Best Practice(s) for Upgrading Foxit PhantomPDF

ISSUE

Disclaimer:  This article is geared toward IT Administrators and Professionals.  

Frequently asked questions regarding the "best" method of upgrading from one version of Foxit PhantomPDF to another. 

1. Should the old version be uninstalled first?  
2. Is there an uninstall command line?
3. Is the installation done "in place"? 
4. Can an MST from a previous deployment be reused?
5. Are there command-line options?

Discussion and Recommendation(s)

1. Should the old version be uninstalled first?

It is best to uninstall the previous version of Foxit PhantomPDF before installing the newer version. 

2.  Is there an uninstall command line?

This is a good script to do it:

REM uninstall the existing version
if exist "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\FoxitPhantomPDF.exe" "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\Uninstall.lnk" DISABLE_UNINSTALL_SURVEY="1" CLEAN="1" /qr
if exist "%ProgramFiles%\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\FoxitPhantomPDF.exe" "%ProgramFiles%\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF\Uninstall.lnk" DISABLE_UNINSTALL_SURVEY="1" CLEAN="1" /qr

Note: 

This script looks for the existence of Foxit's Uninstall.lnk which would indicate whether it is installed or not.   If it is, it executes the uninstall link.  It skips the normal uninstall survey at the end.  CLEAN="1" tells it to remove registry and folder entries.  /QR tells it to run in quiet mode with a reduced interface (no input required).  

Run as Local Administrator

If the environmental variables %ProgramFiles% and %ProgramFiles(x86)% are not active in your environment, you can hard-code the path:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF or C:\Program Files\Foxit Software\Foxit PhantomPDF

Answer "Yes" to the question:   Would you like to remove your PhantomPDF settings and history data after uninstallation?

3. Is the installation done "in place"? 

It is not recommended to do an upgrade "in place".

4.  Can an MST from a previous deployment be reused?

It is theoretically possible to reuse a previous MST by downloading the current version of the Foxit Customization Wizard, found here:  Foxit_Customization_Wizard

The old MST can be loaded into the new Foxit Customization Wizard with the new MSI and then saved into the newer format.  HOWEVER, because options and fields may change from version to version, there may not always be a 1:1 match from the old MST to the new MST.   

Therefore, it is recommended that a new MST file be created with the new Foxit Customization WIzard and new MSI for each upgrade.  The options you select may be the same, and probably will be, but the MST will match the MSI.

5.  Are there command-line options?

It is possible to do a complete installation without an MST file.  Command-line options for Foxit PhantomPDF and proper syntax are found here:  Foxit_PhantomPDF_MSI_Installer_Public_Properties