Group policy Deployment

[Paul]

Hi

Here's what I want to do:

Deploy a customised version of Office 2007 using Group Policy, had no
trouble doing this with Office 2003.

I've read through the following articles:
1.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Offic...75b9-4795-8feb-d94d0f528ecc1033.mspx?mfr=true
2.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/en-us/library/e16af71c-fed4-40da-a886-95e596c3999e1033.mspx
3.
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Offic...886-95e596c3999e1033.mspx#Element_OptionState

From what I've read am I right in concluding that all i can do is
practically a default install with minimal customisation? - as in I can only
specify if a product is installed or not via the config.xml and thats it, no
customisation of what components of say Word is installed or how Outlook
configures itself when a user opens it.

Based on how this install works - if there were to be actual patches in the
\Updates folder would these be ignored in the same way as the customisations
created using the OCT are?

We don't use SMS in our environment and it seems crazy that the latest MS
product does not deploy very easily via Group Policy. Are MS saying we need
to obtain SMS?

 

[Steve Boyce]

Hi Paul,

See my posts below in the thread "Office 2007 setup using group policy."

I conclude that it can't be done in any meangful way. Not only are the
points you mention correct (no more mst files, only 4 usable entries in
config.xml, and updates folder not used) but on top of that, the install
cannot complete before the logon screen in the way the Office 2003 install
did, and the first user to log on must have admin rights on the PC to
complete the install or else the whole things pretty much falls over.

It boils down that you have a realistic choice of either not using Office
2007 or buying SMS in order to manage it.

Steve

 

[Steve Boyce]

Hi Paul,

See my posts below in the thread "Office 2007 setup using group policy."

I conclude that it can't be done in any meangful way. Not only are the
points you mention correct (no more mst files, only 4 usable entries in
config.xml, and updates folder not used) but on top of that, the install
cannot complete before the logon screen in the way the Office 2003 install
did, and the first user to log on must have admin rights on the PC to
complete the install or else the whole things pretty much falls over.

It boils down that you have a realistic choice of either not using Office
2007 or buying SMS in order to manage it.

Steve

 

[Steve Boyce]

Hi Paul,

See my posts below in the thread "Office 2007 setup using group policy."

I conclude that it can't be done in any meangful way. Not only are the
points you mention correct (no more mst files, only 4 usable entries in
config.xml, and updates folder not used) but on top of that, the install
cannot complete before the logon screen in the way the Office 2003 install
did, and the first user to log on must have admin rights on the PC to
complete the install or else the whole things pretty much falls over.

It boils down that you have a realistic choice of either not using Office
2007 or buying SMS in order to manage it.

Steve

 

[Steve Boyce]

Hi Paul,

See my posts below in the thread "Office 2007 setup using group policy."

I conclude that it can't be done in any meangful way. Not only are the
points you mention correct (no more mst files, only 4 usable entries in
config.xml, and updates folder not used) but on top of that, the install
cannot complete before the logon screen in the way the Office 2003 install
did, and the first user to log on must have admin rights on the PC to
complete the install or else the whole things pretty much falls over.

It boils down that you have a realistic choice of either not using Office
2007 or buying SMS in order to manage it.

Steve

 

[Paul]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply, just needed someone else to confirm what I had read!
I'm gutted that I interpreted it correctly!!!

Group Policy depolyment seems utterly useless unless your in an environment
where all your users are an Admin of their local machine and are able to
manually configure everything.... which begs the question what is the point
of GPO deployments as Admins could run the Setup.exe program manually (or
from a script) and take full advantage of the OCT.

Looks like I best download the SMS 2003 R2 trial and learn how it works
pretty quickly.

A silly question - if I use SMS can I fully automate and customise the
Office 2007 installation such that a user (with user rights) has the product
installed on their PC without them needing to do anything special (in effect
the same as Office 2003 deployed via Group Policy with an MST)

Many thanks
Paul

 

[Paul]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply, just needed someone else to confirm what I had read!
I'm gutted that I interpreted it correctly!!!

Group Policy depolyment seems utterly useless unless your in an environment
where all your users are an Admin of their local machine and are able to
manually configure everything.... which begs the question what is the point
of GPO deployments as Admins could run the Setup.exe program manually (or
from a script) and take full advantage of the OCT.

Looks like I best download the SMS 2003 R2 trial and learn how it works
pretty quickly.

A silly question - if I use SMS can I fully automate and customise the
Office 2007 installation such that a user (with user rights) has the product
installed on their PC without them needing to do anything special (in effect
the same as Office 2003 deployed via Group Policy with an MST)

Many thanks
Paul

 

[Paul]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply, just needed someone else to confirm what I had read!
I'm gutted that I interpreted it correctly!!!

Group Policy depolyment seems utterly useless unless your in an environment
where all your users are an Admin of their local machine and are able to
manually configure everything.... which begs the question what is the point
of GPO deployments as Admins could run the Setup.exe program manually (or
from a script) and take full advantage of the OCT.

Looks like I best download the SMS 2003 R2 trial and learn how it works
pretty quickly.

A silly question - if I use SMS can I fully automate and customise the
Office 2007 installation such that a user (with user rights) has the product
installed on their PC without them needing to do anything special (in effect
the same as Office 2003 deployed via Group Policy with an MST)

Many thanks
Paul

 

[Paul]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply, just needed someone else to confirm what I had read!
I'm gutted that I interpreted it correctly!!!

Group Policy depolyment seems utterly useless unless your in an environment
where all your users are an Admin of their local machine and are able to
manually configure everything.... which begs the question what is the point
of GPO deployments as Admins could run the Setup.exe program manually (or
from a script) and take full advantage of the OCT.

Looks like I best download the SMS 2003 R2 trial and learn how it works
pretty quickly.

A silly question - if I use SMS can I fully automate and customise the
Office 2007 installation such that a user (with user rights) has the product
installed on their PC without them needing to do anything special (in effect
the same as Office 2003 deployed via Group Policy with an MST)

Many thanks
Paul

 

[SteveB]

Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve

 

[SteveB]

Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve

 

[SteveB]

Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve

 

[SteveB]

Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Steve,

Please post back with the learning process and success/problems with trying out Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) as part of
the deployment tests for Office 2007 products.

The GPO approach, which doesn't support, due in large part to a limitation of the MS Installer (.msp files not being handled in a
GPO deployment, is one that's going to be a bit more limited in Office 2007 as you mentioned.

You may also want to check out doing deployments with the Setup.exe based Office Customization Tool (OCT) and the Prep tools for
migration, including document migration, on a test basis. By precaching the Local Installation Source (LIS - \MSOcache) in a PC
image or via network push, the time to install Office 2007 (which installs not from the Office Network Point (oNIP), but from the
LIS point, you may find that it's more flexible than you might otherwise have expected.

==========
Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Steve,

Please post back with the learning process and success/problems with trying out Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) as part of
the deployment tests for Office 2007 products.

The GPO approach, which doesn't support, due in large part to a limitation of the MS Installer (.msp files not being handled in a
GPO deployment, is one that's going to be a bit more limited in Office 2007 as you mentioned.

You may also want to check out doing deployments with the Setup.exe based Office Customization Tool (OCT) and the Prep tools for
migration, including document migration, on a test basis. By precaching the Local Installation Source (LIS - \MSOcache) in a PC
image or via network push, the time to install Office 2007 (which installs not from the Office Network Point (oNIP), but from the
LIS point, you may find that it's more flexible than you might otherwise have expected.

==========
Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Steve,

Please post back with the learning process and success/problems with trying out Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) as part of
the deployment tests for Office 2007 products.

The GPO approach, which doesn't support, due in large part to a limitation of the MS Installer (.msp files not being handled in a
GPO deployment, is one that's going to be a bit more limited in Office 2007 as you mentioned.

You may also want to check out doing deployments with the Setup.exe based Office Customization Tool (OCT) and the Prep tools for
migration, including document migration, on a test basis. By precaching the Local Installation Source (LIS - \MSOcache) in a PC
image or via network push, the time to install Office 2007 (which installs not from the Office Network Point (oNIP), but from the
LIS point, you may find that it's more flexible than you might otherwise have expected.

==========
Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Steve,

Please post back with the learning process and success/problems with trying out Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) as part of
the deployment tests for Office 2007 products.

The GPO approach, which doesn't support, due in large part to a limitation of the MS Installer (.msp files not being handled in a
GPO deployment, is one that's going to be a bit more limited in Office 2007 as you mentioned.

You may also want to check out doing deployments with the Setup.exe based Office Customization Tool (OCT) and the Prep tools for
migration, including document migration, on a test basis. By precaching the Local Installation Source (LIS - \MSOcache) in a PC
image or via network push, the time to install Office 2007 (which installs not from the Office Network Point (oNIP), but from the
LIS point, you may find that it's more flexible than you might otherwise have expected.

==========
Hi Paul

Regarding your last question: I'm assuming it's possible with SMS but I
don't know that for a fact. The documentation that I have been able to find
on SMS / Office 2007 is so far quite sketchy.

Office 2007 as a product and in particular its integration with Sharepoint
seems to be working great, we have it on a couple of guinea pig desktops now,
and I don't think we have any choice but to move forward with it. That means
an SMS purchase but I'm thinking about leaving that till after Xmas and then
having a crack with the beta of the new version first, so I won't have
anything more to say until then.

I am really p'ed off with MS for effectively removing this functionality in
a very sneaky fashion!

Steve >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[SteveB]

Hi Bob

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Pre-creating a LIS sounds like it might be
an interesting option, but I'll need to find the time to check it out!

Cheers, Steve

 

[SteveB]

Hi Bob

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Pre-creating a LIS sounds like it might be
an interesting option, but I'll need to find the time to check it out!

Cheers, Steve

 

[SteveB]

Hi Bob

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Pre-creating a LIS sounds like it might be
an interesting option, but I'll need to find the time to check it out!

Cheers, Steve