How to Deploy Adobe Flash Player 18 with Custom Settings (Enable Background Updates, Disable User Notification)
Good afternoon,
I am looking to deploy Adobe Flash Player version 18 (Active X and NPAPI) and I am finding the administration guide to be of little use. Specifically, I am looking to install each version with preconfigured settings to allow background updates, but not prompt users for major updates. I never want flash to prompt the user for an update, as I will be pushing major revision updates to clients through Symantec (Altiris) Software Management Solution. According to the Adobe Flash Player 18 Administration Guide, the "SilentAutoUpdateEnable" option within the mms.cfg options will allow for silent, background updates to be installed for zero-day patches and small version changes. However, major revisions will still prompt the user to upgrade, which I want to avoid. It would appear (in theory) that we can set SilentAutoUpdateEnable to 1 and AutoUpdateInterval to 9999.
This is great and all, but Adobe doesn't specify how to reference the mms.cfg file that you create for installation. The only way I've been able to figure out how to make this work is to manually place the file in the directory where the OCX files are placed (%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash). That's obviously quite cumbersome, so I'm hoping there is something I'm missing that will allow me to set these options either using command line flags or by getting the installer to reference the custom mms.cfg file during installation.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Best,
Moose
Answers (3)
as you have already found out, to control the behaviour of the Plug-in you need to add the mms.cfg via a transform to the msi. If you plan to deploy updates etc. via Altiris, then I would recommend disabling *all* updates coming from the plug-in itself, and do everything via Altiris. If you have x64 machines, remember that even on those, the mms.cfg needs to go to both locations (%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash) and (%WINDIR%\System32\Macromed\Flash)
My sugestion for mms.cfg
AutoUpdateDisable=1
SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0
Cheers
Phil
Comments:
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Phil,
Thanks for the response! I’ve used .mst file for transforms before (I believe it was for Adobe Reader) but that was using the Adobe customization tool that they use for Reader. I just tried using the customization tool, but it won't load flash player installs. Any advice on how would I go about creating the transform file?
Currently, we’re thinking we’d want the program to get zero-day patches and minor updates for the time being since we haven’t gotten the patch management side of Altiris up and running yet. That said, I’ll keep your advice in mind.
Thanks! - BGS IT 9 years ago-
The fastest way would be to use Orca, that's part of the Windows Installer SDK.
If you don't have it, do a google search. Another possibility id InstEd.The only thing is that you would have to put the mms.cfg file next to the msi and edit the file table manually.
If you are a Dell Kace customer, you could download / get the Dell edition RayPack application, that would be easier.
http://www.itninja.com/blog/view/announcement-raypack-for-dell-kace-is-released-for-all-k1000-customers
Cheers
Phil - Pressanykey 9 years ago-
Phil,
I tried using Orca to do this following a guide I was direct to that’s actually specific to Altiris (though can be used without Altiris, of course): http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/adding-external-file-existing-msi
However, when I follow the guide, I run into a problem where the installer tries to look for the mms.cfg file by adding the windows directory structure on top of the installer location (http://i58.tinypic.com/2q0pn5g.jpg). Any thoughts on how I could fix this?
Thanks! - BGS IT 9 years ago
Hi, the error is simply stating that it can't find the file at the specified location.... that is easy enough to fix...
In the same directory (before deploying it) add the following directory structure.. (assuming ActiveX is the directory that the msi and transform are present in)
ActiveX
flash.msi
yourtransforn.mst
System32 (add this sub-directory to ActiveX)
Macromed (add this sub-directory to System32 )
Flash (add this sub-directory to Macromed )
mms.cfg
Add the mms.cfg in the Flash subdirectory. then it should work.
Cheers
Phil
Comments:
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Hey Paul,
I'm not sure why you couldn't reply on the same thread either. I'm not sure why I didn't think to add the file structure, but that does work. Its not as clean as I'd like, but it works :) The only thing that is missing now, oddly enough, is that its not placing the mms.cfg file in the system32 folder - its placing it in the WOW64 folder. Earlier you said I should add it to both, but I'm not sure how to add the second portion to include it in both folders. I'm going to poke around with the transform directory table and see if I can add another directory, but I'm not sure what I would need to add. Here's a screenshot of the current setup: http://i59.tinypic.com/dvrojs.jpg
Thanks for all your help!
Best,
Moose - BGS IT 9 years ago
