University Systems help centre
Computers and software
Adobe shared device licensing
A limited number of Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) Shared Device Licenses (SDL) are available for shared, student use, lab computers. These licenses are only available for in-person use on physical computers. These licenses replace serial number-based installers.
Requirements
- Computer(s) must be on campus, on a wired network connection, and owned by UVic.
- Computer(s) must be on an IP address you provide when requesting software.
- Must run a current, supported, version of Windows or macOS.
- Students must have an Adobe ID to sign and use the software. Visit to create your Adobe account. Students do not need a license.
How do I request software?
To get your shared, student use, computers set up with SDL, please contact the Computer Help Desk and provide the following details:
- The number of computers you need licensed.
- Operating system (macOS or Windows) and CPU architecture (Win64, Intel mac, M1 mac)
- IP address for each machine or an IP range. The number of IP addresses in the range must match the number of computers.
- A list of Adobe products would you like included in the installer.
- Whether end users should be able to update/install software themselves.
How do I install SDL packages?
SDL packages must be installed using these steps for license activation to work properly.
Windows:
- Ensure the computer is on one of the IP addresses you provided.
- Unzip the installers and open the Build folder.
- Right-click the packagename.msi file and select install.
- Alternatively: from an administrator command prompt, use the command msiexec.exe /i “packagename.msi”
- The installer may appear to hang when it activates the license. This is normal. It may take several minutes to complete.
macOS
- Ensure the computer is on one of the IP addresses you provided.
- Unzip the installers and open the Build folder.
- Run the packagename_install.pkg package
- The installer may appear to hang when it activates the license. This is normal. It may take several minutes to complete.
How do I uninstall SDL packages?
Software must be uninstalled properly to recover licenses. Failure to do so will result in activating licenses over your quota.
If a machine has crashed and these steps can not be followed, contact the Computer Help Desk to have your licenses reset.
Windows
- If the package is no longer on the computer, copy it back and extract.
- Open the Build folder.
- Right-click the packagename.msi file and select uninstall.
- Alternative: from an administrative command prompt, run msiexec.exe /x “packagename.msi”
macOS
- If the package is no longer on the computer, copy it back and extract.
- Open the Build folder.
- Run the packagename_uninstall.pkg package
How do I update SDL software?
Software can be updated with the Adobe CC Desktop App on each machine. Packages also include the Adobe Remote Update Manager (RUM). The Adobe RUM can be run manually, as a scheduled task, or triggered by a management tool. The RUM will keep the installed versions of Adobe products up to date, but will not install new, major, versions.
- On Windows, RUM is installed in: %commonprogramfiles(x86)%\Adobe\OOBE_Enterprise\RemoteUpdateManager
- On macOS it is located in /usr/local/bin/RemoteUpdateManager
To update all software, you simply need to call the remoteupdatemanager program, with no options. This will update all Adobe software the utility can.
Further information is available on Adobe’s website:
University Systems is not maintaining cache or proxy server for Adobe updates.
How do I make changes to settings?
Please contact the Computer Help Desk with details to make changes, such as adding/removing IP addresses.
University Systems will not generate new packages for minor version updates.
Please use the updating instructions above.
How do students use the software?
Students must create an Adobe ID by registering at .
We recommend students create their Adobe ID before their first class.
Adobe states it can take up to 24 hours for an ID to be created.