Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing | Deployment guide

Search

What is Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing?

Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing is a method of licensing Adobe Creative Cloud apps on computers that are segregated from networks. In this method, the licenses are installed directly on the computers along with the apps using an Isolated activation package. The package is self-contained, and includes the licensing information specific to the computers where it is installed.

How Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing works

Admin workflow

For an Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing package to include licensing information specific to a computer, include the activation codes for the computer when generating the package. You can generate activation code for each computer using Adobe's Licensing Toolkit. After you have generated client codes, create an Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing package in the Admin Console, and deploy it on a user machine.

Note:

The Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing option appears in your Admin Console only when Adobe entitles your organization to use this type of licensing. The option does not appear by default.

User workflow

Launch an application on your computer. The license activates automatically.

Admin tasks

Licensing

To license the Creative Cloud apps on user computers, run the Adobe Licensing Toolkit on each computer. The tool provides a CRC32 checksum of the computer’s machine ID that Adobe uses to issue a corresponding license. CRC32 is not a machine ID, device ID, or any device identifiable information.

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

Create packages

After you've generated the activation codes, perform these steps to create an Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing package.

  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.

  3. Choose Feature Restricted Licensing, and click Next.

  4. Choose Isolated Activation, and click Next.

  5. Enter the activation codes that you generated using the Adobe Licensing Toolkit.

    OR

    If you created a CSV file for multiple computers, upload the CSV file.

    OR

    To create a product-only package, leave the Activation Code box empty and don't upload a CSV file. Use this option is if you want to create install media and licenses separately.

    Enter activation code

    Note:

    Ensure that you enter the correct license code that you generated using the Licensing Toolkit. This procedure does not check the validity of the error codes that you enter in this step.

    However, if you enter invalid license codes, your end users will experience issues when using the associated apps.

  6. On the Entitlements screen, select the required entitlements and then click Next.

  7. On the System screen, select or enable 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. In which case, the OS language is the default fallback language in which the package is deployed.

  8. On the Choose Apps screen, click the plus icons next to the corresponding applications to include them in the package.

    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.

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

    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.

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

    Management options
    • (Not currently available for Windows ARM devices) Create a folder for extensions and include the UPIA command-line tool: 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: Install the apps in this package to a custom installation directory. The directory is defined under Packages > Preferences in the Admin Console. For more information, see the Preferences.
    Management options

  10. In the Name box, enter the name of the package and then click Build Package.

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

    Build package

    It displays the building status of the package in the Status column on the Packages page.

    Build status of package

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

    If you want to check the remaining time for the existing packages to download, click the row item for the package. It displays the package details.

    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.

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

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 Isolated 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 on troubleshooting Creative Cloud apps installation and uninstallation errors, see this document.

Update licenses

If your organization renews the contract, and you require to relicense your users. 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

When generating activation code, only the CRC32 checksum of the computer’s device ID (Sha 256) is shared with Adobe. The information shared is not device-identifiable.

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

  • Adobe Premiere Rush
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Creative Cloud
  • 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 or with trial 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.

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

Following a contract renewal, the admin can choose to relicense their users by:

  • Creating and deploying a license-only package.
  • Creating and deploying a package containing both the apps and license, if they want to update the apps to the latest versions in addition to relicensing.

Users will retain access to available Adobe apps for 99-days beginning with the Post-Grace Period, but no new packages can be created during that time. Learn more about contract expiration phases.

Caution:

Adobe provides this 99-day grace at its sole discretion to facilitate the deployment of renewed licenses, and it is liable to change.

Isolated Feature Restricted Licensing does not support Adobe Applications in virtualized environments.

When the admin removes a feature restricted license for an isolated activation package, the license count will not be updated on the Admin Console. It is because there was no communication with the Adobe licensing servers after the package was deployed.

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-insensitve. 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.

Adobe logo

Sign in to your account

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy