Adobe Flash Player 11.6.602.167

[Sandy]

Their main consumer download right now includes a pkg within.
Their distribution page has not been updated to this version yet, but the links do go to this new version's download :)

[colonelpanic]

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/pdc/11.6.602.167/install_flash_player_osx.dmg is the offline installer.

[nessts]

you do realize @colonelpanic the email you get from adobe asks you very nicely not to share that information with people right?

[iamkmc]

Thanks @colonelpanic for sharing this, keep up the good work.

[colonelpanic]

you do realize @colonelpanic the email you get from adobe asks you very nicely not to share that information with people right?

I don't get an e-mail from them, I just found a link to an older version and had been placing the new version number into the URL and checking to see if it works. I was not aware Adobe does not want that shared. I'm assuming you get the e-mail you are referring to, do they say why? If that is private information I can stop posting the links.

[nessts]

I have not received notification yet interestingly enough.

Andl if you are smart enough to have found it on your own and you have not registered to be deploying Adobe applications like Greg Neagle posted you should, then, maybe brilliant ignorance will work out well :)

from their email when you register

You may not share the above link, share information with others, or publish the above link on websites, blogs, or by any other means that can be publicly accessed. The information contained on this site is meant for your use only in accordance with Adobe Flash Player Distribution License Agreement you accepted. You may direct others to http://www.adobe.com/products/players/fpsh_distribution1.html to request distribution rights.

[bbass]

All I did to find a direct download link was look at a prior Flash download link from my Safari history and substitute the version number. It works. Does that mean I'm bound by something I did not see nor sign?

Seems a little extreme, no?

[nessts]

And since when do laws make sense?

[damienbarrett]

It's listed at http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/4783/adobe-flash-player as non-beta. So how is this not for public consumption?

[Sandy]

Hi.
Adobe has a program for TechAdmin to get these .pkg installers, but you have to sign up and agree not to share.
I signed up yesterday and got access same day.
http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribution.html
S

[ctangora]

I'm part of the program and I still get the .app installer, not a pkg. Also, the URL he posted is not the one that you get when you sign up for the developer program, it is close, but slightly different. I downloaded from both the link from Adobe and from the Colonel and they both appear to be the same package (same size, same mod date, etc).

I believe the reason why they want you to register is because you are bypassing the additional installers that can come with Flash (bloat-ware) that comes mainly with the windows installers (setting default search engines, banners, anti-virus trials, etc). The developer account gives you access to bypass all of that and only install the plugin.

[donmontalvo]

@damienbarrett I would ping Misha and let him know to update the MacUpdate listing, this happens all the time.

11.6.x is beta.

http://linkedin.com/in/mishasak

Don

[rtrouton]

11.6.602.167 is the current release as of today, per this security bulletin:

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb13-05.html

[pbenham]

I just downloaded Flash from the Adobe webpage and got version 11.6.602.167

[donmontalvo]

@rtrouton I stand corrected...

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Wow, the Flash Player team are spitting out updates like they're PEZ dispensers.

Wouldn't it be nice if they put their efforts into fixing the cr@ppy installer instead? Oops...I forgot...

PS, notice Joe Consumer now gets the full installer DMG...

external image link

[mm2270]

We don't worry about the frequent Flash plug-in updates anymore. We turned on the auto update mechanism for it on all managed clients and we are beginning to see some Macs already with this new version with zero effort on our part.
We're OK with leaving Flash to auto update, since its really not going to break anything major on our side. Java is a slightly different story...

[donmontalvo]

@mm2270 wrote:

We don't worry about the frequent Flash plug-in updates anymore. We turned on the auto update mechanism for it on all managed clients and we are beginning to see some Macs already with this new version with zero effort on our part. We're OK with leaving Flash to auto update, since its really not going to break anything major on our side. Java is a slightly different story...

Yep, and there's a thread on the ARD list where some folks decided to extract the PKG from the installer *.app breaking the auto update. I guess to each thier own, we've wrapped the *.app and trigger the install using Adobe's (wonky) install command, works fine.

Don

[mscottblake]

@mm2270: Are your users admins on the machines?

Mine have been auto updating until today. I'm assuming that's because admin credentials are not needed for point releases, but are for major releases.

I was reading a lot on this when 11.5 was released and I seem to remember Adobe stating somewhere (I can't find the source) that the auto updater will wait 30 days for credentials and then perform it anyway.

Either way, what I'm doing is deploying the /Library/Application Support/Macromedia/mms.cfg file in a DMG package, then the Adobe installer.pkg. This is not disabling the automatic updates.

[hkim]

@donmontalvo

Care to share the syntax for the Adobe Installer inside of Install Adobe Flash Player.app/Contents/MacOS?

[mm2270]

@hkim, this is the way we deploy the Flash plug-in. I assume the process Don is using is basically the same:

1- Create a folder in /private/tmp/ called "FlashPlayer"
2 - Edit the "Install Adobe Flash Player.app"'s Info.plist file (inside /Contents/) by adding the following to the end:

<key>NSUIElement</key>
<string>1</string>

The above entry makes the installer invisible, as in no Dock icon, so you can deploy it silently (as long as someone is logged in)
3- Copy the modified "Install Adobe Flash Player.app" into the /private/tmp/FlashPlayer/ folder
4a- (Optional step): Set Flash to auto-update on a Mac with it installed and create another package that deploys the "mms.cfg" configuration into /Library/Application Support/Macromedia/ from Composer. (This file sets the auto update prefs)
4b- Copy the above pkg install into /private/tmp/FlashPlayer/
5- Create a new Composer package (blank) and drag the 2 files from above into the window. You should have "Install Adobe Flash Player.app" and "mms.cfg" (or whatever you named it) in the list under /private/tmp/FlashPlayer/
6- Create a post install script in your Composer package with these contents:

#!/bin/sh
## postinstall

pathToScript=$0
pathToPackage=$1
targetLocation=$2
targetVolume=$3

/private/tmp/FlashPlayer/Install Adobe Flash Player.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager -install

/usr/sbin/installer -pkg /private/tmp/FlashPlayer/FlashPlayer_mms.cfg.pkg -target /

sleep 2

rm -R /private/tmp/FlashPlayer

exit 0      ## Success
exit 1      ## Failure

The above will install Flash and then the configuration package to set auto update on, and finally clean up the folder in /tmp/. It uses Adobe's admittedly wacky but effective install process so all the pieces get put in place properly.

If you decide not to deploy a mms.cfg file, just edit out the line in the script above that would be calling that install.
Edit: you could of course deploy this file with auto update turned off if that's what you want, and would be more important than the former use, since the default setting is to have it on anyway. We just push it out as part of our package for good measure. :)

Hope that helps.

[nkalister]

I'm doing it exactly like mm2270 these days, with the exception that I'm placing the mms.cfg file in /Library/Application Support/Macromedia using the same package as the one that executes the adobe installer. In my testing, the installer didn't create the mms.cfg, so I didn't see a need to package it separately.

mm2270, did you see something in your testing that made the 2nd package for mms.cfg necessary?

[mm2270]

@nkalister - no, not really. I had created that package to push to Macs that were already running an up to date version (11.3.x or higher) so we could set it "on" for them. I only included it in the full install so I could be certain the auto update process was enabled. We likely could leave that out and it would be fine. But I've seen nothing negative by including it.

[donmontalvo]

It would be great to have a policy template that creates a temporary admin account so we can push software that requires a logged in user, but to logged off Macs. The jamf binary can create/delete an admin account, but we haven't found a way to log that account in during a push, and log the account off after the push, then commit suicide. Is it something obvious that we're missing? :)

[TheMacGuys]

What is the program with Adobe For TechAdmins?

[donmontalvo]

@TheMacGuys wrote:

What is the program with Adobe For TechAdmins?

Huh?

[mscottblake]

I, like @mm2270, package the file separately. I mainly do it so that I don't have to worry about it with each release.

[mpermann]

@mm270, thanks for posting the detailed steps you're using to deploy Flash Player. They are thorough and easy to follow. I have a question about the policy you are using to install the software. Is the policy set to the every15 trigger or a login trigger or some other trigger? I know when you manually run the Flash Player installer it will complain if a browser is opened, so I didn't know if by deploying it this way it would avoid that issue and install correctly even if a browser window was opened. I'm new to Casper so be gentle. ;-) Thanks.

[mm2270]

@mpermann - ours is set to Once per computer and on the every15 trigger. We do see some errors in the logs, but interestingly enough really very few that I have seen related to a Mac sitting at the login screen. Our errors are due to some Macs being in locations where a firewall may be stopping them from hitting our CasperShare over http for example. So it does need some babysitting, but the point of our policy is to get all Macs up to a version of FlashPlayer where we can allow the auto update process to then take over. So eventually the errors become less and less frequent and therefore needs less monitoring.
YMMV on whether the above would work OK. You could always use a login trigger for this to be sure its only running on Macs where someone has logged in. The thing I don't like about login triggered policies is that many Mac users don't log off their Macs for weeks at a time, and we don't have any policies in place that would force users to log off.

[mpermann]

@mm2270, thanks for your reply. I did some testing using the every15 trigger and it seemed to run ok even with a browser open when the policy ran. The software was installed successfully and Adobe's Flash checker site shows the latest version on the computers. I tried the same steps using the 10.3.183.61 but it didn't install silently. Do you know if it's possible to install that version silently? I've still got some old 10.5.8 systems that need updating. Thanks for you help!

[mm2270]

@mpermann, I haven't packaged up 11.3 in the manner I outlined, so I really don't know. I only started this process with 11.5 and up. I'm pretty sure 11.3.300 or thereabouts was when the auto update process was introduced, so for any Macs already on that version I just push out a mms.cfg file with auto update on (to be sure) and let the auto update process do its work.
Since it looks like you're looking to install it from the get-go and not just enable auto update, I'm not sure if I can help with that. its possible the added NSUIElement key in the Info.plist helps prevent it from complaining about open browsers?

[nortonpc]

In case anyone is having issues with auto update and wants to test it, I found this command that forces auto update to run.

/Applications/Utilities/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager -update plugin

[donmontalvo]

Avast ye @nortonpc...I don't suppose Adobe's sons of a biscuit eater Flash Player developers gave us a way to run this silently...they should all be keelhauled!

In case anyone is having issues with auto update and wants to test it, I found this command that forces auto update to run.

/Applications/Utilities/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Flash Player Install Manager -update plugin

Good command to know, thanks for posting.

Don

[#33]

FYI I just noticed on testing that adding the .pkg buried in this release and deploying it didn't seem to work, but installing on a build-box then using Composer w/ Pre-Installed Software did - deploying it that way.

The find-version page is your friend (for Safari and FF anyway):

http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/find-version-flash-player.html

Great find on that auto-update command. I'd enjoy 5 minutes with some of these devs..

[tkimpton]

@nortonpc thanks for that.

If only Adobe would add in flash to the AUSST channel updates and include a method to point to the internal AUSST server then we wouldn't have to deal with the Bain of Flash all the time.

Jody, Karl.... How about it?

[nortonpc]

Don

Avast ye @nortonpc...I don't suppose Adobe's sons of a biscuit eater Flash Player developers gave us a way to run this silently...they should all be keelhauled!

I was thinking the same thing, however my experimentation has determined that the major updates require admin intervention anyways. If the update is not run for 30 days then it will silently run.

I ended up packaging the 11.6 update and blasting it out because users were complaining about a popup requiring admin creds to run. Has anyone else seen this behavior from the auto update.

-Pat

[adroitboy]

This is probably bad form given the opinions of the adobe flashplayer updates recently.

I copied this script from somewhere, modified it a little and have a weekly policy scoped to machines that updates flash using this script. While this hasn't broken yet, I've been watching it to make sure that I don't run into any unexpected issues. I think the only time I have had to update it was to fix a screen-scraping issue when adobe changed the page.

I've always had the intention to have it notify me when an update is available and then have to manually approve it. I haven't ever done so. It would be smart to have the script point to an internally verified .dmg rather than pull direct from adobe. Use it with caution. Improve it. Hopefully it makes someone's life easier.

#!/bin/sh
# Script to download and install Flash Player.
# Only works on Intel systems.



dmgfile="flash.dmg"
volname="Flash"
logfile="/Library/Logs/FlashUpdateScript.log"

url='http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/pdc/11.1.102.64/install_flash_player_osx.dmg'

# Are we running on Intel?
if [ '`/usr/bin/uname -p`'="i386" -o '`/usr/bin/uname -p`'="x86_64" ]; then
    # Get the latest version of Flash Player available from Adobe's About Flash page.
    #latestver=`/usr/bin/curl -s http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ | /usr/bin/grep -A2 "Macintosh - OS X" | /usr/bin/grep -A1 "Safari" | /usr/bin/sed -e 's/<[^>][^>]*>//g' -e '/^ *$/d' | /usr/bin/tail -n 1 | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}' |tr -d "
"`
    latestver=`/usr/bin/curl -s http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/ | /usr/bin/grep -A4 "Macintosh" | /usr/bin/grep -A1 "Safari" | /usr/bin/sed -e 's/<[^>][^>]*>//g' -e '/^ *$/d' |  /usr/bin/tail -n 1 | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}' |tr -d "
"`
    echo "Latest Version is: $latestver"
    # Get the version number of the currently-installed Flash Player, if any.
    if [ -e "/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin" ]; then
        currentinstalledver=`/usr/bin/defaults read /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin/Contents/version CFBundleShortVersionString`
        echo "Current installed version is: $currentinstalledver"
        if [ ${latestver} = ${currentinstalledver} ]; then
            echo "Flash Player is current. Exiting"
            exit 0
        fi
    else
        currentinstalledver="none"
        echo "Flash is not installed"
    fi

    url=""
    url1="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/pdc/"
    url2="/install_flash_player_osx.dmg"

    #Build URL
    #url=`echo "http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/pdc/`$latestver`/install_flash_player_osx.dmg"`
    url=`echo "${url1}${latestver}${url2}"`
    echo "Latest version of the URL is: $url"

    # Compare the two versions, if they are different or Flash is not present then download and install the new version.
    if [ "${currentinstalledver}" != "${latestver}" ]; then
        /bin/echo "`date`: Current Flash version: ${currentinstalledver}" >> ${logfile}
        /bin/echo "`date`: Available Flash version: ${latestver}" >> ${logfile}
        /bin/echo "`date`: Downloading newer version." >> ${logfile}
        /usr/bin/curl -s -o /tmp/flash.dmg ${url}
        /bin/echo "`date`: Mounting installer disk image." >> ${logfile}
        /usr/bin/hdiutil attach /tmp/flash.dmg -nobrowse -quiet
        /bin/echo "`date`: Installing..." >> ${logfile}
        /usr/sbin/installer -pkg /Volumes/Flash Player/Install Adobe Flash Player.app/Contents/Resources/Adobe Flash Player.pkg -target / > /dev/null
        /bin/sleep 10
        /bin/echo "`date`: Unmounting installer disk image." >> ${logfile}
        /usr/bin/hdiutil detach $(/bin/df | /usr/bin/grep ${volname} | awk '{print $1}') -quiet
        /bin/sleep 10
        /bin/echo "`date`: Deleting disk image." >> ${logfile}
        /bin/rm /tmp/${dmgfile}

        #double check to see if the new version got updated
        newlyinstalledver=`/usr/bin/defaults read /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/Flash Player.plugin/Contents/version CFBundleShortVersionString`
        if [ "${latestver}" = "${newlyinstalledver}" ]; then
            /bin/echo "`date`: SUCCESS: Flash has been updated to version ${newlyinstalledver}" >> ${logfile}
        /Library/Application Support/JAMF/bin/jamfHelper.app/Contents/MacOS/jamfHelper -windowType hud -title "Flash Player Updated" -description "Flash Player has been updated. Please restart your browsers." &
        else
            /bin/echo "`date`: ERROR: Flash update unsuccessful, version remains at ${currentinstalledver}." >> ${logfile}
            /bin/echo "--" >> ${logfile}
            exit 1
        fi

    # If Flash is up to date already, just log it and exit.       
    else
        /bin/echo "`date`: Flash is already up to date, running ${currentinstalledver}." >> ${logfile}
        /bin/echo "--" >> ${logfile}
    fi  
else
    /bin/echo "`date`: ERROR: This script is for Intel Macs only." >> ${logfile}
fi

exit 0

[stevewood]

I have been using Todd's (@nessts) method mentioned in this link:

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=5713#respond

I use the Perl script as a post flight script in a package. The package drops the Install Adobe Flash Player.app into a hidden folder and then calls the Perl script.

I have this in a policy that is set to run Every15. As an after script I have a script that uses cocoaDialog to pop up a bubble that indicates that Flash has been installed, and that they need to restart any open web browsers.

I used this to deploy 11.6.602.167 and only had one or two issues with it, and those were installs that never finished. Killing the install PID finished the installation.

[acdesigntech]

sorry, late to the game here folks. new phone on wednesday night and haven't seen any of this. SO......
Geez, Adobe updates abound? I will surely leverage your install scripts above, @mm2270.

@donmontalvo: If I ever need to have a user logged in to do something, ala install ColorEyes (you can see me gripe about it occasionally), I create a package that installs a temp user, kcpassword file for that user, and a launch daemon to do whatever it is I *originally* needed to get done, and reboot the Mac (then clean itself up after, and remove kcpassword and autologin user), and then reboot again. I'd add it into my policy as an ```
ConsoleUser=who | grep console
if [ "$ConsoleUser" == "" ]; then
do this script I mentioned above to do the thing that REAL installers should be doing anyway
else
do actual work
```

I THINK that's all Casper is really doing with its post-imaging auto login user, launchdaemon with kcpassword, etc., anyway.

WAY safer than trying to use osascript to simulate a login. If you want, I can share these fun-filled scripts I use to "auto" deploy ColorEyes "unattended." (PS - With any luck CE is going away and we are going with BasICColor... *happy dance*)