Installation and setup

Wizard installation

You must use a Wizard version that is the same as the product version. If you have the latest Acrobat, use the latest Wizard.

To install the Wizard:

  1. Download the installer for Windows.

  2. Run the installer EXE.

  3. In the Welcome screen that appears, choose Next.

  4. Accept the license agreement, and choose Next.

  5. Verify the install location, and choose Next.

  6. Select Install.

  7. Select Finish.

Note

There is also a Mac installer here.

Workspace views

The Wizard workspace is made up of five elements:

  • Top menu bar: It provides the key menu options.

  • Tool bar: It provides the quick action menu options.

  • Main work area: It displays the configurable installation settings.

  • Navigation bar: It includes the links to configuration panels that you use to modify installation settings. The configuration panels are context-sensitive and appear only when the corresponding feature is supported by the product. If the installer on your system does not support a setting, the navigation bar does not display a link to that setting’s configuration panel.

  • Status bar: Located at the bottom of the workspace, the status bar displays the system information.

To show and hide panels:

  1. From the top menu bar, Select View.

  2. Select an element to add to the workspace or deselect to hide it.

Note

The title bar, menu bar, and main work area cannot be hidden in the workspace.

Wizard user interface

_images/wizardui.png

Transform (.mst) file basics

When you save a project, the Wizard creates an MST file that contains your customizations. As shown in the examples below, you simply chain the install with any needed updates (.msp) and the transform file (.mst). However, keep in mind the following rules:

  • Once an MST is applied during an install, another MST can’t be used later during an update (say, to change one setting).

  • During an update or repair, the installer references the MST file that the installation used when it was first installed.

  • The only way to use a different MST is to uninstall the product and then reinstall with a new MST file.

  • Acrobat installers support multiple transforms. A semicolon-separated list of transforms can be applied during installation. For details, see the Microsoft documentation.

Expand EXE packages

The Wizard works with MSI files. If you’ve downloaded an EXE file, expand it as described below to obtain an MSI and other needed files.

To expand an EXE:

  1. Open a command prompt.

  2. Expand the MSI package with 7-zip command line switches. The general form of the command to convert a compressed file to an MSI package is:

  • Reader EXE (32-bit and 64-bit): <path to installer>\<product_name>.exe -sfx_o"<absolute path\extractDirectory>"  -sfx_ne

  • Acrobat EXE (32-bit and 64-bit): <path to installer>\<product_name>.exe /d "<absolute path\extractDirectory>" /x /s

Note

There must be no space between the 7-zip switch and the path.

You can also combine other 7-zip commands to change the install workflow. For example, -sfx_nu can also be combined with -sfx_o and -sfx_ne to silently extract the installation files without actually triggering the installation. The command for doing the same would be:

AcroRdr20151500630032_MUI.exe -sfx_nu /sALL /msi EULA_ACCEPT=YES

Load an installer file

Before customizing the installer, archive a version of the downloaded MSI or MSP file and back it up. Do not modify this file. Only modify a copy of the file.

  1. Open the Customization Wizard.

  2. Choose File > Open Package or press CTRL+O.

  3. Browse to locate the copy of MSI or MSP file.

  4. Select the file to modify.

  5. Choose Open.

Open a recent project

If you have recently opened an installer, you can access it quickly from the shortcut on the File menu.

  • Choose Start > Programs > Adobe Customization Wizard.

  • Choose File > Open Package or press CTRL+O, and click the file name from the shortcut list.

Load a transform file

To apply a transform file associated with another project to your current project:

  1. Choose Transform > Load Transform.

  2. In the Open dialog box, browse to find the file location, and then select the transform file name.

  3. When you are done, choose Open.

  4. To apply the newly loaded installation settings to the open project, choose File > Save Package or press CTRL+S.

Note

If the transform file is not already located in the same directory as the project file, the Wizard creates a copy of the transform file there when you save the project file.

Save a project

Once you are done customizing the installer, save your settings by choosing File > Save Package (or press CTRL+S). The Wizard saves your customizations in a transform (.mst) file and updates the project (.msi) file and setup.ini file in the same directory.

If the setup.ini file is not located in the same directory as the project file, you see an error message when you try to save the file. But if the transform file is not located in the same directory as the project file, the Wizard places a copy in the same directory as the .msi file.

Pre-deployment file verification

As part of the customization process, the Wizard modifies three files which must be located in the same directory:

  • Project file (.msi): The installer file for your application.

  • Transform file (.mst): Contains your modifications to the installer as well as any separate files. The Wizard creates or updates a transform file every time you save an .msi file.

  • Setup.ini file: Contains initialization data for the installer. Some Adobe and MSI properties are written to this file. You can manually edit this file to add more properties and features. For details, see the Enterprise Administration Guide.

Reset installation settings

To restore an edited package to its default settings:

  1. Select File > Reset Package to Adobe default.

  2. In the dialog that appears, select Yes to confirm.

Multiple installations

If you have multiple installation scenarios in your organization, you can create alternate installation settings in separate transform files. You do not need to create and store a complete package for each scenario. Instead, you can create a standard package and store multiple transform files in a separate directory. When you are ready to run an installation, open the project file, and load the transform file containing the installation settings you want to use.