How do you manage 3rd party updates?

dynamik

I'm just curious how everyone manages 3rd party (Acrobat Reader, iTunes, etc.) updates.

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HeroPsycho

For personal use?

Download - Personal (PSI) - Vulnerability Scanning - Secunia.com

In businesses, usually scripts, SMS, or SCCM...

dynamik

Sorry, I'm looking for something a small business of about 30 could manage themselves (i.e. be completely automated

). I don't want things to be a pain for them, but I don't want to have to make them power users or admins either.

Claymoore

SMS or SCCM certainly, but group policy can help as well. You may be surprised how many applications provide .ADM or .ADMX file to integrate with group policy. Office has them of course, but I use ADM files to manage the Google toolbar and the HP Universal Print Driver as well. Usually the ADM will include settings for application update options so you can enable or disable them as necessary.

You can always write your own ADM (or ADMX) files to create group policy templates or you can adjuset the application's update registry setting through your favorite reghack method like group policy preferences.

Another option is PolicyPak. PolicyPak lets you create GPOs to manage software that isn't normally managed by group policy or you can buy a pre-configured PolicyPak for Adobe Reader.
Home

Personally, I just re-deploy Acrobat Reader every year. The redistribution license only lasts a year so I redeploy when I renew the license.

royal

PolicyPak is awesome. Jeremey Moskowitz was showing it to me when I was at Exchange Connections.

Daniel333

Honestly if I knew how to program this would be my first project. A universal updater. As far as I know, no such thing exists.

Kinda sad to see Java updater, Windows Updates, Mozilla updater, Apple Update and Adobe Updater all running in the corner on some machines. You would think someone would make a univeral update package...

Ahriakin

HeroPsycho wrote: »

For personal use?

Download - Personal (PSI) - Vulnerability Scanning - Secunia.com

In businesses, usually scripts, SMS, or SCCM...

+1 (as you jive-talking-jigsters would say). Also a number of AV packages are now including application vulnerability scanning and some will link to updates. The range and quality varies though (one of them told me that I had Firefox 3.05 but 3.01 was the latest, stuff like that).

tiersten

Daniel333 wrote: »

Honestly if I knew how to program this would be my first project. A universal updater. As far as I know, no such thing exists.

MSI would be it.

Daniel333 wrote: »

Kinda sad to see Java updater, Windows Updates, Mozilla updater, Apple Update and Adobe Updater all running in the corner on some machines. You would think someone would make a univeral update package...

Everybody wants to use their own installer and updater. Handling all the various packages would require a load of plugins or custom scripts for each version that comes out.