Sequentially install multiple produ...

Sequentially install multiple products of the 2007 Office system

Updated: 2009-10-01

The Setup program for the 2007 Microsoft Office system installs one Office product at a time by default. You can use the chaining feature to customize Setup to install an additional Windows Installer (MSI)-based product. In this process, you customize the primary installation to install an additional product—the chained installation. For example, you can customize the Setup program in Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 to install Office and then to install Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007.

Caution:
While it is possible to use chaining to install additional Windows Installer-based products, this method generally is not as reliable as installing each product separately. For example, if you chain multiple installations together and one of the products fails or encounters an unexpected error, the primary installation and the chained installation might not complete successfully. The recommended method for installing multiple products together is to use a deployment management program, such as Microsoft Systems Management Server. For more information, see Using Systems Management Server 2003 to deploy the 2007 Office system and Deploy the 2007 Office system by using System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

Caution:

While it is possible to use chaining to install additional Windows Installer-based products, this method generally is not as reliable as installing each product separately. For example, if you chain multiple installations together and one of the products fails or encounters an unexpected error, the primary installation and the chained installation might not complete successfully. The recommended method for installing multiple products together is to use a deployment management program, such as Microsoft Systems Management Server. For more information, see Using Systems Management Server 2003 to deploy the 2007 Office system and Deploy the 2007 Office system by using System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

For information about Config.xml chained command issues, see KB article 928467, "Chained commands do not run after the installation of a 2007 Office suite or program fails" on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site (at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=99913).

To chain two product installations together, you must customize both the primary and the chained installation.

Note:
Chaining more than one Windows Installer (MSI)-based product in the OCT is not recommended; chaining might fail and a message about another instance of setup running might be displayed. To chain more than one MSI-based product, you must use the Command element in the Config.xml file and specify the Wait attribute with a -1 value (Wait="-1"). For more information, see How it works.

To customize the primary installation

Create a network installation point that includes the products you will install.
Run the Office Customization Tool (OCT) by running Setup.exe from the root of the network installation point with the /admin command-line option.
In the Select Product dialog box, select the product that is the primary installation.
In the left pane of the OCT, select Licensing and user interface. In the right pane, set Display level to None, enter the Product key, and select I accept the terms in the License Agreement.
In the left pane, select Add installations and run programs. In the right pane, click Add.

In the Add Program Entry dialog box, perform the following steps for the product that is chained.

For Target, enter the fully qualified path of the Setup.exe file in the root of the network installation point. For example, enter \\server\share\setup.exe.

For Arguments, enter the /config command-line option with the fully qualified path to the Config.xml file in the core product folder of the product that is chained. For example, if you are chaining Office Visio Professional 2007, enter /config \\server\share\VisPro.WW\config.xml.

Note:
Command-lines entered in the Add Program Entry and Modify Program Entry dialog boxes are intended to be used only for initial installs and uninstalls. Command-lines are processed only during initial installs and uninstalls.

Select Run this program after the Office product has been installed.
Click OK.

Make other customizations in the OCT as needed.
Save the Setup customization file with a unique name in the Updates folder of the network installation point.
Exit the OCT.

To customize the chained installation

Run the OCT.
In the Select Product dialog box, select the product that you want to chain.
In the left pane of the OCT, select Licensing and user interface. In the right pane, set Display level to None, enter the Product key, and select I accept the terms in the License Agreement.
In the left pane, select Modify Setup properties. In the right pane, click Add.
In the Add/Modify Property Value dialog box, enter the following:
- For Name, enter SETUP_REBOOT.
- For Value, enter Never.
Click OK.
Make other customizations in the OCT as needed.
Save the Setup customization file with a unique name in the Updates folder of the network installation point (create a separate Setup customization file for each product).
Exit the OCT.
Repeat this procedure for each product that is chained.

To install the chained products

Run Setup from the root of the network installation point, specifying the Config.xml file for the primary product. For example, if the primary product is Office Enterprise 2007, enter \\server\share\setup.exe /config \\server\share\Enterprise.WW\config.xml.
In the Select Product dialog box, select the primary product.

After Setup installs the primary product, it installs the chained product that you specified in the OCT.

Tip:
You can put the customization files you created in a location other than the Updates folder. Just add the /adminfile option to the Setup command lines in the procedures above to specify the customization files to use. For more information about using Setup command-line options, see Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system.

How it works

The Setup program for the primary product follows the typical installation process. After that installation is complete, Setup runs the program that you specified in the OCT. Setup waits until each program is finished before it runs the next program.

There are two important considerations when you chain products in the 2007 Office system, as demonstrated in the preceding procedures:

Run the primary Setup quietly. A chained Setup program cannot run if the primary Setup program is running interactively. You must run the primary Setup program with Display level set to Basic or None. It is recommended that chained installations also run with Display level set to None. And because you are running Setup quietly, you must enter the product key for each product in the OCT.

Run the chained installation with SETUP_REBOOT set to Never. If a chained installation causes the computer to restart, the primary product is installed, but additional chained installations do not run after the computer restarts. To prevent this, set the SETUP_REBOOT setting to Never for all chained installations. If one of the chained installations might require a computer restart, and you want to force a restart after the primary and chained installations finish, set the SETUP_REBOOT setting of the primary installation to Always.

Note:
You can also use the Command element of the Config.xml file to chain an additional Windows Installer (MSI)-based product. The Command element in the Config.xml file and the Add installations and run programs option in the OCT (command-lines entered in the Add Program Entry and Modify Program Entry dialog boxes) are intended to be used only for initial product installs and for uninstalls. The Command element commands are processed only during initial installs and uninstalls. If Command element commands are used for customizations after the initial installation, they are ignored. For more information about the Command element, see Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system. If you are using the Command element in the Config.xml file to chain an additional Windows Installer (MSI) product, you must specify the Wait attribute with a -1 value (Wait="-1"). If you do not specify a -1 value for the Wait attribute, chaining might fail and a message similar to the following will be displayed: "Error 1618 (Another instance of setup is running)." For example, use the following syntax to specify the Wait="-1" value, where %WINDIR% is the folder containing the Windows files: <Command Path="%WINDIR%\system32\msiexec.exe" Args="/i \\ server\share\my.msi " QuietArg="/q" ChainPosition="after" Execute="install" Wait="-1"/>. If you are configuring a chained installation in the Config.xml file that you want to run quietly, you must specify QuietArg or Args attributes, which is dependent on whether the main Office product is configured with a Display Level set to None, Basic, or Full. The following examples illustrate when to use the QuietArg versus Args attributes: If the main Office installation is set as Display Level="None", and you want the chained installation to also run without user interaction, you must specify the QuietArg attribute. You can set QuietArg to one of the following values: "/qn", "/qb-", or "/qr". where: /qn means no UI is displayed. /qb- displays basic UI without modal dialog boxes. /qr displays a reduced UI. A modal dialog box is displayed at the end of the installation. For example, use the following to specify no UI display: QuietArg="/qn". Note that if you set the main installation as Display Level="None" and you do not specify a QuietArg="/q" attribute and value, the installation might prompt the user for information or to click to the next dialog box. This might halt the installation if the user is not present to respond to the dialog box prompts. If the main Office installation is set as Display Level="Basic", and you want the chained installation to also run without user interaction, you must use the Args attribute and set it to one of the following values: "/qn", "/qb-", or "/qr". For example, use the following to specify basic UI display: Args="/qb-".

Note:

You can also use the Command element of the Config.xml file to chain an additional Windows Installer (MSI)-based product. The Command element in the Config.xml file and the Add installations and run programs option in the OCT (command-lines entered in the Add Program Entry and Modify Program Entry dialog boxes) are intended to be used only for initial product installs and for uninstalls. The Command element commands are processed only during initial installs and uninstalls. If Command element commands are used for customizations after the initial installation, they are ignored. For more information about the Command element, see Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.

If you are using the Command element in the Config.xml file to chain an additional Windows Installer (MSI) product, you must specify the Wait attribute with a -1 value (Wait="-1"). If you do not specify a -1 value for the Wait attribute, chaining might fail and a message similar to the following will be displayed: "Error 1618 (Another instance of setup is running)."

For example, use the following syntax to specify the Wait="-1" value, where %WINDIR% is the folder containing the Windows files:

<Command Path="%WINDIR%\system32\msiexec.exe" Args="/i \\ server\share\my.msi " QuietArg="/q" ChainPosition="after" Execute="install" Wait="-1"/>.

If you are configuring a chained installation in the Config.xml file that you want to run quietly, you must specify QuietArg or Args attributes, which is dependent on whether the main Office product is configured with a Display Level set to None, Basic, or Full. The following examples illustrate when to use the QuietArg versus Args attributes:

If the main Office installation is set as Display Level="None", and you want the chained installation to also run without user interaction, you must specify the QuietArg attribute. You can set QuietArg to one of the following values: "/qn", "/qb-", or "/qr".

where:

/qn means no UI is displayed.

/qb- displays basic UI without modal dialog boxes.

/qr displays a reduced UI. A modal dialog box is displayed at the end of the installation.

For example, use the following to specify no UI display: QuietArg="/qn".

Note that if you set the main installation as Display Level="None" and you do not specify a QuietArg="/q" attribute and value, the installation might prompt the user for information or to click to the next dialog box. This might halt the installation if the user is not present to respond to the dialog box prompts.
If the main Office installation is set as Display Level="Basic", and you want the chained installation to also run without user interaction, you must use the Args attribute and set it to one of the following values: "/qn", "/qb-", or "/qr". For example, use the following to specify basic UI display: Args="/qb-".

To customize the primary installation

To customize the chained installation

To install the chained products

How it works

See Also

Concepts