AAMEE 2.1 & CS5 = FAIL

[themacdweeb]

i've spent waaaaaay too much time trying to figure this out but here's the short n' sweet: we can't use the latest AAMEE (v2.1) to create reliably workable pkg's that we can deploy via ARD or Casper... or that even run manually. we've tried 3 or 4 different approaches and when we run the pkg's all of them install fully... and then UN-INSTALL themselves. there's some weird payload uninstaller that's running when we check the logs. and no: it doesn't matter if we run manually, via self service, via policy or via imaging.

adobe's logging tool provides no assistance, FYI.

and then, sometimes, it works. but rarely. i'm pulling out my hair out, seriously.

we really need SOME dependable way to deploy CS. here's our recipe: we disable all product launch options and adobe air installation. we choose to package WITH all available application updates for CS (and have also tried without). we ignore conflicts and continue with the installation. we choose to push updates manually and install to the default location. we're running casper 8.22, soon to be 8.43.

what's worked for you? and please: be specific:

+ are you packing with or without AIR?
+ are you packaging with or without application updates?
+ are you using the PKG's in the imaging process? if so, are you installing at first boot or with other injections during the imaging process?
+ are you using different pkg's for self serve and for imaging?
+ what version of casper are you using?

if anyone is willing to step it out, i'd be much obliged.

david koff
the j. paul getty trust

[donmontalvo]

AAMEE 2.1.98.0
JSS 8.43
CS 5.5 (all flavors; always with all updates)

Exclude AIR.
Force AFP (for SMB See https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/article.html?id=161)

We deploy during imaging time, and we push via policy, but we haven't via Self Service (yet).

If you're deploying to Macs without purging previous versions, there can (and likely will) be problems. Good luck with that. ;)

Why not post the specific errors you're getting?

Don

[acdesigntech]

Yes, I second the request to post the specific error messages that installer is writing. If we had those we might be in better shape to help...

I'm using AAMEE 1.5.126 on JSS 8.1, so not the same system, but all Adobe software seems to be garbage with the install for one reason or another, so this might be relevant: http://acdesigntech.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/en_gb-language-pack-failure-during-adobe-cs5-installati...

In short, we package without AIR, with all updates, and force AFP as well. We aren't allowing Self Service installs, and deploy via Remote and policy with the same package. Failure to remove previous suites has not proven to be a deal breaker, but as with all things: ymmv

** Oh, forgot to mention that the issues we were seeing were it "uninstalling" itself if run manually after getting to about 93% finished, and just plain failing when using Remote after getting to about 97% complete.

[kbushbaum]

Same here - I have tried everything. I finally gave up until I can re-image all the machines and hope for the best...

[#5]

JSS 8.43 AAMEE 2.1
CS5 Design Standard with all updates as of about Nov 2011, without AIR

Install at imaging time for new machines, has worked via Remote as well, never tried from Self Serve. Also I have a script to run Adobe Application Manager (AAM) after the CS install to update all apps against our in-house Adobe Update Server.

[daniel_behan]

I've been getting the failures too. I just did a straight image of 10.7 with no 3rd party software and an install of Photoshop 12 failed with the following error in the jss log:

Installation failed. The installer reported: installer: Package name is Adobe Setup
installer: Installing at base path /
installer: The install failed (The Installer encountered an error that caused the installation to fail. Contact the software manufacturer for assistance.)

When I look at the machine though, Photoshop is there. When I launch it when logged in as a standard account, it crashes. When I launch it while logged in as local admin it works fine and then works for all users.

[donmontalvo]

@acdesigntech Are your AAMEE produced packages "touching" an SMB share at any point?

[donmontalvo]

@daniel.behan We see the Installation failed. The installer reported: installer: Package name is Adobe Setup error when the PKG gets corrupted, like if it gets put on an SMB share. The fix is in article 161:

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/article.html?id=161

To be honest, we were uploading our AAMEE generated PKG installers on DMG becasue of corruption. Turns out article 161 prescribes doing just that, and adding the installPKGfromDMG.sh script to the policy was a simple additional step for us. All these Installation failed. The installer reported: installer: Package name is Adobe Setup problems went bye bye. :)

Don

[acdesigntech]

Nope, straight AFP once we migrated our master DP from netapp to one of the xserves, and put Mac Mini servers in each of our remote sites. We had major problems with a number of packages coming from the SMB share, but not anymore :)

Plus the minis pull double duty as netboot servers and SUSs.

We also didn't start using AAMEE for anything until well after we migrated from SMB DPs...

-------

The problem we see with the Adobe installs is due to changes we make to the /Library/ColorSync directories due to some automated maintenance that goes on daily. It's almost like Adobe expects a certain directory structure with certain permissions and if that isn't the case on install, it just fails. But then sometimes it succeeds :/ go figure... So I edited sections of their pre-flight scripts to rename the suspect directories and all is right in the world again. Our automated systems then put down the necessary settings the next time someone logs in. It's beautiful, really...

[donmontalvo]

@acdesigntech Ahh...that's right, the dreaded ColorSync folder alias issue. Here's a response we got from an Adobe engineer regarding this:

Hi Don, The colorsync issue would come (with AAMEE2.0 also), when Acrobat 9 or Acrobat X are deployed via snapshot feature of CasperSuite, it is because aliases for Profiles (and Recommended) within /Library/ColorSync/Profiles get converted to folder. So, Creative suite install would fail over it. (Unless one follows the workaround to remove these folders, in order to successfully deploy the pkg) However, Acrobat X being a package, can be deployed directly via Casper Suite (without requiring snapshot). And if it is deployed directly, colorsync issue would Not come with CS5.5 AAMEE pkgs. Please let us know if you have any issues. Thanks, Sumita

[themacdweeb]

based on don's post in regards to SMB shares (https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/article.html?id=161), i've turned off the SMB service on our xserve as we didn't use it anyway. we'll look into whether or not that helps us out. if it doesn't we'll try the installPKGfromDMG.sh solution that's mentioned there.

but it certainly helps to hear that some of you are using the tool DURING the imaging process with success. it's a game-stopper for us if we can't get the thing to work.

[acdesigntech]

@themacdweeb, make sure in your JSS web interface that your distribution points are set to use afp and not smb.

[donmontalvo]

@themacdweeb If any of the AAMEE generated PKG installers got corrupted by SMB, you may need to upload again.

[themacdweeb]

@don: thanks, man. was already in the process of doing that. first trial run with the new pkg gave me errors about the pkg that suggested BOMs were an issue so i just repaired the CasperShare volume on our server and will try again. But at this time, SMB services are off as are HTTP. so we're only using AFP for everything. i'll report back and thanks for the continued tips...

david

[themacdweeb]

SOLVED.

Thank you, acdesigntech, for your post over at: http://acdesigntech.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/en_gb-language-pack-failure-during-adobe-cs5-installati...

Modified the Adobe preinstall script as you'd laid out and.... suddenly all our problems went away. Double checked by using a non-modified CS5 AAMEE installer and removing any/all colorsync folder installers from our casper builds. In both cases, the problem was - clearly - the colorsync folder.

So, the solution: remove any colorsync installs from your build, install CS5, and then install them later or... use the fix outlined on the link above and continue to work away. Would have NEVER found this solution, guys. Thanks to all of you for your help.

Wish I could buy a round of beers....

D

[acdesigntech]

Glad to help :) If you're ever in Cleveland, I'll take you up on the beer ;)