Summary

This article provides tips and information for packaging Microsoft Office 2007 for deployment using ManageSoft Deployment Manager.

The article is not intended to be a step-by-step procedure for creating an Office package, but instead contains suggestions of things to consider and developing such a package. Readers of this article are expected to already be very familiar with ManageSoft Deployment Manager packaging practices and techniques.

Packaging approach

Microsoft Office 2007 it typically packaged and deployed as a third-party installer based package. The following sections contain specific suggestions and guidance to consider when developing and Office 2007 package.

Silent and other custom installation settings

The Office Customisation Tool (OCT) from Microsoft allows you to create a custom installation of Office. The display level of the installation should be set to none using this tool to ensure that the installation is completed silently.

The MSP (Windows Installer Patch) file that is generated by the OCT should be saved to a subfolder named updates below the root folder (where the Office setup.exe file resides) in a copy you have made of your installation media.

Third-Party installer type

Office 2007 comes as a number of different Windows Installer MSI packages (as opposed to earlier versions of Office, which came as a single MSI package). In order to install all the individual packages, the setup.exe provided on the Office installation media should be executed.

The best way to arrange for this is to use the Third-Party Installer packaging wizard when creating a project to deploy Office. Select Other installer technology as the type of the installer.

Minimizing reinstallation

Third-party installers can be configured to prevent unnecessary reinstallation of the package by specifying a registry key that the ManageSoft installation agent to use to determine whether the application is already installed. For Office 2007 Enterprise Edition, an appropriate registry key to use is:

Key: SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ENTERPRISE
Name: DisplayName
Value: Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007

Note: The key and value will vary depending on the specific Office 2007 edition that is being installed. For example, if you are installing Professional Edition,
you may need to look under the PROPLUS registry key instead of ENTERPRISE. Inspect the registry on a computer that already has your Office edition installed for specif values.

Uninstallation

Specify a command line such as the following to be used to uninstall Office at the appropriate point in the Third-Party Installer packaging wizard:

"(ProgramFiles)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OFFICE12\Office Setup Controller\setup.exe" /uninstall ENTERPRISE /dll OSETUP.DLL /config "(AppDir)\config.xml"

Note that the value ENTERPRISE in the command line will need to be changed according to your Office edition. To check the default uninstall command line used by an pre-existing installation of Office on a computer, look for values in the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ENTERPRISE\UninstallString registry entry (again, replace ENTERPRISE according to your edition).

The config.xml file referenced on the uninstall command line needs to be deployed with the package (place it under the Files &ampgt All Files &ampgt Install Folder node in the package. See Microsoft documentation for full details of this file, but the contents of a minimal config.xml file that ensures the uninstall is completed silently would look like:

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

If you need to change the command line used to uninstall the package after the Third-Party Installer packaging wizard has been completed, you can find and modify the command line specified in the ExternalInstallerCommandLine project variable.