Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Office with the Office Deployment Tool and XML File



1. Use Case:

The customer does not require the entire Office suite but only specific Office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In this scenario, we include only the required apps and exclude all others. We use the Windows 11 Multi-Session image without the Office 365 apps and proceed with customizing the Office suite.

2. Prerequisite:

1. You need to have the appropriate license to use Office 365 and the AVD service. In this scenario, I am using Microsoft 365 Business Premium.


3. Download the Office Deployment Tool: 

1. The image I have selected here is Windows 11 Enterprise multi-session, version 24H2 -x64 Gen2

2. Open a browser inside the Image VM and navigate to Download Office Deployment Tool from Official Microsoft Download Center and click on Download. It will download the Office Deployment tool.
3. Go to the Downloads folder, right-click the file, and select 'Run as administrator.'



4. Accept the terms and click Continue.

5. Select a folder to store the extracted files. Select any place as per the requirement and click OK.

6. Click OK.

7. After running the .exe file we get 2 files: Office Deployment Tool executable (setup.exe) and a sample configuration file (configuration-Office365-x64.xml).

8. You may delete the sample configuration xml file.



9. Microsoft recommends using the Office Customization Tool (Microsoft 365 Apps admin center) to create or edit the existing configuration.xml file.

4. Create/Import the .XML file: 

1. You can either click on 'Create' or 'Import.' Both options will take us to the same path.


2. Under the Architecture select 64-bit. Scroll down slightly.


3. Under the Office Suites tab, select Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.

4. Under Visio, I have not selected any options. Scroll down slightly.


5. Under Project and Additional Products, I have not selected any options either. Scroll down slightly.
6. Under the Update Channel blade, for 'Select the Update Channel,' I have selected 'Current Channel,' and for 'Select the Version,' I have selected 'Latest. Scroll down slightly.
7. Under the Apps blade, include or exclude the apps that need to be deployed. Scroll down slightly.


8. Under the Features blade, I have turned the option 'OFF'.

9. Click Next.

10. Under the Language blade, for the primary language, I have selected English (United States). 
11. Under Additional Languages and Proofing Tools, I have kept the defaults as is.

12. Click Next.

13. Under the Installation Options, I have selected 'Office CDN'




14. Choose 'On' for Show installation to user.

15. 'Shutdown running applications' was 'Off' by default. I have kept it as is.

16. Click Next.





17. Under the Update and upgrade options blade, I have selected 'Office CDN'.

18. I have selected 'Off' for the 'Automatically check for updates' option.


19. Under the Upgrade options, I have turned ON the option for Uninstall any MSI version of office, including Visio and Project.

20. Turned On the options for Uninstall Visio and Uninstall Project.


21. Turned On the options for Uninstall SharePoint Designer and Uninstall InfoPath.

22. Turned OFF the other two options.

23. Click Next.

24. To silently install Microsoft 365 Apps for your users, choose On for Automatically accept the Microsoft Software License Terms.

25. Under Product activation, select Shared Computer.

26. Click Next.

27. Under the General tab, provide the details if required and click Next.

28. Under the Application preferences tab, there is not much options to be selected. Scroll down to the bottom and click Finish.



29. Click Export.

30. Select 'Keep Current Settings' and click OK.



31. Accept the terms. Give a File Name. Click Export.

32. Click Keep.


33. The .xml file is downloaded.

34. Place the configuration.xml file in the same folder as the setup file we extracted.

5. Run the Setup.exe

1. Open Command Prompt with 'Run as administrator.


 2. Run the command: Setup.exe /configure configuration.xml


3. Installation is initiated.

4. Installation is successful.


6. Install OneDrive in per-machine mode:

1. Go to https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=844652 to download the latest version of One Drive.

2. Go to Command Prompt from the Start Menu, right-click, and select 'Run as administrator.'

3. Go to the folder where the OneDrive.exe file is located. In our case, it's in the Downloads folder.
Type cd<space>Downloads

4. Then type .\OneDriveSetup.exe /allusers and hit Enter.

7. Configure MS Teams for AVD:

1. New MS Teams app is already installed. You can verify by going to  C:\Program Files\WindowsApps (Note: WindowsApps folder is hidden). You would not find the New MS Teams in Control Panel.


2. Enable media optimization for Teams:
 To enable media optimization for Teams run the following commands from an elevated PowerShell session:
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Teams" -Force
New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Teams" -Name IsWVDEnvironment -PropertyType DWORD -Value 1 -Force

3. Install the Remote Desktop WebRTC Redirector Service: 

3.1 Download the .msi installer from https://aka.ms/msrdcwebrtcsvc/msi

3.2 Accept the terms and click Install.

3.3 Click Finish.


**You may now proceed with the installation of the Line of Business (LOB) applications that the customer has, and then run Sysprep.**


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