Rolling out PDF X-Change Pro 4

[FXT]

Hi!

I'm planning on deploying our Pro License to about 40 XP client PCs in an SBS 2008 domain. Deployment works like a charm with the .msi provided, but of course the installations all end up in trial mode in the wrong language. I'm not sure how to add the licence/language/etc information via, for example, an ini file (as with, for example Rhino).
I tried looking through the .msi with Orca, but would rather not touch anything in there without some sort of documentation. (btw, under the shortcut section of the .msi, there is a typo, that causes the desktop shortcut to show up as the "PDF-XChage Viewer")

Maybe someone could point me in the right direction, or has done this before. Any help is appreciated.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hi FXT,

As you probably already have the software deployed the easiest would be to import custom settings to each instance of the software.
Fun an instance of the Viewer anywhere and press F1 - the first 20~ pages are dedicated on the different settings you can pass during and after install.

To get a settings file you can export it from the same instance you have started to launch the help file.

Regards,
Stefan

[Chris - PDF-XChange]

Hi FXT,

Our MSI switches for the Viewer PRO are in the manual and I am currently ensuring they make it into the Standard/PRO manual ASAP.

But when you run the MSI installer, on the Welcome page there is button "Help" into right bottom corner. It shows windows with all supported switches for the installer and examples. That should get you going.

Regards,
Chris

[FXT]

Thank you for your replies. I will attempt this rollout again th8is weekend, and will report back.
If successful, I will do a writeup for others in my position.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

OK FXT,

We will await your feedback then.

Regards,
Stefan

[FXT]

OK, an update:

I want to deploy PDF-XChange Pro 4.0 to all computers in the domain via GPO. It has worked fine with various other software packages. The need to pass parameters to the installer was solved differently by all those software packages. (e.g, an administrative install on a network share via msiexec /a etc., where the parameters were added within an ini file). With XChange i seem to be hitting a brick wall. There is no way to pass parameters to the PDFXCPro_x86.msi.

In the help files from the Viewer under chapter 1.5 silent installation i only find command line parameters for the PDFXVwer.exe itself, which is not what i need.

So i decide to look into other avenues to deploy, namely via msiexec batch in a logon script from a network share. For that i take a look at the options i can find under Help when running PDFXCPro_x86.msi. But there seems to be no way of passing the interface language parameter there.

So i am once again stuck. I hope someone can either explain to me in detail how to modify the msi (with Orca?) to get the correct parameters added (language, key, company name)when deploying via GPO, or how to do it via an msiexec script.

I'm a little frustrated by my progress so far, and hope for help.

[FXT]

Hi FXT,

As you probably already have the software deployed the easiest would be to import custom settings to each instance of the software.
Fun an instance of the Viewer anywhere and press F1 - the first 20~ pages are dedicated on the different settings you can pass during and after install.

To get a settings file you can export it from the same instance you have started to launch the help file.

Regards,
Stefan

I have had the software deployed and uninstalled a few times now on my Test-OU. Out of curiosity, should I decide to just roll out in english without a gegistration key, how exactly would i export or import settings from one PC to the next, and would i have to do that 40 times on 40 PCs?

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

On the welcome screen of the MSI installer there is Help button:



When you press it, you will see the window with possible command line options of the installer:



hope you can deploy MSI with command line options via GPO? For example,

msiexec /a PDFXCPro_x86.msi /quiet ORGANIZATION="Your organization name" KEY="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"

[FXT]

I'm afraid it is not possible to add command line parameters to an .msi when deploying via GPO.

You can use Orca to create an .mst file ("transform" file) to accompany the .msi, but I am not sure how to do that. If anyone of the posters/developers can shed some light on this, I'm new to Orca and its workings and can use any help.
So deploying via GPO for anyone whose interface language isn't english, or who wants to specify a key etc., is not possible.


Taking your example:
msiexec /a PDFXCPro_x86.msi /quiet ORGANIZATION="Your organization name" KEY="XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX"

I'd put that into a logon script (correct me if i'm off there, please), but it would still leave me with an english language installation on the german client computers, because it seems that there is no language parameter for the .msi. And it would require a user login to actually happen, while all other software so far deployed via GPO only needed the computer to be turned on.

The way i see it, the .msi needs that parameter added to make installation via any sort of deployment mechanism possible for me. I'm hoping this is possible. Or maybe have the .msi read the OS language and install accordingly?

The functionality, user interface and speed of XChange made me recommend this software for this client's installation, but the trouble with the rollout (to replace ancient Acrobat installations everyone would like to get rid of for various reasons) is a little disappointing.

Thank you for your answers so far, I hope my feedback is useful.

One additional possibility:
Maybe instead of providing an .msi for download, do it like the developers of Paint.NET:
http://www.getpaint.net/doc/latest/en/U ... ation.html
There I can create the .msi myself and specify all necessary parameters during the creation process of the .msi. Rollout via GPO is no problem at all then.