Adobe AIR Devs

[TSM]

Got a few questions if someone who knows can help.

We have an app that has been developed in AIR, currently the dev has packaged this up as a EXE file that is downloaded from the server if not already installed.
We have been told that this is the only option as because the app need to make native calls to the OS to read the drive and execute apps, also due to this we cant auto update the app unless the user has Admin privs.

So my question is, can a .air file be installed on a per user basis and be able to access local apps/storage and also bypass the Admin requirement to install.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by TSM

Got a few questions if someone who knows can help.

We have an app that has been developed in AIR, currently the dev has packaged this up as a EXE file that is downloaded from the server if not already installed.
We have been told that this is the only option as because the app need to make native calls to the OS to read the drive and execute apps, also due to this we cant auto update the app unless the user has Admin privs.

So my question is, can a .air file be installed on a per user basis and be able to access local apps/storage and also bypass the Admin requirement to install.

You could use the 'Install badges' facility as provided by the Adobe SDK. Best summary I could find for you was here, basically enables a nice self service approach to app updating from a web site.

[TSM]

Originally Posted by flymo

You could use the 'Install badges' facility as provided by the Adobe SDK. Best summary I could find for you was here, basically enables a nice self service approach to app updating from a web site.

I saw that bit.
When you install like this does it work with users who are non-Admin, also does it allow the app to execute localy stored apps?

....
We are using NativeProcess calls which seems to apparently require the app to be packaged, grr how annoying.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by TSM

I saw that bit.
When you install like this does it work with users who are non-Admin, also does it allow the app to execute localy stored apps?

....
We are using NativeProcess calls which seems to apparently require the app to be packaged, grr how annoying.

Really depends on what actions you want it to do, best way to think about it is in the context of the account that it is running. If you are careful about where the app is stored and what tasks it does then it can be done entirely in a user context and therefor requires no admin privs, if you attempt to write files and so on to areas of the OS that the user does not have permission then you'll bump into rights problems.

The act of putting this into an EXE does not in itself change the permissions requirements, a user either can or cannot do these actions whichever approach is taken. How is the EXE being executed? By the user or using some other form of software delivery such as SMS/SCCM etc?

[TSM]

Originally Posted by flymo

Really depends on what actions you want it to do, best way to think about it is in the context of the account that it is running. If you are careful about where the app is stored and what tasks it does then it can be done entirely in a user context and therefor requires no admin privs, if you attempt to write files and so on to areas of the OS that the user does not have permission then you'll bump into rights problems.

The act of putting this into an EXE does not in itself change the permissions requirements, a user either can or cannot do these actions whichever approach is taken. How is the EXE being executed? By the user or using some other form of software delivery such as SMS/SCCM etc?

The web app has a flash control that detects if the AIR app is or is not installed then offers the user to download a EXE and install it if its not already installed.
If app is detected then user can press a button to then activate/run the AIR app and transfer params over to it as required.

The app is required to read directories that the user selects, write files, read files, create directories, execute apps such as Photoshop/Explorer, download/upload the files via HTTP calls.

[flymo]

Originally Posted by TSM

The web app has a flash control that detects if the AIR app is or is not installed then offers the user to download a EXE and install it if its not already installed.
If app is detected then user can press a button to then activate/run the AIR app and transfer params over to it as required.

The app is required to read directories that the user selects, write files, read files, create directories, execute apps such as Photoshop/Explorer, download/upload the files via HTTP calls.

Ok, then it sounds likely that the app will be able to function without admin rights but that the installation of the Air runtime itself would need admin rights. This extract from the dev guide backs that view;

"Administrative access is required when installing Adobe AIR. Administrative access is also required when installing an Adobe AIR application to a location that is not writeable by the current user account. If you do not have write permissions, contact your systems administrator."

No reason why you couldnt deploy the Air runtime in advance using other means though, SMS and similar tools, even group policy deployment in AD environments could do that in a way that installs it in admin context, even though it appears as though the user did it.

[TSM]

Originally Posted by flymo

Ok, then it sounds likely that the app will be able to function without admin rights but that the installation of the Air runtime itself would need admin rights. This extract from the dev guide backs that view;

"Administrative access is required when installing Adobe AIR. Administrative access is also required when installing an Adobe AIR application to a location that is not writeable by the current user account. If you do not have write permissions, contact your systems administrator."

No reason why you couldnt deploy the Air runtime in advance using other means though, SMS and similar tools, even group policy deployment in AD environments could do that in a way that installs it in admin context, even though it appears as though the user did it.

Yes it runs fine once it is installed by an admin, just annoying we cant auto-update the app on the fly.
Seems that packaging it up as a MSI and put it out via GPO is the only way to deploy.
Hopefully they will sort that out eventually on the AIR installer, installing to the Local Settings etc would be an option they should go down.

[flymo]

Just to clarify, there are two parts to this, the runtime itself that will need installing/deploying with admin or system rights. Then there is the .air app itself, this could be updated on the fly depending on where you store it and the permissions you have set on that folder location.

[TSM]

Originally Posted by flymo

Just to clarify, there are two parts to this, the runtime itself that will need installing/deploying with admin or system rights. Then there is the .air app itself, this could be updated on the fly depending on where you store it and the permissions you have set on that folder location.

Naa no .air file, everything is in the EXE that is downloaded.

I like your idea though, if it was possible to create a two part program, a EXE that installs one part that contains the native calls code (call it the Native Desktop Enabler Package), then the air app that does everything else including the GUI and communicates with the EXE for when it needs to do native calls, if the Enabler package was not installed the AIR GUI disables certain functions. I wander if that possible.

I think these are things I need to look at after we get this current project up and rolling.