Updated: 2008-06-23
In this article:
This article provides information about using Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 to deploy the 2007 Microsoft Office system. System Center Essentials 2007 is a management solution designed for IT system administrators in medium-sized organizations that include up to 30 servers and 500 client computers. Administrators can use the System Center Essentials 2007 to secure, update, monitor, and track their IT environment.
With System Center Essentials, you can perform the following tasks:
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Use the inventory feature to collect and examine computer hardware and software inventory.
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Use the software deployment feature to centrally deploy software, track deployment progress, and troubleshoot problems.
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Use the update management feature to centrally manage updates, track installation progress, and troubleshoot problems.
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Use the rules and monitors in Management Packs Monitor to monitor the health of computers and network devices.
Administrators can use System Center Essentials 2007 to deploy the 2007 Office system. For more information about System Center Essentials, see the following resources:
What this article includes
This article provides an example of how to use System Center Essentials to create a package to deploy Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 and Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007. It provides information about using an Office Customization Tool (OCT) Setup customization file (.MSP) and a custom Config.xml file to customize the installation to include additional languages and chain an Office product. The OCT is part of the Setup program and is the recommended tool for most customizations. The OCT saves your choices in a Setup customization MSP file. The Config.xml file is used to perform installation customizations.
This article focuses only on deployment of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. System Center Essentials documentation is beyond the scope of this article. For more information about System Center Essentials, refer to the product documentation on the System Center Essentials 2007 TechCenter (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105101).
Preparing to deploy the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials
This example assumes that the administrator has basic knowledge about System Center Essentials concepts, particularly software deployment.
To learn about installing and configuring System Center Essentials 2007, see System Center Essentials Deployment Planning and Installation (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105093).
To learn about all functions related to software deployment with System Center Essentials, see Software Deployment in System Center Essentials (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105094).
In preparation for deploying the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials, you must complete the tasks highlighted in these sections:
System Center Essentials tasks you must complete before you deploy the 2007 Office system
This example also assumes that the administrator has already performed the following System Center Essentials tasks prior to 2007 Office system deployment:
2007 Office customization tasks you must complete before you deploy the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials
Before using System Center Essentials to deploy the 2007 Office system, you must perform the following tasks to customize your deployment for a multiple language installation and to chain an additional Office product, such as Microsoft Office Project 2007.
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Create a network installation point for your primary Office 2007 product. For instructions, see the "To create a network installation point" section of Create a network installation point for the 2007 Office system.
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Specify the languages to install and any feature and settings customizations you want to apply. For instructions, see Customize a multilanguage deployment of the 2007 Office system.
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| Make sure you copy all the files and folders from the source media for each language pack you want to install to the same network installation point created in the preceding step. For example, copy all the source files to \\server\share\Office12. |
You use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to customize an installation of the 2007 Office system and create a new Office setup customization MSP file. You run the OCT by running Setup.exe with the /admin switch from the root of the network installation point; for example, type setup.exe /admin on the command line. After you complete all the customizations you want to deploy to users, save the MSP file to the Updates folder; this is the recommended location for setup customization MSP files. When Setup runs, it searches the Updates folder on the installation point for a customization file specific to the product that is being installed.
If you do not put the customization file in the Updates folder, you can use the Setup command-line option /adminfile to specify the fully qualified path to the folder in which you store the custom MSP file. In such cases, you would type the following on the Specify Installation Parameters screen of the New Software Package Wizard in System Center Essentials console: /adminfile \\server\share\myNewUpdatesFolder. For more information, see Deploying Office 2007 with System Center Essentials.
For more information about the areas you can customize by using the OCT, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.
To customize the Config.xml file to add languages (or set feature installation states or other customizations), you edit the copy of Config.xml located in the product folder in the network installation point. For example, the product folder for Microsoft Office Professional 2007 is Pro.WW. For more information about the Config.xml file, see Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.
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To install an additional 2007 Office product sequentially, specify the additional Office product to install next. For instructions, see Sequentially install multiple products of the 2007 Office system.
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| You must copy the source files for the chained product you are installing under the primary 2007 Office product’s folder in the network installation point; otherwise the chaining fails. For example, if you are chaining Microsoft Office Project 2007, you would set up the product source folders including all language packs, as follows: \\server\share\Office12 (including 2007 Office language packs) \\server\share\Office12\Project12 (including Project 2007 language packs) To enter the volume licensing product key in OCT, navigate to the Licensing and User Interface tab, and enter your 25-character Volume License Key under product key. Accept the terms in the License Agreement, and under Display Level choose None. Setting Display Level to none assumes that the Suppress modal and Completion notice options are silenced and that the end-user license agreement (EULA) is accepted. Save the Setup customization file (MSP file) in the Updates folder when you complete the customizations. When you use System Center Essentials console later to create the software package, be sure to select the Include all files and sub-folders in this location check box when you specify the location of the package setup file. This option is located directly beneath the text box for the location of the setup file. For more information, see Deploying the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials. If you are using a chained installation, the software package must not have a deadline set on it. System Center Essentials treats the installation as complete after the installation of the primary product finishes. This means that if the package is being installed as a result of a deadline being set, the computer restarts when the primary product is installed and the chained product is not installed. It is recommended that you confirm your Office customizations in a test environment before you deploy them to users in your organization as software packages with System Center Essentials. |
Deploying the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials
After you configure your Office customizations, you can create a package to deploy the 2007 Office system with System Center Essentials. This section provides information about the installation schedule of an approved update and about creating and deploying a package.
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| You must enable Automatic Updates on the managed computers to allow System Center Essentials to deploy software to the managed computers. To view the status of Automatic Updates on the target computers, open Automatic Updates in Control Panel. |
You can configure the installation as mandatory (that is, not as published). In this scenario, the installation time depends on how Automatic Updates is configured on the user's computer:
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If Automatic Updates is configured to automatically download and install at a specific time, the software is installed at that time unless the user has already manually installed it.
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If Automatic Updates is configured for automatic download and manual installation, the user can install the software at any time.
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If Automatic Updates is configured to notify users about updates, the software is installed immediately upon the user's approval of the notification message.
You can also configure a package as optional by selecting the Publish program(s) to 'Add/Remove Programs' option in the Approve Groups for Deployment screen of the New Software Package Wizard when you create the package (in step 9 in the following procedure). In this case, the software is added to Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel on the managed computer, and the user can install it at any time. A notification icon is displayed in the computer's notification area when the new software becomes available.
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| Users must have administrative privileges on their computers to install applications from Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. |
The System Center Essentials Agent on approved managed computers checks for new software deployments every 22 hours. After the administrator approves software for deployment, the next time the agent runs, it detects that new software is available. The agent determines when the software needs to be installed and displays a notification icon in the computer's notification area.
Deploy 2007 Office with System Center Essentials
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In the System Center Essentials console, click Software.
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In the Results pane, in the Actions area, click Create and deploy a new software package to start the New Software Package Wizard.
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Browse to the network installation point that contains the 2007 Office setup files, choose Setup.exe, and select the Include all files and sub-folders in this location option.
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Enter “Office 2007” as the name of the software package, and specify the description that you want to display to users when the product is being installed.
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On the Specify Installation Parameters screen, specify the following command to reference your customized Config.xml file:
/config \\server\share\Pro.WW\config.xml
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| If you placed the custom MSP file in a location other than the Updates folder, you would use the following command to reference the location of the folder containing the MSP files: /adminfile \\server\share\myNewUpdatesFolder /config \\server\share\Pro.WW\config.xml |
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Click Next to view a summary and confirm the package name and the command-line parameters that you have specified.
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Click Next to create the software package. Note that because the Office package is large (greater than 450 MB), it might take up to two hours to complete the packaging and signing process.
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After the package is created, select the Show deployment options when this wizard closes option, and click Finish.
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In the Approve Groups for Deployment dialog box, select the computer groups on which you want to install the Office products, and click OK.
The package is downloaded to target computers within 24 hours.
You must instruct users to install the Office package on their computers if you deployed the package as published through Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel (that is, if you used the Publish program(s) to 'Add/Remove Programs' option in the Approve Groups for Deployment screen), or if Automatic Updates is configured for automatic download and manual install.
See Also