Chapter 3: Preparing to Deploy Office 2003

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The Microsoft Office 2003 Setup program uses Windows Installer technology, just as Office 2000 and Office XP did. Because no system file updates or computer restarts are required, however, installing the Office 2003 client is even more straightforward and efficient than installing previous versions.

New to Office 2003 is the option to deploy from a copy of the Office 2003 CD and allow Setup to create a local installation source on users’ computers. The local installation source provides improved resiliency for users to repair, reinstall, or update Office later on. Alternatively, you can run Setup with the /a option to create an uncompressed administrative installation point.

Setup Sequence of Events

The basic installation process for Microsoft Office 2003 is the same as it is for Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2000. The Office Setup program calls Windows Installer to install Office 2003 and related packages. Setup coordinates the installation process from beginning to end, terminating when the last chained package is installed. Because no system file updates or computer restarts are required, installing the Office 2003 client is even more straightforward and efficient than installing previous versions.

The files listed in the following table are often used during an Office 2003 installation.

File	Description
Setup.exe	Office Setup program.
Setup.ini	Setup settings file. Located in the Files\Setup folder.
Ose.exe	Office Source Engine installed by Setup.exe. Copies installation files from the source to a local installation source.
Msiexec.exe	Windows Installer. Called by Setup.exe to install Office.
MSI file	Windows Installer package. Used by Windows Installer to install Office.
MST file	Windows Installer transform. Used by Windows Installer to customize Office.
LogFile_Taskn.txt	Setup log file. Separate log file generated by Setup for each task.

You run Setup by running or double-clicking setup.exe on the Office 2003 CD or at the root of the installation image. If Office 2003 is not installed on the computer, you can also run Setup by inserting the Office 2003 CD or by typing the following command line:

setup.exe [display settings] [logging settings] [options]

Note

Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 includes Microsoft Office InfoPath™ 2003. InfoPath 2003 requires Internet Explorer version 6.0. Internet Explorer version 6.0 is included in Microsoft Windows XP, but if your organization is running Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, you must upgrade to Internet Explorer 6.0 before users can use InfoPath. For more information on how to obtain and install Internet Explorer 6.0, see the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp.

Starting the installation process

At the start of the installation process, Setup performs the following tasks:

1. Reads the Setup settings file (Setup.ini) and assembles the appropriate command line to pass to Windows Installer.

   Setup.exe manages the installation based on the information contained in Setup.ini. You can customize Setup.ini or create your own custom INI file to control many aspects of the installation process.

2. Installs the Office Source Engine (Ose.exe) to copy required installation files to the local hard drive. This step occurs only when you are installing from the Office 2003 CD or a compressed CD image on the network.

3. Calls Windows Installer (Msiexec.exe).

When Setup runs in administrative mode (/a), Windows Installer creates an administrative installation point from which users install Office over the network. Setup also calls Windows Installer to install Office and any chained packages on users’ computers. In maintenance mode, Setup calls Windows Installer to update, repair, or reinstall features after Office is installed.

Caching installation files on the local computer

When you install Office from the Office 2003 CD or an image of the CD, Setup installs a system service named Office Source Engine (Ose.exe) to copy required installation files to the local computer. After it reads the Setup settings file, Setup.exe determines which drive on the local computer has the most space, verifies that the user has administrative privileges, and then installs Office Source Engine to the following folder:

<Drive with most space>\MsoCache\Downloadcode

Note

If the MsoCache folder already exists on the computer—for example, if the user has previously installed an Office 2003 product—then Setup uses that location for caching new installation files.

Office Source Engine copies a single cabinet (CAB) file to the local computer and extracts the files in a hidden folder. This initial CAB file includes the following files:

• Office package (MSI file)

• Files to support upgrades from previous versions (Offcln.exe, Oclncore.opc, Oclncust.opc, and Oclnintl.opc)

• Error reporting tools (Dw.exe and Dwintl.dll)

• Setup Help

If there is sufficient disk space, Office Source Engine continues running in the background and caches the entire installation source. You can also customize Setup to cache only the CAB files required for the features being installed.

After Office 2003 is installed, users can install features on demand or run Setup in maintenance mode to add new features. If Windows Installer cannot find the files it needs in the local installation source, Office Source Engine runs again and copies additional CAB files from the original source to the local installation source. (You can specify additional backup sources in an MST file or CMW file or by setting the SOURCELIST property.) Then Windows Installer resumes the maintenance process. In this case, the user might be prompted for the source.

The installation source files (CAB files) require as much as 240 MB of hard disk space beyond what is required for Office 2003. Setup can be configured to delete the cache after installation, or users with limited disk space can delete the cache after Office is installed. However, keeping the local source makes repairing and updating Office 2003 more efficient: required installation files are always available, and users do not need to connect to the network or find the Office 2003 CD to repair broken features, install features on first use, or apply updates.

Because Setup works only with CAB files when it creates a local installation source, it requires a compressed source. When you run Setup with /a to create an administrative installation point, Setup extracts the compressed CAB files on the network share. When users install Office, Windows Installer copies extracted files directly from the network source. Setup does not install Office Source Engine or cache installation files on users’ computers; instead, Windows Installer uses the administrative installation point as the source.

Corporate customers can take advantage of the local installation source when they deploy Office from a CD or compressed CD image on the network. (Note that retail editions of Office 2003 do not support this option.) For more information about installing from a CD image and customizing local installation source settings, see “Taking Advantage of a Local Installation Source” later in this chapter.

Passing command-line options and properties to Windows Installer

Setup uses command-line options and properties to control the installation process. Most global command-line options, such as /qb, are passed to Windows Installer for all the tasks that Setup handles. Others, such as LOCALCACHEDRIVE, affect the behavior of Setup.exe itself. Some command-line options, such as PIDKEY or INSTALLLOCATION, are passed only during the call to install the Office 2003 package.

The default values for Setup properties are defined in the package (MSI file), but you can customize an Office installation by specifying new values. For example, you can use the INSTALLLOCATION property to define the default installation path for Office.

In general, Setup properties are passed only during the call to install the Office package. To pass a property to a package other than Office 2003 (that is, a chained package), you must specify the property in the relevant section of the Setup settings file and not on the command line. For example, you can customize Setup to install Office 2003 with a full user interface, but install Microsoft Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Packs with only progress indicators by setting the DISPLAY property to Basic in the [ChainedInstall_n] section of Setup.ini.

Setup.exe recognizes all the command-line options and properties from Microsoft Office XP. (The properties that controlled the System Files Update and Internet Explorer installation for computers running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 98 are ignored.) In addition, Office 2003 Setup recognizes new properties that control the creation of the local installation source during installations from a compressed CD image.

For definitions and examples of all the Setup options and properties used during an Office installation, see “Setup Command-line Options” and “Setup Properties” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

For a detailed description of each section of Setup.ini, see “Setup Settings File” in Appendix B, “Office 2003 Resource Kit Reference.”

Calling Windows Installer to install Office and chained packages

Setup.exe calls Windows Installer to install Office and any chained packages. Windows Installer (which includes Msiexec.exe) installs Office 2003 by using a dynamic-link library (Msi.dll) to read the Windows Installer package (MSI file), apply any specified Windows Installer transform (MST file), incorporate command-line options supplied by Setup.exe, and install programs and files on users’ computers.

Important

Do not run Msiexec.exe directly. Instead, always run Setup.exe to install Office and related packages. Running Setup.exe ensures that all system verifications are performed.

When a user selects a feature to install during Office Setup, Windows Installer identifies a corresponding set of components to copy to the computer. Each component consists of a unique set of files, programs, dynamic-link libraries (DLLs), and registry entries that work together as a unit.

Windows Installer uses two types of files to install Office 2003 and related products: packages (MSI files) and transforms (MST files). A Windows Installer package is a relational database that contains all the information necessary to install a product. The MSI file associates components with features. It also contains information about the installation process itself, such as installation sequence, destination folder paths, system dependencies, installation options, and properties that control the installation process.

A Windows Installer transform is a file that contains information about changes to components, features, and Setup properties in an associated package (MSI file). A transform is based on a particular package and contains the modifications to apply to that package during installation. When you use the Custom Installation Wizard to create a transform, the wizard compares the original MSI file and the MSI file with all your customizations incorporated. The differences are recorded in an MST file; the original package is never altered.

Office 2003 requires Windows Installer version 2.0 or later. Both Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 and Windows XP include Windows Installer 2.0, which offers the following advantages over previous versions:

• Allows users to rely interchangeably on a compressed source (Office 2003 CD) and an uncompressed source (Office 2003 administrative installation point).

  Note

  In order for users to switch between compressed and uncompressed sources, you must set the MSINODISABLEMEDIA property to 1 when you create an administrative installation point or before users install Office 2003.

• Patches already installed features more efficiently, usually without requiring the original source.

• Replaces unversioned files more selectively.

For more information about Windows Installer, including Help and other documentation, search the MSDN Library at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp for Windows Installer.

The Office Professional 2003 package (Pro11.msi) includes all the core applications and shared features included in the product. The core package also includes Input Method Editors (IMEs) for Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. After Office is installed, Windows Installer continues to use the original package to add or remove features or to replace missing or damaged files. When you set Office features to be installed on first use, Windows Installer uses the package to copy the files from the source the first time the user activates a feature.

For more information about the available editions of Office 2003 and related products, see “Office 2003 Licensing and System Requirements” in Chapter 1, “Office 2003 and the Office Resource Kit.”

Installing Office

Setup calls Windows Installer to install the core Office 2003 package by using the following command line:

msiexec [display settings] [logging settings] [options] /i <pro11.msi>

The name and location of the package are specified in the [MSI] section of Setup.ini; the path defaults to the location of Setup.exe. You can specify a transform to apply other property-value pairs on the command line or in the Setup settings file. During the calls, Setup passes command-line options and properties to Windows Installer.

Note

No portion of the Office 2003 installation requires that users restart their computers to complete the installation. In some cases, however, Windows might prompt the user to restart the computer to replace files in use. To suppress these requested reboots, use the /noreboot command-line option (equivalent to setting the Windows Installer REBOOT property to REALLYSUPPRESS).

Installing chained packages

Office 2003 Setup can also handle installation of multiple chained packages, which are listed in the [ChainedInstall_1] to [ChainedInstall_n] sections of the Setup settings file. The following example shows the syntax used in Setup.ini:

[ChainedInstall_1] PATH=\\server\share\<LCID>\Mui.msi MST=Custom.mst DISPLAY=Basic CMDLINE=SOURCELIST=\\server2\share\<LCID>

When the core Office 2003 installation is complete, Setup.exe makes a series of calls to Windows Installer to install each chained package.

For example, you can include Multilingual User Interface Packs (MUI Packs) on the same administrative image as Office 2003 and chain them to the Office installation. (The Office 2003 Multilingual User Interface Pack Setup program is named MuiSetup.exe to allow you to use the same administrative installation point.) To chain individual MUI Packs directly to your Office 2003 installation, add the Mui.msi files to the [ChainedInstall_n] sections of the Setup settings file. Setup.exe writes tasks to the registry for each chained package and installs them after the Office installation completes.

For more information about chaining additional packages and setting properties for chained installations, see “Deploying Office and Other Products Together” in Chapter 5, “Installing Office 2003.”

Note

By using the Custom Installation Wizard, you can create a transform that specifies additional programs—for example, the Profile Wizard (Prflwiz.exe)—to run at the end of the Office 2003 installation. These programs are started by the core Office 2003 installation before Setup.exe calls Msiexec.exe to install any chained packages. You cannot use the Add Installations and Run Programs page of the wizard to chain additional Windows Installer packages to the core Office installation.

Generating log files

Both Office 2003 Setup and Windows Installer generate log files during the installation process. Windows Installer allows you to set a number of logging options that apply to each package that it installs during Office 2003 Setup. Note that any logging options you set apply to all log files created by Windows Installer during the Office 2003 installation.

You can also specify the name and path for log files. By default, Setup creates log files in the %Temp% folder on each user’s computer. Setup and Windows Installer create log files for each package that is installed, append the task number to each log file name, and store log files in the same location. For example, %Temp%\<SetupLogFile>_Task(0001).txt is the name of the Setup log file for the first package installed by Setup. Setup.exe controls the sequential numbering of the log files using the settings in the [Logging] section of the Setup settings file.

For more information about customizing logging options and log files, see “Customizing How Setup Runs” in Chapter 4, “Customizing Office 2003.”