Advice on installing MS Project Std 2024 Perpetual

Question

We currently install MS Office 365 via the Office Deployment Tool with the update channel set to 'Monthly Enterprise Channel'. We've now been asked to install MS Project Std 2024 Perpetual on some of the machines but, what is the best way to install that and, is it advisable, or have our Licensing Team purchased the wrong version of Project?

I was going to install it using the ODT but, does the update channel need to be set as 'Office LTSC 2024 Perpetual Enterprise' for this version of Project, or is it ok to set it to the 'Monthly Enterprise Channel'? I did create a xml for Project with the update channel set to 'Monthly Enterprise Channel' , and it does seem to work, but I didn't know if that was something I should be doing.

Thanks for any replies.

Answer 1

MS Project Standard 2024 Perpetual (volume license, Click-to-Run) can be installed alongside Microsoft 365 Apps (Office 365) that are on Monthly Enterprise Channel, and using Monthly Enterprise Channel for Project in this scenario is both supported and required.

Key points from the documented rules:

1. All products on the same device must use the same update channel
   • “Products installed on the same computer must use the same update channel.”
   • “Volume licensed Project and Visio installations must be configured to use the same update channel as Microsoft 365 Apps.” This means that on devices where Microsoft 365 Apps is configured for Monthly Enterprise Channel, Project 2024 volume license must also be configured for Monthly Enterprise Channel.
2. Special case: Office LTSC 2024 suites vs. Project/Visio
   • Office LTSC Professional Plus 2024 and Office LTSC Standard 2024 can only use the PerpetualVL2024 channel.
   • Volume licensed Project 2024 and Visio LTSC 2024 are allowed to use other channels (Current, Monthly Enterprise, Semi-Annual) specifically to ensure compatibility when installed alongside Microsoft 365 Apps.
   • Even when Project/Visio are on these channels, they only receive security and quality updates, not new features.
3. What this means for the environment described
   • Since Microsoft 365 Apps is already deployed via ODT with Channel="MonthlyEnterprise", Project Std 2024 Perpetual should also be deployed with Channel="MonthlyEnterprise" in the ODT configuration.
   • Do not set Project to PerpetualVL2024 on those machines, because that would conflict with the requirement that all products on the same device share the same update channel.
4. Deployment approach
   • Continue using the Office Deployment Tool.
   • In the Project configuration XML:
     • Use the appropriate Product ID for Project 2024 volume license (for example, ProjectStd2024Volume as listed in the configuration options for Office LTSC 2024).
     • Set the Channel attribute to MonthlyEnterprise to match the existing Microsoft 365 Apps configuration.
   • Ensure bitness (32-bit vs 64-bit) matches the existing Office installation.
5. Licensing choice
   • The licensing team has not necessarily purchased the wrong version. Volume-licensed Project 2024 is designed to coexist with Microsoft 365 Apps and explicitly supports using Monthly Enterprise Channel for this purpose.

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References:

• Supported scenarios for installing different versions of Office, Project, and Visio on the same computer
• Overview of update channels for Microsoft 365 Apps
• Configuration options for the Office Deployment Tool
• Update Office LTSC 2024
• Deploy Office LTSC 2024
• Overview of Office LTSC 2024