Installing InDesign on Sonoma (Feb 2024)

[RATS]

Hi out there

I'm having a really bad experience, as they like to call any interaction in IT these days, with Adobe right now.

Issue: We upgraded our M1's to Sonoma, and while all is fine on the machines that had the apps installed before the upgrade, I cannot install basically any desktop app (except RAW) on the other machines.
Now I'm reading and reading and researching through the internet, and people say that all the issues have been solved, which, yay! great! except...

If I open the CC on Web it tells me the computer is able to install and run InDesign. But then it directs me to the desktop CC app and this one tells me that there's no apps for me.

This is not just a "ah, that sucks" moment. We're paying a sh!tton of money that is paid for a service not delivered and inconclusive information. I will not go and read the system requirements of every app if the site of the app on CC tells me that it will work. Why does the website of InDesign specifically tell me that it will install/run and then it doesn't?

/rant

Now; Does anyone have a workaround for installing, because my client definitely NEEDS InDesign on their machine.

[Steve Werner]

If you have M1 Macs, and you have upgraded to Sonoma, make sure you're at the latest update 14.3.1.

You might try logging out from the Creative Cloud app, reboot your computer, and log in again and see if you now see it.

If you still don't see it, refer to this help file:

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/creative-cloud-updates.html

[RATS]

Thank you for answering.

We have the last version (14.3.1) and already logged out and even de- and re-installed (and cleaned out) the entire CC thing, complete with several reboots and re-logins. CC is also the latest version.

[BobLevine]

Are the machines logged into the correct Adobe account via the CC Desktop App? This doesn't sound like it's just InDesign; it sounds more like overall problem if you can't install anything else.

[RATS]

Thank you for answering.
Yes, the account with which the machines are logged in is in each case the correct one. We even logged out, de-installed the whole Adobe thing, rebooted, cleaned all out, rebooted again, then downloaded the entire CC thing again, re-installed and re-logged in.

It's not just an InDesign issue, that's true, but I really only need InDesign right now, so I can live with spending a few days on finding a solution for the rest.

[BobLevine]

I suspect once you get to the bottom of the problem, everything will be fine. How much RAM do those machines have? Do they all have admin rights? I wonder if it might be a permissions issue somewhere. 

[RATS]

RAM is apparently not the issue, and the admin rights aren't as well. It's purely evil, that's all I know.

I was able to now install InDesign 2024 via the adminconsole package service. It's working just fine, but Cloud still shows that I can't have any apps. Welp, at least I got the InDesign running.

[RATS]

Solved the problem with InDesign by downloading and installing it via adminconsole package. That seems to do the trick.

Cloud still shows me that I cannot have any desktop apps, but InDesign, Bridge and one more installed just fine and are working.
If anyone is encountering the same issue: open the Packeges page of the admin console, download the package directly on the machine you need it and install. (Yes, you will need a login for the console as well as admin rights on the machine.)

I really hope Adobe AND Apple get their sh*t together pretty quickly, 'cause this is not a solution if you have more than a handful of devices, really.

[BobLevine]

If this were a widespread issue we'd be seeing many reports of it. Are these machines imaged?

[leo.r]

Solved the problem with InDesign by downloading and installing it via adminconsole package. That seems to do the trick.

By @RATS

Is it possible that you're deploying a Creative Cloud for Teams (or Enterprise) license? I don't know much about it but a brief search for the "adminconsole package" indicates that it's intended for these kind of licenses.

[Steve Werner]

Yes, working with Teams or Enterprise will probably have different ways of doing things.

If that is the case, it's important to report that when you post a problem. Otherwise, there is no way we who are trying to help will know. The great majority of us are NOT on Teams or Enterprise.

[RATS]

Oh, I apologize for that, it simply went over my head.

Yes, we apparently do have enterprise, and are "managing" stuff via the admin console. But since everything has to be done by hand on the actual machine, I just seem to have blocked that out.

I apologize again.

[Steve Werner]

No problem, live and learn!