Adobe Acrobat Professional X

Acrobat X installs in a similar way to Acrobat 9. It's happy to uninstall previous versions of Acrobat Pro and Adobe Reader for you.

To prepare Acrobat Professional X for silent installation, you will need to obtain the Adobe Customization Wizard from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4950 so that you can prepare the package for deployment. Once you've installed and started the Customization Wizard, use File -> Copy Package to copy the package from the CD to a location where you can modify it.

You will probably need a volume license so that you can use the same key across multiple computers (but note that under certain circumstances (as set forth in section 2.4 of the EULA) you might legitimately have two computers with the same key even without using a volume license). The overhead of maintaining separate keys may not be worth the benefits of automated software deployment.

Use the Customization Wizard to enter your serial number and select the options you want. Consider:

  • Installation Options
    • Run Installation: silently
    • If reboot required at end of installation: Suppress reboot
  • Shortcuts
    • Remove desktop icon
  • EULA and Document Status
    • Suppress display of End User License Agreement (EULA)

The customisation wizard can produce a bare MST file or an MST and a modified setup.ini. If you use the both, you can launch setup.exe and have it do your silent installation for you; otherwise, you can use msiexec with the MST.

You should obtain security updates and patches from http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=1&platform=Windows or from http://www.adobe.com/support/security/index.html

Note that patches don't always bump the version number in the main Acrobat.exe and Acrobat.dll files. It's important to figure out which files a particular patch touches and to check their version numbers; otherwise, patches apply and request a reboot but the check conditions won't be satisfied, leading to constant reboots.

<package
   id="acrobatX"
   name="Adobe Acrobat X"
   revision="10.1.2"
   reboot="false"
   priority="1">
 
 
        <check type="uninstall" condition="exists" path="Adobe Acrobat X Pro" />
 
        <!-- check for 32bit and 64bit Systems -->
        <check type="logical" condition="or">
              <check type="file" condition="versiongreaterorequal" path="%PROGRAMFILES%\Adobe\Acrobat 10.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.dll" value="10.1.2.45" />
              <check type="file" condition="versiongreaterorequal" path="%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%\Adobe\Acrobat 10.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.dll" value="10.1.2.45" />
        </check>
 
 
        <!-- alter this line to point at your custom transform, or just use setup.exe if you've a modified setup.ini -->
        <install cmd='msiexec /qn /norestart /i "%SOFTWARE%\Acrobat\10\Adobe Acrobat X\AcroPro.msi" TRANSFORMS="%SOFTWARE%\Acrobat\X\Acro.mst"' >
                <exit code="0" />
                <exit code="3010" reboot="postponed" />
        </install>
 
        <install cmd='msiexec /qn /norestart /update "%SOFTWARE%\Acrobat\AcrobatUpd1012.msp"' >
                <exit code="0" />
                <exit code="3010" reboot="postponed" />
        </install>
 
        <upgrade cmd='msiexec /qn /norestart /update "%SOFTWARE%\Acrobat\AcrobatUpd1012.msp"' >
                <exit code="0" />
                <exit code="3010" reboot="postponed" />
        </upgrade>      
 
        <remove cmd='msiexec /qn /norestart /x {AC76BA86-1033-F400-7760-000000000005}' >
          <exit code="0" />
          <exit code="1614" />
          <exit code="1605" /> <!-- already removed somehow -->
          <exit code="3010" reboot="postponed" />
        </remove>
 
 
 
</package>