Software Deployment

Just wanted to check are you inserting the serial number in the following format in the property table ?[8|]

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Yes, I am using that format. I even tried it without the dashes "-" and it failed as well.....

Hi,

I dont know if you have already, try look through the boards. As there is a thread that I created a while back about this.

Top of my head, what I did to get it work is the following.

On the machine where you have installed the software manually, goto the registry and find where it stores the serial number. The serial number will be in a different format to what you inputted. Copy this number and paste it into your Transform.

This is the way I got around it.

Hope this help, if not email me and I will try to get your through it.

In order for the serial number to work within the transform, you need to edit the PROPERTY: ISX_SERIALNUMBER

Good luck!

I also have to add that if you decide to use the vendor msi.....then test and test and test it in your environment very well before you deploy it to Prod.

You should especially test the UNINSTALL of the vendor install......because that was my major concern and why I ended up repackaging it totally.

Yes, that was tried and it does not work. And yes, I have been testing this and that is how we found this problem.

It seems that no matter what gets put in the ISX_SerialNumber field it does not work. Now, at times it will work and that is the tough part.

Thanks!!

Easier said than done, but find the commonality among the ones that aren't working.

If you created a transform against the original vendor MSI and it works on some WKS and not others, is there an OS difference or Windows installer version difference, service pack difference, all running locally or from a network share, check contents of network share and make sure they're identical?

Also some properties are case sensitive so make sure it's correct and run the same way all the time, i.e.

ISX_SERIALNUMBER is not the same as ISX_SerialNumber

And do a search of this because I'm sure it's been covered. What does adobe say?

Hi,

I've already worked on the packaging and deployement of Adobe Acrobat 6 Pro for my company : I had exactly the same problem with serial number : saying always it's invalid but it's the right one. So, here is the solution which works. I suggest you to add the following changes in a .mst to leave the .msi unchanged :

1/ Use Installshield Tuner to create a Response Transform. Once it's done, go to step 2/ and do the following changes in the .mst file u obtained

2/ Delete Custom Actions:
- UnSupportedInstallType
- CA_QV (Deals with the serial number)

3/ Update/Add the following registry keys :
Key=SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\6.0\Registration
Value Name=SERIAL
Value=

Key=SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Distiller\6.0\Registration
Value Name=SERIAL
Value=

=> to find what u have to write after "Value=", just install the application manually and check the keys in the registry.
(Most of this solution was provided by someone called "acrobat6pro_user", thanks to him)

4/ Test your .msi + .mst (not in silent mode !) to check if all fieds are filled correctly and if the install starts with all dialogs boxes

5/ Just add /qb- at the command line and you're done

Let me know if this works, i may forget something as I did it a few months ago.

PN

That is basically what I did, and it did work.

There is information on the front of this site, under packages about this.

OK, thank you, I will try that. I did get it working but not the way I like. I noticed that if I kick off my MSI with a MST file and I use the /QR switch it works "Every time". it was only when I used a /QB- /QB+ or QN it would fail, which is odd. So I have a working package...............but.............when you run it the /QR does show a progress dialog from Adobe and it has a CANCEL button present. This is not that big a deal since we push out most apps using SMS or LanDesk so I am hoping no one cares. If they do care then I will have to use the method's provided on this thread.....

Thanks to all who helped out!!
Matt

RE: the Cancel button, if you're using Wise Package Studio (WPS) like me to create the transform, you can easily hide the Cancel button. I had to do this on ANOTHER app that didn't like the /qb(!) switch; however, I did NOT have any issues using /qb! with Acrobat Pro 6.x, so I'm not sure why you're having issues there. Anyway, to hide the Cancel buttons if you're using the /qr (or other) switch(es):

Open up your custom Acrobat MST, then, in the Setup Editor section (the other two being Installation Expert and MSI Script) click on the Dialogs tab. Then go through and open the first dialog you see under Install Dialogs (in the left pane); it's usually called Setup Dialog. You'll see the dialog box in the right pane. Double-click the Cancel button, then UNcheck the "Visible" and "Enabled" check boxes. Repeat this for any non-error dialogs under Install Dialogs - Welcome, Progress, and Exit dialogs are some of the others.

You can also simply delete the Cancel button, but I've been told by a Wise contractor that that's not a good idea.

When I did my Acrobat 6.0 Pro package, I ran into some problems creating a MST that handled the serial number issue, so I just included it in the command line in my Wise script:

%SYS32%\msiexec /i "%INSTALLER%\%OEM_MSIFILE%" ISX_SERIALNUMBER=XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX TRANSFORMS="%INSTALLER%\%MST_FILE%" PATCH="%INSTALLER%\%MSP_FILE%" /qb!

(I went ahead and patched it to version 6.0.1. at the same time.)

%INSTALLER% = directory on target system in which you've installed the source files;
%OEM_MSIFILE% = Adobe's Acrobat 6.0 MSI, AcroPro.msi
%MST_FILE% = my custom MST
%MSP_FILE% = Adobe's 6.0.1 patch package, Ac60PrP1.msp

My method of inserting the serial number is though the INI file. [:)] I can also add the necessary swithces there if I want to.

Hej,


I have managed to install Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Pro silently by tailoring a .mst file with
Installshield Tuner 6.0.1 for Adobe Acrobat. Do not need to add an extra serial number on command line installation because it has been defined in .mst file.

Can anyone help me to find .ITW file ? Also how to create .MST file for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional silent installation ?