Trying to force background update for testing

[Guest]

hey all,

i'm in the process of testing the background update for Flash, before deploying to all users in the company.

i have an older version installed (12.0.0.145) and i want to force the background update to the latest version.

does anyone know how i can do this?

i've looked at the mms.cfg file and various commands (AutoUpdateDisable, SilentAutoUpdateEnable, AutoUpdateInterval etc), but haven't found a way to trigger the background update.

any help is greatly appreciated!

[_maria_]

Hi Matt,

There are a few different ways to do this.  You can run the 'Adobe Flash Player Updater' task in the Task Scheduler, Start the service 'Adobe Flash Player Update Service' in Services, or double-click the FlashPlayerUpdateService.exe in the 32-bit location of the Macromed\Flash directory.

Depending on your testing configuration and objectives, you may need to delete the following registry entry keys to continue your testing: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\FlashPlayer > LastUpdateCheck and UpdateAttempts.  On a 64-bit OS, this entry is in the Wow6432Node (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Macromedia\FlashPlayer)

For the mms.cfg directives, AutoUpdateInterval is to configure the Notification Update check interval. This setting is not for Background Updates.

Also, are you hosting the Background Updates locally on your server or are you using the files from the Adobe server?

--
Maria

[Guest]

thanks, my objective is to test the ability to update Flash automatically and silently, so the user does not see the update.

then i want to deploy this configuration for automatic updates to all computers in the company; my guess is that mms.cfg is the way to do this, correct?

no, we are not hosting the updates internally, just getting them the regular way.

the other thing i noticed with Windows 7, is that if i go to the Flash test page without Flash installed (using IE 9), the Flash video still plays and shows the latest version; does Windows 7 come with Flash and update on it's own?  Can't remember.

[_maria_]

Hi Matt,

Yes, you'll want to deploy the mms.cfg file to all computers in our company.

If you do not want users to see the update notification you'll need to host the SAU resources locally, otherwise users may see an update notification dialog instead of the Flash Player updating in the background.

For Windows 7 and IE9, Microsoft only embeds Flash Player in IE on Windows 8.x. They do not embed it on Windows 7.  If you're seeing the animation on Windows 7 with IE9 then Flash Player ActiveX is still installed on the machine.

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Maria

[Guest]

thanks for the information.

so when you refer to the SAU resources hosted locally, do you mean having an internal server for hosting and deploying the Flash updates?  we may not be concerned about update notifications as long as the updates are still automatic and no user interaction is required- do you know if this is the case?

with the mms.cfg file, do you know what lines are required?  i've played with some settings (AutoUpdateDisable=0, SilentAutoUpdateEnable=1), but haven't had luck so far.

[_maria_]

Hi Matt,

Yes, that's what I mean.  Hosting the SAU resources locally enables complete silent installations with no user interaction.

Chapter 3 of the Adobe Flash Player Administration Guide for Flash Player 14 | Adobe Developer Connection contains requirements and instructions for hosting the SAU (aka background updates) files internally.  We host the SAU resources (on the Adobe Flash Player Distribution | Adobe page) packaged in a CAB for both the current release (new featuresa and security updates) and the Extended Support Release for customers who want security updates, but not feature updates.  The files are in the directory structure Flash Player expects them to be in.  After setting up the server, download the file, extract the contents and post them to your internal server.

For the mms.cfg file, AutoUpdateDisable=0, SilentAutoUpdateEnable=1, are the correct settings to enable SAU.  If you're not seeing the update when you manually trigger it, either something is not configured correctly or you may need to delete the registry entries I mentioned in my previous post.

When hosting the resources locally you'll also need to add SilentAutoUpdateServerDomain=your.server.com to the mms.cfg file so that Flash Player knows where to get the files from.

--

Maria

[Guest]

the mms.cfg settings for automatic updates will still work without the internal server, correct?

we would like to stick with the default method of getting the updates.

[_maria_]

Hi Matt,

Yes, the settings will still work if you don't use the internal server.  However, since there is no way to turn off notification updates when not hosting SAU locally, there will be times when the update will be announced via notification instead of being installed silently without user interaction.  If you require absolutely no user interaction for the updates we advise to host the SAU resources locally, or use some other method of distribution as outlined in the Adminitrator's Guide.

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Maria

[Guest]

the notifications shouldn't be an issue- does this require the user to actually click on anything or take any actions for the updates to be installed, or is it just a message that appears to let the user know that the update is being installed?

[_maria_]

Hi Matt,

Yes, the notification update window announces that an update is available and the user has to follow the prompts to proceed with the installation.  The user must also have Admin permissions to install the update.   SAU update is the only update method that does not require Admin permissions to install Flash Player.

--

Maria

[Guest]

ok, so in this case (not using an internal server) the update process works the same way as it would without the mms.cfg file, correct?  the user is still required to go through the prompts etc.

so is there really any reason to try deploying the mms.cfg file for automatic updates in this scenario?  the ultimate goal here is to push a company-wide Flash configuration that will allow Flash to be installed silently with no user interaction at all, whenever there is a Flash update available.

is the internal server the only way to do this?

thanks for your time!

[jeromiec83223024]

Yeah, you'll want to sign the redistribution agreement so that you're licensed to distribute Flash Player, then either run an internal update server, or download and distribute the newest MSI for each new version using your distribution tool of choice (AD/SCUP/SCPD/etc).   Check out the system administrator's guide that Maria linked to above for your full range of options.

[Guest]

thanks; of those options, is the internal update server the only way to deploy automatic silent updates company-wide?

[jeromiec83223024]

If you want to use our update mechanism, yes.  You can either run your own Flash update server, or you can disable our updater and manage all updates directly through your preferred update mechanism.