Group Policy Adobe Acrobat Reader - Spiceworks https://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/264-group-policy-adobe-a...

How-tos

Active Directory & GPO

Adobe

by DigitalBlacksmith on Mar 26, 2009 at 12:00pm

This is a run through on how to install adobe acrobat across your organization via Group Policy. The information on how to
do this is scattered across the net so this last time I decided to create a how-to for the rest of us.

Go here and sign up for the redistributable once you get the redistribute you can proceed with the rest of the guide, I
suggest putting it in a folder labeled Adobe 9:
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/rdr_distribution1.html

Also get the Customization Package here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=3993

From Command line in the folder containing the adobe redistributable run:
"AdbeRdr90_en_US.exe -nos_o”Reader 9” -nos_ne"

This will expand redistributable .exe to .msi This will create a "Reader 9" Folder in the same directory as the exe to be used
later.

IMPORTANT:(There is no space between the quote and nos_o, you will get an error if you space them)

Copy Adobe 9 Folder to a UNC (\\servername\software\)that is accessible by the appropriate members of the GPO you are
pushing to.
If you are using the computer deployment in this walk through you will need to make sure authenticated users or everyone is
allowed read permissions. This is a common area of failure when pushing out a piece of software.

Install and Run Customization Wizard (downloaded in step 1).

File->Open package created in the expansion found in the "Reader 9" Folder (\\servername\software\Reader
9\AcroRead.msi) that you copied.

Customize as you see fit for your organization.

(I personally choose silent install, with silent updates, I also add the UNC path of the Reader 9 folder for Additional Server
Location Paths)

Once customizations have been made click Transform -> Create Transform file. Save it in the "Reader 9" folder as

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Under Computer Configuration -> Software Settings Right click and create new package
Select the AcroRead.msi

You will want to do an Advanced Install to select the MST you created in step 4.
Under Modifications tab, Add the Enterprise_Adobe.mst

You will need to wait for replication and test on the Computers that are memebers of the OU you tied the policy to.

Or if you are impatient like me you can do this:

On the server that you created the GPO; Click Start->Run and type 'repadmin /syncall" (this replicates AD)
Go to a PC within the GPO "physically"; Click Start-Run and type "gpupdate /force" and reboot it to make sure the app
installs.
You should see a happy "Installing adobe acrobat 9 " for about a minute depending on the speed of your network and pc. If
you just see if flash by quickly it probably did not install. Check event viewer for issues.

Windows XP will not install the first or second time it reboots, check here for the reason:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa374350.aspx

Your milage may vary on this setup but you can use this guide as a cheat sheet for many different MSI installs.
Flash player doesnt have a Customization package but you can still deploy this way.

Once your test group is working, you can link the GPO to the proper group. This will push the install to any PC. When
updating to the next version it will uninstall the previous one.
Let me know if there are any errors and I will update this guide properly.

Reference PDF

Victor Cavendish Goes Mar 26, 2009 at 1:43pm

Thanks for the reference file and How-to.

I used to unpack AdobeReader for the msi in a much more convoluted way!

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LostSoul Apr 11, 2009 at 10:58am

Thanks, it sure beats the 24 page reference I used earlier.

Dave

Robert762 Apr 12, 2009 at 10:09am

Excellent write-up. Very concise!
Thanks!

TheTrueGeek Jul 13, 2009 at 8:28am

A very useful "how-to" - well done Digital... keep up the great work!

Tom9537 Jul 14, 2009 at 9:31am

remote executing
psexec -t \\hostname gpupdate /force

Mike3277 Jul 23, 2009 at 10:15am

FYI all - I did this before i saw this how to but ran in to a major issue what adobe seems to know off...PDF's seem to not
display in the browser (even if you change the setting in preferences)... SO make sure you test that first.

Ervin_B May 4, 2010 at 12:07pm

Yes i got the same problem, but pdf it is displaying in the browser firefox but not in Internet Explorer.

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sundrift Aug 6, 2010 at 5:39pm

short and sweet..

Neatly written how to

Bart8765 Sep 16, 2010 at 7:15pm

Tom9537:

PsExec does not seem to have a -t switch, at least according to its built-in help. Can you expand on what that switch does?

Thank you.

vmaharajqbe May 18, 2011 at 7:05pm

Exactly what i was looking for. Thanks!

0n1wheel Nov 4, 2011 at 3:36pm

How should I go about updating Adobe Acrobat Reader after a msi install?

DigitalBlacksmith Nov 4, 2011 at 3:56pm

Same method, there is an update option in the GP.

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