The upgraded Roster Sync is a new capability designed specifically for K12 districts in the United States. It works alongside your existing user provisioning methods (For example, Google Sync, Azure Sync, User Sync Tool, or manual CSV upload) to enhance how User Groups and licenses are managed. This approach allows you to maintain your current identity provider processes while enhancing them with metadata and user grouping capabilities, simplifying administrative tasks, and delivering more personalized learning experiences.
Key terminology
User Sync: Service to automate the user management for your Admin Console directory. Examples: Azure AD Sync, Google Federation Sync, and User Sync Tool.
Roster Sync: Service to allow academic roster sharing for your Admin Console.
User Group: A collection of users who are given a shared set of permissions.
Synced Group: A User Group that is externally managed via User Sync or Roster Sync.
Roster Sync in 2025 |
Old Roster Sync solution |
|
Flexibility |
Districts use their primary Identity provider sync for User Sync. Additionally, use Roster Sync to enable metadata sharing with Adobe. |
Districts must remove any existing user sync methods (For example, Google, and Microsoft AD) to set up Roster Sync. |
Account Syncing |
Roster sync does not sync accounts. Account syncing is done through User Sync from Google, Microsoft, User Sync Tool, and CSV uploads. |
Roster Sync uses information from your district portal to manage accounts in the Adobe Admin console. |
License Management |
Users are added to synced groups based on the grouping rule you select. You control the Product Profile(s) assigned to the roster sync groups. |
All users from your roster are placed in one Product Profile managed by the Adobe roster service. |
User Management |
You can choose to place all roster sync users in one User Group. You can also set a group by role, where you'll see the teacher, student, and “others” groups. You don’t have to manage non-teacher or non-student users manually. |
All users from your roster are placed in one Product Profile, and admins must create manually managed groups to navigate any missing users or license assignments. |
Product Profile |
You may assign a Product Profile with different enabled features for your synced groups from the roster. |
You don't have the flexibility on feature control for different groups of users from roster sync. |
Roster Sync uses the data in your Clever or ClassLink portal to create and maintain role-based User Groups within Adobe. Below is an overview of the data flow and the types of information that are synced:
Initiating the connection
Data types and how they are used
Storage and privacy
The flowchart below outlines the end-to-end setup of Roster Sync, highlighting the key checkpoints you’ll encounter—from claiming the Adobe Express offer to launching your first scheduled sync. Use it as a quick roadmap to see how each decision fits into the larger workflow. Refer back to this diagram whenever you need a high-level reminder of where you are in the process as you complete the roster sync configuration.
Before configuring Roster Sync for your K12 organization, ensure that the following requirements and prerequisites are met:
Adobe Admin Console access
You must have an Adobe Admin Console set up for your district. Either the free K12 Adobe Express offer or the purchased Adobe Creative Cloud licenses must be available in your Admin Console.
ClassLink or Clever admin permissions
In your ClassLink or Clever administration portal, you need the appropriate permissions to request the Adobe Roster Sync application (Adobe Express or Adobe Creative Cloud). This ensures that the Adobe integrations can be properly authorized to access your district’s roster data.
Request Adobe Apps in ClassLink or Clever
In your ClassLink or Clever administration portal, you must request access to Adobe Express and Creative Cloud (if desired) to begin sharing roster data to Adobe. Requesting access to Adobe Express is a prerequisite for sharing the Creative Cloud roster. Once the access is approved, please ensure you complete your sharing permission settings.
Federated directory with claimed domain
You should already have a federated directory configured in the Adobe Admin Console with claimed domains. This is necessary to ensure secure authentication and that users are recognized under the correct domain.
Before you begin configuring the new Roster Sync service in the Adobe Admin Console, ensuring your existing setup is ready is crucial. Follow the steps below to lay a proper foundation for smooth integration:
Remove any existing Edu roster sync
If you already have a Roster Sync configuration, remove the existing roster sync under Settings > Identity settings > Directories > Select a directory > Sync. Removing the sync does not remove users, they will remain in the Adobe Admin Console with their current product access.
Add or reconfigure your primary user sync
Under Settings > Federated Directory > Sync, re-add your primary Identity Provider (IdP) configuration, such as Google Sync or Microsoft Sync. This ensures that all updates from your institution’s directory (For example, new students and staff changes) reflect accurately in the Adobe Admin Console. Learn how to choose your user management strategy or identity sync configuration for more details.
Configure separate directories with each sync source
If your district has multiple directories with different Identity Providers—such as Google for teachers and Microsoft for students—complete all your directories individually with the User Sync in your Adobe Admin Console.
ClassLink or Clever SSO Fully Configured
Complete single-sign-on (SSO) setup with ClassLink or Clever—including any required identity-provider federation—before you start the roster-sync configuration. Read more about how to configure SSO for the district portal.
Confirm Domain Ownership
Make sure all relevant domains are claimed under each directory. Correctly claimed domains help ensure roster sync matches users to edu roster sync groups in the Adobe Admin Console
Claim the Adobe Express offer
Claim the free K12 Adobe Express in your Adobe Admin Console before connecting your Clever or ClassLink roster; having the offer in place ensures product profiles are ready for assignment as soon as roster sync runs
A product profile is a fundamental building block within the Adobe Admin Console that connects your users to the Adobe apps and services included in a purchased product. By configuring product profiles, you can assign the exact set of applications and services users need, ensuring they have the proper entitlements.
Navigate to your product
In the Adobe Admin Console, go to Products and select the available product for which you want to create a profile.
Create a New Profile
In the Product Profiles tab, select New Profile. Then, enter the Name, Display Name, and a short Description for the profile.
Configure User Notifications
Decide whether to Notify Users by Email when they are added to or removed from the product profile.
Enable or disable services
On the next screen, select which services within the product, such as Adobe Fonts, Firefly K12 Generative AI control, and Publishing, will be accessible to members of this product profile.
Save the Profile
Select Save to finalize your new product profile. Later, you can assign these product profiles to the roster sync groups in the Roster Sync configuration dialog box. You can adjust these profiles at any time under Products for each specific product.
Complete all the Desired Profiles
Create all required product profiles before you run roster sync—doing so ensures every user is immediately entitled to the right apps and features. We strongly recommend separate profiles for teachers and students so you can tailor access.
For example:
Teachers: “Adobe Express – Teachers” (Firefly ON, Publish Online ON, Adobe Fonts ON)
Students: “Adobe Express – Students” (Firefly OFF, Publish Online OFF, Adobe Fonts ON)
With distinct profiles, you can adjust permissions at any time without affecting the other group.
After completing these steps, you should have successfully set up product profiles to manage entitlements for your organization’s users. Learn more about managing product profiles.
After configuring your primary user sync method and setting up your product profiles, you’re ready to integrate Roster Sync. This process enables your district’s rosters (from Clever or ClassLink) to be automatically reflected in the Adobe Admin Console.
Access roster sync settings
In the Adobe Admin Console, navigate to Settings > Identity Settings > Roster Sync. Select Set up roster to begin the configuration process.
Select your portal
Choose whether you want to sync data from Clever or ClassLink, depending on which platform your district uses.
Authenticate with Clever or ClassLink
Sign in with the appropriate credentials to grant Adobe permission to access your district’s roster data. You’ll be guided to authorize the connection so that Adobe can securely fetch roster information.
Specify sync frequency
Decide how often you want Roster Sync to run (for example, manual, daily, and weekly). Adobe aims to complete the sync process within 24 hours. Typically, it runs for 30 to 300 minutes, depending on district size and server queue.
For most districts, daily sync is the safest default—new enrollments and role changes appear the next morning with no daytime disruption. If your roster is largely static after the first few weeks, weekly sync is sufficient and reduces non-essential traffic. You can always use Manual Sync (Queue Now) for urgent changes such as mid-semester transfers.
Choose how to construct synced groups
Select a grouping strategy based on roles or grouping all users in one group.
Group All in One
Group by Role
Users are automatically separated into three groups:
Choose this option when different roles need different feature access. For instance, you might enable publishing and sharing for teachers, restrict those features for students, and give “Others” all features.
You can change the grouping strategy later in Roster Sync settings; new groups will be generated automatically based on your updated selection.
Select the roster app source
Indicate which specific rosters from Clever or ClassLink you’ll use to populate these groups.
Preview groups and assign product profiles
Review a preview of the groups that will be created. Optionally, assign product profiles to these groups so that users immediately receive the correct entitlements once the sync completes.
Finalize and manage your roster sync
Complete the setup process. You can revisit the Roster Sync settings at any time to update configurations or view synced groups. The system runs automatically based on your chosen frequency. In the Roster Sync section of the Admin Console, you can monitor the Last Sync date, Next Sync schedule, and overall Status.
Initiate your sync by selecting Queue Now
Select Queue Now to manually trigger the roster sync. The job is added to the queue immediately—check Sync Status for progress and confirm completion by the updated timestamp.
Remove old Roster Sync v2 product profiles
Before you enable the new roster sync, delete any legacy Product Profiles titled Adobe Express Roster Sync [System] and Creative Cloud All Apps Edu Roster Sync [System] to prevent conflicts. To view the list of product profiles, go to the Products tab in the Adobe Admin Console and select Adobe Express for K12. Removing these legacy product profiles does not delete any user accounts; it simply prevents users from receiving duplicate product entitlements.
Select Stop Sync to pause the next scheduled run.
Any sync already in progress will continue until it finishes, and active jobs cannot be cancelled. Stopping a sync does not delete roster sync groups or alter your current configuration—it simply prevents the upcoming scheduled job from starting.
When you are ready to resume, select Restart Sync.
The regular schedule is reenabled, and the service will again pull roster data from Clever or ClassLink and update your rostersync groups at the next interval.
If you need to remove a previously configured Roster Sync (v3) from the Adobe Admin Console, follow the steps below. Keep in mind that once removed, any synced groups become editable but are no longer automatically updated from your district’s roster data.
In the Adobe Admin Console, navigate to Settings > Identity Settings > Roster Sync.
Select Remove.
Confirm that you want to remove the Roster Sync.
Removing the Roster Sync is useful when you need to perform a complete reconfiguration or when your institution no longer requires automated User Group creation from Clever or ClassLink data. However, be sure to plan accordingly if you rely on automatic updates.
Adobe Admin Console: Go to Identity > Identity Settings > Roster Sync to check whether your latest roster sync was successful and see when the next sync is scheduled.
Email Notifications: A success email confirms that the sync has run smoothly and that roster information is up to date. A failure email indicates an error, with details on how to resolve the issue.
When a sync issue arises—such as permissions misconfiguration or inability to retrieve data—admins receive an email containing details about the error. Refer to the following table for guidance:
Error Type |
Description |
Resolution |
Permissions not set up |
Permissions are incorrectly configured on the Roster server. Adobe is not authorized or is unable to pull user data from ClassLink/Clever. ClassLink or Clever returns non-500 Error. |
Fix permissions on the Roster server. |
Roster integration missing (for Creative Cloud) |
ClassLink or Clever Integration is missing for Adobe Creative Cloud. System Admins have removed the integration after the sync setup. |
Set up your roster source in Clever or Classlink for syncing. |
Roster integration missing (for Adobe Express) |
ClassLink or Clever Integration is missing for Adobe Express. System Admins have removed the integration after the sync setup. |
Set up your roster source in Clever or Classlink for syncing. |
District portal server error |
Clever or Classlink district portal is unavailable. Check the status of the portal on their website. |
Retry after some time as Clever or ClassLink is down. System Admins can see the status here: |
Recoverable system error |
Edu Roster ran into an error, it should resolve upon retry. |
Manually trigger roster sync in Adobe Admin Console. |
User missing in Adobe Admin Console |
Users are seen in the roster from Clever or Classlink, but no account exists in the Adobe Admin Console. |
Ensure accounts for users are created in Adobe Admin Console. These users will be placed in the roster synced group during the next sync. |
In most cases, adjusting permissions or correcting misconfigurations in your ClassLink/Clever portal will resolve the issue. You can then re-run the sync to confirm that the corrected settings allow data to flow properly into the Adobe Admin Console.
Once Roster Sync is enabled for your district, Adobe Express automatically creates classrooms for teachers based on roster data from Clever or ClassLink. This feature streamlines classroom setup and minimizes manual work for educators, enabling them to focus on instruction rather than administrative tasks.
Automatic classroom creation
Teachers see their classes and associated student rosters in Adobe Express without creating or importing them manually.
Roster management
Because classrooms are roster-synced, teachers cannot directly add or remove students for these auto-created classes. If a teacher notices a discrepancy, they can trigger a roster refresh (for example, after the district updates the student list in Clever or ClassLink and the next Adobe roster sync run completes).
Decoupling Classrooms
If your district removes Roster Sync, the existing auto-created classrooms become decoupled. These classrooms remain intact in Adobe Express, but they are no longer synced with the district’s roster data. Once decoupled, teachers can manually edit the student list going forward.
Learn more about Express Classrooms
Roster Sync updates can be scheduled based on your district’s needs, typically daily or weekly. Once triggered, the sync may take anywhere from 30 to 300 minutes, depending on district size and server load. For confirmation, you can view the Last Sync and Next Sync information in the Admin Console.
When users are synced, Roster Sync uses data from Clever or ClassLink (teacher and student role) to group them accordingly in Adobe and identify users of their role in the Adobe ecosystem. Admins can preview and customize how these groups are constructed before finalizing the roster sync setup.
When grouping users by role, only the Teacher and Student roles will be recognized. All other roles are automatically placed in an “Others” group. No Staff or Administrator roles are assigned in this grouping option.
Adobe stores education-related metadata (like grade level and class associations) securely and does not use it for marketing or profiling. District administrators can request to remove this data at any time, and it’s automatically deleted after two years of inactivity.
Data from Roster Sync is used to:
When the Roster Sync runs, Adobe retrieves:
Teachers see their roster-synced classes directly in Express without manually importing students. They can refresh rosters when new students join or current students leave. If Roster Sync is removed, these classrooms are “decoupled” (remain in Express but no longer auto-updated), allowing teachers to manually edit them as needed. Read more about Adobe Express Classroom.
This error typically indicates a mismatch between the product configuration in the Admin Console and the Roster Sync mapping. Verify that:
No. Removing an existing roster sync does not remove the users or immediately revoke their access. Your user entitlements remain intact, and you can reassign them as needed once the new Roster Sync is configured. There might be a gap if your newly selected User Sync hasn’t completed the sync yet. In this case, the roster sync will add these new users to the synced group in the next roster sync.
The system attempts to match the user’s email in the Adobe Admin Console. If a user isn't present in your primary identity sync (for example, Google or Microsoft), that user can’t be matched to be placed in a roster synced User Group, even if they appear in the roster data. To ensure full access, make sure all users exist in both your identity sync and roster sync systems.
For a successful match, email addresses in your primary user sync (Google, Microsoft, or other directories) must match those provided in Clever or ClassLink. These email domains must also be one of the claimed domains in your directories in Adobe Admin Console.
Selecting the best user management approach depends on how your institution handles authentication and directory services:
As users are created via CSV Upload or accounts created via the JIT process, these users will be added to the roster synced groups in the next sync. If a user is not in the uploaded CSV or hasn’t logged in to Adobe to initiate the JIT process, this user will not be included in the roster sync.
If you’re transitioning to the new Roster Sync (v3) solution, consider the following steps to ensure a smooth implementation:
Confirm License Entitlements: Check that you have either the free K12 Adobe Express offer or the purchased Adobe Creative Cloud licenses in your Adobe Admin Console.
Remove Legacy Roster Sync: If you’re currently using an older Roster Sync under Directory > Sync, remove it before proceeding with the new configuration.
Verify Identity Provider Setup: Make sure your primary user sync method (for example, Google, Microsoft, or the User Sync Tool) is correctly configured and up to date.
Claim All Necessary Domains: Ensure all domains associated with your district are claimed and verified in the Adobe Admin Console.
Check Clever or ClassLink Permissions: Confirm that your district has granted Adobe the necessary permissions to read roster data.
Assign Product Profiles: Create or review your product profiles (for example, Adobe Express and Creative Cloud), so they’re ready for auto-assignment when the roster data syncs.
Configure Roster Sync Settings: Navigate to Settings > Identity Settings > Roster Sync. Select Set Up Roster to begin the configuration process.
Plan Grouping Strategy: Decide whether you’ll group users by role or all users in one group.
Monitor Initial Sync: Check the Admin Console sync status and monitor email notifications to confirm everything is complete successfully and address any errors.
If you still have questions or issues not covered in this FAQ, contact Adobe Customer Support or consult the detailed documentation within the Admin Console.
