Flash Player 11.9 pkg Installer

[dustydorey]

We wanted to let you know that our friends over at Adobe are working on a new Adobe Flash Player Installation format that comes in a .pkg format and they want people to test with the beta and provide feedback.

The link to download the installer as well as additional information can be found here: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1289221

Please be sure to provide feedback at the link provided above as well.

Happy testing!
Dusty

[jarednichols]

Whelp, I lost that bet. I owe a few people some money.

[jarednichols]

(Dupe)

[pblake]

Their old format was .pkg too. Just had to download the correct one and look in the contents.

[RobertHammen]

But that didn't include the Flash Player Install Manager, so if you tried to check for updates from the Flash Player.prefPane, it crashed. *sigh*

[Sonic84]

Hurray! This rev includes AFPIM built into the installer; and the PKG is a flat-pack!

[lunddal]

@Robert: The installer from here: http://www.adobe.com/dk/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html does include Adobe Flash Player Install Manager.

[cbrewer]

11.9 was released.

http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/licensing/mac/install_flash_player_11_osx_p...

[agirardi]

And a separate download for Sys Admins!

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution3.html

[agirardi]

<deleted>

[agirardi]

<deleted>

[JPDyson]

@cbrewer Cool. Looks a lot like the pkg file that's always existed within their old installer (same name, even). Still, this saves me one step at least.

[cbrewer]

@JPDyson - Pretty sure this is different than the previous pkg file. Previously, using the pkg would result in the system preference pane not working correctly. This new pkg installer seems to be a full install.

[boberito]

This is AMAZING! A real pkg installer that doesn't pop up on the users screen. THIS IS HOW IT ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

[CasperSally]

better later than never, thanks adobe for listening.

[martin]

@boberito the PKG file was has been available for a long time and is located in the package content > content > resources.

[mm2270]

Looks like they did a decent job with it too. I poked around in the preinstall and postinstall scripts.
The preinstall does a downgrade check to make sure its not installing over a more up to date version.
The postinstall does a couple of things. The plug-in itself is stored as a LZMA compressed file in the payload, so it uncompresses it into the /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ folder. It then checks to see if it was installed to the boot volume or another disk. If installed on the boot volume, it starts the fpsaud LaunchDaemon. If it was installed to another volume it doesn't do anything since it will be started at next boot. What this effectively means is it should work deployed "as-is" in imaging workflows. This should also work fine when no-one is logged in. Good job overall, and I agree, exactly as it should have been from the beginning.
Glad to see they're finally getting it.

[donmontalvo]

@mm2270 wrote:

Glad to see they're finally getting it.

Yea, too bad Adobe throws it's own people under the bus until it +can't handle the public lambasting +anymore.

They have no intention to do things right when they can save money by cutting corners and doing it wrong.

[donmontalvo]

@martin wrote:

@boberito the PKG file was has been available for a long time and is located in the package content > content > resources.

This has been discussed in several threads, that method breaks its auto update framework, which I suppose some Mac admins are OK with.

[gregneagle]

With Flash Player 11.9.x, the package inside the application installs all needed components.
It no longer leaves the autoupdate mechanism in a broken state.

There is no difference between the package now embedded in the install application and the "naked" package available via a distribution link.

https://managingosx.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/adobe-flash-player-11-9/

[agirardi]

Good to know it is the same pkg, and the autoupdate has been resolved. Thanks for the post.

[tls2t]

A bit of a “hmmmmm” moment for me…

When downloading the flash installer from my personal MacBook Air, and my work iMac, the resulting downloaded file is named:

install_flash_player_osx.dmg

Everything looks legit, and I can see the package inside the /Contents/Resources as expected, and has been in versions past.

HERE’S where it get strange.

When downloading the same installer from Adobe’s site on my test MacPro, the resulting downloaded file is named:

AdobeFlashPlayerInstaller_11_ltrosxd_aaa_aih.dmg

When you mount it, the installer looks normal, but things in the /Contents/Resources folder look nothing like what I expect to see. It almost looks like an old version that it’s downloading, so now I don’t know which one is the real one, which one is fake, or whether they’re both real, or both fake…

[gregneagle]

See https://managingosx.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/new-year-new-flash-post/

For best results, apply for a redistribution license and use the link Adobe gives you.

Or use autopkg: https://github.com/autopkg/autopkg

-Greg

[rohrt85]

So I am kind of lost here with the new installer.....I have checked on the Show Package Content with the Flash installer but I am not seeing the .pkg file like there was with 11.8. Is now the only way of getting the real .pkg installer by signing up from Adobe?!

Can someone please tell me (in plain english) where exactly I need to go for I can get this on Self Service for my students so I don't get a rush at the door for a plug in again.

Thanks
-Ryan

[gregneagle]

The English is pretty plain here: https://managingosx.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/new-year-new-flash-post/

It directs you here: http://www.adobe.com/products/players/flash-player-distribution.html

I can't speak for the "plainness" of the English at the second link, but you'll have to muddle through.

-Greg

[rohrt85]

Thanks for the info Greg!

lol signing up to distribute Flash.......seriously......what's next Adobe to make my day just a little more peachy........?!

[donmontalvo]

@gregneagle wrote:

With Flash Player 11.9.x, the package inside the application installs all needed components. It no longer leaves the autoupdate mechanism in a broken state.

Good to know they finally fixed that problem, goes to show how effective a collective boot up the back side to Adobe can be, thanks!

[donmontalvo]

@rohrt85 wrote:

lol signing up to distribute Flash.......seriously......what's next Adobe to make my day just a little more peachy........?!

;)

http://www.adobe.com/products/air/runtime-agreement.html
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/distribution.html?readstep

[JPDyson]

Duly noted about breaking the auto-updater; I actually prefer this (rather than trusting Adobe to push fully tested and verified updates that won't break anything for my customers). But, I understand the impulse to let it auto-updated... it just strikes me as dangerous.

[gregneagle]

You can still turn off auto updates.

Techniques referenced here still work: https://managingosx.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/disabling-auto-update-notifications-for-flash-player-10-3/

Latest info here: http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flashplayer/pdfs/flash_player_11_9_admin_guide.pdf

[gregneagle]

You can still turn off auto updates.

Techniques referenced here still work: https://managingosx.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/disabling-auto-update-notifications-for-flash-player-10-3/

Latest info here: http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/flashplayer/pdfs/flash_player_11_9_admin_guide.pdf

[mm2270]

@JPDyson, I hear you on the auto update stuff, and why you may not want that. We struggled for a long while internally here on whether to allow it to do that. Generally we don't want apps auto updating themselves since it doesn't give us a proper window to test changes and ensure it doesn't break critical functions.
But for FlashPlayer we finally settled on allowing it to auto update, because, well, less and less for us is relying on the FlashPlayer plug-in. We still need to have it there and keep it up to date due to constant security issues, but if we run across a situation where an update is reported to cause problems, we can always disable the current policy and roll back to a previous release. We keep all the previous installers going back a good ways, so they're ready to be pushed if we really need to.
In the end I guess the security implications of not auto updating Flash were greater than any potential for it to stop working with some sites, and so we chose the path of least resistance.

But, as @gregneagle mentions, you can still stop it from auto updating if you want. At least you don't need to rewrap FlashPlayer now or even bother to extract anything from the app installer, which I think is the overall win here for everyone.

[JPDyson]

@mm2270 Indeed; it's one of those cases where I have something that works, so while I appreciate the new approach (as you and @gregneagle mentioned), it amounts to a distinction without a difference. I'll probably adopt that model for the 11.9 push when I do it, anyway.

[gregneagle]

? New approach? What's new?