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Craig Pedigo
Participant
October 6, 2026
Question

Why does the admin console now download an EXE instead of directly download Zipped packages?

  • October 6, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 39 views

Until recently, after creating a package for any Cloud app in the admin console, when it was ready to download it prompted to save the package zip file. Now it downloads an exe that you have to download and execute in order to download the same zip files it did in the past. Why introduce an unnecessary step that we have to go through all sorts of loops in order to run an exe on a hardened server? Makes no sense to me. Yes, I do see that it performs a checksum comparison, but again, it  just adds more steps to the download process and slows everything down. This was a bad idea.

    3 replies

    Community Manager
    Tariq Ahmad DarCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 7, 2026

    Hi ​@Craig Pedigo, 

    Thanks for reaching out. 
    The exe is not the installer, it is a small downloader meant to run once on your admin machine, the one you used to create the package, which already has internet access. Running it fetches the actual installer ZIP, the same file you got directly before. Once you have that ZIP, everything downstream, including deploying to a hardened or locked down machine, works exactly as it did previously, that machine never needs to run the downloader itself. The extra step is only on the admin side during package creation, not on the systems you are deploying to. 

    So to summarize it, exe is a downloader which is responsible for downloading the package zip, which should be done on admin machine and not during install.
    So, instead of directly downloading the package after creation from Admin console, it is now a 2 step process:

    • Create package and download downloader exe
    • Launch downloader exe to download the package zip file

    Let us know if you have further questions.

    Thanks,
    Tariq Ahmad



    •  
    kglad
    Community Expert
    kgladCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2026

    post this in the enterprise & teams forum, https://community.adobe.com/questions-624

     

    p.s. change your title to avoid a duplicate message problem.

    Community Manager
    AnkitVermaCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    October 6, 2026

    Hi ​@Craig Pedigo,

    Thanks for raising this. I can see how an extra .exe becomes a real headache on a hardened server.

    To dig into this on our side, could you please share a few details:

    1. The package type you're creating (Named User, FRL, or Shared Device) and the platform.

    2. When you first noticed the .exe.

    3. When the last plain .zip download worked for you.

    4. The name of the .exe you get, or a screenshot of the download prompt if that's easier (please blur any org or user details).

    Thanks,
    ^AV

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