Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader under Linux

This document shows you how to install Adobe Acrobat Reader under the Linux operating system. The procedure for doing so depends on the Linux distribution you are running, as this CD-ROM not only contains the archive file downloaded from Adobe’s Web site (and stored on this CD-ROM as linux-506.tar.gz), but also a repackaged version for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution.

In this document, “$” will indicate the ordinary user’s shell prompt, and “#” will indicate the root superuser’s shell prompt. Anything in a bold monospaced font is what you are expected to type in; an ordinary monospaced font is used for the computer’s response. Please note that this document doesn’t show every response from the computer!

Minimum System Requirements

In order to successfully install and run the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility program, you will need to meet at least the following requirements:

A relatively modern Linux system with kernel version 2.0 or later, with the GNU C Library version 2.0 or later, and with XFree 3.3 or later as the graphical interface.

Any relatively modern Linux distribution (anything later than about 1997), such as Debian GNU/Linux 2.0 or Red Hat Linux 6.2, will satisfy these requirements. Of course, later versions will, as well… If you wish to be certain, however, you can check for yourself:

a)	You can determine the operating system version by running `uname -r`. Anything later than version 2.0 is OK (eg, 2.2.19 or 2.4.17). For those technically inclined, the only requirement that the Linux kernel must satisfy is the ability to run ELF binaries.
b)	All modern Linux systems will most definitely be running version 2 of the GNU C Library. If you need to be certain, you can check by typing `ls -l /lib/libc.so.6`; this should be a symbolic link to libc.`version`.so, where `version` is the version number; this should be 2.`x`.`y` for some values of `x` and `y`. If you get the error message “No such file or directory”, you will not be able to install Adobe Acrobat Reader.
c)	You can check the version of XFree86 that you are running by typing `X -version`. This should be 3.3.`x` for some value of `x`, or 4.`x`.`y` for some values of `x` and `y`. Please note that you may need to run this command as the root superuser, depending on your system.

At least 50 MB of free disk space.

The df command will give you this information. If your system is correctly set up, man df will give you some documentation on how to run this command and how to interpret its results. Remember that the man (manual page) command is your friend!

The password for the root superuser’s account on your system.

Installation Instructions

Installing the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility software is quite simple, but be careful that you type in the commands exactly as shown! These instructions assume that you have already mounted the CD-ROM on your computer, and that the mount point (where the CD-ROM can be found within the file system) is /mnt/cdrom. See the instructions for mounting the CD-ROM for more details.

If you are running the Debian GNU/Linux distribution of Linux, please use the installation instructions specific to Debian.

1. Log in as an ordinary user, not as the root superuser. This is highly recommended and is standard Unix practice. In fact, you should never directly log in as the root superuser; this helps save you from your own mistakes and/or any viruses that can destroy the working of your system!

2. Check that your path contains /usr/local/bin:

$ echo $PATH

/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/bin/X11

The response on your system might be different — that is OK as long as it contains /usr/local/bin. If it does not, you will need to read your system manuals to determine which file you need to modify (usually /etc/profile) and how to do so.

3. Create a temporary directory to contain the Adobe Acrobat Reader archive. Please note that at least 25MB of free space will be needed for this directory. In this document, /var/tmp/acroread will be used:

`$`	`mkdir /var/tmp/acroread`
`$`	`cd /var/tmp/acroread`

4. Unpack the Adobe Acrobat Reader archive into the temporary directory:

`$`	`tar xzvf /mnt/cdrom/utils/adobe/linux/linux-506.tar.gz`

5. (Optional but recommended) Read through the README file that has just been extracted:

`$`	`less README`

6. As the root superuser, install the software using the Adobe-supplied script. You will need the root superuser’s password:

`$`	`/bin/su`
`#`	`./INSTALL`

You will need to read and accept Adobe’s licence agreement during the course of installation. You should select /usr/local/Acrobat5 as the installation directory (which is the default), and agree to create this directory.

7. Still as the root superuser, create a link to the acroread executable:

`#`	`ln -s ../Acrobat5/bin/acroread /usr/local/bin/acroread`
`#`	`exit`

8. Test the newly-installed Adobe Acrobat Reader with a file from this CD-ROM:

`$`	`cd ~`
`$`	`acroread /mnt/cdrom/reference/arm-architecture-reference.pdf &`

Please note that it’s an unfortunate fact of life that Adobe Acrobat Reader asks you to accept its licence yet again… If Acrobat Reader does not appear, please check that you have followed all of these instructions carefully. If you continue to have problems, please contact Adobe directly.

9. Finally, remove the temporary directory containing the archive:

`$`	`rm -fr /var/tmp/acroread`

10. You have successfully installed Adobe Acrobat Reader under Linux!

Installation Instructions for Debian GNU/Linux

Installing the Adobe Acrobat Reader utility program under the Debian GNU/Linux distribution is very easy. The repackaged version of Acrobat Reader, stored on this CD-ROM as acroread_5.0.6-0.1_i386.deb, allows you to use the standard Debian packaging tools to install and remove this software.

2. Install the Debian package as the root superuser:

`$`	`/bin/su -c "dpkg -i /mnt/cdrom/utils/adobe/linux/acroread_5.0.6-0.1_i386.deb"`

Remember that you must type this command as a single line, even if your browser splits it up over multiple lines.

3. You have successfully installed Adobe Acrobat Reader under Debian GNU/Linux!

If you want to keep up-to-date with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader under Debian GNU/Linux, you should add the following two lines to the file /etc/apt/sources.list:

deb http://www.zap.org.au/debian zap-group main contrib non-free

deb-src http://www.zap.org.au/debian zap-group main contrib non-free