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Adobe CS3 applications

Hello,

I'm not sure if I'm posting this thread in the right forum or not, but I thought I'd give it a try. My company uses Group Policy to deploy applications and we've hit a brick wall with Adobe CS3 applications. We've attempted to repackage the installers multiple times and we always end up with tons of errors in the MSIs. We're pretty sure it's not anything we're doing, but we haven't ruled that out either.

When we finally built an MSI that ran the install correctly, we were met with a horrible "Licensing for this product has stopped working" error message. I've seen plenty of posts on plenty of forums that mention this same exact error and I think people are getting frustrated.

Has anyone been able to build a flawless MSI for any Adobe CS3 application? Is it possible to extract the Setup.exe file and see if there is an MSI in there? Is it possible to build a simple MSI that simply says, "Hey, run Setup.exe with these parameters?" Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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Answers (13)

Posted by: anonymous_9363 16 years ago
Red Belt
0
Adobe are off my Christmas card list, too, with their inane messing with my local security in Acrobat Pro v8.

Anyway, I presume you've seen
[link]http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=1040[/link]
[link]http://itninja.com/link/very-useful-deployment-kb-article-from-those-nice-people-at-adobe[/link]
[link]http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=1034[/link]

etc?
Posted by: alanho 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
Yup. I've checked those out, but that only helps in the silent install aspect. What I actually need is to be able to run the installer as an MSI, instead of an EXE. Is there any way this can be done?
Posted by: anonymous_9363 16 years ago
Red Belt
0
The normal methodology is to run Setup/Install and, before clicking 'Next', search the local hard drive for any new MSIs. My understanding, though, is that Adobe are using a proprietary installer, in which case your only recourse will be to wrap their EXE in your own MSI. Then use the guidelines in the docs mentioned above when calling the EXE. I wouldn't recommend capturing for re-packaging.
Posted by: alanho 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
I've tried using WIWW to wrap the EXE in an MSI and still no luck. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the issue is that Adobe's Setup.exe "switch" parameters are different that what an MSI can handle (again, not sure, just speculation). For example, Adobe uses --mode=Silent as a switch for a silent install instead of using the standard /s. Can anyone confirm if my assumption is correct? Or better yet, prove me wrong and show me how to wrap the executable in an MSI with --mode=Silent and --deploymentFile=deployment.xml as part of the install. [;)]

Thanks.
Posted by: nheim 16 years ago
10th Degree Black Belt
0
Hi folks,
when i look at the DVD of photoshop CS3, i see 'WinBootstrapper.msi' in the 'Photoshop Ext CS3' directory.
A closer look at the install sequence, when starting setup.exe gives away the following:
setup.exe calls 'WinBootstrapper.msi' with the follwing properties on the command line:
ADOBE_SETUP=1
MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable
PROPERTY_FILE=C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\adb46F.tmp
CURRENTDIRECTORY=W:\xxxx\Photoshop Ext CS3
CLIENTUILEVEL=3
CLIENTPROCESSID=596

WinBootstrapper.msi then prepares the installation by copying quite a few things to:
%CommonProgramFiles%\Adobe\Installers
including setup.exe

The 'PROPERTY_FILE' is quite interesting. It looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Properties>
<Property name="ADOBE_SETUP">1</Property>
<Property name="AddRemoveInfoEstimatedSize">1153950</Property>
<Property name="AdobeCode">{07CD1281-D5ED-4BB4-8964-7B4F1F36315C}</Property>
<Property name="INSTALLDIR">C:\Program Files\Adobe</Property>
<Property name="LanguageIndependent">1</Property>
<Property name="OS64Bit">0</Property>
<Property name="ProductCode">{FF11004C-F42A-4A31-9BCF-7F5C8FDBE53C}</Property>
<Property name="UpgradeCode">{C1E2C173-D2EC-40D6-BF1E-42303D750095}</Property>
<Property name="defaultLanguage">de_DE</Property>
<Property name="driverAdobeCode">{F0699DAC-0DC4-410B-B558-6D8CB5F3511A}</Property>
<Property name="eula_EPIC_EULA_ACCEPTED">1</Property>
<Property name="eula_EPIC_EULA_SELECTED">0</Property>
<Property name="installLanguage">en_US</Property>
<Property name="installSourcePath">C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers\719d6f144d0c086a0dfa7ff76bb9ac1</Property>
<Property name="mediaName">Photoshop CS3</Property>
<Property name="mediaPath">W:\xxxx\Photoshop Ext CS3\payloads\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll.msi</Property>
<Property name="mediaType">0</Property>
<Property name="mediaVolumeIndex">1</Property>
<Property name="platform">Win32</Property>
<Property name="productName">Adobe Photoshop CS3</Property>
<Property name="sessionID">719d6f144d0c086a0dfa7ff76bb9ac1</Property>
<Property name="setupVersion">1.0.135.0</Property>
</Properties>

At the end, somehow setup.exe is called from its new cached location.

Do not have the time right now, to press it further. But maybe, somebody else can use this info for a start.

Because of this scenario, WIWW can't work, because it calls setup.exe in the middle of the installer script. Soon after that, 'WinBootstrapper.msi'
is called by setup.exe and this can't work, because only one MSI can run its server at a time.

Hope this helps a bit,
Regards, Nick
Posted by: Pitcherj 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
Not sure if this is an option for anyone else, but I was able to deploy both the stand-alone applications from the suite and the entire CS3 suite itself by following Adobe's instructions. My problem was that Adobe's silent install is truly silent. There is no interface displayed to the user. In order to work around this I used an AutoIT script which I apply to most applications that have a proprietary installer system that cannot be worked around. Another example is any legacy InstallShield installer that may be run with a "setup.iss" file. My script merely runs "Setup.exe --mode=Silent --deploymentFile=x:\path\to\install.xml" and displays a splash screen composed of a bitmap image while the install runs. This is less than ideal as there is no progress bar displayed to the user, however it does let them know when the install completes. I use an AutoIT script simply because it is an easy to use language and the script may be compiled to create an executable which may be run on any Windows system.
Posted by: alanho 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
Thanks for you input Pitcherj, but my issue concerned specifically deployment using GPO/AD. However, your post did give me an idea and I'm happy to say that I was able to deploy CS3 (the suite and individual apps) throughout my company. I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner.

Basically, I have a startup script with a registry query that runs at every startup. If the CS3 app is installed, the script ends, but if it's not, it will install the application. It's a simple script (5 lines to be exact). Granted, it's not the ideal Group Policy deployment situation, but it does work and most of the updates can be pushed out in the same manner (with a little more work when writing the registry queries).

If anyone is interested, I'll gladly post the script/process/GPO for your perusal.
Posted by: teckset 16 years ago
Yellow Belt
0
I would be exceedingly glad to see your script and hear any advice/help you can give. Please and Thank you.
Posted by: alanho 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
No problem. So here's the script (I'll use Dreamweaver for the example).

reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Dreamweaver\9.0\Installation
if %errorlevel%==1 (goto DeployDreamweaverCS3) else (goto End)

:DeployDreamweaverCS3
start /wait \\[SERVER]\[SHARE]\AdobeCS3_WIN\Setup.exe --mode=Silent --deploymentFile="\\[SERVER]\[SHARE]\AdobeCS3_WIN\deployment\dreamweaverInstall.xml"

:End

Now, this is how it works. The first line scans the registry for a key that is unique to Dreamweaver CS3.

The second line tells the script what to do after the registry scan. If it does not find the key, it will return an error value of 1 and will go to the DeployDreamweaverCS3 anchor tag. If it finds the key, it will report an error value of 0 and go to the End anchor tag.

:DeployDreamweaverCS3 is an anchor tag

start /wait tells the script to start the proceeding command and wait for it to finish before going onto the next line. The command is from Adobe's CS3 deployment PDF. You can use the information in that PDF to modify the XML files that the CS3 installer uses. You can find the PDF at http://www.adobe.com/support/deployment/cs3_deployment.pdf

:End is the end command.

All that's left to do is create a GPO and place the script in COMPUTER CONFIGURATION>WINDOWS SETTINGS> SCRIPTS within the GPO.

It should work like a charm after that.
Posted by: KrakaJap 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
Can you not just deploy over AD with the MSI located within Adobe CS3/payloads/AdobePhotoshop10en_US? (AdobePhotoshop10en_US.msi)

I haven't tried this yet but it sounds very similar to our Office 2007 deployment. The MSIs themselves could not be used manually but when deployed as a GPO over AD they worked just fine and allowed for transforms as well. Granted certain options needed to be adjusted via the admin templates available from Microsoft and I'm pretty sure Adobe does not have admin templates for their software (could be wrong though).

Anyway, I'll be testing this out over the weekend because we just ordered a campus license for CS3 :) well not "campus" so-to-speak because Adobe has none... but a "crapload" of licenses.

EDIT: Nevermind... I just took a look at the MSI and it's design should fail on manual or GPO based deployment without the bootstrap. :( oh well I might give that script a try though... thanks alanho

One question though... if I'm going to deploy the entire suite what should I check for? I'm assuming I could just check for one of the apps and if it does not exist assume that nothing is installed correct? Or is there a better way?

I found this after some searching... very helpful: http://www.adobe.com/support/deployment/cs3_deployment.pdf
Posted by: ab2cv 16 years ago
Orange Senior Belt
0
OK so I can deploy Adobe CS3 using their setup.exe and install.xml method, but since setup is simply calling a string of MSI files, is there a way to customise these MSI's using transforms? How would you pass the TRANSFORMS= commandline into the MSI's from the setup command?

If anyone is interested, I did manage to reverse engineer what the setup.exe was doing in terms of MSI's being called, what order and with what switches, here it is (below). However, it doesn't quite work as I can't get the winboostrapper.msi to silence or install/commit properly.

Alan

MSIEXEC.EXE /i "WinBootstrapper.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\adb7DD.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeALMAnchorServiceAll\adb7F1.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeAssetServices3All\AdobeAssetServices3All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeAssetServices3All\adb816.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeBridge2All\AdobeBridge2All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeBridge2All\adb83A.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\BridgeStartMeeting\BridgeStartMeeting.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\BridgeStartMeeting\adb85D.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeCMapsAll\AdobeCMapsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeCMapsAll\adb87F.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeCameraRaw4.0All\AdobeCameraRaw4.0All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeCameraRaw4.0All\adb8A2.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeColorCommonSetAll\AdobeColorCommonSetAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeColorCommonSetAll\adb8C5.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeColorEU_RecommendedAll\AdobeColorEU_RecommendedAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable TRANSFORMS=en_GB.mst PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeColorEU_RecommendedAll\adb8E9.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeColorJA_ExtraSettingsAll\AdobeColorJA_ExtraSettingsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable TRANSFORMS=en_GB.mst PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeColorJA_ExtraSettingsAll\adb90C.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeColorNA_ExtraSettingsAll\AdobeColorNA_ExtraSettingsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable TRANSFORMS=en_GB.mst PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeColorNA_ExtraSettingsAll\adb92F.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeDefaultLanguageCS3All\AdobeDefaultLanguageCS3All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable TRANSFORMS=en_GB.mst PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeDefaultLanguageCS3All\adb952.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeExtendScriptToolKitAll\AdobeExtendScriptToolKitAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable TRANSFORMS=en_GB.mst PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeExtendScriptToolKitAll\adb975.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeFontsAll\AdobeFontsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeFontsAll\adb999.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeHelpViewerAll\AdobeHelpViewerAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeHelpViewerAll\adb9BC.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeInDesignCS3IconHandler\AdobeInDesignCS3IconHandler.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeInDesignCS3IconHandler\adb9DF.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeLinguisticsAll\AdobeLinguisticsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeLinguisticsAll\adbA01.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobePDFL8All\AdobePDFL8All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobePDFL8All\adbA23.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeSINGAll\AdobeSINGAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeSINGAll\adbA46.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeStockPhotos1.5All\AdobeStockPhotos1.5All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeStockPhotos1.5All\adbA69.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeTypeSupportAll\AdobeTypeSupportAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeTypeSupportAll\adbA8D.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeAUM5.1All\AdobeAUM5.1All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeAUM5.1All\adbAB0.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeVersionCueClient3All\AdobeVersionCueClient3All.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeVersionCueClient3All\adbAD3.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeWinSoftLinguisticsPluginAll\AdobeWinSoftLinguisticsPluginAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeWinSoftLinguisticsPluginAll\adbAFD.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobeXMPPanelsAll\AdobeXMPPanelsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable PROPERTY_FILE="\\InstallShare\ADOBE-InDesign-CS3\Adobe CS3\payloads\AdobeXMPPanelsAll\adbB20.tmp" /qb-
MSIEXEC.EXE /i "payloads\AdobePDFSettingsAll\AdobePDFSettingsAll.msi" ADOBE_SETUP=1 MSIRESTARTMANAGERCONTROL=Disable

An example of one of the Property Files would be

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Properties>
<Property name="AddRemoveInfoDisplayName">Adobe InDesign CS3</Property>
<Property name="AddRemoveInfoDisplayVersion">5.0</Property>
<Property name="AddRemoveInfoDriverAdobeCode">{24D77A7C-E10B-4057-9974-FAB8BFDAC853}</Property>
<Property name="ConfiguringBootstrapper">1</Property>
<Property name="INSTALLDIR">C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Installers\4cd7ed5fad9a5fb695d2bd3393ba4e3</Property>
<Property name="defaultLanguage">en_GB</Property>
<Property name="driverAdobeCode">{24D77A7C-E10B-4057-9974-FAB8BFDAC853}</Property>
<Property name="installSourcePath">Z:\</Property>
<Property name="platform">Win32</Property>
<Property name="productName">Adobe InDesign CS3</Property>
<Property name="sessionID">4cd7ed5fad9a5fb695d2bd3393ba4e3</Property>
<Property name="setupVersion">1.0.135.0</Property>
<Property name="suppressUninstaller">1</Property>
</Properties>
Posted by: KrakaJap 16 years ago
Senior Yellow Belt
0
I tried running that script and it works fine on a staff machine, but on a student machine it fails (obviously because of permissions). However, the issue I'm having with this is that it does not install at "startup" even though the script is in "startup scripts" on the "machine" policy and not the user policy. I even tried creating a this startup script in our general startup scripts location. I also completely disabled all logon scripts and only forced startup scripts but when I deploy this, it always gets installed at "logon". Any ideas why this is? All of our machines have access to the network share and I think if I could just get it installed at the actual startup it would even be fine on a student machine.
Posted by: blerg 15 years ago
Yellow Belt
0
I've tried the script and it installed, although not really perfectly. I'm admin on the pc I'd try to install Adobe Photoshop

But after the installation I'm trying to run the program and getting this error:
Licensing for this product has stopped working.
You cannot use this product at this time. You must repair the problem by uninstalling and then reinstalling this product or contact your IT administrator or Adobe customer support for help.

The strangest thing is if I use the key I have put in the application.xml.override for normal install there arent any problems problems.
Also I notice that the service FlexNet which is being installed during the installation isnt running (rebooting and automicly starting the service doesnt solve the problem btw)

Anyone got an idea on how to get it working with the script and XML files?

Thanks in advance

ORIGINAL: alanho

No problem. So here's the script (I'll use Dreamweaver for the example).

reg query HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Dreamweaver\9.0\Installation
if %errorlevel%==1 (goto DeployDreamweaverCS3) else (goto End)

:DeployDreamweaverCS3
start /wait \\[SERVER]\[SHARE]\AdobeCS3_WIN\Setup.exe --mode=Silent --deploymentFile="\\[SERVER]\[SHARE]\AdobeCS3_WIN\deployment\dreamweaverInstall.xml"

:End

Now, this is how it works. The first line scans the registry for a key that is unique to Dreamweaver CS3.

The second line tells the script what to do after the registry scan. If it does not find the key, it will return an error value of 1 and will go to the DeployDreamweaverCS3 anchor tag. If it finds the key, it will report an error value of 0 and go to the End anchor tag.

:DeployDreamweaverCS3 is an anchor tag

start /wait tells the script to start the proceeding command and wait for it to finish before going onto the next line. The command is from Adobe's CS3 deployment PDF. You can use the information in that PDF to modify the XML files that the CS3 installer uses. You can find the PDF at http://www.adobe.com/support/deployment/cs3_deployment.pdf

:End is the end command.

All that's left to do is create a GPO and place the script in COMPUTER CONFIGURATION>WINDOWS SETTINGS> SCRIPTS within the GPO.

It should work like a charm after that.
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