Installing Adobe 2015 CCP installers via JSS

fedagain
Contributor

I see there are articles about doing this, many of them with differing procedures, and most of them date back to 2012.

What is the most current way to install an Adobe.pkg created in CCP?

Our distro is SMB

Thanks
Dave

6 REPLIES 6

roiegat
Contributor III

So we deploy CCE and CCDW at our company and both installer are fairly big (over 20 gigs). So here's what I've done to mange it.

First, make sure all our netsus's have the installer files. That way the machines will get the fastest downloads from the closest location. While not a crucial step, most installs take about 30 minute with the fastest, and about 1-2 on a slow connection.

Second I created two policies, one policy caches the installer on the machine, and the second installs the cached installer. This way I can ensure the installer is on there machine first, and then runs. I find this prevents any issues if something happens on the network during the install. Because the file is local, it doesn't need the network anymore and runs faster.

Then I created smart groups that filtered which computer are allowed to have which bundles and set up a Self Service for them to be able to install it themselves.

fedagain
Contributor

I was doing it this way in the past, but wasn't wrapping the pkg in a dmg. Are you wrapping first and then scripting to mount the dmg, install and remove?

Do you have any issues with the installs of Adobe when no user is logged in?

stevewood
Honored Contributor II
Honored Contributor II

I package each of the CC apps individually using CCP and then upload the Install and Uninstall PKG files via Casper Admin. I allow Casper Admin to zip the package as it uploads it to the DP. Our DP is a JDS, so I'm not positive if the zipping is only on JDS devices or if CA will zip when going to an SMB DP.

From there, I create a policy for each of the products to install via Self Service. For deployment to new machines, I create a policy that installs the main components (ID, PS, Ill, Bridge). And for re-deployment or upgrades from one suite to the next, I'll create two policies: one to cache and another to install from cached.

I have not had issues deploying during imaging with no user logged in. However, I think I am in the minority here, as most everyone I've seen on here over the past 8 years has had problems deploying with no one logged in.

ljungholms
New Contributor

FYI, I took the simple route and created the package. Added it to Casper Admin, then created a policy. Very simple and works. I also did the same for the updates that came out since the first install. I didn't have to re-package anything.

perrycj
Contributor III

I second @stevewood method. We package each app individually. Uploading to a SMB master DP is fine. It will also just zip it and then unzip it once it's deployed.

Because of the size of the packages (usually) we cache first and then install. You can do this via just normal caching in the policy (which puts it in Library/Application Support/JAMF/Waiting Room/) or just have the package drop the installer in a custom location and install it with a script.

For updates, we utilize Adobe RUM. It runs in the background without user interaction and will silently update most (but not all) installed Adobe apps. If you package an adobe app or apps with CCP, the binary for Adobe RUM is automatically installed at /usr/local/bin and you can call it to run basically by calling out the path to the binary:

#!/bin/bash

/usr/local/bin/RemoteUpdateManager

exit 0

You can then just put that in a policy or in Self Service and run it at your leisure.

If you go to console, you can see the log for RUM update in real time as it updates each app. The log is in ~/Library/Logs/RemoteUpdateManager.log. Hope this helps.

Chris_Hafner
Valued Contributor II

We tend to create the adobe installer .pkgs similar to how @stevewood does, however I also create un-installers and store them on the systems in which these apps are installed via self-service. This allows me to call up the un-isntallers when we need to off board users BYOD devices.