How do I force SCCM to reinstall an application I've already deployed?

Question

I recently used the Adobe Customization Wizard to create a custom transforms (.mst) file for the latest version of Acrobat Reader DC and deployed it to our network. Today I discovered that the customizations are blocking Sharepoint documents on our own intranet from opening. It was a single checkbox I had clicked by mistake. I have corrected the error and updated the distribution points.

The problem I have is that Windows Installer doesn't let you apply an .mst file after-the-fact. You have to do a complete uninstall/reinstall of the application to apply a different set of transforms. SCCM has no option to do this. If I update or create a new application, SCCM will just detect that it's already been installed and won't apply the fix since it's the same version of the same application.

The only thing I can think of at this point is to "tag" each computer with a .txt file or something and use that as part of the detection method. But of course then I have to use a script to do the uninstall/reinstall and tag the machine and that'll take all day.

Is there a simpler solution?

I'm using SCCM 1607, BTW. The workstations are a blend of 32- and 64-bit Win7 and Win10 computers.

Solution

Can you correlate any change in the MST file to any specific registry setting?

I believe the adobe customization wizard will show you where the changes you make will be shown in the registry.

If not, you should be able to find this pretty easily in the administrative guide.

I would add this registry key to the deployment detection methods and force the clients to re-evaulate.

Otherwise,

• Remove the existing deployment
• Create a whole new application and deploy it against the same collection.
  • In this deployment script, drop a txt file or registry key that is unique that will reflect the proper version is installed.
    • The adobe customization wizard will allow you to create custom reg key entries. So that option may work if you're not using a script.
• Add that key / file to the application detection method.

Comments

[alx9r]

I'm dropping files containing a "deployment generation ID" to the target computer when I need to re-deploy the same application with different settings. I haven't found another way to do this.

[MDMoore313]

So I'm about 2 years removed from sccm, but the way I did this in the past was to add a mandatory deployment with the more recent deployment date. If this works I'll post as an answer and reclaim my thrown as the sccm guy here.

[Jimmy Sun]

Firstly, please note that there's no SCCM 1607 such version. So are you using ConfigMgr CB (version 1606) in your environment? Also in ConfigMgr at this moment, there's no built-in way to force reinstall an application. However, you can use a script as the workaround here: link