New Command Line Tool for Plugin Installation Replaces ExManCmd

ExManCmd to be replaced by the Unified Plugin Installer Agent (UPIA)

If you develop or install plugins or extensions for Creative Cloud products and you regularly use ExManCmd to install plugins or extensions, be sure to read the following update.

In June of 2021, version 5.5 of the Creative Cloud Desktop app (CCD) will roll out. CCD 5.5 will include a new command line tool for plugin installation: the Unified Plugin Installer Agent (UPIA). UPIA will replace ExManCmd, which will be deprecated and phased out. UPIA version 1.2 can install CEP plugins, and a future version of UPIA will be able to install UXP plugins from the command line (the timing of UXP installation from the command line is still TBD).

︎

︎

For Most Users, No Action is Necessary

UPIA will be automatically installed with CCD 5.5, so no action will be necessary for most users. However, if you are a regular user of the ExManCmd tool, or you’re an Adobe Admin who deploys using the Admin Console, please read on for a few important changes.

Terminology

First some definitions (in alphabetical order):

CEP (Common Extensibility Platform) extensions have a ZXP file format.

Newer UXP-based plugins developed using the Unified Extensibility Platform, use a .CCX file format (previously .XDX for Adobe XD).

Current Installation Methods

UXP-based plugins cannot be installed using ExManCmd or UPIA 1.2. UXP plugins are typically installed via double-clicking the .CCX file, or through the Creative Cloud Desktop App’s Manage tab.

https://gist.github.com/ErinFinnegan/75ce3fa3b902793df120adfb3df0a802#file-CurrentInstallTable-md

Updating from ExManCmd 7.10 to 7.11.1

As we announced earlier this year, because of a change in the location and name of the database file, ExManCmd 7.11 is not backwards compatible with ExManCmd 7.10. A one-time database migration should be triggered the first time you install Creative Cloud Desktop 5.3, or the first time you run ExManCmd 7.11. (There is no way to manually trigger this migration.) In March of 2021, a small update to ExManCmd added Apple silicon compatibility and rolled back the Creative Cloud Desktop app dependency. More information on the 7.11.1 release is available in this blog article.

UPIA will be backward compatible with ExManCmd 7.11 but not with older versions of ExManCmd.

ExManCmd will not be forward-compatible with the Creative Cloud app versions to be released at or around Adobe MAX in October.

https://gist.github.com/ErinFinnegan/0d926104c2a24b2ff84d0c8a5d2f00ce#file-ExManUPIAsupport-md

Migrating from ExManCMD to UPIA

If you currently invoke ExManCmd in an automated process by running a command like ./ExManCmd — install you’ll need to update your command to ./UnifiedPluginInstallerAgent — install.

Installation File Paths

When we updated from ExManCmd 7.10 to 7.11, the installation path and log file locations changed:

ExManCmd 7.10 log paths:

Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Extension Manager CC\Log\

macOS: /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Extension Manager CC/Log/

ExManCmd 7.11 log paths:

Windows: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\UPI\Log\

macOS: /Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/UPI/Log/

UPIA installation paths

If you’ve updated to Creative Cloud Desktop app 5.3+, you’ll see that UPIA is already installed at the path above. However, the UPIA command line tool will not be released until CCD 5.5 rolls out.

Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Desktop Common\RemoteComponents\UPI\UnifiedPluginInstallerAgent

macOS: /Library/Application\ Support/Adobe/Adobe\ Desktop\ Common/RemoteComponents/UPI/UnifiedPluginInstallerAgent/UnifiedPluginInstallerAgent.app

UPIA roll out timing

The Creative Cloud Desktop app does not roll out to all users simultaneously. Individual Creative Cloud subscribers can expect to get CCD 5.5. between June 14th and 24th. Enterprise users will have access on June 28th.

You can check your version of the Creative Cloud Desktop app by going to the Creative Cloud menu and selecting “About Creative Cloud”.

A Detailed List of ExManCmd versus UPIA Commands

ExManCmd 7.11 also saw a deprecation of some functionality. Most users only used install and remove. Below, you can read the full list of command changes.

Adapted from: https://helpx.adobe.com/extension-manager/using/command-line.html

https://gist.github.com/ErinFinnegan/c3081bb4a66bf88f8e341149516fb2f2#file-ExManToUPIA-md

Enterprise Admin Notes

Did you know you can package and install extensions using the Admin Console? If you work at a large Enterprise company, please let your Adobe Admin know about this option. (Here’s a helpx article about finding your Admin.)

Enterprise Admins should note the file path changes above, as well as the change from ExManCmd to UPIA going forward.

Windows ARM and Apple silicon updates are rolling out for different Creative Cloud apps at different times throughout 2021. Please subscribe to the Adobe Tech Blog, our Creative Cloud developer newsletter, or follow this Github repo to stay up to date.

If You Don’t Install The Creative Cloud Desktop App

A subset of Creative Cloud users and administrators don’t install or use the Creative Cloud Desktop app, for a variety of reasons and special circumstances. This is sometimes referred to as Feature Restricted Licensing (FRL).

For most FRL environments, UPIA will be available via the Admin Console.

If you use something other than Named User deployments, such as “serialized” installation, or “device-based” deployment, you may continue to use ExManCmd for the time being, but we encourage you to migrate your installation process to UPIA as soon as possible. Creative Cloud 2022 apps will no longer support ExManCmd installation. Serialized deployments will not be supported by UPIA, and Adobe Admins in those environments are strongly encouraged to migrate to Named User deployments.

When will ExManCmd be deprecated?

ExManCmd will continue to be hosted on the web here to support customers who want to use it. However, we will no longer be providing any new updates or support any bug fixes. After the use of of ExManCmd declines, the download links will be removed.

Third Party Installers

Many Creative Cloud plugin users make use of third party installation tools like Anastasiy’s Extension Manager, or ZXPInstaller. Anastasiy has plans to update his Extension Manager to continue to be compatible with UPIA.

ZXPInstaller is still using ExManCmd 7.5, and there are no plans to update it going forward. Mixing and matching older ExManCmd versions may eventually cause a database conflict. Please see this previous article for ExManCmd database locations.

Going forward, ZXPInstaller and ExManCmd will not be able to install plugins for newer Creative Cloud apps, starting with those to be released at or around Adobe MAX in October.

In the past, third party developers have been allowed to include a copy of ExManCmd within their apps. The engineering team asks that, going forward, developers please refrain from packaging UPIA within their apps, in order to ensure that users stay up to date with the latest version of the installer.

Where to Get Help

If, as these changes roll out, you find something isn’t working as expected, here’s how to reach out to us:

Plugin/Extension Users: Email: asupport@adobe.com Plugin/Extension Developers: Email: ccintrev@adobe.com

Forum Help:

Enterprise Customers using Plugins/Extensions:

How to Stay Up to Date

Sign up for our Creative Cloud Developer Newsletter , subscribe to Creative Cloud content on the Adobe Tech blog , participate in our new developer forums , and sign up for prereleases of products you develop for.