stuart test blog

Most large organisations employ dedicated packagers to create automated software installations that can be deployed enterprise-wide using distribution tools such as Microsoft’s SMS 2003 or Group Policies. Smaller companies, however, can’t afford to package applications and often revert to manually installing the software on computers as required. Adobe provides a useful utility to help administrators customise and deploy the latest Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat products.

I won’t actually do an in-depth write up here, as the documentation provided by Adobe is more than enough to create your first package:

• White paper (PDF) – this provides all the information needed in PDF format.
• Solutions for IT professionals – this page discusses how to deploy, maintain and support Adobe Acrobat and Reader software across your organisation.
• Extract the Adobe Reader 8 msi installer for enterprise deployment – Adobe TechNote describing the process of extracting the required MSI file from the download package. (also see note below.)
• Adobe Reader Distribution Agreement – this is the agreement you need to fill in before getting the link to the full download package.
• User forums – a quick search of these forums will find you the link to download the full Adobe Reader package if you don’t feel like filling in the Distribution Agreement.
[tags]deploy,packaging,wise,microsoft,windows,group policies,active directory,sms,adobe,acrobat,reader,package,downloads[/tags]