Flash Player auto-update fails to perform major updates

[Craig_A_Terlau]

I'm managing Flash Player on a large number of Intel Mac computers.  I have enabled the auto-update feature.  Auto-update seems to work for minor updates (for example current version and update version are both 16.x.x).  However the auto-update consistently fails to perform major version updates (for example from 16.x to 17.x).

mms.cfg file location:

/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/mms.cfg

contents:

AutoUpdateDisable=0

SilentAutoUpdateEnable=1

[_maria_]

Hi,

Flash Player 17 was what is referred to as a 'loud' release and is distributed via the adobe.com site and not via silent auto-update.  This blog post An outline of Flash Runtime installation options, specifically the 'Installation Options' section) provides more information.  If you license Flash Player for distribution, the blog post, and the Flash Player Administrator's Guide offer various options for organizations to update Flash Player without the possible delay of the 'loud' releases.  I'm happy to answer questions on the update options you may have after reviewing the blog post and the Administrator's guide.

--

Maria

[Craig_A_Terlau]

Hi Maria, I've read through these resources, and I see there are 8 silent

updates and 4 loud updates per year. The auto update feature will apply

the 8 silent updates, but what is problematic are the loud updates.

The update workflow currently:

With loud updates, users are notified to update Flash - however they do not

have administrative privileges to do this - which creates frustration and

confusion, specifically towards Adobe Flash Player.

Until the update is applied, their browser will no longer view Flash

content because the browser plug-in becomes disabled - more frustration for

end users.

Due to the above, IT staff is notified by end users of their troubles with

Adobe Flash Player. IT staff enters react-to-trouble mode and downloads

the package installer for the new loud update and pushes it out to a large

number of machines. Repeat this 4 times per year.

How do we automate the application of Adobe Flash Player loud updates? We

are a strictly Mac environment.

Thanks,

Craig Terlau

[_maria_]

Hi Craig,

In this situation, I see the following two options:

• Host the Background Update resources locally, information on page
  • by hosting the resources locally, Notification Updates will not occur
  • information on configuring a local server is on page 20 of the Admin Guide in the 'Background updates from an internal server' section
• Deploy Flash Player via a software deployment solution, such as Casper or any other similar software available on Mac using the PKG installer
  • this is not the PKG installer that is extracted from the APP installer, as you'll find mentioned on several sites on the internet, but an actual PKG installer available to organizations that have Mac environments

Both of these solutions require licensing Flash Player, if you're organization hasn't done so yet.

--

Maria

[Craig_A_Terlau]

For the first option, If I host background updates hosted locally, will the

'loud' updates be applied silently?

For the second option of deploying loud updates using the PKG installer,

can I do this before the user is notified about the update? How will I be

notified that a loud update is available so that I can apply it proactively?

[_maria_]

Hi Craig,

For the first question, yes.  You would download the resources and deploy them to your local server.  You would then deploy a custom mms.cfg file to each system so that it knows to retrieve the updates from the local server, instead of Adobe's servers.  As long as the systems are configured this way, and you deploy the updated resources to your server when they are released, each system in your org will update using the files on the local server

For the second question, generally IT Admins who deploy Flash Player via some sort of software deployment solution disable AutoUpdates, by deploying a custom mms.cfg to the systems they manage disabling AutoUpdates as they want to control when the updates are released.

Flash Player releases generally occur once per month.  You can register to be notified when updates are available on the Security Bulletins and Advisories‌ website.

--

Maria

[Craig_A_Terlau]

Hi Maria,

I want to try hosting the the Flash Player updates internally on a web

server. We are already approved for Flash distribution, so I have access

to the files.

I have setup an internal web server with the update files, and I have

edited the mms.cfg file on some test computers to reference the internal

update server. Here is my setup:

###SERVER:

On the update server, the web root is:

/Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/Default/

I've created this path off the web root:

pub/flashplayer/update/current/sau/

In sau/ I've placed the expanded collection of update files:

"fp_background_update"

###CLIENTS

On the test clients, I've created this file:

/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/mms.cfg

With these contents:

AutoUpdateDisable=0

SilentAutoUpdateEnable=1

SilentAutoUpdateServerDomain=mdm-mapledale.k12.wi.us

Is this all I need to do?

How do I kick of Flash Player on a client Mac to do an update to test

whether this is working?

Will this setup apply both silent and loud updates?

Thanks,

Craig Terlau

[_maria_]

Hi Craig,

Can you verify if your server is configured as follows:

• Open port 80 for HTTP requests.
• Open port 443 for HTTPS requests.
• A valid SSL certificate for HTTPS access on port 443.

If you don't have this, then Background Updates won't work.

In your mms.cfg file, add 'SilentAutoUpdateVerboseLogging=1'. This enables verbose logging for SAU. Should things not work properly it'll help us debug why.

To trigger Background Updates:

• On Windows:
  • Launch Control Panel and navigate to Administrative Tools > Services
  • Run the Adobe Flash Player Update Service
• On Mac:
  • Launch Terminal app
  • Navigate to the Flash Player Launch Daemon location: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player Install Manager/
  • Execute the Daemon as root, at the prompt type: sudo ./fpsaud
  • Enter root password when prompted.
  • The SAU Daemon will execute. When finished, it will return to the terminal prompt.

Hosting Background Updates locally disables Notification Updates, so users will only receive updates from you local server.

-

Maria

[Craig_A_Terlau]

Thanks Maria, I'll give this a try.

What is the location of the log file on Mac when I add

SilentAutoUpdateVerboseLogging=1

to mms.cfg?

Craig

[_maria_]

Hi Craig,

Sorry, I forgot to include that.  Flash Player log files are located as follows:

• Mac:
  • Users ~/Library/Logs/FlashPlayerInstallManager.log
• Windows 32-bit:
  • C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log
• Windows 64-bit:
  • C:\Windows\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log AND
  • C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash\FlashInstall.log

--

Maria

[Craig_A_Terlau]

So, here is what I see in the log file. It looks like it worked, but I am

still at 160.0.0.305.

sh-3.2# cat /Users/admin/Library/Logs/FlashPlayerInstallManager.log

2015-03-02 13:20:59 -0600 IM:

[_maria_]

Can you post everything between the ----log start---- and ----log end----

Do you see a file named FPSAUConfig.xml in /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash Player Install Manager/? If so, please delete the file and run SAU again.

[Craig_A_Terlau]

Hi Maria,

So this is the log entry:

2015-03-26 14:07:04 -0500 SAU:

[_maria_]

Hi Craig,

The log file should contain more information than that.  It should look something like the following (in this case, no update was found).

2015-03-25 18:14:17 -0700 SAU: ---------- log start ----------

2015-03-25 18:14:17 -0700 SAU: Starting SAU

2015-03-25 18:14:17 -0700 SAU: End SAU run with exit code: 0

2015-03-25 18:14:17 -0700 SAU: ----------  log end  ----------

Can you verify if your server is configured as follows:

• Open port 80 for HTTP requests.
• Open port 443 for HTTPS requests.
• A valid SSL certificate for HTTPS access on port 443.

When posting the contents of the log file, please post them as I have above, or upload the entire file using the instructions here https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1408375.

--

Maria