Adobe AIR installation

Adobe® AIR® allows you to run AIR applications. You can install the runtime in the following ways:

  • By installing the runtime separately (without also installing an AIR application)

  • By installing an AIR application for the first time through a web page installation “badge” (you are prompted to also install the runtime)

  • By setting up an AIR development environment such as the AIR SDK, Adobe® Flash® Builder™ , or the Adobe Flex® SDK (which includes the AIR command line development tools). The runtime included in the SDK is only used when debugging applications — it is not used to run installed AIR applications.

The system requirements for installing AIR and running AIR applications are detailed here: Adobe AIR: System requirements (http://www.adobe.com/products/air/systemreqs/).

Both the runtime installer and the AIR application installer create log files when they install, update, or remove AIR applications or the AIR runtime itself. You can consult these logs to help determine the cause of any installation problems. See Installation logs on desktop computers.

Note: On iOS, the AIR runtime is not installed separately; every AIR app is a self-contained application.

Installing Adobe AIR

To install or update the runtime, a user must have administrative privileges for the computer.

Install the runtime on a Windows computer

  1. Download the runtime installation file from http://get.adobe.com/air.

  2. Double-click the runtime installation file.

  3. In the installation window, follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Install the runtime on a Mac computer

  1. Download the runtime installation file from http://get.adobe.com/air.

  2. Double-click runtime installation file.

  3. In the installation window, follow the prompts to complete the installation.

  4. If the Installer displays an Authenticate window, enter your Mac OS user name and password.

Install the runtime on a Linux computer

Using the binary installer:

  1. Download the installation binary file from http://get.adobe.com/air.

  2. Set the file permissions so that the installer application can be executed. From a command line, you can set the file permissions with:

    chmod +x AdobeAIRInstaller.bin

    Some versions of Linux allow you to set the file permissions on the Properties dialog opened through a context menu.

  3. Run the installer from the command line or by double-clicking the runtime installation file.

  4. In the installation window, follow the prompts to complete the installation.

Adobe AIR is installed as a native package. In other words, as rpm on an rpm based distribution and deb on a Debian distribution. Currently AIR does not support any other package format.

Using the package installers:

  1. Download the AIR package file from http://get.adobe.com/air. Choose the rpm or Debian package, depending on which package format your system supports.

  2. If needed, double-click AIR package file to install the package.

    You can also install from the command line:

    1. On a Debian system:

      sudo dpkg -i <path to the package>/adobeair-2.0.0.xxxxx.deb
    2. On an rpm-based system:

      sudo rpm -i <path to the package>/adobeair-2.0.0-xxxxx.i386.rpm

      Or, if you are updating an existing version (AIR 1.5.3 or later):

      sudo rpm -U <path to the package>/adobeair-2.0.0-xxxxx.i386.rpm

Installing AIR 2 and AIR applications requires you to have administrator privileges on your computer.

Adobe AIR is installed to the following location: /opt/Adobe AIR/Versions/1.0

AIR registers the mime-type "application/vnd.adobe.air-application-installer-package+zip", which means that .air files are of this mime-type and are therefore registered with the AIR runtime.

Install the runtime on an Android device

You can install the latest release of the AIR runtime from the Android Market.

You can install development versions of the AIR runtime from a link on a web page or by using the ADT -installRuntime command. Only one version of the AIR runtime can be installed at a time; you cannot have both a release and a development version installed.

See ADT installRuntime command for more information.

Install the runtime on an iOS device

The necessary AIR runtime code is bundled with each application created for iPhone, iTouch, and iPad devices. You do not install a separate runtime component.

Removing Adobe AIR

Once you have installed the runtime, you can remove it using the following procedures.

Remove the runtime on a Windows computer

  1. In the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Control Panel.

  2. Open the Programs, Programs and Features, or Add or Remove Programs control panel (depending on which version of Windows you are running).

  3. Select “Adobe AIR” to remove the runtime.

  4. Click the Change/Remove button.

Remove the runtime on a Mac computer

  • Double-click the “Adobe AIR Uninstaller”, which is located in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

Remove the runtime on a Linux computer

Do one of the following:

  • Select the “Adobe AIR Uninstaller” command from the Applications menu.

  • Run the AIR installer binary with the -uninstall option

  • Remove the AIR packages (adobeairv.n and adobecerts) with your package manager.

Remove the runtime from an Android device

  1. Open the Settings app on the device.

  2. Tap the Adobe AIR entry under Applications > Manage Applications.

  3. Tap the Uninstall button.

You can also use the ADT -uninstallRuntime command. See ADT uninstallRuntime command for more information.

Installing and running the AIR sample applications

To install or update an AIR application, a user must have administrative privileges for the computer.

Some sample applications are available that demonstrate AIR features. You can access and install them using the following instructions:

  1. Download and run the AIR sample applications. The compiled applications as well as the source code are available.

  2. To download and run a sample application, click the sample application Install Now button. You are prompted to install and run the application.

  3. If you choose to download sample applications and run them later, select the download links. You can run AIR applications at any time by:

    • On Windows, double-clicking the application icon on the desktop or selecting it from the Windows Start menu.

    • On Mac OS, double-clicking the application icon, which is installed in the Applications folder of your user directory (for example, in Macintosh HD/Users/JoeUser/Applications/) by default.

    • On Linux, double-clicking the application icon on the desktop or selecting it from the Applications menu. AIR applications are installed in their own folder under the /opt directory.

Note: Check the AIR release notes for updates to these instructions, which are located here: http://www.adobe.com/go/learn_air_relnotes.

Adobe AIR updates

Periodically, Adobe updates Adobe AIR with new features or fixes to minor problems. The Automatic Notification and Update feature allows Adobe to automatically notify users when an updated version of Adobe AIR is available.

Updates to Adobe AIR ensure that Adobe AIR works properly and often contain important changes to security. Adobe recommends that users update to the latest version of Adobe AIR whenever a new version is available, especially when a security update is mentioned.

By default, when an AIR application is launched, the runtime checks if an update is available. It performs this check if it has been more than two weeks since the last update check. If an update is available, AIR downloads the update in the background.

Users can disable the auto-update capability by using the AIR SettingsManager application. The AIR SettingsManager application is available for download at http://airdownload.adobe.com/air/applications/SettingsManager/SettingsManager.air.

The normal installation process for Adobe AIR includes connecting to http://airinstall.adobe.com to send basic information about the installation environment such as operating system version and language. This information is only transmitted once per installation and it allows Adobe to confirm that the installation was successful. No personally identifiable information is collected or transmitted.