LAN Feature Restricted Licensing | Deployment guide

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Applies to enterprise.

Note

LAN Feature Restricted Licensing is not available under Adobe Value Incentive Plan (VIP).

Caution

Packaging and deploying Adobe apps to Windows ARM desktop devices is not supported yet.

What is LAN Feature Restricted Licensing?

LAN Feature Restricted Licensing is a method of licensing Adobe Creative Cloud apps on computers that are connected to a local-area network (LAN), instead of the Internet. Computers are connected in this way to ensure the security of the data they store and the critical operations that are performed on them. In this method of licensing, the LAN server is first configured as the internal licensing server. Then, licensing packages are generated for individual computers connected to the LAN.

How LAN Feature Restricted Licensing works

Admin workflow

As an administrator of your organization, you create one or more instances of an internal licensing server. For details, see Set up Feature Restricted Licensing LAN server. After you set up the LAN server, go ahead and create the licensing package and deploy on user computers.

Note

Setting up the LAN server is a one-time activity. You need not do it for every package.

User workflow

Launch the Adobe application on your computer. The application contacts the LAN server to activate your license.

Licensing

Due to being deployed in a LAN environment, apps licensed using LAN Feature Restricted Licensing don't check in with Adobe servers during the activation process. Therefore, you must configure a LAN server and authorize it to provide entitlements to users. Once the LAN server confirms the entitlement for a user, the license will cache on the user machine during the contract. At least once every 365 days, the LAN server requires to be authorized using a manual file transfer.

The license expiration date is the organization's contract end date.

Admin tasks

Create packages

  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.

  2. Click Create a Package.

    Create package

  3. Choose Feature Restricted Licensing, click Next.

    Feature Restricted Licensing

  4. Choose LAN, and then click Next.

  5. In the Choose Server screen, choose a LAN server that you have set up for your end users. You can also choose to create a LAN server.

    Choose LAN server or Create a new server

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

  7. On the System 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 to create the package.

  8. On the Choose Apps screen, you can choose to create one of the following types of packages:

    Type of package

    Description

    How to...

    License-only package

    Create this package if the client machines already have Creative Cloud apps installed. Later, you can simply license the installed apps. For example, apps were previously installed using another licensing method. And you want to now license those apps with a Feature Restricted Licensing - LAN license.

    From Available Applications, add only the License File to Selected Applications.

    Apps-only package

    Create this package if the client machine is already licensed with a Feature Restricted Licensing - LAN license. Then, install apps on the machine.

    From Available Applications, add applications to Selected Applications. Don't add the License File.

    Package containing apps and license

    Create this package to install and license Creative Cloud apps on a client machine. For example, if you have not previously installed Creative Cloud apps on a machine.

    From Available Applications, add applications and the License File to Selected Applications.
    Choose apps

    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.

    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

    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.

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

  9. On the Options screen, select the required options and then click Next.

    • Redirect to internal Adobe 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 information, see Preferences.
    • (Not currently available for Windows ARM devices) Create a folder for extensions and include the Adobe Extension Manager command-line tool: Enables you to create a subfolder in your package folder. In this folder, include extensions that you want to install with the package. For more information, 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 information, see Preferences.

  10. On the Finalize screen, in the Name box, enter the name of the package.

    You can also review the included applications and configuration for this package before building the package.

  11. Click Build Package.

    The build status of the package is displayed in the Status column on the Packages page.

    Build package

    If the package is built successfully, it displays the Download link in the Availability column.

    A package is available in the Admin Console for up to three days. To check the time remaining to download the package, click the row item for the package. It displays the package details.

  12. To download and distribute the package later, click Download.

    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 Adobe Package Downloader.

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

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 - FRL LAN Package
  • 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
    • Market 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 feature restricted license package, set up the end-user machines with the license. For details, see Deploy packages.

Update licenses

If your organization renews the contract, and you require to relicense your users. Upload the new ATO file to the LAN server. When the user machines check in with the server, they receive an updated license.

To get the latest apps, deploy a new package that includes the apps. Deploy a new package to update the apps following a contract renewal. You can either create a package or update a previous package, by performing the following steps:

  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.

  2. Click the expired package you want to update.

  3. In the package details pane, click Update Package.

  4. Download the updated package and deploy to user machines.

Remove licenses

REMOVE SINGLE LICENSE FROM A COMPUTER

You can remove a license from a computer in the following scenarios:

  • The package is a license-only package.
  • The package includes the license and apps, and the apps are uninstalled using the OS-specific procedures (for example, Add-Remove Programs on Windows).

Use Adobe's Licensing Toolkit to remove a license. Adobe Licensing Toolkit is a command-line utility that is used to activate or uninstall licenses. It is available in the licensing package that you download from the Admin Console. Alternatively, you can download it directly from the Admin Console under Packages > Tools.

To remove a license, run the following commands with admin privileges:

Windows:

adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe --precondition --uninstall --filePath <absolute path of the .json file>

macOS:

sudo ./adobe-licensing-toolkit --precondition --uninstall --filePath <absolute path of the .json file>

For more information, see these steps.

Note

The .json file can be found within the package that was downloaded from the Admin Console and deployed to the user machine. The file contains the licensing information.

REMOVE ALL LICENSES FROM A COMPUTER

In the scenario where multiple licenses have been installed on a single machine, run the following commands with admin privileges to remove the licenses:

Windows:

adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe --precondition --uninstall --all

macOS:

sudo ./adobe-licensing-toolkit --precondition --uninstall --all

For more information, see these steps.

Uninstall products and licenses

Instead of removing licenses from a user's computer, you can uninstall the license and the products. By using the Feature Restricted Licensing packages, themselves.

Read the details on how to uninstall packages from a user's computer.

Frequently asked questions

The following information is shared with Adobe in the authorization file:

  • Machine ID (Sha-256 hash)
  • Number of unique activations
  • First and last check-in
  • NGL Preconditioning Data ID (NPDID) of products
  • Universally unique identifier (UUID) of the LAN server
  • Internal DNS for the LAN server

LAN Feature Restricted Licensing supports Adobe Acrobat and all Creative Cloud apps, except:

  • Adobe Premiere Rush
  • Adobe XD
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
  • Lightroom
  • Adobe Dimension

Every package is bundled with a license file. To create a license-only package, skip adding any applications to the package.

Create license-only packages to deploy on client computers where applications are already deployed but without licenses.

To deploy a package using Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), you need to create an install / uninstall program from the SCCM console. The steps to create the install / uninstall program are given in this section of the Deploy Adobe packages with SCCM article.

Use the above procedure to create and deploy the package using SCCM, with the following exception:

In Step 2 of the procedure:

  1. Instead of browsing to and selecting the package .exe file, browse to and select the Adobe licensing toolkit (adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe) file.
  2. When you return to the New Program wizard, append the following flags to the command line:
    Syntax:
    --precondition --install --filePath ngl-preconditioning-data.json
    Example:
    adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe --precondition --install --filePath ngl-preconditioning-data.json

If required, to download the Adobe licensing toolkit (adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe) file for Windows:

  1. In the Admin Console, navigate to Packages > Tools.
  2. Use the download links on the Licensing Toolkit card.

LAN Feature Restricted Licensing licenses expire on the date the contract ends.

When the admin removes a feature restricted license for a LAN activation package, the license count is not immediately reflected on the Admin Console because there is no communication between the end-user machines and the Adobe licensing server. The license count is updated on the Admin Console each time the Authorization file is uploaded to the Admin Console. 

The Adobe License Decoder is a command-line tool that tells you about all the feature restricted licenses on a computer. This tool examines globally-installed license files and provides the following information:

  • The apps associated with each license file.
  • The packages the apps have been installed from.
  • When the apps were installed and their corresponding license expiry dates.

Use the Github repository to download the tool and for detailed documentation.

To identify the activated packages on a client computer, follow these steps.

1. Use the Adobe Licensing Toolkit and run following command on the client computer.

  • macOS: adobe-licensing-toolkit --licenseInformation
    Short form: adobe-licensing-toolkit -l
  • Windows: adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe --licenseInformation
    Short form: adobe-licensing-toolkit.exe -l

This command displays the licensing information for all the apps installed on a computer.
SAMPLE OUTPUT:

Adobe Licensing Toolkit (0.1.5.57)
License Details
 
NpdId          : MWVjZGNlMzMtZGU2Yi00ZmNlLTkzZTktY2MxMjBhZmFiZjg1
AppId          : Photoshop1
DeploymentMode : FRL_ONLINE, FRL
CacheExpiry    : 03/06/19 20:01:56 India Standard Time
LicenseId      : 511F26523959D15EBD9B
LicenseExpiry  : 03/06/21 20:01:56 India Standard Time
 
NpdId          : YjZiOGU0ZTItYTkxNy00NTFlLWFkOTItZTljNTc2M2U2OTgx
AppId          : Animate1
DeploymentMode : FRL_CONNECTED
Operation Successfully Completed

2. Find the package on the Admin console

  1. Sign into the Admin Console and go to the Packages tab.

  2. In the Search box, enter the NpdId of the package that you got from running the Licensing Toolkit command, above.

    Note

    The search is case-insensitive. Also, you can make a partial search. Which means that you don't need to enter the entire NpdId when searching.

  3.  

    In the filtered list of packages, click the package. The details of that package are displayed on the right.

    The Package License ID on the Admin Console corresponds to the NpdId on the Licensing Toolkit command, above.

    Use this to identity the packages installed on a client computer.
    Package details

    Note

    The Package License ID is only available for packages created on or after 7/24/2021.

Yes. Adobe XD is available as part of the Creative Cloud All Apps Feature Restricted Licensing plan purchased through an ETLA contract. However, there are differences in the XD interface, features and workflows compared to XD in a Named User Licensing environment.

For details on the differences, see Adobe XD with Feature Restricted Licensing.

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