorVersion=5
MinorVersion=1
ServicePackMajor=2
[MSI Updater]
Path=WindowsInstaller-KB893803-v2-x86.exe

I also took Dunnpy's advice and ran the installation from a command line, calling the .msi with the .mst file, skipping the Wise-created .exe part of the process entirely. And that time Acrobat 9 installed successfully with version 8 already existing.

So the problem seems to be pointing to the Wise-created executable, although the .wse file itself is pretty straightforward, about a dozen lines, and all I had to change was the name of the log file and the name of the executable being created.

Beyond that I'm still stumped as to why it's happening. I'm doing some checking into what paths are being assumed in the Wise script, to see if that's part of the problem. Possibly the uninstall of version 8 is removing something that version 9 is expecting but can't find, but that's just a wild guess on my part, at least for now.
I'll report back here if I find anything additional.

Thanks for your help.

I know what the problem is now; I just don't know why it happens or how to fix it. [:)]

The Wise exe is installing the files from the MSI folder locally to C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temp.

So I install Acrobat 8, no problems. Then I try installing 9, and that's when I get the error message about the .mst file, noted in my first message.

I watched the Temp folder during the installation of Acrobat 9, and the .mst file is getting deleted from there during the installation process. That's the only file from my MSI folder that's getting deleted. The .msi and everything else remain.

I tried setting the .mst to read-only and then recompiling it, but it still got deleted during the 9 install process.

I verified the process works correctly when I take Wise out of the equation by running the install from a command line. Now I just need to figure out how to make it work with Wise.

i still do not see the point of creating an executable. What deployment tool do you use to get installs onto a machine? Are you creating the EXE just to copy the files to the machine and then launch msiexec.exe for you?

From being able to successfully run it from the commandline, I would say you are right on the money & there is something awry in your pathing in the WSE. You may want to try and log the install & see what paths are referenced in the calls, then try to navigate to each & see if those paths contain the necessary files.

Hi, kiptek. Watching the process and examining the logs, I know that the paths exist during the install, so I'm good there. What appears to be causing the problem is that when the install process is uninstalling the previous version (which I instructed it to do in the Adobe Customization Wizard 9), it deletes the .mst file from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temp. All the other install-related files are there, so I'm mystified as to why the transform file would be singled out for deletion.

To your larger question about the point of creating an executable, I probably can't give a full answer right now, but I'll tell you the bit I know and understand (or THINK I understand). I believe the point is to provide various site support staff at our company the ability to do silent installs of various programs, so they can just copy the executables to PCs and run them without having to click through all the dialogs and monitor each PC. Plus some of the applications we use are part of various desktop setups for different groups within our company.

So short answer I think is that it's primarily a time-saver. Also, it's the procedure the last packager used, so there are plenty of samples of previous packages. That person is gone, and I stepped into the role knowing a small amount about packaging. As I've started doing it, I've learned exactly what "small amount" means, as evidenced by my first try at packaging Acrobat 9.

I hope that at some future point I'll know enough about the larger processes to be able to recommend a different/better way of packaging and deploying, but for now, this is the process I have to work with, and am trying to figure out how to make the Acrobat package work within the framework of the tools I've got to use. Hope that at least partially answers your question.

i would say rename ur 9.0 mst to acrostan9.mst & make appropriate changes in ur setup.ini & ur command lines, then re-deploy & see if it tries to delete it this time round. Might not hurt to leave a copy of acrostan.mst in the folder just in case.

Tried that, but now it deletes all the .mst files.

what commandline are u running from within wise & what logic do u have applied to it. Like u said, works outside wise, so the culprit has to be something u scripted... it is also a good idea to dump the 8 install files in a separate folder from the 9, and have the msi take care of all upgrades.

do u have any deployment tool/infrastructure in place?

That was the trick--copying the v9 install files to a different folder from the v8 files allowed the 9 install to complete properly. I also did a test with versions 7 and 8, which were packaged by a previous employee, and the same behavior happens there, where 8 won't install over v7. So it was apparently an undocumented occurrence that people were living with.

Thanks for all the advice.

[:D] sometimes its the simplest of things that get in our way... i have AcroPro9 going into UAT myself. cheers!