CU has paid for site license to Acrobat (all CU machines) and Creative Cloud (1/2 of CU's systems). It can be hard to install the software, however. And you must inventory-track most installs.

Temporary easy access to copy of recent original file

For just installing Adobe Acrobat

Summary

  • Note: If on a Mac, use method 2 (using CreativeCloud with Serializer); without it, cannot get latest version of acrobat. Otherwise (if on a Windows machine), you may follow the below steps:
  • Get Acrobat installer and Serializer from our file share and run them sequentially.

Details

  • Copy the Acrobat installer from our file share to the desktop.
    • As of March 2018, use Acrobat DC, <\\files.cornell.edu\as\CHM\ChemIT-files\Windows\Applications\Adobe\Acrobat DC>.
  • Run the Acrobat installer from the desktop.
  • Copy the extracted Serializer folder from our file share to the desktop.
    • As of March 2018, the folder is called "CC2017-Serializer-Win-20170720", <\\files.cornell.edu\as\CHM\ChemIT-files\Windows\Applications\Adobe\Creative Cloud>.
  • Run the "AdobeSerialization" application from within the extracted Serializer folder on the desktop.
    • No indication of success.
  • Verify that the application works without having to sign in.
    • Usually: Make it the default app for opening PDF files (vs. Edge). (You will be prompted for this on first application launch, and show how by the application.)
  • Clean up the desktop.
    • Remove installation files and folders. As well as any short-cut icons which get created on s/w installations.

For installing any other Adobe products (along with Acrobat), 2 very different ways to do the installs

Method 1: Have user use their Adobe ID

This is Oliver's preferred method for a single user computer.

  • Software can update from within user's account. (Can't update within our Admin account, Oliver presumes.)
  • Don't use this method on shared system.

CIT's info:

Request the Adobe ID from CU Software:


Email template
================================
Subject: Adobe ID request
To: CU Software Licensing Support <cusoftware@cornell.edu>

CU Software,

I am a TSP in Chemistry and Physics IT. This is a request to provision the following employee(s) with Adobe IDs:

Name <NetID@cornell.edu>

Thank you, yourname
IT Manager, Chemistry and Physics IT
================================

Ensure you document that you got the user an Adobe ID (see below, "Inventory requirements")

For Windows systems we manage, here are Oliver's instructions:

a) In the Admin account (or user's account with Admin rights), get the Cloud installer from our file share, or monkey through at the Adobe web site to get the installer, using our CRCF credentials.

b) In the user's account, use the installer to choose the desired software, using their Adobe ID credentials.

c) Reboot and ensure all works for the user.

Method 2: Use Cornell's serializer with <crcf> account

This is Michael's preferred method.

  • Use this method on shared system.
  • Software cannot be updated from within user's account. Just from within our Admin account, using our <crcf> credentials.

NOTE: Ensure you have the latest serializer.

Get 3 software pieces from our file-share:

T:\Windows\Applications\Adobe\Creative Cloud

  • CreativeCloudSet-Up (the Installer)
  • AdobeCreativeCloudCleanerTool (the Cleaner)
  • CC2018-Serializer (The Serializer)

Steps: Install - Clean - Serialize!

1) Run the Installer, "CreativeCloudSet-Up". Use crcf's Adobe credentials (p/w starts with "R"...)

Select applications to install. Example: Just Acrobat.

  • Installation buttons say either "Install" or "Try"
  • Don't click "Start Trial" (run) from set-up (downloader) interface!

Once desired applications are installed, sign-out.

  • Click the face silhouette to get to the sign-out button.

Optional step: Quit the Creative Cloud Set-up application.

2) Run Cleaner. All command-line. After "e" (for English) and "y" (for the Adobe End User License Agreement), usually you will select:

  • Choice 3 ("Creative Cloud 2015 , Creative Cloud 2014 , Creative Cloud & CS6 Products").
  • Then Choice 1 ("Adobe Creative Cloud Desktop". And NOT 7's "Clean All."!).

Then "y" to confirm. When it is done, press Return to quit Command (CMD) interface.

 

On Mac:

  • Run Cleaner. If only installing Acrobat, clean all until all you see left is "Fix Host"

3) Run Serializer with root access. Ensure it's the latest version. Must extract into a folder first.

  • Run "AdobeSerialization" application as sudo through the terminal
  • Once run, no indication of success.

Confirm application works without having to sign in.

Inventory requirements

Anytime you do an Adobe software installation other than Adobe Acrobat, you must add it to one of our 2 inventory wiki pages accessed from here:

Note there are two files, one for each of the two methods which can be used to install Adobe CC:

  • One to track (inventory) our requests for Adobe IDs based on NetIDs (and associated installations, for our benefit).
    • We are doing this since we don’t believe CU Software will make this information available to us so we otherwise won’t know for whom we’ve made requests.
  • And another to inventory our Adobe CC installs using CU’s serializer.
    • CU Software is now requiring we do this, starting with Creative Cloud (CC) 2015. (They did not required this of CC 2014, FWIW.)

We’ll see if us hosting this info on MS Word files within SharePoint is better or worse for this kind of inventory maintenance than Confluence. Please share your experiences- thanks.

See also CU's Adobe licensing history

  • No labels