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Setup architecture overview for the 2007 Office system

Updated: April 1, 2010

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: 2016-11-14

In this article:

  • Setup process

  • Language-neutral design

  • Streamlined customization model

  • Required local installation source

  • Consolidated update process

The Setup architecture in the 2007 Microsoft Office system has been designed to streamline all aspects of installing, customizing, and maintaining Office. The new Setup program unifies and manages the entire installation process, including customizing users' Office configuration, deploying multiple languages at once, and applying software updates to new installations. This article provides an overview of the changes in the Setup architecture, setup sequence of events, language neutral design and deployment of multiple languages, customization methods, required local installation source, and updates process.

The Setup changes in 2007 Office system help administrators manage areas such as the following more efficiently:

  • Deployment process so that Office installs in the most efficient way for their environment.

  • Customization of Office so that users get optimal configuration on their computers.

  • Deployment of language-specific features for users who are located in offices around the world.

  • Deployment of Office in a way that makes future maintenance, including software updates, as efficient as possible.

In previous versions of Office, a single Office product such as Microsoft Office Standard was contained in a single Windows Installer (MSI) file. An MSI file is a relational database that Windows Installer uses to install a product. In contrast, the 2007 Office system products consist of multiple MSI files, and no single MSI file represents a complete product. In the 2007 Office system, a language-neutral core package (MSI file) is combined with one or more language-specific packages to make a complete product. For example, an Office product such as Microsoft Office Standard 2007 consists of the core package plus one or more language-specific packages. Setup assembles the individual packages, orchestrates a seamless installation, and handles customization and maintenance tasks during and after installation of Office on users' computers.

Setup process

Typically, the first step in a corporate installation of Office is to create a network installation point—a task as simple as copying all the files and folders from the Office product CD to a shared network location. At a minimum, the network installation point contains the language-neutral core package plus language-specific folders for one language. This installation point serves as the initial source for all users who install Office.

In the simplest scenario, you deploy an Office product from the network installation point with one language version and a single set of customizations for all users. Setup handles this scenario automatically. If you deploy multiple products or languages, you can add them to the same network installation point and specify exactly which products and languages to include in the installation. In all of these scenarios, Setup performs the same tasks to assemble the correct set of MSI files and to complete the installation.

Note

Unlike previous versions of Microsoft Office products, the 2007 Office system does not allow you to create an administrative installation point by running Setup with the /a command-line option to extract compressed source files. Instead, all installations occur from the compressed source.

In this section:

  • Setup sequence of events

  • Including more than one product on the installation point

  • Running Setup interactively

Setup sequence of events

The basic Setup sequence of events is as follows and occurs in the same order in every deployment scenario:

  1. Run Setup

  2. Check prerequisites.

  3. Read XML data.

  4. Build the feature tree.

  5. Create a local installation source on the user's computer.

  6. Install Office.

  7. Apply the customization file.

  8. Apply software updates.

Run Setup

Setup.exe is the program that initiates all the mechanisms of the installation process; it is located at the root of the network installation point. You run Setup once for each Office product you install. When it runs, Setup searches the network installation point for an Office product to install. If the installation point contains more than one Office product, Setup presents the user with a choice of products to install.

You can circumvent the selection process and determine which Office product is installed by pointing Setup.exe to the Config.xml file in a core product folder. For example, if you want to install Office Standard 2007, you can use the following command line:

\\ server \ share \Office12\setup.exe /config \\ server \ share \Office12\Standard.WW\Config.xml

where Office12 is the root of the network installation point.

In previous versions of Office, Setup.exe called Windows Installer (Msiexec.exe) to perform the installation of Office. Although Setup still uses Windows Installer, Setup bypasses the Windows Installer executable program. The Msiexec.exe command line cannot be used to install the 2007 Office system.

Note

This version of Setup.exe recognizes only a few command-line options. For more information, see Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system.

Check prerequisites

When Setup starts, it checks for a number of installation prerequisites, including minimum operating system requirements and administrative rights. A user must be an administrator of the client computer to install Office, or you must use a tool such as Microsoft Systems Management Server to run the installation with elevated privileges.

For more information about giving users administrative rights for an Office installation, see Deploy the 2007 Office system to users who are not administrators.

Read XML data

Setup gathers information about each package on the installation point, collects default settings for the installation, and incorporates customizations you specify. Setup gathers all this information in the form of XML data from several sources:

  • Setup.xml and Package.xml files for each package. Each folder on the installation point—both the folder for the language-neutral core package and the folder for each language-specific package—contains a Setup.xml and a Package.xml file (for example, StandardWW.xml for Office Standard 2007). Information in these files allows Setup to do the following:

    • Identify a product and the available languages for that product.

    • Match language-neutral and language-specific elements to create complete features.

    • Build a consolidated feature tree.

    • Collect the set of MSI files required for the installation.

    Note

    The Setup.xml and Package.xml files are signed and cannot be modified. Altering these files causes Setup to fail.

  • Setup customization file. Early in the installation process, Setup determines whether you have specified a Setup customization file (.msp file) for the product that is being installed. A Setup customization .msp file is created when administrators use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to customize an installation of the 2007 Microsoft Office system. The OCT is part of the Setup program and is the recommended tool for most customizations. The customization file contains all the modifications you specify for an installation, including customizations that control the installation process.

    If no customization file is specified on the command line or in the Config.xml file, Setup searches the Updates folder on the installation point for a customization file specific to the product that is being installed. The Updates folder is included by default on the installation point; in most cases, it is the recommended location in which to store both a Setup customization .msp file and software updates for all the Office products included on the installation point.

    Important

    If you plan to deploy multiple Setup customization files (.msp files), you can place only one customization .msp file for each 2007 Office system product that you are installing in the Updates folder for an initial installation. Only one Setup customization .msp file (patch) for each 2007 Office system product that you are installing is supported in the Updates folder. You must deploy the rest of the customization .msp files for a product after the Office installation is completed. If you are deploying multiple 2007 Office system products, such as Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007, you can include one customization .msp file for Office Enterprise 2007 and one customization .msp file for Office Visio Professional 2007 in the Updates folder. The product customization .msp files that you place in the Updates folder will be deployed first. Therefore, they must include any Setup customizations that cannot be changed after the installation, for example, the installation location.
    If you are deploying an initial installation of the 2007 Office system and you also want to deploy 2007 Office system software updates, such as service packs and hotfixes, Setup can apply the product updates as part of the installation process. You can place the 2007 Office system product updates in the Updates folder. In scenarios such as this where the Updates folder includes both one Setup customization .msp file and product updates, Setup applies only the Setup customization .msp file with the initial installation and the product updates are applied after the installation is completed.

    Setup uses XML data appended to the customization file to determine how to install the product — for example, whether to run quietly or which features to display in the feature tree. Settings in a customization file overwrite default settings contained in the Setup.xml and Package.xml files.

    For more information about Setup customization files, see Streamlined customization model. For information about using the OCT, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.

  • Config.xml file. Each core product folder contains a Config.xml file that directs Setup to install that product. You can edit Config.xml to customize the installation process. For example, you can use elements in Config.xml to specify which products or languages to include in the installation. Settings in Config.xml take precedence over settings in a customization file and default settings contained in the Setup.xml and Package.xml files.

    For more information about how and when to edit Config.xml, see Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.

Build the feature tree

Setup uses the information contained in the XML files to create a single feature tree that includes all the available applications and features in the product. You view the feature tree and specify which applications and features to install on users' computers by using the Office Customization Tool. If you allow users to run Setup interactively, they view the feature tree with your modifications in the Setup user interface.

For more information about specifying which Office features to install, see Configure feature installation states of the 2007 Office system.

Create a local installation source on the user's computer

Setup calls a program named Office Source Engine (Ose.exe) to create a required local installation source (LIS) on the user's computer. To create the local installation source, Setup copies files from the installation point to a hidden location on the user's computer. The default location is \MSOCache\All Users at the root of the drive on which Office is installed. Later, Setup uses Windows Installer to install Office from this local installation source.

The local installation source provides several important benefits:

  • After Office is installed, Setup can repair, reinstall, or add Office features by using the local source.

  • Users who are applying software updates are less likely to be prompted for a network or CD source because an installation source is available locally.

  • You can deploy the local installation source in advance and trigger the installation of Office on users' computers later to reduce the load on the network. In this scenario, you can even run Setup from the local installation source, allowing users to complete the Office installation with no network connection.

For more information about the local installation source, see Required local installation source.

Install Office

When the installation begins, Setup checks for required disk space and feature dependencies, and then calls Windows Installer to install the correct set of packages (MSI files) on the user's computer from the local installation source. Setup uses the XML data described previously to determine which set of MSI files to include. The progress bar that Setup displays to users during the installation takes the entire installation process into account, including applying customizations and software updates from the Updates folder.

Note

Although Setup uses Windows Installer to install Office, Windows Installer alone cannot install the individual MSI files independent of Setup.

Apply the customization file

During the installation process, Setup applies the customization file to the user's configuration. The result is similar to the effect of applying a Windows Installer transform (MST file) in previous versions of Office: your customizations become the default configuration for users. In addition to the XML data that customizes the installation process, the customization file might include default user settings, feature installation states, Microsoft Outlook profiles, and other modifications to the user's configuration.

Customization files are product-specific; Setup applies only those files that are relevant to the product being installed.

Note

If you plan to deploy multiple Setup customization .msp files, you can place only one Setup customization .msp file in the Updates folder for an initial installation. You must deploy the rest of the customization .msp files after the Office installation is complete. As mentioned previously, only one customization file in the Updates folder is supported. The customization .msp file that you place in the Updates folder will be deployed first so it must include any Setup customizations that cannot be changed after the installation, for example, the installation location.

If you create different configurations for different groups of users, Microsoft recommends that you store the customization files in another location and then use the /adminfile option on the Setup command line to specify the file you want. For example:

\\server\share\Office12\setup.exe /adminfile \\server\share\Office12\MyUpdates\Engineering.msp

where Office12 is the root of the network installation point.

Note

When you precache the local installation source, Setup copies the Updates folder from the network installation point to the local installation source. In this way, your customizations can be included in offline installation scenarios. This is the only circumstance in which Setup caches the customization file on the local computer before the installation. For more information, see Precache the local installation source for the 2007 Office system.

Apply software updates

At the end of the installation process, Setup checks the Updates folder on the installation point for software updates (.msp files). Unlike Setup customization files that you create by using the Office Customization Tool, software updates are distributed by Microsoft to enhance the product.

If you are deploying Office to users and also need to deploy a set of software updates, Setup can apply the updates as part of the initial installation process. Costing (estimated required disk space) and progress bar indicators all take this step of the installation process into account. From a user's perspective, the entire process is a single event. This model preserves the original installation point and still allows you to give new users the most up-to-date version of the product.

Note

The Updates folder is used only for initial or new installations of the 2007 Office system. The Updates folder can contain one Setup customization .msp patch, and multiple service packs and hotfixes that are in .msp format only.

For more information about the software update process, see Consolidated update process.

Including more than one product on the installation point

If the network installation point contains more than one 2007 Office system product, Setup searches all folders and subfolders for Config.xml and Setup.xml files and then prompts the user to select a product to install.

If you are installing more than one Office product, it is more efficient to store all the products on the same installation point and then customize Setup to install a specific Office product on users' computers.

Note

When you copy multiple Office products to the same installation point, you might be prompted to overwrite shared Setup files. Because these files are duplicated among all 2007 Office system products, you do not need to recopy any of the duplicate folders. This efficient design saves space and ensures consistency when you create and replicate network installation points.

For more information, see Run arbitrary commands with installations of the 2007 Office system.

Running Setup interactively

You can choose to run the installation quietly, so that users see little or none of the process; however, if you allow users to view the Setup user interface, the choices you make affect several aspects of Setup behavior. For example:

  • If more than one Office product is available on the installation point and a user runs Setup.exe with no command-line options, then Setup presents the user with a choice of products to install.

  • If more than one language is available on the installation point, Setup matches the language of Office to the Windows user locale on the user's computer by default. However, if a user chooses the Customize installation option, the Languages tab in the Setup interface presents the user with a choice of all available languages on the network installation point.

  • If you enter a product key and accept the Microsoft Customer License Terms in the customization file or Config.xml, those Setup screens are not displayed to the user during Setup.

  • If you use a customization file to hide and lock certain features, those features are not displayed in the feature tree.

To find out more about customizing display settings, see Customize Setup before installing the 2007 Office system.

Language-neutral design

In the 2007 Office system, an Office product such as Microsoft Office Standard 2007 is organized as follows:

  • Language-neutral elements are grouped in one core package (MSI file).

  • Language-specific elements are organized in separate packages by application.

This arrangement of files simplifies international deployments. The most basic installation of an Office product consists of the core package plus one language. Adding more languages is as simple as copying additional Single Language Packs (SLPs) to the network installation point — all work with the core product in exactly the same way. All language versions of Office, including the English language version, are deployed in the same manner. Setup combines the language-neutral core package with the language-specific packages in a seamless installation process.

In this section:

  • Language versions of Office

  • Language packs for Office

  • Installing multiple languages of Office

  • Installing a default language on each user's computer

  • Specifying one or more languages to install on users' computers

  • Installing language packs separately

  • Installing Proofing Tools

  • Adding languages after Office is installed

Language versions of Office

Every Office product must include at least one set of language-specific packages; you cannot deploy just the core package (MSI file) by itself. On the Office product CD and the network installation point, these language packages are contained in folders. Each folder name includes a language tag, in the form ll-cc, that identifies the language.

For example, an installation point for Microsoft Office Standard 2007 with both U.S. English and French language elements includes the following files and folders:

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Setup.exe—Setup program

  • Standard.WW folder—Language-neutral core product

  • Office.en-us folder—U.S. English shared features

  • Excel.en-us folder—U.S. English Excel features

  • Outlook.en-us folder—U.S. English Outlook features

  • PowerPoint.en-us folder—U.S. English PowerPoint features

  • Word.en-us folder—U.S. English Word features

  • Office.fr-fr folder—French shared features

  • Excel.fr-fr folder—French Excel features

  • Outlook.fr-fr folder—French Outlook features

  • PowerPoint.fr-fr folder—French PowerPoint features

  • Word.fr-fr folder—French Word features

Each folder contains a parallel set of installation files:

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Setup.exe

  • Standard.WW folder

    • StandardWW.msi—Windows Installer package

    • StandardWW.cab—Compressed cabinet file

    • StandardWW.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

    • Setup.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

    • Config.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

  • Word.en-us folder

    • WordMUI.msi—Windows Installer package

    • WordLR.cab—Compressed cabinet file

    • WordMUI.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

    • Setup.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

  • Word.fr-fr folder—French Word features

    • WordMUI.msi—Windows Installer package

    • WordLR.cab—Compressed cabinet file

    • WordMUI.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

    • Setup.xml—XML data read by Setup.exe

Note

These examples show only a portion of the network installation point. You might see additional folders, all of which follow the same naming conventions shown here.

The Office Standard 2007 product is spread out among the files in these folders. For example, elements that are not specific to any language, such as Winword.exe (the executable file for Microsoft Office Word 2007), reside in the core Standard.WW package. Other elements, such as Help and the user interface for Office Word 2007, reside in the appropriate language-specific package for Word or for shared Office features.

Both language-neutral and language-specific elements are required to make a functionally complete feature. Winword.exe by itself does not represent a Word application that anyone can use. Similarly, the core Office Standard 2007 MSI file in the Standard.WW folder does not represent a complete Office product.

Setup assembles all these parts into a whole product. The Package.xml and Setup.xml files in each folder contain information that Setup uses to assemble complete features, build a consolidated feature tree, and collect the correct set of MSI files for the installation. After collecting the XML data and assembling the required MSI files, Setup uses Windows Installer to install Office on the user's computer. From a user's perspective, this process happens automatically and seamlessly.

You cannot deploy an individual application in the 2007 Office system by detaching the language-specific folder that contains the individual MSI file, such as the Word.en-us or Word.fr-fr folder. You can, however, determine which applications and features are installed on users' computers by customizing the installation.

Note

None of the MSI files on an Office installation point can be installed independently by using Windows Installer or any other method. Nor can the digitally-signed XML files (Setup.xml and Package.xml) be edited or altered. In the 2007 Office system, Setup is required to collect the files and installation information and to orchestrate the installation process.

Language packs for Office

Language-specific packages are used in two contexts: in the language version of an Office product, and in the Single Language Pack (SLP) for that language. The French version of Office Standard 2007 has a language-specific folder for each application and for shared features in Office Standard 2007. The same folders are included in the French SLP, which also includes language-specific folders for other products in the 2007 Office system.

For example, the Japanese language pack contains the following files and folders:

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Setup.exe—Setup program

  • Access.ja-jp folder—Japanese Access features

  • Excel.ja-jp folder—Japanese Excel features

  • Groove.ja-jp folder—Japanese Groove features

  • InfoPath.ja-jp folder—Japanese InfoPath features

  • Office.ja-jp folder—Japanese Shared Office features

  • OneNote.ja-jp folder—Japanese OneNote features

  • Outlook.ja-jp folder—Japanese Outlook features

  • PowerPoint.ja-jp folder—Japanese PowerPoint features

  • Publisher.ja-jp folder—Japanese Publisher features

  • SharePointDesigner.ja-jp folder—Japanese SharePoint Designer features

  • Word.ja-jp folder—Japanese Word features

  • OMUI.ja-jp folder—Defines the language pack as a separate product

  • XMUI.ja-jp folder—Identifies the particular culture for the language pack

Language-specific features for Microsoft Office Project 2007 are included in each SLP, but are deployed separately. For example, the Japanese SLP also includes the following folders for Office Project 2007:

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Project.ja-jp folder—Japanese Project features

  • PMUI.ja-jp folder—Defines the Project language pack as a separate product

Language-specific features for Microsoft Office Visio 2007 are handled in a similar way. For example, the Japanese SLP includes the following folders for Office Visio 2007:

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Visio.ja-jp folder—Japanese Visio features

  • VMUI.ja-jp folder—Defines the Visio language pack as a separate product

All three language packs on a specific SLP share some common folders—the Office.ll-cc folder (for shared Office features) and the XMUI.ll-cc folder (for culture definition). In the preceding example, the Office.ja-jp and the XMUI.ja-jp folders are shared by Office, Visio, and Project language packs.

Language packs can be deployed as separate products, or they can be used to deploy an Office product in multiple languages. You are not required to enter a unique product key for language packs, whether you are deploying them separately or as part of the installation of another product.

Note

In previous versions of Office, enterprise customers added languages by deploying Multilanguage User Interface (MUI) packs after a U.S. English version of Office was installed. Localized versions, such as the Japanese version of Office Standard Edition, were not identical to the core version with a Japanese MUI pack. This design has been simplified and improved in the 2007 Office system.

Installing multiple languages of Office

After you create a network installation point for Office, you can make any number of languages available to users by copying language packs directly to the network installation point. Instead of creating a series of installations, you can allow Setup to coordinate a single installation with multiple languages.

For example, if your network installation point contains the U.S. English version of Office Standard 2007, the French language pack, and the Japanese language pack, then Setup detects that there is more than one language available for Office Standard 2007. During the installation, Setup might combine the language-neutral core package with language-specific packages for English, French, or Japanese, or for a combination of those languages. Only one product key is required for the entire process; only one entry appears in Add or Remove Programs in the user's Control Panel. When Setup creates the local installation source on the user's computer, only the languages actually being installed are cached.

When you run the Office Customization Tool to customize the installation, the majority of your customizations apply to the core product. This design allows Setup to apply the same customization file (.msp file) to every installation, regardless of the language. The feature tree displayed in the tool includes common features and a smaller number of language-specific features for each language on the installation point. For more information, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.

Note

Before it installs a language version of an Office product, Setup determines whether the user has the required operating system support for that language. Setup stops the installation if there is no support. For example, if a user has not enabled support for East Asian languages, Setup does not install the Japanese version of Office.

Installing a default language on each user's computer

When you install an Office product, Setup searches the installation point for all the possible languages for that product. By default, Setup installs Office in the language that matches the language specified by the user's Windows user locale. Without your having to control the process, every user gets the most likely language of Office for his or her needs. A user in Paris might get the Office Standard 2007 in French, while a user in London gets Office Standard 2007 in English, and a user with a Japanese user locale gets Office Standard 2007 in Japanese.

If there is no exact match between the user locale and the set of available languages on the installation point, Setup uses the closest match. If there is no acceptable match, Setup prompts the user to select an available language. If you are running Setup in quiet mode (without user interaction) and there is no acceptable language match, the installation fails.

If users run Setup interactively and choose the Install Now option, Setup follows the same default pattern and installs the language version of Office that matches the user’s user locale setting.

For step-by-step instructions about how to deploy multiple languages of Office, see Customize and deploy multiple language versions of the 2007 Office system.

Note

Language packs cannot be deployed as products independent of a 2007 Office system product. If the user has already installed at least one 2007 Office system product, however, then Setup treats the language packs as products and includes them in the list of products that the user can choose to install.

Specifying one or more languages to install on users' computers

You can override default behavior and specify exactly which languages Setup installs on users’ computers. In the Config.xml file located in the core product folder (Standard.WW for Office Standard 2007), you can specify that Setup install a specific language or set of languages. Then you use the /config command line option to point to your custom Config.xml file. For example:

\\ server \ share \Office12\setup.exe /config \\ server \ share \Office12\Standard.WW\MyConfig.xml

where Office12 is the root of the network installation point.

If users run Setup interactively and choose the Customize installation option, they can select one or more languages to install on the Languages tab.

Important

When you edit the Config.xml file to install more than language, you must also specify which of those languages Setup uses for the shell user interface (Shell UI). The Shell UI includes core elements of Office that register with the operating system, such as file extensions, Tool Tips, and right-click menu items. Failure to specify a Shell UI language in this scenario causes the installation to fail. For more information about managing the deployment of multiple languages, see Customize and deploy multiple language versions of the 2007 Office system and Customize language settings for the 2007 Office system.

Installing language packs separately

Because a language pack is also defined as a unique product, you can install language packs separately from Office. If you have already deployed a number of Office products in your organization—for example, standalone versions of Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Microsoft Office Word 2007, and Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 — you can install the Japanese language pack as a separate product and distribute Japanese components for all those products at once. In this case, a separate entry appears in Add or Remove Programs for the Japanese language pack.

Note

To install a language pack, users must first have an Office product installed. Although Setup can install the language pack as a separate product, a language pack by itself does not function as a complete 2007 Office system product. A core product is always required.

Installing Proofing Tools

Proofing Tools allow users to enable additional languages for editing and to work with documents in multiple languages. Each language pack (and each language version) includes Proofing Tools for a set of companion languages. The enterprise edition of the Japanese language pack, for example, includes Proofing Tools for English. Proofing Tools for each language are located in the Proof.ll-cc folder at the root of the network installation point.

2007 Office system network installation point

  • Proofing.ja-jp

    • Proof.ar—Japanese Proofing Tools

    • Proof.en—English Proofing Tools

You can distribute additional Proofing Tools in your organization. Proofing Tools for each language are installed as separate packages (MSI files). The entire set of Proofing Tools is included with the Microsoft Multi-language Pack. For more information about deploying Proofing Tools in your organization, see Deploy proofing tools for the 2007 Office system.

Adding languages after Office is installed

If you deploy Office first and then acquire additional language packs, you can add languages in much the same way that you deploy multiple languages during the initial installation.

To add languages after you install Office, you rerun Setup from the network installation point. By editing Config.xml for that product, you can specify that Setup add languages or that Setup match the language to the user's operating system language. In this case, Setup modifies the existing installation; it does not add the new language as a separate product.

For more information, see Add or remove languages after deploying the 2007 Office system.

Streamlined customization model

In previous versions of Microsoft Office, several tools were required to customize Setup and to manage Office after installation. The 2007 Office system provides a consistent, streamlined model. Administrators can use Setup to install, customize, and manage Office. To enforce specific user settings, administrators can use Group Policy.

In this section:

  • Using the Office Customization Tool

  • Customizing a new installation

  • Making changes to an existing Office installation

  • Using the Config.xml file to customize Office

  • Using Setup command-line options

  • Using Group Policy

Using the Office Customization Tool

You customize an Office installation by using the Office Customization Tool, which is a component of Setup. Start the OCT by running Setup with the /admin command-line option. Using the OCT, create a Setup customization file, which you place in the Updates folder in the network installation point. As mentioned previously, the Updates folder is used only for initial or new installations of the 2007 Office system, and only one customization file in the Updates folder is supported.

A Setup customization file is an expanded form of a Windows Installer .msp file. Each file is configured for a specific product, such as Microsoft Office Professional 2007 or Microsoft Office OneNote 2007. When you run Setup to install an Office product, Setup looks in the Updates folder for a customization file that corresponds to the product you are installing. As Setup installs the product, it applies the customizations from this file.

You can create more than one Setup customization file to configure Office for different groups of users. When you run Setup, you specify the appropriate customization file to use for each installation by using the Setup command-line option /adminfile, or by using Config.xml (see Using the Config.xml file to customize Office).

For more information, see Create different configurations of the 2007 Office system for different groups of users.

For complete details on how to use the OCT to create a Setup customization file, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system. To view the settings stored in Setup customization .msp files, see View XML content from Office Customization Tool customization files.

Customizing a new installation

Using a Setup customization file that you create with the OCT, you can modify the way Setup installs Office on a user's computer the first time. For example, the OCT allows you to customize Office in the following ways:

  • Direct Setup to run without user interaction (quietly).

  • Predefine the product key and accept the Microsoft Software License Terms on behalf of the user.

  • Specify where to install Office files on the user's computer.

  • Choose whether to remove previous versions of Office before installing the 2007 Office system.

  • Determine which Office features are installed.

  • Specify the default values for a large number of user options, including Microsoft Outlook settings.

For information about how to customize Setup, see Customize Setup before installing the 2007 Office system.

Making changes to an existing Office installation

If you need to make changes to an existing Office installation, use the same tool you used to customize the original installation: Run the OCT to update a Setup customization file or to create a new one. Then apply the customization file to the user's computer just as you would a software update, and the user's existing Office installation is updated with your customizations. This means that the customizations available when you install Office are also available when you modify Office after installation.

Note

There are some customizations that Setup applies only when you are installing Office for the first time. These include: specifying where to install Office on the user's computer, defining the product key, and removing previous versions of Office applications. The OCT identifies which customizations apply only to a new installation.

For more information about updating an existing Office installation, see Change users' configurations after installing the 2007 Office system.

Using the Config.xml file to customize Office

You can use the Config.xml file to make changes to your Office installation. You can customize most of the same options that you can with the Office Customization Tool, including a few additional ones not available in the OCT.

Using the Config.xml file is the recommended method for performing the following installation tasks:

  • Instructing Setup to copy the local installation source to the user's computer without installing Office.

  • Specifying the path to the network installation point.

  • Selecting which product or language to install.

  • Changing where Setup looks for Setup customization files and updates.

  • Making last-minute or one-off customizations that do not warrant running the OCT to create a new customization file.

If you put the Config.xml file in the same folder as Setup.exe, Setup finds and uses the file. You can also specify the location of the file by using the /config Setup command-line option.

Note

If you specify both a Setup customization file and the Config.xml file, the customizations you define in Config.xml take precedence over the same customizations in the customization file.

For a complete description of the contents and format of the Config.xml file, see Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.

Using Setup command-line options

Setup recognizes only a few command-line options in the 2007 Office system. The OCT is the primary tool to configure Setup properties and specify other customizations.

You can use Setup.exe commands to perform the following tasks:

  • Run the Office Customization Tool to create a Setup customization (.msp) file.

  • Apply the specified Setup customization file to the installation. For example, you can specify a path to a specific customization file (.msp file) or to the folder where you store customization files.

  • Specify the Config.xml file that Setup uses during the installation.

  • Run Setup in maintenance mode and make changes to an existing Office installation.

  • Run Setup to repair the specified product from the user's computer.

  • Run Setup to remove the specified product from the user's computer.

For more information about the Setup.exe commands, see Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system. For information about Windows Installer properties that were used in previous versions of Office, and about properties that can be used when you install the 2007 Office system, see Setup properties in the 2007 Office system.

Using Group Policy

Administrators can use Group Policy settings to define and maintain an Office configuration on users' computers. Group Policy is used to configure the 2007 Office system policy settings contained in Administrative Templates, and the operating system enforces those policy settings. In an Active Directory environment, administrators can apply policy settings to groups of users and computers in a site, domain, or organizational unit to which a Group Policy object is linked. True policy settings are written to the approved registry keys for policy, and these settings have access control list (ACL) restrictions that prevent non-administrator users from changing them, allowing administrators to create highly restricted or lightly managed configurations.

Administrators can use policy settings for the 2007 Office system applications to manage most options that configure the Office user interface, including:

  • Menu commands and their corresponding toolbar buttons

  • Shortcut keys

  • Most options in the Options dialog box

Note

Most of the 2007 Office system policy settings are also available in the OCT (OPA settings). To configure initial default settings in a Setup customization .msp file, administrators can use the OCT; however, users can modify most of the settings after the installation. Use Group Policy if you want to enforce specific configurations. Group Policy settings have precedence over OCT settings.

For more information about Group Policy for the 2007 Office system, see Group Policy overview (2007 Office system), Enforce settings by using Group Policy in the 2007 Office system, and Disable user interface items and shortcut keys.

Required local installation source

In the 2007 Microsoft Office system, Setup creates a local installation source on the user's computer as part of the default installation process. Setup installs all 2007 Office system products in a two-step process. First, Setup copies compressed installation source files to the user's computer. Second, Setup calls Windows Installer to perform the actual installation from the local installation source. After the installation is complete, the local installation source remains available for any Setup operations that require access to an original source. Minimum disk space requirements include the local installation source.

Note

In Microsoft Office 2003, large organizations typically installed the product from an administrative installation point; installing from a local installation source was optional. In the 2007 Office system, however, the administrative installation option no longer exists, and the local installation source is a required part of the design.

The local installation source makes the process of distributing software updates more efficient and reliable. Neither the network installation point nor the user's local installation source is ever updated directly. Users' installations remain synchronized when they apply the client version of software updates.

Additional benefits of having a complete installation source always available on the local computer include the following:

  • You can deploy the local installation source to users before they install Office. This minimizes the impact on the network and ensures that all users install the product and begin using 2007 Office system applications at exactly the same time.

  • Users can perform maintenance tasks, such as applying software updates, without being prompted for their Office CD or a network source.

  • Traveling users, or users with slow or intermittent network connections, can run Setup without access to the network if they have a local installation source installed in advance.

These benefits come at minimal cost. Although the local installation source does use some hard disk space, creating the local installation source and installing Office takes approximately the same amount of time as installing Office by itself.

In this section:

  • Creating a local installation source on users' computers

  • Deploying the local installation source by itself

Creating a local installation source on users' computers

When users install Office from the CD or from a network installation point, Setup creates the local installation source by using a program called the Office Source Engine (Ose.exe) to copy required installation files to a hidden folder on the local computer. The default location is \MSOCache\All Users at the root of the drive on which Office is installed.

Each package that comprises an Office product—both the language-neutral core package and one or more language-specific packages—has a separate download code and is cached in the subfolder under MSOCache\All Users. Setup always caches a complete local installation source, which includes all the files associated with the product that is being installed. If the installation point includes multiple languages, Setup caches only the packages for the languages that are installed on the user's computer.

When additional Office products are installed on the user's computer, those products are cached in the same local installation source.

Note

If a user installs a second Office product on a different drive, Setup creates a second local installation source at the root of that drive. In this scenario, shared files might be duplicated between the two local installation sources; however, this design ensures that each local installation source is complete and functions correctly.

Users cannot inadvertently delete the local installation source or remove it by using the Setup user interface or the Windows Disk Cleanup Wizard. If the MSOCache folder is deleted or corrupted, Setup automatically re-creates or repairs the folder the next time a source is required. If users do not have sufficient disk space, they are prompted to free some space. You can rely on the fact that every user has access to a source when you distribute new updates or customizations.

Note

Once the local installation source is created, its location on the user's computer is fixed. Unless the user specifies a different drive, additional Office products installed later are always added to the existing MSOCache\All Users folder.

Deploying the local installation source by itself

Because Setup performs the installation of Office from the local installation source, you can minimize the demand on the network by deploying the installation source ahead of time. For example, using your usual method for running Setup on users' computers, you can distribute the local installation source to one group of users at a time. Once all users have a precached source, you can have everyone run Setup to install Office at the same time. In this scenario, most of the installation activity takes place on the local computer instead of over the network.

For more information, see Precache the local installation source for the 2007 Office system.

You can also run Setup directly from the local installation source on the local computer. Running Setup locally means that no activity, including loading Setup files and reading metadata, takes place over the network. In this scenario, you must identify the subfolder in MSOCache\All Users that contains the core product that you want to install. Each core product subfolder contains a copy of the Setup program, and running Setup from a specific folder installs that product. This method allows users to install Office without relying on a network connection.

For more information, see Run Setup from the local installation source to install the 2007 Office system.

Consolidated update process

In previous versions of Microsoft Office, you made a number of choices to ensure that client computers received the latest Office software updates and that client computers did not become out of sync with the administrative installation point. You might have configured Setup to chain software updates with new installations of Office, or you might have applied updates to the administrative installation point and reinstalled Office on all your client computers.

The new architecture of the 2007 Office system makes this process much simpler. In the 2007 Office system, you create a network installation point that you never have to update. Instead, a simple copy operation makes software updates available for new installations. You update existing installations independent of the network installation point so you do not have to worry about keeping client computers synchronized with the installation source.

In this section:

  • Applying Office updates during new installations

  • Updating existing Office installations

Applying Office updates during new installations

When you obtain Office software updates from Microsoft, copy the updates into the Updates folder in the root of your network installation point. The existing files in the network installation point remain the same as when you first copied them from the Office CD.

Note

You can use the Updates folder to incorporate the installation of updates with an initial installation of the 2007 Office system products. Only Windows Installer update files contained in this folder are installed with the initial installation, so you must extract the updates from Microsoft Self-Extractor packages. You can also place a Setup customization .msp patch in the Updates folder to customize initial installations. For detailed information, see "Deploying software updates with an initial 2007 Office system installation" in Distribute product updates for the 2007 Office system.

When you run Setup to install Office on a client computer, Setup looks in the Updates folder for software updates and incorporates the updates automatically as it installs Office. If there are multiple updates in the folder, Setup applies only those updates that are targeted at the Office product being installed. Setup also applies the updates in the correct sequential order. The result is that the user receives the latest updates with the new installation of Office.

Tip

To direct Setup to look for software updates in a folder other than Updates, use the SetupUpdates element in the Config.xml file. For more information, see "SetupUpdates" in Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.

Updating existing Office installations

Once Office is installed, you apply software updates directly to the client computer without returning to the network installation point. You do this through a deployment management program such as Microsoft Systems Management Server, by using Microsoft Windows Server Update Services, or by updating computers directly from the Internet using Microsoft Update. For information about deploying software updates after an initial installation of the 2007 Office release by using Microsoft Self-Extractor files, see "Deploying all Microsoft Self-Extractor packages in a folder" in Distribute product updates for the 2007 Office system. For details on keeping existing Office installations up to date, see Distribute product updates for the 2007 Office system.

Note

After Office is installed on a client computer, reinstalling Office reapplies only those software updates that were applied with the original installation. If you copied new software updates in the Updates folder, they are not applied during the reinstallation.

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