Deployment guide for IT

Before you roll out

1. Check the PCs meet the system requirements and can reach the licence server.
2. Download the package and verify its SHA-256 checksum before it goes into your distribution share.
3. Pilot on one PC first. The installer does not check the key; a wrong key installs “successfully” and then every PC opens on the activation screen. Start the app once on the pilot PC and confirm Settings ▸ Licence shows your organisation.
4. Make sure you have enough seats for every target PC — each one takes a seat the first time the app starts.

Choosing a package

Every format comes for x64 and ARM64. ARM PCs (Surface Pro with Snapdragon, for example) need the ARM64 package and Windows 11.

Silent setup (.exe)

Silent, machine-wide install with the key applied:

PDF-Studio-Setup-1.3.0-x64.exe /S /LICENSE=PDFS1.eyJ2Ijox...

Setup makes PDF Studio the machine-wide default app for PDF files; a user who chose another app in Windows Settings keeps that choice. If PDF Studio is running, a silent install closes it automatically (anything unsaved is lost); an interactive install asks first.

Exit codes

The key in a file instead of on the command line

If a long command line is awkward — or you’d rather the key didn’t appear in your deployment tool’s logs — put the key file beside the setup and name it license.key. It is copied automatically when setup runs without /LICENSE=.

\\fileserver\deploy\pdfstudio\PDF-Studio-Setup-1.3.0-x64.exe
\\fileserver\deploy\pdfstudio\license.key

MSI package

Silent machine-wide install, with a log:

msiexec /i "PDF-Studio-1.3.0-x64.msi" /qn /norestart /l*v "%TEMP%\pdfstudio-install.log"

• The MSI doesn’t carry the key. Distribute the key file using one of the methods in the next section.
• The UpgradeCode is fixed across releases, so installing a newer MSI upgrades the old one in place.
• Installs to C:\Program Files\PDF Studio\ and adds “PDF Studio by ElixTechs” shortcuts for all users (“PDF Studio by NMTeches” in 1.2.0 and earlier), and makes PDF Studio the machine-wide default app for PDF files.
• The MSI won’t install over a copy the setup installed: msiexec fails with error 1603 and the message “PDF Studio is already installed on this PC by its setup program…”.

Distributing the key

A machine-wide key is a single text file: %ProgramData%\PDF Studio\license.key . Every user on the PC can read it, only administrators can write it, and it takes precedence over any key a user entered in the app.

A PowerShell script running as SYSTEM (Intune, Configuration Manager or a scheduled task):

$folder = Join-Path $env:ProgramData 'PDF Studio'
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $folder | Out-Null
$key = 'PDFS1.eyJ2Ijox...'   # the whole key, on one line
[System.IO.File]::WriteAllText((Join-Path $folder 'license.key'), $key)

Microsoft Intune

Win32 app (recommended)

1. Put the setup in a folder and wrap it as .intunewin with the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool.
2. Apps ▸ Windows ▸ Add ▸ Windows app (Win32), with these values:

MSI line-of-business app

Upload the MSI as a line-of-business app, and add the key script above under Devices ▸ Scripts, running as system, assigned to the same group.

Group Policy

1. Put the MSI on a share readable by Domain Computers, for example \\fileserver\deploy\pdfstudio\.
2. In a GPO linked to the computers: Computer Configuration ▸ Policies ▸ Software Settings ▸ Software installation ▸ New ▸ Package, choose the MSI by its UNC path, then Assigned.
3. For the key: Computer Configuration ▸ Preferences ▸ Windows Settings ▸ Files ▸ New ▸ File
   • Action: Replace
   • Source: \\fileserver\deploy\pdfstudio\license.key
   • Destination: %CommonAppDataDir%\PDF Studio\license.key
4. The software installs at the computer’s next restart.

Configuration Manager

1. Software Library ▸ Applications ▸ Create Application, and choose Windows Installer (*.msi) — detection is filled in from the MSI.
2. Installation program: msiexec /i "PDF-Studio-1.3.0-x64.msi" /qn /norestart
3. Add a script deployment type or package that runs the key script as system, and make it a dependency or deploy it to the same collection.

Prefer the setup? Use a Script Installer deployment type with PDF-Studio-Setup-1.3.0-x64.exe /S /LICENSE=... and the file detection rule from the Intune section.

Portable version

• Unzip into any folder the user can write to, and run PDF Studio.exe.
• The user enters the key in the app, and it is saved for that user only. If %ProgramData%\PDF Studio\license.key exists on the PC, the portable version uses it too.
• No shortcuts are added, it isn’t registered as a PDF editor, and it doesn’t appear in Apps and features.

Upgrading

• Install the new version in the same format over the old one — with the same commands. There’s no need to remove the old version first, and 1.0.x copies upgrade to 1.1.x the same way.
• The setup silently removes the earlier copy, then installs into the same folder, so Apps keeps one entry. The MSI upgrades an MSI copy in place.
• The activation, key, settings, signatures and installed add-ons all stay, and no extra seat is used.
• The machine-wide files license.key, activation.lease and licence-server.txt in %ProgramData%\PDF Studio\ stay through an upgrade with either format.
• The setup and the MSI don’t install over each other (see choosing a package). To switch formats, uninstall the current copy first — and uninstalling the setup’s copy deletes license.key, so deploy the key again after installing the MSI.
• If the app is running, a silent setup closes it automatically. Close the app on the PCs before upgrading if you can, or schedule it outside working hours.
• Follow the release notes to see what changed in each version.

Removing

• Removing the setup deletes %ProgramData%\PDF Studio\license.key. With the MSI, delete it yourself if needed.
• Removing either format deletes the shortcuts and the PDF default it set. The setup’s uninstaller deletes only the files the setup installed, and closes the app first if it is running.
• User data in %APPDATA%\PDF Studio\ (settings, signatures, history, add-ons and AI packs) is not deleted automatically.
• Removing the app does not free its seat. Before removing it, choose Settings ▸ Licence ▸ Release this PC's seat (1.0.4 and later). Send us the IDs of retired PCs to free their seats — see moving a licence.

Paths and files