Applications for Acrobat 2017 Pro/Standard licenses

[nalinih]

(there was already a post for 'Acrobat 2017 Pro/Std license setup' but was closed, so submitting a new post)

'Installed Application' list has only one application Acrobat 2017 Unspecified.

1. We have Acrobat 2017 Pro as well as Acrobat 2017 Standard, so which application/s to use in Applications Tab?

2. In the absence of  of Edition description, if 'Acrobat 2017 Unspecified.' is used for both the licenses,  which order should be licenses be set in the Application Properties --> Licenses Tab?

3. Could the above step result in incorrect shortfall/availability (as the Edition can not be differentiated)? If yes, what is the best way to get accurate usage of each product (Acrobat 2017 Pro/Std).

Thanks

[Kevin_Hou]

Hi @nalinih 

To 'automatic' differentiate Acrobat DC 2017 Std vs Pro, you would like to use Flexera agent to achieve that. (The version after 2018 R2+) will have the feature to capture the unique 'edition information' via WMI evidence. Something similar to use Flexera agent for SQL Server, see below screenshots:

If you are using other party of inventory tool then it's likely return the 'normal' add-remove-program/MSI information via 'installer evidence which the string value created by Adobe vendor doesn't expose the 'edition' information to further differentiate editions.  In that case unfortunately is not automatic process, I can think of is getting the user from machines installed 'unspecific' and let user confirm the edition. Then based on the result , a manual license location (assuming you have Lic for Std and Lic for Pro) either from UI or business adapter can be considered.

HTH

Cheers

Kevin

[bmaudlin]

Hi @nalinih, @Kevin_Hou

This response is based on that the Flexera agent 2018R1 release or later is deployed on your estate.

I am seeing similar behaviour in my estate, that a number of Acrobat products are showing as Unspecified which is referenced under case: 01959005. My understanding is that  an enhancement (IOJ-1987259) has been raised to correct this. 

Basically with Acrobat - the .exe and msi's are the same for Standard/Pro and Adobe have adopted SWIDTags to identify the different editions. The issue with FNMS being that the SWIDTags have not been updated in the ARL for the newer editions and the enhancement request will fix that outstanding issue.

If an alternative inventory source is being used, then it's unlikely you'll be able to return the edition information. 

Ben

[nalinih]

Kevin and Ben,

Appreciate your responses.

We are not using FlexNet Agent; inventory for end users is  being imported from a different source.

Will wait for the enhancement : IOJ-1987259

Thanks

[mrichardson]

Hi @nalinih,

The enhancement Ben mentions is to update the Flexnet Agent to use the latest SWID tags.  In order to benefit from this, you would need to roll out the agent.

@bmaudlin with regards the enhancement, it has been prioritised and involves product changes and content changes and those are both underway so we should see a resolution soon for you!

[nalinih]

So, is there a solution/enhancement for those not using Agent?

[mrichardson]

Unfortunately not, the issue is that in order to identify the edition, we have to actually read the contents of the SWID file to get the edition data and whereas the Flexnet Agent does read the contents (and has for some time), most other sources like SCCM don't; all they do is identify that the SWID file exists.

So unless you're using a data source that reads the contents of the file that we can import into FNMS there isn't another option apart from using the agent if you want to identify the edition.

[dbeckner]

@mrichardson We have installed the agent in our lab on a couple workstations that have Adobe Acrobat DC (2020) Pro on them and the agent is not reporting the edition. 

[JohnSorensenDK]

@dbeckner 

Please raise a support case on this issue, and please make sure to upload the relevant SWID tag files from your installation of it. (I don't know if this has been fixed for the Adobe Acrobat DC 2020 Pro version yet...)

Thanks,

[EHacking]

@kevinhou , the agent is NOT recognizing the difference between Standard and Pro. I have the agent (2019 R2 14.10.22) and also have Acrobat 2017 Pro installed. It does not recognize this on my system. See case 01908274 which is marked as an Enhancement. Should be a bug.