Deploying Office and Other Products Together | Microsoft Office 2003 Editions Resource Kit (Pro-Resource Kit)

The Microsoft Office 2003 Setup program supports the chaining of additional packages (MSI files) or executable programs to the core Office 2003 installation. Chaining allows you to deploy Office 2003 and related applications in one seamless process. After the core Office installation is complete, Setup calls Windows Installer or the specified executable program to install any number of chained programs in the order that you specify in the Setup settings file (Setup.ini). You customize chained installations by setting properties in Setup.ini or by creating a transform.

You can chain packages to the core Office installation whether you deploy from an administration installation point or from a compressed CD image. In either case, you specify the chained installation in Setup.ini and customize the installation by setting properties or by creating transform. If you are installing from a compressed image with the local installation source option enabled and the chained package supports it, Setup includes the chained installation in the local installation source. (To determine whether a package supports creation of a local installation source, Setup looks for a file named ProductName.xml in the Files\Setup folder on the installation image.)

Chaining is an efficient way to deploy Office-related products that are not included in the core Office 2003 package, such as Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, Microsoft Office OneNote™ 2003, or Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003. You can also deploy Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Packs (MUI Packs) with Office by chaining individual Mui.msi files. If you install Office from a compressed CD image and create a local installation source on users’ computers, you can use chaining as part of your update strategy: install the original release version of Office on new clients and chain a set of client patches to the core installation.

Specifying chained installations in Setup.ini

Setup reads the Setup.ini file at the start of the installation process and writes a set of tasks to the Windows registry to install each product listed in the [ChainedInstall_1] through [ChainedInstall_n] sections. By default, Setup passes to Windows Installer the command-line options and properties defined for the core Office 2003 package to each chained installation; however, you can set unique properties for a chained installation in Setup.ini by using the following syntax:

[ChainedInstall_1] TaskType=msi Path=\\server\share\admin_install_point\[MSI file] Display=None MST=[MST file] Cmdline=property=value

For more information about the [ChainedInstall_n] section of Setup.ini, see “Setup Settings File” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

Customize chained packages

In most sections of Setup.ini, including the [Options] section, you use the syntax property=value to specify custom property values. In the [ChainedInstall_n] sections, you can set the Display and MST values with this syntax, along with several additional options that customize the installation process. However, you must use the Cmdline option to add other properties to the command line that Setup passes to Windows Installer for the chained installation.

You can set the following options for chained installations in Setup.ini:

TaskName=task_name Assigns a friendly name to the installation. Setup uses this name in the Setup log file. Optional.
TaskType=task_type Identifies whether the chained installation is an MSI file or an executable file (such as an EXE file or a BAT file). Required.
Path=path Specifies the relative or full path to the MSI file or executable file. Required.
Display=setting Specifies a user interface display setting for the chained installation.

Use a basic setting to display only progress indicators; use none for a completely silent installation. For more information about display settings, see the [Display] section in “Setup Settings File” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

Note
By default, chained installations inherit the display setting specified for the core Office package. Use this setting to override the default setting.
MST=MSTfile Specifies the path and file name of a transform (MST file) to apply to the chained package (MSI file). Optional.

Note
You can specify only one transform with the MST option; to specify multiple transforms, add the TRANSFORMS property to the Cmdline entry.
Cmdline=options Specifies other property=value pairs or command-line options that Setup passes to Windows Installer or an executable program during the call to install the chained package or program.

IgnoreReturnValue=[0|1] To continue installing successive chained installations even if this installation fails, set this property to 1. The default setting is 0.

Note

If you inadvertently enter an incorrect name or path for the MSI file, then Setup halts the installation process and neither the chained installation nor any subsequent chained installations are installed. This occurs even if IgnoreReturnValue is set to 1.

Reboot=[0|1] To restart the computer after an installation completes, set this option to 1; Setup restarts and then resumes the installation process.

Requirements and limitations to deploying chained installations

The Setup program for Office 2003 is designed to support chaining of other Windows Installer packages and simple executable programs (EXE files). This chaining functionality makes it more efficient to deploy MUI Packs from the Multilingual User Interface Pack at the same time you deploy Office. However, chaining is not the best method to use in all circumstances, as described in the following sections.

Adding programs through the Custom Installation Wizard

The Custom Installation Wizard allows you to add installations and run programs during the Office 2003 installation. For example, you can run the Profile Wizard (Proflwiz.exe) to distribute custom settings at the end of the Office 2003 installation. However, you cannot use the Add Installations and Run Programs page of the Custom Installation Wizard to chain additional Windows Installer packages. If Windows Installer tries to start the installation of a second package before it has completed the installation of the core Office package, the entire installation process stops.

On the Resource Kit CD

The Office 2003 Resource Kit includes the Customization Installation Wizard and the Profile Wizard, which are installed by default when you run the Office Resource Kit Setup program. For more information, see “Custom Installation Wizard” or “Office Profile Wizard” in Appendix A, “Toolbox.”

Using Group Policy software installation

Group Policy software installation works directly with the MSI file and bypasses Office 2003 Setup and the Setup.ini file when assigning or publishing packages. For this reason, you cannot use Setup.exe to chain Office 2003 installations when you assign or publish packages. Instead, Microsoft Windows deploys Office 2003, the Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack, and other Office-related packages separately and in random order. Because Office 2003 must be installed first, before a MUI Pack installation can succeed, you cannot use chaining with Group Policy software installation to combine these installations.

Restarting the computer after a chained installation

Office 2003 Setup does not support computer restarts forced by chained installations themselves. In other words, Setup does not allow you to chain a package or program that must restart the computer to complete its installation because restarting interrupts the Office 2003 Setup.exe thread and stops the installation process. To avoid this problem, Office Setup sets the Windows Installer REBOOT property to REALLYSUPPRESS by default for all but the last chained installation.

You can, however, direct Setup.exe to restart the computer to complete a chained installation without interrupting the installation process. Setting the Reboot option to 1 in the [ChainedInstall_n] section of Setup.ini adds a task to the registry that directs Setup to restart the computer and then resume the Office 2003 installation, including any additional chained installations.

Note

The Reboot option in the [ChainedInstall_n] section of Setup.ini takes the value 1 or 0. It is not the same as the Windows Installer REBOOT property, which takes the value FORCE, SUPPRESS, or REALLYSUPPRESS. For more information about the Windows Installer property, look up REBOOT in “Setup Properties” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

Elevating installation of a chained package

If you chain a package that requires elevated privileges to install, you must take the same steps to elevate the installation that you do for Office 2003. Setup.exe does not automatically install a chained package with administrator privileges when the Office 2003 installation is elevated. However, several of the methods that you use to elevate the Office 2003 installation also elevate any chained installations:

If you use the /jm option to advertise Office 2003, then every installation listed in Setup.ini is also advertised and therefore elevated.
If you use a tool such as Microsoft Systems Management Server to install Office.
If you log on as an administrator when you begin the Office 2003 installation and do not log off or restart before it completes, then chained installations run with elevated privileges.

For more information about elevating the Office 2003 installation for users who are not administrators, see “Installing Office with Elevated Privileges” earlier in this chapter.

Chaining MUI Packs

Chaining is particularly useful for adding individual MUI Packs to the core Office 2003 installation. Each MUI Pack in the Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack is installed as a separate Windows Installer package (Mui.msi). To create an administrative installation point for all the MUI Packs on a particular CD, you run MuiSetup.exe with the /a option from the root of the MUI Pack CD. You can also install individual MUI Packs by running Setup.exe /a from the appropriate LCID folder. Alternatively, you can copy the contents of the MUI Pack CD to a compressed CD image.

You can install MUI Packs on the same installation image as Office 2003 or create a separate one. The folder structure for each MUI Pack is parallel:

\\server\share\admin_install_point\<LCID>\Mui.msi

After you install the MUI Packs on the administrative installation point or compressed CD image, you edit the Office 2003 Setup.ini file to chain them to the core Office 2003 installation. You can set a new display setting, specify a transform to apply, and set other properties that apply only to the MUI Pack installation. If you are installing from a compressed image, Setup automatically includes the MUI Packs in the local installation source.

To chain MUI Packs to the Office 2003 installation

Open the Setup settings file (Setup.ini) in a text editor such as Wordpad.
Create a [ChainedInstall_1] section and specify the name and path of the MUI Pack you want to chain.
Specify a unique display setting or transform to apply to the MUI Pack installation by setting the Display or MST property.

For example, even if you are installing Office 2003 with a full user interface, you can specify basic to install the MUI Pack quietly.
Specify additional options by using the Cmdline property.

For example, set the NOFEATURESTATEMIGRATION property to True to cancel the custom action that matches installation states for MUI Pack feature states to corresponding Office feature installation states.

The following example adds the French Multilingual User Interface Pack (MUI Pack) to the Office 2003 installation. The package is installed silently (regardless of the display setting specified for the Office installation), the customizations in the transform French.mst are applied, feature installation state matching is turned off for the MUI Pack, and an alternate source is identified for when the primary installation image is unavailable.

Example:

[ChainedInstall_1] TaskType=msi Path=\\server\share\admin_install_point\1036\Mui.msi Display=None MST=French.mst Cmdline=NOFEATURESTATEMIGRATION=True SOURCELIST=\\server2\share admin_install_point\1036