How to update Adobe Flash from command line?

Question

Something I can stick in a shortcut or, ideally, run silently and remotely using psexec (from Sysinternals).

A WSUS server is out of the question. Machines needing the updates run Windows XP as kiosks.

I can't use the following call because this file no longer exists:

C:\WINDOWS\System32\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil<version>_Plugin.exe -update plugin

Instead, I've can see the following files in C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash:

Flash10x.ocx
FlashInstall.log
FlashUtil10x_ActiveX.dll
FlashUtil10x_ActiveX.exe

I've tried FlashUtil11c_ActiveX.exe /?, but this doesn't give anything except an error.

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '11 at 15:26

6

You can download MSI versions of Flash from adobe's redistribution site. It's free to register for and you can deploy them via GPO or through a script with something like Msiexec /I flash.msi /QB

GPO is the most reliable way of the two, since psexec requires that the machine is on.

answered Oct 28 '11 at 15:26

MDMarra

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Technically, they both require the machine to be on ;-) – Bart Silverstrim Oct 28 '11 at 15:55
@BartSilverstrim Smartass. Psexec requires the machine to be on **when you run it** – MDMarra Oct 28 '11 at 16:40
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Just out of curiosity, will this run the msi everytime the user boots up/logs in? I use SCE to push out flash and don't do it this way because I don't want to write some script that checks versions. Will AD somehow just run it once? I suspect it runs everytime which might make things laggy if you have 5 MSIs in there. – DrZaiusApeLord Oct 28 '11 at 17:55
If you deploy any software via GPO, it only installs each version a single time. I'm not sure about SCE, I don't use it. – MDMarra Oct 28 '11 at 17:59
Cheers for this. In my ignorance, what's GPO? Thanks. – Umber Ferrule Oct 30 '11 at 23:53
@UmberFerrule Group Policy Objects. – MDMarra Oct 30 '11 at 23:58

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 31 '11 at 10:28

4

+1 for markMs answer and a little addition:

Also, the msi appears in your temp folder while the setup is running (just double-click the exe and check temp for new folders/files).

AppDeploy has a list of command line switches for various applications, including Flash.

It should work with psexec once you've copied the setup onto the target computer. If you don't have a software distribution system (like SCCM or netinstall) in your environment you could build a list of computers to run the psexec command on.

edited Oct 31 '11 at 10:28

Umber Ferrule

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answered Oct 28 '11 at 15:58

weberik

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AppDeploy is very useful! Cheers. – Umber Ferrule Oct 31 '11 at 10:27

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 19 '13 at 14:38

1

Just do this:

FlashUtil10x_ActiveX.exe -update plugin

Then the update window will appear. This will work for Flash for IE and other browsers like Opera; just make sure you find the right flash_xxxxxxxx.exe.

edited Nov 19 '13 at 14:38

squillman

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answered Nov 19 '13 at 13:27

Han

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How to update Adobe Flash from command line?

3 Answers3