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IT Community Partnerships Indiana University

Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop Application Volume Licenses in Multi-User Environments

Posted on by mkleine

IT Professionals:

Important: This information pertains to managed multi-user devices only. Information about Named User Licensing (NUL), Adobe’s licensing model for single-user devices, can be found here [1]. Further questions about NUL should be directed to sct2@iu.edu.

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Earlier this year, Adobe introduced a new licensing model, known as Shared Device Licensing (SDL) [2], that would eliminate the use of volume keys on managed multi-user devices. Subsequently, Adobe announced that existing volume keys for Creative Cloud Desktop Application 2018 (CCDA) and its associated apps will expire by mid-2020.

Several keys have different expiration dates, so the eLearning Services team first recommends that you use the Adobe Expiry Check tool [3] to determine when your key will expire. You can obtain the Adobe Expiry Check tool via the Adobe Licensing Toolkit [4] in IUware. (Machines using a key set to expire in November 2019 will display a warning message whenever CCDA apps are opened). Once you’ve determined when your keys will expire, please see the following:

  1. If your key is set to expire in November 2019, you have two options:
    1. Uninstall your serial number packages and deploy an SDL package. For more information on building and deploying SDL packages, see Create Shared Device Licensing packages [5].
    2. Using the appropriate toolkit via IUware [4], update your CCDA 2018 deployments with a key that will not expire until mid-2020. eLearning Services does not recommend this option for several reasons:
      1. Your users will not have access to the most up-to-date version of CCDA.
      2. Files created in CC19 and beyond are not backwards-compatible with earlier versions of CC.
  • Should you choose this option, you will still need to transition to SDL before the mid-2020 expiration date. eLearning Services recommends starting this process no later than early 2020.
  1. If your key does not expire until mid-2020:
    1. Uninstall your serial number packages and deploy an SDL package. For more information on creating and deploying SDL packages, see Create Shared Device Licensing packages [5].
      1. Note: Should you choose this option, eLearning Services recommends starting this process no later than 2020.

IT Pros with further questions on transitioning their users into Adobe’s new licensing model should contact sct2@iu.edu.

–IT Community Partnerships on behalf of the eLearning Services team

 

[1]  Named User Licensing | Deployment guide: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/create-nul-packages.html
[2]  Shared Device Licensing | Deployment guide: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/sdl-deployment-guide.html#WhatisSharedDeviceLicensing
[3]  AdobeExpiryCheck tool: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/kb/volume-license-expiration-check.html
[4]  IUWare Adobe Licensing Toolkit: https://iuware.iu.edu/WindowsLsp/Title/3771
[5]  Create Shared Device Licensing packages: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/create-sdl-packages.html
[6]  Adobe Shared Device Licensing Overview: https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/licensing.html#SharedDeviceLicensing

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