Adobe Properties

Set MSI and Adobe properties as needed to perform the actual install as follows:

  • Property values are case sensitive. Copy the values from the table below. For example, use YES rather than Yes.

  • Do not quote property values unless there are spaces in the string.

  • If you’re using the MSI installer, configure abcpy.ini.

  • If you’re using the Setup.exe bootstrapper installer, configure setup.ini.

  • On your command line, you can use msiexec and Adobe properties and switches.

  • Order of precedence from least to most controlling is as follows: Property table > Transform > command line. That is, command line run properties override any installer setting.

Installer table modification

While it is possible to use the Customization Wizard’s Direct Editor or 3rd party tool such as ORCA to modify the installer tables, Adobe strongly recommends that you do not do so unless you are knowledgeable about editing and troubleshooting installer tables. Improper use can result in the corruption of the installer.

Installer tables may vary by product type (Reader vs. Acrobat vs. Acrobat Standard, etc.) uses Reader. Inspect the tables of the product you are installing to determine if a default is provided.

Wizard’s Direct Editor

_images/CWPropertyTable.png

Install file examples

abcpy.ini (use with .msi)

[OEM Install]
ISX_SERIALNUMBER=<Product serial number>
USERNAME=<username>
COMPANYNAME=<company name>
INSTALLDIR="Custom path to Installation directory for Acrobat"

Note

The values for the first three above appear in the installer screen. This screen will be removed from products.

setup.ini (use with .exe)

You can use your customized MST for bootstrapper deployments. The bootstrapper Setup.exe file uses setup.ini as its configuration file. As you customize the installer with the Wizard, the Setup.ini file automatically updates. The Setup.exe file uses Setup.ini as it’s configuration file. Before deployment, open Setup.ini, verify it contains all the properties you need, and edit it as neccessary.

Setup.ini contains two sections:

  • [Startup]: Setup.exe first executes the Adobe flags for CmdLine. Do not place Adobe properties or MSI switches here; for example, you can use /sAll but not /qb!+ in this section.

  • [Product] Setup.exe then reads the [Product] section. There may be multiple [Product] sections depending what the EXE should invoke (other MSI’s or EXE’s). The CmdLine should only contain values supported by the item the EXE invokes. For example, when invoking an MSI (msi=AcroPro.msi), you can only use space-separated Adobe properties (flag/value pairs connected by an = sign) and MSI switches; for example, you can use /qb!+ but not /sAll in this section.

[Startup]
CmdLine=/sAll /rs /re /sl "1036"

[Product]
CmdLine=TRANSFORMS="AcroPro.mst" /qb!+
msi=AcroPro.msi
PATCH="<Path to ZD/Q Patch"

Command line example

msiexec /i <path to AcroPro.msi> LANG_LIST=en_US TRANSFORMS="1033.mst"  /qb

Property list

Feature V. Property Description
Installation 15 (May 10, 2016) ADD_THUMBNAILPREVIEW Installs and uninstalls the Windows Explorer thumbnail preview handler. While this property can only be used during an initial install, the ThumbnailPreviewHandler property can be run anytime post install. Note also that admins can use bDisableThumbnailPreviewHandler to prevent users from toggling this feature on an off. For details, see the Preference Reference.
Installation 8.0 & later INSTALLDIR Specifies the installation directory.
Installation January 2017 and later ROAMIDENTITY A value of 1 specifies that the user's identity should roam across VMs. Only used for named user licensing in virtualized environments when the APTEE tool is not used. Null is the same as 0.
Installation January 2017 and later ROAMLICENSING A value of 1 specifies that the user's entitlement should roam across VMs. Only used for named user licensing in virtualized environments when the APTEE tool is not used. Null is the same as 0.
Installation 8.0 & later SOURCELIST SOURCELIST provides a way to point to installation files on a network. It is a semicolon-delimited list of network or URL source paths to the installation package which is appended to each user's existing source list. The installer uses the first accessible location it finds, and only this source is used for the remainder of the installation. Therefore, each item in SOURCELIST must contain:
  • A complete source for the application, including all files and cabinets.
  • The entire directory tree at each source location must be the same.
  • An MSI file with the same file name and product code.
Installation 12.x and later IGNOREVCRT64 Note: Visual C++ is not required for the 64-bit installer.. For 32-bit, since Acrobat looks for Visual C++ x64 2013 Runtime (VC) by default, set IGNOREVCRT64 to 1 if it is not present AND not needed. IGNOREVCRT64 need only be used when all of the following are true:
  • During Acrobat installs on 64-bit machines
  • When Visual C++ x64 2010 SP1 Runtime is not installed
  • Installation is NOT done via setup.exe.
  • The following functionality is NOT needed: 1) Acrobat PDF Creation add-on (PDFMaker plugin) for Microsoft Office 64-bit applications (viz. Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Outlook) and 2) sending emails or resolving addresses via 64-bit Microsoft Outlook.
During non-setup.exe installs when VC is not present, installation behavior is as follows:
  • Command line installs abort if IGNOREVCRT64=1 is not passed.
  • UI installs display a dialog asking the user whether they would like to continue or cancel.
  • Setup.exe installs succeed. Installs never abort as the property is passed while spawning the MSI.
For MSI installs, use Require64BitVC10RT in the Setup.ini file under the Startup section.
Shortcuts 10.1 & later DISABLEDESKTOPSHORTCUT
  • 10.1 and later. Reader only: When set to 1, the desktop shortcut will not be created at the initial install or after any updates.
  • 11.0 and later. Customize the behavior by using the SUM of any values.
    • null (property is not set): All shortcuts except AAM are created.
    • 0: Create all shortcuts.
    • 1: Disable all shortcuts. This is the only valid value for Reader.
    • 2: Disable all Acrobat shortcuts, but not AAM or FormsCentral shortcuts.
    • 4: Disable AAM shortcut only.
    • 8: Disable FormsCentral shortcut only. (See note below)
Note: The property can only be used with a MSI (full) installer; it cannot be used with when applying an MSP update. FormsCentral has been retired and is no longer supported.
Fonts 10.0 & later DISABLE_ASIAN_FONTS YES prevents the installation of Asian language components.
Browser integration 9.0 & later DISABLE_BROWSER _INTEGRATION YES prevents the the install (or uninstalls) the PDF viewer Active X control for IE. Beneficial in Terminal Server environments. When a PDF file opens in a browser and the user browses to a different page, viewer components stay in memory until the browser is closed.
Browser integration 12.x (Feb. 2017) ENABLE_CHROMEEXT By default, installing the Continuous track of Reader installs the Chrome extension. When installed, PDFs can open automatically in Reader rather than in the browser using Chrome's PDF viewer. This enables access to Reader's tools and services while providing users with a consistent PDF viewing experience. A value of 1 enables the extension, while 0 prevents it's install.
Installation 10.0 & later DISABLE_CACHE 1 disables setup file caching. The opposite of ENABLE_CACHE_FILES.
Installation 9.0 & later ENABLE_CACHE_FILES 1 (the default) enables setup file caching of the installer files on the local system. The opposite of DISABLE_CACHE.
Installation 9.0 & later ENABLE_OPTIMIZATION 1 runs a disk defragmentation utility that will automatically cluster files on a portion of the destination drive during installation, thereby improving launch time and performance. Defragmentation requires available disk space on the destination drive and adds time to the installation.
Distiller 10.0 & later DISABLE_DISTILLER YES prevents the installation of Distiller components.
PDFMaker 10.0 & later DISABLE_PDFMAKER YES prevents the installation of PDFMaker.
Installation 9.0 & later EULA_ACCEPT YES prevents the EULA from appearing the first time the viewer is invoked. For 10.1.4, see the release notes.
Installation 10.0 & later IGNORE_INTEROP_REQS YES disables interoperability dialogs in the full UI mode and allows installation to continue in the reduced UI mode or completely silent mode.

"Interoperability" refers to supported installations where one product is installed over another. For example, Acrobat Standard cannot be installed on top 3D. There are 3 use cases: The installation must abort, the installation cannot continue without user action (usually uninstalling the previous product), and the installation can continue. This property turns off warning dialogs for installation failure for the first two cases, thereby causing the abort to happen silently.
Installation 10.0 & later ISX_SERIALNUMBER This property accepts a retail or volume serial number so that the product is pre-serialized (licensed) during the install. It is useful for mass deployments and silent installs. If a number is not passed, then a trial version of the product is automatically installed. Like all properties, this property can be used in setup.ini, abcpy.ini, and on the command line.
Installation 11.0 & later PRESERIALIZATIONFILEPATH PRESERIALIZATIONFILEPATH grants an offline exception to the online activation requirement for volume serial numbers. If Adobe servers cannot be contacted, no activation occurs. However, if Adobe servers can be contacted, activation does occur.

The property accepts a path to a prov.xml file containing the requisite parameters. You can set the property automatically via the Wizard. Alternatively, create the prov.xml file manually by downloading the APTEE tool and running the following command line with your volume serial number.
  • Standard: adobe_prtk --tool=VolumeSerialize --generate --serial=(serial number) --leid=V6{}AcrobatStd-AS2-Win-GM
  • Pro: adobe_prtk --tool=VolumeSerialize --generate --serial=(serial number) --leid=V6{}AcrobatPro-AS2-Win-GM
This property does not replace ISX_SERIALNUMBER. The serial number should continue to be provided when not installing a trial version. Acrobat Standard does not have a trial mode.
PDF Ownership 10.0 & later IW_DEFAULT_VERB Use this property when you need to change the default viewer for existing installs.
  • Make Reader the default PDF viewer: For Reader only. Set IW_DEFAULT_VERB to Read
  • Make Acrobat the default PDF viewer: For Acrobat only. Set IW_DEFAULT_VERB to Open.
IW_DEFAULT_VERB interacts with the Adobe property LEAVE_PDFOWNERSHIP which is often used for silent installs where the user should not be asked to select a default PDF viewer. Note: This property is deprecated on Windows 10 machines and DISM-GPO configuration methods must be used.
PDF Ownership 10.0 & later LEAVE_PDFOWNERSHIP For new installs. YES prevents the new installation from taking over PDF ownership. NO allows the new install to own opening PDFs. May interact with IW_DEFAULT_VERB for some versions. It is often used for silent installs where the user should not be asked to select a default PDF viewer. For example, the following is the behavior of the Acrobat and Reader installers used with this property:
  • If Reader is present, this property lets the Acrobat installer leave ownership with Reader.
  • If no Reader is installed, then the Acrobat installer will ignore this property and will take ownership.
  • If Reader is installed after Acrobat, then it will by default take over PDF ownership from Acrobat and hence there's no need to use this property for a Reader install.
For 11.0 and later, do not use this property when OWNERSHIP_STATE has a value of 1 or 2. Note: This property is deprecated on Windows 10 machines and DISM-GPO configuration methods must be used.
PDF Ownership 11.0 & later OWNERSHIP_STATE New for 11.0. Windows 8.x only. Specifies whether to take ownership of any file type the product recognizes (pdf, fdf, etc.).
  • 0: Do not take ownership.
  • 1: Take ownership for the current user. The UserChoice key for the current user is updated.
  • 2: Take ownership for all existing and new users. The UserChoice key for all existing users is updated and a system level xml file will be updated to handle any future users.
Default UI-based installations will display a checkbox that allows the user to set the product as the default PDF owner and set OWNERSHIP_STATE to 1. When the checkbox is not selected, OWNERSHIP_STATE is set to 0. Default silent installations assume OWNERSHIP_STATE is 2.

Note: This property is deprecated on Windows 10 machines and DISM-GPO configuration methods must be used.
Installation 10.0 & later REMOVE_PREVIOUS Specifies whether to remove an already installed product. The property can only uninstall a previous version of the product when that same product is being installed. For example, REMOVE_PREVIOUS=YES during an Acrobat install will only uninstall previous Acrobat versions. It will not affect any version of Reader that is present.

This property can be used during both Acrobat and Reader installs. The default is YES.
Installation 10.0 & later REMOVE_PREVIOUS_READER Acrobat only: Specifies whether to remove any existing versions of Reader on the system during an Acrobat install. The property can be used in tandem with REMOVE_PREVIOUS when earlier versions of both Acrobat and Reader need to be removed as part of a new Acrobat install.
Updates 10.1 & later DISABLE_ARM_SERVICE_INSTALL Reader 10.1 and later as well as Acrobat 10.1.4 and later installs ARMsvc.exe as part of the Updater which enables silent and automatic updates on Windows 7 and Windows Vista machines. A value of 1 prevents the install of the ARM service on Windows.
Language 9.0 & later LANG_LIST Specifies the languages to install when using MUI installers. The property is ignored if the installer runs in full UI mode. Valid values include:
  • A single locale code: For example, en_US or fr_FR
  • A comma separated list of locale codes: For example, en_US, fr_FR, de_DE
  • ALL: Installs all languages
These language variations that map to a base MST install as follows:
  • en_GB maps to the English transform file (en_US): 1033.mst
  • fr_CA maps to the French transform file(fr_FR): 1036.mst
  • es_MX maps to the Spanish transform file (es_ES): 1034.mst
Note that installing more than one language requires a MUI serial number or silently installing in trial mode. For Reader, the property can only be used with a MUI installer. Invalid values result in the error "LANG_LIST contains values which does not match the serial number".
Language 11 & later SUPPRESSLANGSELECTION MUI installers only. The default of 1 does the following:
  • Sets the language to the OS language for all users.
  • Disables the language selection dialog on application startup for any user.
  • Sets HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\(product)\(version)\Language\UseMUI\bUserMUI to 1
This is particularly useful for multiuser installations where the language selection dialog would normally appear if a different user logs in, Citrix installations, and so on.
A value of 0 results in the language selection dialog appearing at first launch for every newly logged in user of the machine. For Acrobat this property is not applicable. When Acrobat is installed with MUL serial number and LANG_LIST=ALL, the launch language would be the same as OS language unless a language transform is also applied.
Updates 11 & later UPDATE_MODE Reader only. If updates have not been disabled, use this property during initial installs and patches to control how the product updates. While 11.0 introduces a new install dialog which allows users to set this preference, the installer can be pre tuned with the desired setting via UPDATE_MODE. This property sets HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM\iCheckReader

Possible values include:
  • 0: Manually check for and install updates
  • 2: Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them
  • 3: Install updates automatically
  • 4: Notify me, but let me choose when to download and install updates