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Create Shared Device Licensing packages

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Introduction

Shared Device License is a licensing method targeted at educational institutions where software is assigned to a device instead of an individual. Anyone who logs on to the device will have access to Adobe's products and services. This method of licensing is ideal for desktop computer labs and classrooms.

For more details, see Licensing overview.

Note: The content and voice-over for this video is available in English only.
Note:

Availability Of user-generated packages

Starting December 2023, only packages aligned with Adobe's Enterprise & Teams support policy will be available on the Packages tab of the Admin Console.

This will help optimize the performance and load time of the Packages tab.

How to create Shared Device Licensing packages

Note:

As a user in a Named User Licensing education lab, you may encounter the error: Unable to verify subscription/Trial error after updating your Adobe XD application to version 50 or above. You will need to create and install a new Shared Device Licensing package from the Admin Console to resolve this issue. This is applicable on both Windows and macOS.

To learn how to create packages for Shared Device Licensing, follow the instructions:

  1. Log in to the Admin Console and navigate to Packages > Packages. The history of all packages created by all admins in your organization is displayed.

    If you have not created any packages as yet, you are presented with the following screen to help you get started.

  2. Click Create a Package.

  3. Select Shared Device Licensing from the given licensing options that are displayed on your screen, and click Next.

    Choose licensing method

  4. On the Entitlements screen, choose the required entitlement and click Next.

  5. On the Configure screen, select the required options and then click Next.

    • Choose a Platform: Choose the operating system and the processor support from the following:
      • macOS (Universal)
      • macOS (Intel)
      • macOS (Apple Silicon)
      • Windows (64-bit)
      • Windows (32-bit)
      • Windows (ARM)
    Note:

    A package made for one operating system and architecture type, cannot be deployed on another.

    • It's necessary to create separate packages for Windows 64-bit, Windows 32-bit, and Windows ARM devices.
    • It's necessary to create separate packages for macOS (Intel) and macOS (Apple Silicon) devices. Alternatively, you can create a macOS (Universal) package, and use this to install apps on both macOS (Intel) and macOS (Apple Silicon) machines.
    • Language: Select the language in which you want to create the package.
    • Use OS Locale: Enables you to create a package that deploys in the OS language of client machine. When not available, the OS language is the default fallback language in which the package is deployed.
  6. On the Choose Apps screen, click the plus icons next to the applications to include them in the package.

    Choose applications

    Note:

    If you add a product that has dependent products, the dependent products are added automatically. For example, if you add Photoshop, the dependent products Camera Raw and Adobe Preview are added automatically.

    Optionally, you can filter down the list of Available Applications to choose from.

    Latest versions: Display the latest version of all available applications.

    Long-term supported versions: Display Adobe's long-term supported versions. To know what versions are supported for your Creative Cloud plan, review the Creative Cloud Support policy

    Beta apps: Display available beta apps. Learn more.

    Older versions: Display a list of previous versions of the apps. View versions that don't receive security or feature updates.

    Filter available applications

    App Add-ons: Certain Adobe apps come with Add-ons. So, when you add an app that includes one or more Add-ons, you have the option to include the add-ons in the package you're creating. By default, Add-ons are not included in the package.

    App Add-ons

    After you're done with your selections, click Next.

  7. (Not currently available for Windows ARM devices) On the Choose Plugins screen, search and select plug-ins to include in the package, and click Next.

    You can select the Show Compatible Plugins Only check box to display the plug-ins that are compatible with the apps in the package. This filter doesn't appear if you only have the Creative Cloud desktop app in your package.

    To view the list of selected plug-ins, click Selected Plugins.

    Note:

    The plug-ins that you include in the package do not necessarily need the supporting application to be part of the same package. You can include plug-ins and extensions for apps that are previously installed on your users' computers. Also, if a computer does not have the targeted application for a plug-in, the plug-in is not installed on the computer.

    Choose plugins

  8. On the Options screen, select or enable the required options and then click Next.

    Note:

    Starting December 11, 2023, new users and organizations will not be entitled to Creative Cloud Synced files. Starting February 1, 2024, Creative Cloud Synced files will be discontinued for personal accounts that existed before December 11, 2023 (learn more here). Starting October 1, 2024, Creative Cloud Synced files will be discontinued for business accounts associated with organizations that existed before December 11, 2023 (learn more here).

    Creative Cloud Desktop Options:

    • Enable self-service install: Allow users to install and update applications from App panel on the Creative Cloud desktop app.
    • Allow non-admin to update and install apps: Enables the self-service end users, who do not have Administrative privileges, to install and manage their applications and updates.
    • Disable auto-update for end users: Ensure that end users will not be able to automatically update their applications via the Creative Cloud Desktop app. Learn more.
    • Disable file syncing: Suppress the automatic syncing of files to client systems. Useful when you are installing packages in a test environment where you want to suppress file syncing. Available only to educational institutions.
    Caution:

    Certain Creative Cloud desktop apps require you to keep file syncing enabled.

    If you disable file syncing:

    • All apps load.
    • Creative Cloud files are not synced. It also applies, for example, to media files in Adobe Premiere Rush projects.
    • Adobe Fonts are available.
    • Adobe Stock search is available (however, Federated IDs are unable to download previews)

    • Enable browser-based login: By default, users must sign in using the Creative Cloud desktop app. However, you can choose to redirect users to sign in via the browser. Choose this option to ensure users sign-in via the browser. For details, see Enable browser-based login.
    • Enable install of beta apps: Enables end users to install and update beta apps from the Creative Cloud desktop application. This means that end users can then go to the Creative Cloud Desktop application and install or update these apps. Learn more.

    Management Options:

    • Enable Remote Update Manager: Enables the use of Remote Update Manager. Adobe Remote Update Manager lets you remotely run the updater on the client with the benefit of executing as an administrator. For more information, see Use Adobe Remote Update Manager.
    • Redirect to internal update server: Enables you to redirect all updates for this package to an internal update server. The internal server details are specified in an override XML in the Packages > Preferences tab of the Admin Console. For more, see the Preferences section of the Packaging apps via the Admin Console article.
    • (Not currently available for Windows ARM devices) Create a folder for extensions and include the UPIA command-line tool: Enables you to create a subfolder in your package folder that you can use to include extensions that you want to install with the package. For more, see Manage Extensions in packages.
    • Install package to custom install directory: Enables you to install the apps in this package to a custom install directory. The directory is defined in the Packages > Preferences tab in the Admin Console. For more, see the Preferences section of thePackaging apps via the Admin Console article.
  9. On the Finalize screen, specify the following:

    Package name: Enter the name of the package.

    Create flat package: If you have chosen a macOS platform, you have the option to create flat packages. This option is selected by default. For more details, see Creating flat packages.

    Review the included applications and configuration for this package before building the package.

    Click Create package.

You are returned to the package list when the package creation process begins.

If the package is built successfully, you are prompted to download the package.

Also, the Download link is available in the Actions column of the corresponding package row. So you can download the package later. 

A package is available in the Admin Console for up to three days. To check the time remaining to download a package, click  to the right of the package name.

Caution

If the package that you've created, contains one or more apps that have been rolled back owing to a bug or issue which needs to be fixed, this package displays as Revoked. You will be unable to download this package.

Also, if you have previously downloaded a package that contains a revoked app, you should not deploy it. You should create and deploy a new package with a non-revoked version of the app. 

Revoked package

The downloaded package file is a .zip file format.

If you double-click to unzip the package file, you may encounter the following, Unable to expand error on macOS 10.14 and prior versions.

This is because the macOS Archive Utility does not support the unzipping of large files that are zipped using the Zip64 mode.

Error 1 - Operation not permitted

To unzip the file, open the terminal in the folder where you've downloaded the file and run the unzip command:

unzip <file name>.zip

Note:

If you are creating macOS packages, the Adobe Package Downloader is downloaded to your computer. Open and run to complete download of package. For further details, see here.

Packageinfo.txt

The package that you download, contains a Packageinfo.txt file. This file has the information such as the following about that package:

  • Package Name
  • Package Type - Self Service or Managed
  • Platform
  • Locale
  • Creative Cloud Desktop application version
  • Package Configurations
    • Remote update manager - Enabled or Disabled 
    • App Panel - Enabled or Disabled
    • Beta App Download - Enabled or Disabled
    • Browser Based Auth - Enabled or Disabled
    • Files Panel - Enabled or Disabled
    • Use OS Locale - Enabled or Disabled

The PackageInfo.txt file is for informational purposes only.

Deploy packages

After you create the shared device license package, set up the devices in your lab with the license.

Choose from the following methods to deploy the package:

  • Deploy using Info.plist file on macOS computers. See this document for details.

Deploy updates

Adobe regularly ships updates and new release to its Creative Cloud apps. This way, your students, and staff can access the latest features of apps that you deployed to the shared devices in your labs and classrooms. To get the latest Creative Cloud updates, choose one of the following methods:

  • You can create an update package and deploy it manually on the client machines.
  • Or, you can use Remote Update Manager, which uses the Adobe Update Server. Alternatively, use an internal update server and deploy the latest updates available on update server to each device on which it is run. You don't have to manually push updates to the individual devices.

Uninstall products and licenses

While you create and deploy packages to client machines, you might also require to remove previously installed products and licenses. For example, if your organization migrated from Shared Device Licensing to Named User Licensing, uninstall all the products and licenses previously installed on the machine. Also, there's often the case when client machines may contain multiple versions of apps. Or, may be using conflicting licenses. Client machines, may be consuming extra licenses, which are not returned to the deployment pool.

In all these scenarios, we recommend that you use one of these procedures to uninstall the products and / or licenses on the client machines:

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