Set up the internal update server

Last updated on Aug 3, 2026

Download AUSST and configure an HTTP server to host Adobe apps and update downloads for your organization.

You can set up an internal update server with AUSST. Before setting up an internal update server, you need an already up and running HTTP server (such as Apache or IIS). An HTTP server can host and serve static file content.

Configure your HTTP server for AUSST

You can configure your AUSST server to support connections via HTTP or HTTPS. If using HTTPS, ensure the certificate is recognized as valid by the client computers.

The setup procedure depends on your operating system. Follow the steps for Apache on macOS or IIS on Windows.

Set up an Apache HTTP server on macOS

Download and install an HTTP server, such as XAMPP, on macOS.

Copy the update and installation files synchronized by AUSST to a subdirectory accessible through the web server.

If you haven’t already downloaded the AUSST files, download and set up AUSST, then pass the command to copy the AUSST files to a folder under the HTTP server folder (here htdocs).
If you have already downloaded the AUSST files, copy the AUSST files to a folder inside the HTTP server folder. (here <xamppserver>\htdocs\<create a folder called AUSSTFiles>). Navigate to the newly created folder and change permissions to Apply to enclosed items.

Launch the HTTP server application (here Xamppserver).

For example, on the XAMPP server, go to the Manage Servers tab and start the Apache web server.

Go to the Manage Servers tab, select a server, and then select Start. For example, start the Apache web server.

The screen displays the Manage Servers tab under XAMPP server with Apache Web Server highlighted in the server list. — On the XAMPP server, start a server. For example, the Apache Web Server.

Generate the .override files. Learn more about generating client configuration files.

Set up an Internet Information Services (IIS) Server on Windows

You need a platform such as Windows Server 2008 R2 or later. Ping the server from another computer to verify if it's reachable.

- Ping <server ip or hostname>

The screen displays the administrator command prompt results to verify is the server is reachable. — Verify that the server is reachable before proceeding.

The AUSST tool and the update mechanism used by CCD and RUM support IIS 7.5 or later, when an overrides file is present on the client workstations. The following screenshots and instructions demonstrate IIS 8.5. Apply the same settings to other versions of IIS.

Set up IIS 8.5 on any platform, such as Windows Server 2019. Learn about configuring IIS 8.5.

Add two additional Role Services manually: ISAPI Extensions and ISAPI Filters while configuring IIS 8.5.

The Select role services displays the Role Services option with the list if roles. SAPI Extensions and SAPI Filters are highlighted to draw attention. — Select the applicable roles from the list.

Select Install on the confirmation screen.

The confirmation screen displays the highlighted roles and option to install the selection on the system. — Ensure the server restarts after installing the additional roles.

To enable directory browsing on IIS, go to Server Manager > Tools > IIS Manager.

Select the server displayed in the left pane.

Double-click the Directory Browsing to enable it.

In the Alerts panel, enable the Directory Browsing service.

The screen displays the Directory Browsing related options and the Alerts panel to enable the it. — Select Enable to turn on Directory Browsing.

Select the server displayed in the left pane and then select Handler Mappings of the required website.

The IIS Manager home page with the Handler Mappings option in the IIS section. — Select Handler Mappings in the IIS Manager to configure module mapping for the website.

Note

The configuration changes are applied to all data referring to this (default in this example) website.

Create a new website for updater-related data and apply these configuration changes to it, to prevent any changes to other sites.

Select Add Module Mapping to view the Add Module Mapping dialog box for .xml extension.

Add the details as shown in the sample dialog box and then select OK.

The Add Module Mapping dialog box displays several options and input values to be added. — Add the module mapping details for the .xml extension.

Select Yes on the Add Module Mapping confirmation dialog box.

Add Module Mapping confirmation dialog box displays the option to allow the ISAPI extension. — Verify the details before confirmation.

Replicate the same steps to add the Module Mapping for the following extensions:

.crl
.zip
.dmg
.sig
.json
.arm

The screen displays the module mapping added for the extensions. — Verify that module mapping is added for all extensions.

For Acrobat and Adobe Reader, follow the steps:

Add the application/octet-stream MIME Types for the .msp, .pkg, and .arm extensions.

The screen displays the MIME type applicable for the selected server. — Select the server displayed in the left pane and add the MIME Type.

Add the details as shown in the following sample dialog box.

The screen displays the dialog box details value that are to be added:
File name extensions: .msp
MIME type: application/octet-stream — Add the MIME type details.

Similarly, add MIME types for the .pkg and .arm extensions.

The screen displays the results for the MIME type for the applicable extensions. — Verify that MIME types are added for .msp, .pkg, and .arm extensions.

Confirm that the web server works by opening a web browser on the server itself.

This screen is displayed when the web server is working as expected. — Verify that the default web page appears when you use the http://localhost address.

Download and configure AUSST

AUSST is a command-line tool and needs no separate installation steps. There are no restrictions on where AUSST should be located on the computer.

In the Admin Console, navigate to Packages > Tools.

The Tools screen displays the option to download the Admin packaging and management tools. — Ensure that you've downloaded the latest version of AUSST from the Admin Console to set up your internal update server.

On the Adobe update server setup tool card, select Download to download AUSST for your operating system.

Set up internal update server

The paths provided to all the command-line options must be absolute. AUSST does not support relative paths.

Note

To ensure that the Update server runs without interruption, confirm that you have allowed access to the endpoints in Adobe Creative Cloud Network Endpoints.

Create a folder (for example, root) within your web folder to download the Adobe apps and updates from the Adobe Update server.
For example, C:\inetpub\wwwroot\updates

The system screen displays the root folder to download and update the Adobe apps — The root folder location must map to a valid HTTP URL on your web server.

Verify that the root folder is accessible via HTTP by opening it in a browser.

For example: http://ausstserver.example.com/updates/

The screen displays an example of ausstserver updates results — Verify the results displayed on the screen for the root folder location.

Navigate to the folder in which you have downloaded the AUSST.

cd <Absolute location of the folder which contains the Adobe Update Server Setup Tool>

For example: cd C:\AUSST

The root update folder (which we have used as an example throughout this document) on your web server is at the file-system location:

For example:

macOS: /serverroot/updates/

Windows: C:\inetpub\wwwroot\updates

Note

Check that the root folder has the correct Write permissions.

Perform a fresh installation of the internal update server:

Windows: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool.exe --root="<absolute location of the folder from Step 1>" --fresh
macOS: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool --root="<absolute location of the folder from Step 1>" --fresh

For example: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool --root="c:\inetpub\wwwroot\updates" --fresh

Ensure that there are no spaces around the = sign. Also, ensure that all options are preceded by a -- (double minus) sign.

After synchronization of apps and updates with the Adobe Update server is complete, the AUSST tool creates an updated directory structure at the root folder location.

The folder structure matches that of the Adobe update server. It performs the initial synchronization, downloading all available apps and updates from the Adobe update server to your internal update server.

Note

Fresh sync is a time-consuming process and can take up to around 24 hours to complete. If a fresh sync fails, you don't need to run the process again. You can download the remaining products using the incremental command. Windows: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool.exe --root="<root folder>" --incremental

macOS: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool --root="<root folder>" --incremental

A full fresh sync requires approximately 800 GB (which may vary depending on the size of Adobe apps).

Verify your internal update server setup

Verify that a browser from a client’s computer can access the homepage of the web server.

The screen displays the results to ensure that the web server is working as expected. — Verify that you can browse through the directories by selecting the directory links.

Verify that your server supports extension-less files. Open this URL in your web browser - http://<server name>/updates/ACC/services/ffc/icons/producticon
For example: http://ausstserver.example.com/updates/ACC/services/ffc/icons/producticon
You should view a string of letters.

The screen displays the results for the extension less files.

Verify that the server supports the extension-less file before checking for files with extensions.

Verify that your server supports file extensions, and test that you can open the following XML file in a web browser on your server.

- If you have not set up product configuration groups:
  http://<server name>/updates/ACC/services/ffc/products/ffc.xml
- If you have set up product configuration groups:
  http://<server name>/updates/ACC/services/ffc/products/<groupName>ffc.xml

Note

The URLs for the server should include the protocol (such as http://). If the port number differs from the default value of 80, it should also be specified.

Check the firewall settings for the server if your verification on the client computer isn't successful.

Incremental sync

To set up your internal update server, you use the --fresh option to download all Adobe apps and updates from the update server. However, this one-time operation is performed when you first set up your update server. After this, only the new app versions and updates are required.

To get an incremental update from the Adobe Update server, use the following command for Windows and macOS. However, the following commands show only the mandatory options to set up your server.

Windows: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool.exe --root="C:\inetpub\wwwroot\updates" --incremental
macOS: AdobeUpdateServerSetupTool --root="/Library/WebServer/Documents/ausst/" --incremental

To run this command at regular intervals, schedule a recurring job - Using Task Scheduler for Windows or Crontab for macOS.

Adobe Update Server Setup Tool overview

Configure clients to use internal update server

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