Deploying Office 2010



The Information in this article applies to the following products:

Prism Suite 10.x and above

Summary:
This article describes the recommended method for deploying Microsoft Office 2010 using Prism Deploy.

Method:

When deploying Office 2010 it is recommended to use a command line approach rather than packaging the application.  There are two methods available for this approach, using the Office Customization Tool or creating a Config.xml file and using it as an answer file to help install Office 2010.

In Office 2010, the Office customization tool is only available to those who have the enterprise level edition of the product.  To learn about Office Customization Tool, go to this site: 

http://blogs.technet.com/b/office_resource_kit/archive/2010/12/02/office-customization-tool-faq.aspx

-Or-

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097(v=office.14).aspx

In brief, the Microsoft OCT creates an .msp file that configures the Office 2010 installation for your environment.  Here are some of the tasks handled by the OCT: upgrading previous versions of Office, making general customizations, connecting to a Microsoft Exchange Server.

Once you have created the .msp file with the OCT, you can create a Prism Command Task to distribute that to your managed machines.  Here is an example of the syntax to use:

 \\server\office2010share\setup.exe /adminfile \\server\office2010share\custimization .msp

If you do not have the enterprise edition of Office 2010 or are deciding not to go with OCT you can instead use a Config.xml file as an answer file to install the product.

If you have created a share location of your Office 2010 Install, you can find the unedited Config.xml file within the Setup Files and Folder structure of Office 2010 install you have.  Here is an example of that location.

\\server\office2010share\x86\ProPlusr.WW\Config.xml

To learn about how to edit the Config.xml file to fit your needs follow this link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee656738(v=office.14).aspx#BKMK_Cinfigxml

Once you have created the Config.xml file, you can create a command task to deploy this to your environment.  You will need to use the following syntax in your command task.

\\server\office2010share\setup.exe /config \\server\office2010share\ProPlus.WW\Config.xml