Acrobat Reader 9 - Fileset Creation

While Acrobat Reader has given users many a headache in the past, the new features in FileWave 3.7 simplify most of the issues of the past.  In this article, we will briefly discuss the procedure for producing an Acrobat Reader Fileset.

What you need:

Acrobat Reader Installer

FileWave 3.7 Admin / Server / Client

Clean Machine without any Adobe Applications present

Procedure 

1. Using your clean machine, install the FileWave Admin and take a snapshot of the startup disk.

2. Install Acrobat Reader, and launch it.

3. Run the "Check for Updates..." in the Help menu several times, making sure that the updates succeed.

4. Set the Updater preferences to stop checking for updates.

5. Take the second snapshot with the FileWave Admin (Create Fileset).

6. When you reach the file selection screen,  keep everything in /Library and /Applications.  Uncheck everything else except for the Adobe related preferences files in /Users/yourUser/Library/Preferences, and also the placeholder file in /Users/Shared.

7.  Save the Fileset to your FileWave Server.

8. Open the new Fileset, uncheck "Hide Unused Folders" and move the files from /Users/yourUser/Library Preferences to /Users/All Users/Library/Preferences/

Your Completed Fileset should look like this:

You're almost done.  How can we make this better with 3.7?

3.7 allows you to set Fileset Requirements. Since Acrobat has a different installer and version for 10.4, 10.5, ppc or intel, we can make use of the requirements.

9. Click on the Fileset Properties button in the Filesets Window, and tab to the requirements section.  

10. Set the appropriate requirements for this Acrobat version.  In this example, I've installed the 10.5 Intel version.

10. You're done!  Deploy and be merry.