SUMMARY
The most common method for deploying Microsoft Office 2000
to a large number of computers is to create a central copy of Office on a
network server. Then you can install Office on the computers over the
network.
This method provides the following advantages over having to
install Office individually from a Microsoft Office 2000 CD-ROM:
- You can manage one set of Office files from a central
location.
- You can create a standard set of Office features and
options for all users.
- You can take advantage of flexible installation options,
such as setting features to be installed on first use.
- You can more easily deploy Office updates as they become
available.
- You have more control over when you upgrade Office.
This article contains basic information for creating an Office
administrative installation from which you can install Office onto network
client computers. Some additional information in this article includes steps to
customize the Office installation on the network clients.
Note Creating administrative installations of Office 2000 is only
supported on non-Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) versions of Office
2000.
For additional
information, click the article number below to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
234804 OFF2000: No Prompts When You Install Administrative Installation
MORE INFORMATION
Create the Administrative Installation
The first step in deploying Office over a network is to create
the administrative installation. To do this, you need at least 550 MB of free
disk space on a central server, and you need write access to the server. After
you are sure that these two requirements are met, follow these steps.
Note You can perform these steps while you are logged on to the server
or from a network client that has a connection with the server.
- Insert the Office CD-ROM, and cancel any AutoRun activity
that may occur.
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type the following, and then click OK: Notepath is the path to your CD-ROM drive
or DVD-ROM drive that contains the Office CD-ROM.
- In the Customer Information dialog box, type the CD key from the back of the Office CD-ROM
case.
- Type the name of your corporation in the Company box. This is the name that will appear in the Office program
splash screens that are displayed every time you start an Office
program.
- Click Next.
- In the License and Support Information dialog box, accept the license agreement, and then click Next.
- In the Installation Location dialog box, specify the destination folder for the administrative
installation. This location can be a folder on a local hard disk drive or a
folder on another computer. You can specify either a mapped drive or a UNC path
to the folder. You can also click Browse to browse for the folder.
- Click Install Now.
Install Office on Network Clients
After you complete the administrative installation, you can begin
the installation of Office on the network client computers that can connect to
the computer with the administrative installation. To install Office from the
server, follow these steps:
- Log on to the network client computer.
Note On Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Microsoft Windows 2000, you must
log on as a member of the Administrators group. - Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type a command line similar to the following, and then click
OK: NoteAdmin Path is the path to your
administrative installation point for Office 2000.Note You can include Windows Installer command-line switches and
properties to customize the way that the Office installation is run. For
example, you can use the /q switch to install Office without any user
interaction. Please see the "Customize the Office Installation on Network
Clients" section of this article for more information.
Run the Office Programs from the Server
If your network client computers are low on disk space, you may
want to consider installing Office so that most of the installation files
remain on the server. In order to do this, you must perform a Custom
installation, where you change the installation state of the Office programs to
Run from Network.
To install Office so that the Office programs are run
from a network server, follow these steps:
- Click Start, and then click Run.
- In the Open box, type a command line similar to the following, and then click
OK: NoteAdmin Path is the path to your
administrative installation point for Office 2000.Note If you want to install Office by using the /q switch and have the
Office programs run from the server, you must create a Custom transform. See
the "Customize the Office Installation on Network Clients" section of this
article for more information.
- In the Customer Information dialog box, make sure the information is correct, and then click Next.
- In the Ready to Install dialog box, click Customize.
- In the Installation Location dialog box, specify a folder on the local hard disk, and then
click Next.
Note Do not specify a network drive location, because that is not the
procedure for establishing a Run from Network configuration. - In the Selecting Features dialog box, click the icon next to the Microsoft Office feature, and then select Run all from Network.
- Click Install Now.
Customize the Office Installation on Network Clients
You can always run Office Setup interactively to install
Microsoft Office, or you can allow users to run Setup interactively, as
described in the "Install Office on Network Clients" section earlier in this
article. However, Office Setup offers you many opportunities to customize
Office installations by using command-line options, by modifying the Setup
settings file (Setup.ini), or by installing Office with a transform. Each
method provides unique advantages in terms of what you can customize and how
you give users access to the custom installation. You can implement one or more
of these methods, depending on the level of customization that you
need.
Note If you specify the same Setup options but use different values in
the command line, settings file, and transform, then Setup uses the following
rules to determine which settings to use:
- If you set an option in the Office Custom Installation
Wizard that corresponds to a Setup property, the wizard sets the corresponding
property automatically in the MST file.
- If you modify a Setup property in the Modify Setup Properties page of the Custom Installation Wizard, this setting overrides
any corresponding options that you set on earlier pages of the wizard. Your
modified Setup property is written to the MST file.
- If you set options, including Setup properties, in the
settings file that conflict with options in the transform, the values in the
settings file take precedence.
- If you set options on the command line, those settings take
precedence over any conflicting values in either the settings file or the
transform.
Use a Transform
A Windows Installer transform (.mst) is most useful when you want
to make extensive customizations, especially customizations that you cannot
make by using the Setup command line or settings file.
For example,
in the .mst file you can do the following:
- Specify the installation location for Office.
- Specify the location of the Office shortcuts.
- Determine what previous versions of Office are
removed.
- Set the installation state of Office features. For example,
you can set the features to Run from Network or Installed on First Use.
- Hide features so they do not appear in the Setup User
Interface.
- Add custom files and registry entries to the Office
installation.
- Set Windows Installer properties.
- Include additional .exe programs that will be run when the
Office installation is finished.
You create a Windows Installer transform by using the Office
Custom Installation Wizard (CIW). The Windows Installer transform contains the
changes that you want to make to the installation process and is used by the
Windows Installer during the installation of Office.
For complete
information about how to use the Custom Installation Wizard for creating a
transform file, please browse to the following Microsoft Web site:
Use Command-Line Switches and Properties
When you run Setup, you can use command-line options to change
some of the parameters that Setup uses to install Office. By using command-line
options, you can do the following:
- Identify the MSI and MST files to use
- Direct Setup to run in quiet mode
- Initialize Windows Installer logging
- Alter Setup property values
For example, you can type the following options on the command
line:
setup.exe /qb+ Companyname="Northwind Traders"
This command line customizes Setup in the following ways:
- Setup does not prompt the user for information.
- Setup displays progress indicators as it installs Office
and then a completion message at the end of the installation.
- Setup installs the same Office features that it installs if
the user runs Setup and clicks Install Now.
- Setup sets the default organization name to Northwind
Traders.
Customize Setup.ini
In addition to using the options specified on the command line,
Setup automatically reads the options specified in the settings file,
Setup.ini. The settings file allows you to set the same options as the command
line, but it eliminates the need to type precise text in the
Run dialog box. Double-clicking the Setup.exe file on your
administrative installation will install Office with the options specified in
the Setup.ini file.
For more information about the changes you can
make to Setup.ini and instructions on how to implement these changes, please
see the following article in the Microsoft Office Resource Kit:
Install Office Updates
At some point, you must update your network client computers with
a Windows Installer update (patch) file. If you originally installed Office
onto these network computers by using an administrative installation, you must
perform this update process in two steps:
- Update your administrative installation with an Admin
version of the update. The Admin versions of Office update files are always
available from the Office Resource Kit Toolbox download page.
- Update your network client computers from the now-updated
administrative installation. Updating the administrative installation does not
automatically update the network clients, even if you installed Office in a Run from Network configuration.
Update an Administrative Installation
To update an Office administrative installation with a Windows
Installer update file, follow these steps:
- Obtain the Admin version of the update file.
To
do this, browse to the Office Resource Kit Toolbox, located at the following
Microsoft Web site: - Click Start, and then click Run. Type the following command in the Open box
msiexec /a Admin Path\Data1.msi /p Source Path\.msp patch file name
shortfilenames=1
where Admin Path is the
path to your administrative installation point for Office 2000 SR-1,
Source Path is the path to the update file, and
.msp patch file name is the .msp file
name.
Note You must run this command from a computer on which the Windows
Installer is already installed. - Click Next in the Microsoft Office 2000 Administrative Mode
dialog box.
Note You do not have to type your CD Key or company name in the
Microsoft Office 2000 Administrative Mode dialog
box.
- Click I accept the terms of the License
Agreement, and then click Next.
- Click Install Now.
- Click OK when the update is finished. At this point, your administrative
installation point is updated with the .msp file.
Update a Network Client
After you finish the update of your administrative installation,
you must update all of the network client computers that originally installed
Office from the administrative installation.
Use one of the following
methods to update workstations on which Office 2000 SR-1 was already installed
from your administrative installation point.
Note Do
not use the standalone client patches available from the Tools on the
Web Web site to update network clients that originally installed Office 2000
from an administrative installation. The standalone client patches are for use
on computers that installed Office 2000 from CD-ROM.
Method 1: Run Setup.exe from the Administrative Installation Follow these steps to update Office on your network
client by using Setup.exe on the Office administrative installation:
- Click Start, and then click Run. Type the following command in the Open box where Admin Path is the
path to your administrative installation point for Office 2000.
- Click Yes when prompted to update your installation.
- Click I accept the terms of the License
Agreement, and then click Next.
- Click OK to the message that Setup completed successfully.
Method 2: Use a Windows Installer Command Line Follow these steps to update Office on your network
client by using a Windows Installer command line:
- Click Start, and then click Run. Type the following command in the Open box
msiexec /i Admin Path\Data1.msi reinstall=all reinstallmode=vomus
where Admin Path is the
path to your administrative installation point for Office
2000.
- Click OK to the message that Setup completed successfully.Note The preceding command line works with all updates. However, you
may be able to use a command line that requires less time to perform the update
than the preceding command line requires. Please see the documentation for the
update file that you are using for more information about the specific command
line to be used with the specific update.
Additional Methods for Deploying Office
In addition to the techniques already described for deploying and
managing Office in a networked environment, you can deploy Office by using
either of the following two technologies:
- Systems Management Server (SMS)
- Windows 2000 Group Policy
For more information about using Systems Management Server to
deploy Office, please refer to the following article in the
Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit:
For more information about using Windows 2000 Group Policy to
deploy Office, please refer to the following article in the
Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit: