Navigate to the dlm.log file:
Last updated on
May 16, 2021
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Also applies to Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Fuse (Beta), Adobe InCopy, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop Elements, Premiere Elements
Adobe Creative Cloud product installers record their actions in log files. If you see an error message during installation, search the Adobe Support page for solutions. Otherwise, check the log files to determine if certain errors occurred during an installation.
Creative Cloud installers create three different log files while downloading, extracting, and installing a product:
- The dlm log contains errors that occur during download.
- The PDapp log contains errors that occur during the first few minutes of installation.
- The main product install logs contain errors that occur during installation.
Follow the instructions below to learn how to open and read each of these log files.
Note:
Wondering where to start? The Creative Cloud installer cycles through a three-step process during installation: download, extract, and install. The installer displays the word "extracting" next to the product name while downloaded files are extracted. A progress bar displays during the rest of the download and install process. If an error occurs before "extracting" displays, start by checking the .dlm log, which records download errors. If an error occurs near the end of installation, you might start by checking the product log file. But because the three-step process may repeat multiple times during the installation process, you are safest checking all three log files for errors.
Trouble with a silent or deployed installation? (admins only)
If you are troubleshooting an issue with a silent or deployed installation, refer to the install logs on the client machine if the install failed or the Creative Cloud Packager build log if the package built with errors. For silent installations, the log files are the only place that records error messages. See Troubleshooting a silent or deployed installation (admins only).
Trouble installing Creative Suite?
For details on opening and reading Creative Suite logs, see Troubleshoot install issues with log files | CS.
Analyze the dlm log for download errors
The Creative Cloud desktop app downloads the installation files before extracting and installing them. Errors that occur during download are recorded in the dlm.log file.
Note:
The most common cause of download issues is firewalls or proxies blocking the download process. For details on supported proxy servers and their configurations, see Proxy support in Creative Cloud products.
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- Windows: \Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Temp\AdobeDownload\
- Mac OS: /Users/<user name>/Library/Logs/AdobeDownload/
Note:If you cannot see the Library folder in Mac OS, hold down the Option key, and then click the Go menu in the Finder. The Library folder is listed below the Home folder.
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Open the log file using Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS).
Note:By default, log files open in Console on Mac OS. Select all the text by pressing Command+A, and then copy and paste it into a text editor before continuing.
Dlm.log records installation attempts sequentially. Each line in the log starts with a date and time stamp, which indicates when the installation was attempted. Each attempt starts with a build version number. For example:
04/04/16 07:52:59:342 | [INFO] | | | | | | | 692044 | GDE Version is 9.0.0.5 (BuildVersion: 6.0; BuildDate: Wed Aug 05 2015 03:31:05)
Note:If the dlm.log file is especially long and difficult to read, you can delete the file and reinstall the product to generate a new dlm.log file.
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Move your cursor to the bottom of the file and search backwards through the file, once for ERROR and again for FATAL.
Each install attempt appends to the bottom of the log file. By starting your search at the bottom of the file and searching backwards, you can find and address the most recent errors first.
Note:Select Match Case and type ERROR or FATAL in all caps to move quickly to each new error message and skip other instances of the word "error" or "fatal."
Each line in the log begins with a data and time stamp, followed by a response and number. None of this information is part of the error message. Ignore it when you search for error solutions.
Example log entries:
02/13/16 21:50:46:670 | [ERROR] | | | | | | | 11543 | NetDBError error has occurred - 8
02/13/16 21:50:46:670 | [ERROR] | | | | | | | 11543 | the download job (0) failed to execute. The job state is STOPPED_STATE
The errors in these examples are NetDBError error has occurred - 8 and the download job (0) failed to execute. The job state is STOPPED_STATE.
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Search the Adobe Support page for a solution to each error message. Omit paths and machine-specific information from search strings.
For the example errors above, you would search on “NetDBError error has occurred - 8” and "the download job (0) failed to execute."
You can ignore the follow error. It does prevent a product from installing.
10/19/15 09:58:33:769 | [ERROR] | | | | | | | 1840 | The windows error code is - 147953
Note:If you search the Internet for a solution to the error, remember that users in forum posts, blogs, and so on, may post undocumented solutions. Verify that the solution succeeded before attempting the steps.
See Network and connectivity issues for information on resolving network and connectivity issues that may prevent the download.
Analyze the Creative Cloud PDapp log
When problems occur within the first few minutes of a product installation, they are typically captured in the PDApp.log file.
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Navigate to the PDapp.log file in one of the following folders:
Note: The following folders are hidden by default. If necessary, use Folder Options (Windows) or Option key > Go (Mac OS) to view hidden folders. For more information, see Show hidden files and folders in Windows 10 and earlier or Can't see user library files in Mac OS X 10.7 and later.
- Windows: \Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Temp
- Mac OS: Users/<user name>/Library/Logs
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Open PDapp.log in a text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS).
Note:By default, log files open in Console on Mac OS. Select all the text by pressing Command+A, and then copy and paste it into a text editor before continuing.
PDapp.log records installation attempts sequentially. Each line in the log starts with a date and time stamp, which indicates when the installation was attempted. Each attempt starts with a build version number. For example:
05/25/16 12:31:49:864 | [INFO] | | ASU | OPM | OPM | | | 1482956 | Build Version - 9.0.0.222
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Move your cursor to the bottom of the file and search backwards through the file, once for ERROR and again for FATAL.
Note:Select Match Case and type ERROR or FATAL in all caps to move quickly to each new error message and skip other instances of the word "error" or "fatal."
Each line in the log begins with a data and time stamp, followed by a response, component, and number. None of this information is part of the error message. Ignore it when you search for an error solution.
Example log entry:
03/24/15 14:28:10:623 | [ERROR] | | ASU | UWANative | UWANative | | | 25100 | checkForUpdates returned error Code: U41M1C220
The error in this example is checkForUpdates returned error Code: U41M1C220
You can ignore the following errors. They do not prevent a product from installing.
[ERROR] | | ASU | LWANative | OPM | | | 8624 | received empty url from dispatchlib
[ERROR] | | ASU | PDApp | EnterpriseNativeAppletForCCM | | | 8624 | getProxyInfo did not return success
string. It returned : Error occurred in Updater Core
[ERROR] | | ASU | PIM | PIM | | | 8287 | Successfully freed PIM object Array
[ERROR] | | ASU | Vulcan5EventHandler | Vulcan5EventHandler | | | 25100 | Inside
sendVulcan5MessageForLicenseRefresh.
[ERROR] | | ASU | AAMUpdatesNotifier | AAMUpdatesNotifier | | | 3279 | Scheduled CFU failed...
[ERROR] | | ASU | ProvSwitcher | ProvSwitcher | | | 900 | Received Serial : -
Search the Adobe Support page for a solution to each error message. Omit paths and machine-specific information from search strings.
For the example error, you would search on “checkForUpdates returned error Code: U41M1C220.”
Note:If you search the Internet for a solution to the error, remember that users in forum posts, blogs, and so on, may post undocumented solutions. Verify that the solution succeeded before attempting the steps.
Analyze the main Creative Cloud product install log
When problems occur after the first few minutes of a product installation, they are typically captured in the Creative Cloud product install log files. Every product and update generates a product install log.
Creative Cloud installers create log files using a couple of different mechanisms. Depending upon the type of logging mechanism used, look for either "installer.log" or a <Product Name> <Version> <Date> log.gz file, such as "Adobe InDesign CC 2015 11.3.0.034 02-26-2016.log.gz."
This section covers how to open and read a log.gz file. For information on working with installer.log files, see Troubleshoot download and install errors.
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Navigate to the product log file, found in the following location:
- Windows: \Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Installers
- Mac OS: /Library/Logs/Adobe/Installers
Each log file contains all installation attempts from the date specified in the filename. Ensure that you are reviewing the log file for the product and date the issue occurred.
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Use a decompression utility such as WinRAR or StuffIt to decompress the .gz file. The resulting uncompressed file is a plain text file ending in .log.
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Open the .log file using Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac OS).
Note:By default, log files open in Console on Mac OS. Select all the text by pressing Command+A, and then copy and paste it into TextEdit before continuing.
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Move your cursor to the bottom of the log and search backwards through the file, once for ERROR and again for FATAL.
Note:Select Match Case and type ERROR or FATAL in all caps to move quickly to each new error message and skip other instances of the word "error" or "fatal."
Each line in the log starts with a date and time stamp, followed by a response, code, and number. None of this information is part of the error message. Ignore it when searching for error solutions.
Example log entry:
03/06/16 14:45:22:874 | [ERROR] | | OOBE | DE | | | | 4412 | DR013: Check for Registry permissions (RegistryDeleteV2 - error: 13)(Seq 8567)
The error in this example is DR013: Check for Registry permissions (RegistryDeleteV2 - error: 13)(Seq 8567).
You can ignore the following error. It does not prevent a product from installing.
ERROR: - Adobe <Product Name>: Failed due to Language Pack installation failure
Note:In addition, sections marked WARN do not indicate an error; you can ignore them.
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Search the Adobe Support page for a solution to each error message. Omit paths and machine-specific information from search strings.
For the example error, you would search on “DR013: Check for Registry permissions (RegistryDeleteV2 -error: 13).”
Note:If you search the Internet for a solution to the error, remember that users in forum posts, blogs, and so on, may post undocumented solutions. Verify that the solution succeeded before attempting the steps.
Troubleshooting a silent or deployed installation (admins only)
Products installed with the Creative Cloud Packager do not use the Creative Cloud desktop app to install. These silent installs (or deployments) do not display anything on the screen for end users. Products installed by double-clicking on the setup.exe (Windows) or <Product Name> install.pkg (Mac OS) display a basic UI to indicate that the product is installing. All errors for both types of installations are captured in the logs described above.
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Analyze the Adobe Setup Error.log file.
Adobe's proprietary installer may produce an Adobe Setup Error.log as well as individual log files for each Creative Cloud product. This log contains errors that typically affect the overarching installer. Review this log before the individual product logs.
The Adobe Setup Error.log file is found in the following location:
- Windows: \Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Installers
- Mac OS: /Library/Logs/Adobe/Installers
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Normally, Exit code 0 means the installation succeeded. For silent installs, Adobe's installer automatically runs an uninstall command if an install fails. When a silent install fails, scrolling to the last install or reviewing the exit code can be misleading because the uninstall command also succeeds with Exit code 0. You can identify the beginning of an uninstallation using the following:
| [INFO] | | OOBE | DE | Installer Operation: PayloadUninstaller
| [INFO] | | OOBE | DE |
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=If the log file ends in Exit code 0, verify that the log is not referencing uninstallation in the prior lines. After an uninstall, you will also find Physical payload uninstall result: 0 close to the exit code.
To troubleshoot silent install errors, ensure that you are reviewing the errors that occurred before the uninstall.
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If installation fails on multiple machines during a silent install, start by analyzing the Creative Cloud Packager log files, and then move to the log files on the individual computers.
For more information on troubleshooting a silent installation, including how to analyze the logs created by the Creative Cloud Packager, see Troubleshoot silent Creative Cloud installation issues.
Still need help?
If you cannot find a solution to your error after searching the Adobe Support page, contact Adobe Support.
Note:
Before contacting Support, run the Adobe Log Collector Tool to combine your log files in to a zip file that you can easily share with Adobe Support.
You can also visit the Adobe product forums.