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Configure a silent installation of the 2007 Office system by using Config.xml

Applies To: Office Resource Kit

This Office product will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see , Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-02-17

The Config.xml file is used to configure installation tasks and is used only while running Setup. It is not installed or cached on users' computers. You can edit the Config.xml file to customize the installation. By default, the Config.xml file that is stored in the core product folders (core_product_folder_name.WW folder, for example, Enterprise.WW or Pro.WW) directs Setup to install that product. For example, the Config.xml file in the Pro.WW folder installs Microsoft Office Professional 2007.

Modifying the Config.xml file to configure a silent installation

To configure a silent installation (unattended installation) of a 2007 Microsoft Office system product that requires no user interaction, modify the Config.xml file for the product you are installing and set the Display element's Level attribute to "none" (Display Level="none"), and then save the Config.xml file, as shown in the following procedure. The Display element specifies the level of user interface that Setup displays to users.

Specify silent installation options in Config.xml

  1. Open the Config.xml file for the Office product (such as Office Professional 2007) that you are installing by using a text editor tool such as Notepad.

  2. Locate the line that contains the Display element, as shown in the following example:

    <!-- <Display Level="full" CompletionNotice="yes" SuppressModal="no" AcceptEula="no" /> -->

  3. Modify the Display element entry with the silent options that you want to use. For example, use the following syntax:

    <Display Level="none" CompletionNotice="no" SuppressModal="yes" AcceptEula="yes" />

    These options will direct Setup to run silently, prevent prompting users to enter information, and prevent the installation from waiting for any user interaction. For more information about the syntax and Config.xml, see Display element in Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.

  4. Save the Config.xml file.

Make sure that no Office applications are running when you install the 2007 Office system. For example, to install Office Professional 2007 after you modify the Config.xml file to specify silent install options, use the following command:

\\server\share**\setup.exe /config** \\server\share\Pro.WW\config.xml

where:

\\server\share is the path to the Office Professional 2007 source files

/config is a Setup command-line option that specifies the location of the Config.xml file. See Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system.

\\server\share**\Pro.WW\config.xml** is the location of your modified Config.xml file for Office Professional 2007.

For information about customizing your Office installation, see Deploy custom configurations of the 2007 Office system (step-by-step).

You can also set silent install options by using the Office Customization Tool (OCT). For information, see the Display level and license agreement settings in “Licensing and user interface” in Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.