repackaging illustrator alongside photoshop

[daworley]

Has anybody ever seen issues with packaging Photoshop individually, then packaging Illustrator individually... and then finally deploying those two packages together onto the same Mac? Maybe the order of deploying varying, and that complicating shared resources?

I'm trying to plan out a deployment strategy, and don't want to get bitten by repackaging snafus.

I've heard time and again that AAMEE is a pain in the neck and that many people here prefer Composer. I'm afraid of the logic checking inside Adobe's installer application getting lost when deploying a flat Composer package, and then the end result of two repackaged installers in JAMF getting wonky.

I've not used AAMEE in a year, and felt it was terrible then. Any updated opinions on AAMEE vs Composer are welcome as well.

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Douglas Worley Apple Certified System Administrator Apple Certified Trainer AppleCare Certified Service Trainer Certified Casper Administrator

[rockpapergoat]

AAMEE is the way to go. i've used AAMEE generated packages with deploystudio, munki, and casper with no real issues. in my opinion, munki does a better job of installing and providing feedback than casper, both for CS apps and almost anything else. but i digress…

check out the latest version of AAMEE, then test. you'll find it's a slightly different beast these days.

if you go the individual repackaging route, it will involve more work. you should probably have separate packages for each app and the licensing. licensing is what breaks most often, but you can get around that by laying down the db and support files separately. only do this if you absolutely have to, though.

[daworley]

Nate,

Thanks for the advice. I'll give AAMEE first shot.

Regarding packaging the serialization separately, I don't see an option in AAMEE for creating a serialization package. Are you referring to the Adobe Provisioning Toolkit?

[rockpapergoat]

no, i meant to package licensing separately only if you're repackaging the apps with other tools, like composer, installease, etc.

you shouldn't need to do that with AAMEE.

[talkingmoose]

+1 for AAMEE.

Even the old AAMEE was better than repackaging, IMHO. Packaging Adobe
applications still has the same issue with trying to copy serialization
files because at least the last three (maybe more) versions have used the
exact same file. You can't selectively install without having a license
file that's good for practically everything you own or without having a
gazillion (with a G!) license files.

AAMEE should at least allow you to install and uninstall apps without
affecting the licensing of the other apps. When installed as part of a
suite Acrobat 9 more than likely still needs to launch after another suite
application has launched but that's the worst case I know. Acrobat X plays
so much nicer than it ever has. Deploy that if you're able.

Using AAMEE I've gone from weeks/months of trying to repackage Creative
Suite to just a couple of hours, which includes testing. Wish I could get
that hair back but at least I'm not yanking it out nearly as much.

--

William Smith
Technical Analyst
Merrill Communications LLC
(651) 632-1492