Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro On Terminal Server

  1. Adobe Acrobat Terminal Server
  2. Installing Adobe Acrobat Dc
  3. Adobe Acrobat Terminal Server Licensing
  4. Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro On Terminal Server Configuration

You can deploy Acrobat products on a VMware Horizon server for streaming to Windows machines via VDI (desktop virtualized deployments). Only desktop streaming with the application hosted on a server is supported. Adobe has certified the following:

  • Virtual machine-based desktop deployments using pooled virtual desktops for Windows 7 and 10.

  • Every user has has their own separate operating system instance with Acrobat DC and Reader DC installed.

To customize Acrobat DC from your downloaded package, you need the latest version of the Customization Wizard, and the downloaded Acrobat Pro.msi (Windows) or.pkg (macOS) file. Note: The version of the wizard should be the same as the version of Acrobat in the package created by Creative Cloud Packager. Hi all, What is the best way to install Adobe acrobat and Adobe Acrobat reader in a terminal services environment. On previous terminal servers i have built, i always seem to get problems with adobe acrobat. There is a server use clause in the Acrobat XI EULA- look at section 2.1.7. As permitted in a separate purchasing document or Documentation and subject to license restrictions stated in this Agreement, Customer may install the Software on a Server only for the purpose of allowing an individual from a Computer within the same Internal Network (“Network User”) to access and use th e Software.

To install Acrobat on macOS, simply install the downloaded installer package (or the customized package if you have to use the customization wizard). MacOS installers are.pkg type installers that provide the necessary user interface prompts to run. You can use standard deployment practices on macOS like ARD to deploy the chained package. We currently have a terminal server environment and had to re-think Adobe last year, similar to your situation. When we renewed, I was able to set up user accounts through our Adobe page. Then each created user is able to log into Adobe Creative Cloud from their desktop.

Since there are many ways to configure Acrobat products and VMware servers, these instructions are intended as basic examples. Administrators may need to tailor these instructions to meet the requirements of their environment.

System requirements¶

  • VMware Horizon 6.2

  • Windows 7 or 8 64 bit

Note

It’s recommended that users deploy Acrobat and Reader on x64 machines as there is a limited set of resources available on x86. Since each user runs a different instance of Acrobat, additional users do consume more CPU and RAM resources.

Tested environments¶

Because there is an unlimited number of possible execution environments, Adobe tests common scenarios, including:

  • A user account was set up using Active Directory domain user group. The Anonymous User profile was not tested.

  • The user account was set up on the server as non-privileged accounts. The user can operate the computer and save documents, but they cannot install programs or make changes to the system files or settings.

  • The server machine was running typical enterprise software. For example, testing scenarios often include installing the latest versions of Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Visio Professional Version, Microsoft Office Publisher, Microsoft Office Project Professional, Lotus Notes, and McAfee VirusScan Enterprise.

  • Esx(i) 5.5 hypervisor (but any version should work).

Best practices¶

  • Apply all critical and recommended hotfixes and all hotfix rollup packs that Microsoft provides.

  • Apply all critical and recommended hotfixes and all hotfix rollup packs that VMware provides.

  • Follow the Acrobat recommendations below.

Tuning for virtual envs¶

Tune the installer prior to imaging and deployment.

Tuning helps mitigate performance issues, simplifies the end user experience, and allows you to disable features and behaviors that should not be accessible to end users in an IT-managed environment.

  • Install the latest product.

  • Disable the updater.

  • Accept the EULA on behalf of all users by setting the appropriate registry key.

  • Use SUPPRESSLANGSELECTION on the command line at install time to disable user’s ability to change the language.

  • If the product language should be different than the OS languages, set the language.

  • Supress registration (there are multiple ways: Wizard, cmd line property, PRTK tool).

  • Disable push notifications: Set bToggleNotifications to 0.

  • Disable the Help > Repair Acrobat Installation menu by setting:

    • 32 bit machines: [HKLMSOFTWAREAdobe(productname)(version)Installer]'Disable_Repair'

    • 64 bit machines: [HKLMSOFTWAREWow6432NodeAdobe(productname)(version)Installer]'Disable_Repair'

Scrolling performance

If scrolling performance is poor in graphic intensive documents, try the following:

  1. Go to Edit > Preferences > Rendering.

  2. Uncheck Smooth line art and Smooth images. Alternatively, you can set these preferences during pre-deployment configuration:

Distiller performance

  • In some environments, Distiller performance may suffer if the messages.log file becomes too large after a number of Distiller operations. Delete this file periodically. It is located at ApplicationDataAdobeAcrobatDistiller<version>messages.log.

  • Remove unused fonts from the Windows installation.

Folder permissions

Protected Mode will only work when the USERS group has the following permissions on the product installation folder: Read and execute, List folder contents, Read. For a default installation, the path might be C:ProgramFiles(x86)AdobeAcrobatReaderDC.

Other settings

There are over 500 other registry preferences documented in the Preference Reference . Use the Wizard or manual/scripted methods to customer the product.

Terminal

Licensing¶

Only licensed users should have access to the virtual Acrobat instance. For more information, refer to the Software license terms.

VMWare deployments support the following licensing options:

  • Serial numbers

  • Named user licensing

  • Feature restricted licensing

Named user licensing¶

Named user licensing (NUL) is the preferred activation method.

DC products support NUL and user management via the Admin Console. The Console supports managing single user and group entitlements for all Adobe products as well as Single Sign-On. It also provides tools for managing software, users, and devices and support multiple ID types. With NUL, end users simply “activate” Acrobat by logging in to any VM or machine. License-related data is saved in the <user>/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/ folder which is synced to the VM on login.

Note

Adobe Acrobat Terminal Server

Trial installs and the Classic track do not support named user licensing.

Image-based deployment¶

  1. Set up profile redirection. User profile data in <user>/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/ as well as the HKCU hive must sync to the VM instance on which the user logs in. Admins should ensure that such data is saved on user logout or disconnect. Some systems provide VM tools; for example, Citrix (Citrix Profile Management) and VMware Horizon (View Personal Management). At a minimum, sync the following:

Installing

  • Folders

    • C:Users<User>AppDataRoamingAdobeOOBE

    • C:Users<User>AppDataRoamingAdobeSLData

    • C:Users<User>AppDataRoamingAdobeAdobe User Info

  • HKCUSoftware registries:

    • Adobe

    • MicrosoftInternet ExplorerToolbarWebBrowser{47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93}

    • MicrosoftInternet ExplorerMenuExt

    • Wow6432NodeGoogleChromeExtensionsefaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj

    • Wow6432NodeGoogleChromeNativeMessagingHostscom.adobe.acrobat.chrome_webcapture

  1. Log in to master image.

  2. (Optional) Customize the installer with the Customization Wizard.

  3. Install Acrobat on the master image by calling the default exe or the one you modified with the Wizard. Use the following command:

  1. Verify the following registry keys are present and the string (REG_SZ) values are 1 on the master image. If not, create the key and set the value as 1.

  1. If you are using a Federated ID or connectors (like Dropbox), enable third party cookies:

    1. Choose Internet Explorer > Settings > Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced.

    2. For First-party cookies, choose Accept.

    3. For Third-party cookies, choose Accept.

  1. Shut down the master image.

  2. Take a snapshot of the master image.

  3. Update all VM desktops with the new snapshot.

Note

Unlike serialized deployments, do not launch Acrobat on the master image.

Serialized deployments¶

Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro On Terminal Server

Note

On November 30, 2019, some customers may see their serial numbers expire. To avoid interruption and to access the latest versions of the apps, migrate to named user licensing or update your serial number.

To image a machine with Acrobat, first generate a prov.xml file on an online machine and then create a permanent offline exception that is not machine specific. Note the following:

  • Supported for volume licenses only.

  • Acrobat need not be installed.

  • The target machine must be online.

Steps:

  1. Download the latest Adobe Provisioning Toolkit Enterprise Edition.

  2. Open an elevated prompt (run as administrator).

  3. Generate a prov.xml file on any machine connected to the internet using the following APTEE tool command line with the following options:

    • serial: The serial number

    • regsuppress=ss: Optional (but recommended); suppresses registration

    • eulasuppress: Optional; suppresses the EULA prompt

    • locales: Optional; specify from the limited list of locales in the formal xx_XX or ALL

    • provfile: Optional; path of the folder where prov.xml is created. If this parameter is not specified, prov.xml is created in the folder in which APTEE resides.

    • LEID:

      • DC Continuous Track: V7{}AcrobatCont-12-Win-GM

      • Classic Track 2020: V7{}AcrobatESR-20-Win-GM

      • Classic Track 2017: V7{}AcrobatESR-17-Win-GM

      • Classic Track 2015: V7{}AcrobatESR-12-Win-GM

  1. Install Acrobat on the master image.

  2. On the master image, copy the prov.xml file created above.

  3. Serialize and activate Acrobat using the following APTEE tool command line:

  1. For Acrobat Classic 2020 deployments, create and set IsAMTEnforced to 1.

  1. Launch Acrobat once for about a minute and close.

Note

Granting an offline exception using the Customization Wizard for an imaged OS deployment method is not supported. Use the PRTK tool.

Feature Restricted Licensing¶

Acrobat supports Feature Restricted Connected and Offline Licensing (FRL) in most virtual environments, including Citrix, VMWare, RDS/WTS, and App-V. Use this package type for end-users who:

  • Cannot adopt named user licensing since they are not allowed to use online services.

  • The users are periodically connected to the Internet (FRL connected).

  • Restricted environment with no internet (FRL offline).

Support is limited to:

  • FRL offline

These high level steps do not supersede the details on the FRL page or the deployment steps below, but in general, use the Admin Console to create an FRL-enabled Acrobat package:

  • Create license-only package from the Admin Console and deploy Acrobat from a standalone installer, OR

  • Create an FRL package that embeds Acrobat.

Then, deploy as usual:

  1. (Optional) Customize the installer with the Customization Wizard.

  2. Log in to the master image.

  3. Install the package on the master image. If you have created a license-only package, first run the Acrobat installer followed by the license-only package.

  4. Shut down the master image.

  5. Take a snapshot of the master image, and update all VM desktops.

Troubleshooting steps:

  • Verify that FRL package is applied properly on the master image.

  • Validate that ASNP, Certificates and Operating Configuration folders are present at C:ProgramDataAdobe<folder> on the master image.

  • If present, remove HKLMSOFTWAREWOW6432NodeAdobeAdobeAcrobatDCActivationIsAMTEnforced.

Shared Device Licensing¶

Acrobat does not support Shared Device Licensing (SDL) in virtual environments.

However, SDL may prove useful to you in other business contexts. SDL is a licensing model to deploy and manage Adobe applications in labs and shared device setups, where multiple users use the devices and applications. The software license is assigned to a device or computer instead of an individual. SDL is ideal for computers in labs or classrooms, but is not designed for use on machines used by dedicated users. For dedicated users, we recommend you deploy named-user licenses. For more detail, see https://helpx.adobe.com/enterprise/using/sdl-deployment-guide.html

VMWare deployment¶

Note that VDI’s can be persistent or non-persistent for both serialized and NUL installs.

Parent image update¶

  1. Update the application on the parent machine.

  2. Open a prompt as an administrator.

  3. Enter RUN‐>IPCONFIG/RELEASE

  4. Shut down the parent machine.

  5. Prepare the snapshot.

Virtual desktop update¶

  1. Login to the Composer Server.

  2. Open the Horizon 6 administrator console.

  3. Select Catalog.

  4. Go to Desktop Pools.

  5. Select an option from the pool.

  6. Double click the configuration that you need to update with the latest snapshot.

  7. Select View Composer > Recompose.

  8. Select the snapshot.

  9. Select Force user to log off or your desired setting.

  10. Choose Next.

  11. Choose Finish.

Known Issues¶

  • Acrobat/Reader cursors appears blurred.

  • On touch devices, zoom and scroll touch gestures do not work. The issue is a general framework issue seen for all applications like Acrobat and Reader, including Microsoft Excel.

  • Some shortcuts with a combination of shift+ctrl do not work in Chrome. For example, using Shift+Ctrl+T to insert a blank page in existing document does not work on Chrome for VMware Horizon 6.2. The command is intercepted by Chrome and opens the last closed tab. The same is true for Shift+ctrl+J (to cascade windows) as well. For more details, see https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1011705.

Known issues common to virtual installs¶

Installing Adobe Acrobat Dc

  • Push notifications to specific users are unsupported.

  • If users sign in on both a virtual environment and a physical machine, then they may be randomly signed out from a physical machine. This is because users can activate Acrobat on multiple virtual machines while only two activations are allowed per user. The current implementation provides an over activation workflow for these environments which does not force users to see or interact with any dialogs.

  • Volume licenses are deleted when multiple users launch the product simultaneously before it is activated.

  • In the Help menu, signed-in users are not shown as signed-in on subsequent sessions.

  • Users may appear as signed-in on the Help menu even if they are signed out from the Creative Cloud Desktop application or signed out of the current session.

  • Signing in with IDs having no subscriptions may result in random failures.

Why do I see an error that my license is expired or not activated?

Users must launch Acrobat prior to using “Print to PDF”, the Microsoft Office Acrobat plugin, or any other PDF Maker features.

Adobe Acrobat Terminal Server Licensing

Tested environments¶

Adobe has validated all of the Acrobat family of products in a Windows Terminal Services environment.

The environments used for validation were set up in the following ways:

Installing Adobe Acrobat Pro On Terminal Server Configuration

  • Acrobat 11.0:

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition 64-bit.
    • Client operating systems: Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit), and Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit).
    • Standard and administrator user profiles were set up via Active Directory.

  • Acrobat 10.0:

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition 64-bit.
    • Client operating systems: Windows XP Professional SP3, Windows Vista SP2 and Windows 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit).
    • Standard/Administrator user profiles were set up via Active Directory.

  • Acrobat 9:

    • The WTS environment used Remote Desktop Client version 6.0.2448.0 with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2 and version 5.1.2600.2180 with Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2.
    • Client operating systems tested were Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 and above, and Windows Vista Professional with and without Service Pack 1.
    • A user account was set up using a Microsoft Active Directory domain user group. Note The Anonymous User profile was not tested.
    • The user account was set up on the server with a restricted Common User profile, with Read, Read and Execute, and List Folder Contents permissions. These permissions enable the user to operate the computer and save documents; they do not allow the user to install programs or make changes to the system files or settings.
    • The server machine was running Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 and 2007, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x and 7.0, Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003, Lotus Notes 7.0 and 8.0, and McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.5.