Adobe creative cloud auto-update has broken Lightroom Classic on VM

Question

I'm currently running a VM of a Case Sensitive Mac OSX on top of a Case None Sensitive Mac.
Adobe Creative Cloud is completely broken on VM in the last version and can't be opened. Besides this, Adobe CC automatically update and there's no way to circumvent this since Adobe CC is completely integrated to all other adobe programs. Small outline of the current setup:

- Main machine: Macbook Pro 2021, 14 inch, M1 chip, 32GB RAM, OSX - Ventura 13.3.1, operating system itself set up as case insensitive due to company role of the laptop.
- VM: Virtualized through Parallels 18.2.0
- VM: OSX 13.2, Apple M1 Pro (Virtual), 16GB RAM (Virtual), case sensitive due to Adobe

I'm currently trying to upgrade my OS to see if that makes any difference, who knows.
As it stands currently, the moment LR Classic is opened the VM completely shuts down and restarts.
I've tried installing a previous version of LR Classic, however, this still automatically updates Adobe CC, which in turn crashes the full VM again.

As Adobe pushes the upgrade for CC automatically, there's currently no way to run ANY LR Classic on a virtualized OSX. Either Adobe needs to allow Adobe CC to run behind, or needs to make sure Adobe CC can run in a virulized environment.

johnrellis · Answer

I too can't run the Creative Cloud Desktop app in a Mac OS 13.3.1 guest on a Parallels 18.2.0 / Mac OS 13.3.1 / Apple Silicon host. When I try to launch it from Launchpad or the menu bar, a Creative Cloud process starts, but the app window never appears.

However, I'm able to run Lightroom Classic 12.3 by copying it from /Applications/Adobe Lightroom Classic/ on the host to the guest.

"As it stands currently, the moment LR Classic is opened the VM completely shuts down and restarts."

That's clearly a bug in Parallels -- an app should never be able to cause a virtual machine to crash / shutdown. Have you reported it to Parallels?

On Apple Silicon hosts, Parallels has to use Apple's virtualization framework to run Mac OS guests. It seems that framework is very limited in capabilities (typical Apple):

https://kb.parallels.com/125561/

Given the rudimentary state of Parallels support for running Mac OS guests on Apple Silicon, I'd bet that the problem with running the Creative Cloud Desktop app is a bug in Parallels rather than the app.

"Besides this, Adobe CC automatically update and there's no way to circumvent this since"

You can disable auto-updates of the Creative Cloud Desktop app via the setting Preferences > General > Automatically Keep Creative Cloud Up To Date.

"make sure Adobe CC can run in a virulized environment."

I frequently run the Creative Cloud, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop on a Windows 11 ARM guest on a Parallels / Apple Silicon host, and it runs fine. There was a server-side bug recently installing LR 12.3, but that got fixed fairly quickly. The problem with Creative Cloud Desktop app seems specific to Mac OS guests on Apple Silicon hosts.

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