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Introduction
Before you start
Updating Office
Update the Administrative Installation Point
Update the Client PCs
Installing Office Service Packs
Links



Introduction    Top

O
nce you have your Office Administrative Installation Point created, how do you update the Installation Point when Microsoft releases its regular updates?  And then, how do you update the clients with the new Office updates?

When Microsoft issues an Office update, there are 2 separate versions of the update made available. One for updating stand alone PCs (client updates), and one for updating Administrative Installation Points (administrative updates).

For stand alone computers, the recommended way of updating Office is to go to the Office Update site and install the updates from there.
http://office.microsoft.com/ProductUpdates/default.aspx
Additionally, you can go to the Office Download Center and download the updates to your computer and install them from your PC.
http://office.microsoft.com/Downloads/default.aspx

For updates to an Office Administrative Installation Point, you can go to the Office Download Center and download the updates that are identified as Administrative Installation updates.

For Security Updates on either a stand alone computer or an Administrative Installation Point, you can go to the MS Technet Security Bulletin Search site and search for any updates.  Once again, there should be 2 updates for each Office security update, one for stand alone computers and one for Administrative Installation Points.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/default.asp?url=/technet/security/current.asp


Before you start     Top

1. Obviously, you need an Office Administrative Installation Point created on a server first.  If you need information on how to do this, see these Microsoft web pages:

Office 2000
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/two/45ct_3.htm
Office XP
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/one/depb01.htm

Note: When using Windows 2000 pre SP2 as your operating system, and you create an Office Administrative Installation Point and you set any features to run from the network (Run from Network or Run All from Network), you must create your administrative installation point in a subfolder on the share:
\\server01\Installs\Office\.  If Setup.exe is located at the root of the share,
\\server01\Installs, Office features will not run properly.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q273674

2. Once client PCs have Office installed from an Administrative Installation Point, then all subsequent updates, repairs, installs must be done from the Installation Point.  You cannot do these tasks from the Office CD.

Note:
 Microsoft now supports updating client Office installations that were originally installed from an Administrative Installation Point to be updated with the client version of an Office update.  In the past this was not supported, but because of synchronization issues some organizations were having with Office updates, MS now supports this.
However, like most Microsoft products, there are caveats to everything, so you need to read about this first.  See this web page:
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/journ/Cliupdt.htm

3. Before you update an administrative installation point, make sure no users are using the Office installation share.  If a file on the share is in use during the upgrade process, a newer version of that file is not copied to the installation point.

4. MSI and MSP Files

The MSI file is the Windows Installer package file located in your Office Administrative Installation Point.  Different version of Office have different MSI files.  For example, Office XP Pro with FrontPage would have a MSI file called PROPLUS.MSI.  The MSI file can also be found at the root of the Office CD if you aren't sure which file it is on your server.  
Note:  In addition to the Office MSI file there will be another MSI file for the Office Web Components.  This file is not the file to reference unless you are applying a Service Pack update. In Office XP the web components MSI file is called OWC10.MSI, in Office 2000 it is called MSOWC.MSI.

The MSP file is the Office administrative update file that updates the MSI file and copies files to the Administrative Installation Point.  If you have more than one Office update to install (more than one MSP file), you have to install them separately.  You cannot "chain" MSP file installs.


Updating Office     Top

Updating Office and your clients is a 2 step process:

1. Update the Office Administrative Installation Point on the Server.
2. Update the client PCs with the new Office Updates.


Update the Office Administrative Installation Point     Top

1. Download the Office update you want to install from one of the sites listed above.  Make sure you download the Administrative Installation update.  This will be a self extracting file that contains a MSP file. The MSP file is used to update the Office MSI file located on the server installation point.
2. On a client PC or on the server, extract the MSP file from the Office update download (just double click the .exe file) and then run the MSP file by clicking Start, Run and typing:

[start] msiexec /p path\name of update MSP file /a path\name of MSI file SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* path\name of log file.

ex.:
msiexec /p c:\ofcupdates\winwordff.msp /a \\server01\installs\office\PROPLUS.MSI SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* c:\logfiles\ofcupdate.log

In the above example the location of the MSP file is c:\ofcupdates\winwordff.msp
The location of the MSI file on the server share where Office is installed is
\\server01\installs\office\PROPLUS.MSI
The location of the log file for the installation will be c:\logfiles\ofcupdate.log

Notes:
You can use a UNC path or drive letter and path for the location of the MSP and MSI files.
If any of your paths contain a space character, the path must be surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "C:\OfficeXP Admin").
You don't have to create a log file.  This is optional.  Also, you don't have to use the /qb switch.
In the above example the command line wraps to 2 lines.  When entering this command line it should be on one line.
It is probably better to copy the Office update file (MSP file) to the server housing the Installation Point, and apply the MSP file from there.  Doing it over the network, from another computer, can take a long time.


Commands for the Administrative Installation Point Update     Top

Command-line option Description
[start] Required only for Windows 98 systems where Msiexec is not directly in the path.
Msiexec Executable file name for Windows Installer.
/p Enables Windows Installer to apply an update to an existing installation.
[path\name of update MSP file] Path and file name of the MSP file for the update.
/a Enables Windows Installer to perform an administrative installation of a product on a network share.
[path\name of MSI file] Path and file name of the Windows Installer package for your original administrative image.
SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE Directs Windows Installer to create all file names and folders with MS-DOS–compatible file names. Required when you run Windows Installer from the command line.
/qb or /qb+ Sets the user interface to the basic level (simple progress and error handling). /qb+ supresses all dialog boxes.
/L* Turns on logging and sets a path for the log file. The * flag causes the switch to log all information.
[path\name of log file] Path and file name of the Windows Installer log file.


Update the Client PCs     Top

1. Once you have updated the Admin Installation Point, you can update Office on your client PCs. On a client PC, update the Office installation by clicking Start, Run and typing:

[start] msiexec /i [path to updated .msi file on the administrative image] REINSTALL=All REINSTALLMODE=vomus /qb

ex.:
msiexec /i \\server01\installs\office\PROPLUS.MSI REINSTALL=All REINSTALLMODE=vomus /qb

In the above example, the location of the now updated MSI file on the server share where Office is installed is \\server01\installs\office\PROPLUS.MSI

Notes:
This command line can be run from Start, Run on the client PC, from a login script, a command prompt, a batch file or whatever means of file distribution your environment uses.
You can use a UNC path or drive letter and path for the location of the MSI file.
If any of your paths contain a space character, the path must be surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "C:\OfficeXP Admin").
In the above example, make sure when entering the command line it is on one line.


Commands for the Client PC Update

Command-line option Description
[start] Required only for Windows 98 systems where Msiexec is not directly in the path.
Msiexec Executable file name for Windows Installer.
/I Enables Windows Installer to apply an update to an existing installation.
[path to updated .msi file on the administrative image] Path and file name of the Microsoft Installer (.MSI) file on the administrative installation point.
REINSTALL=ALL
REINSTALL=[list of features]
Specifies whether you want to reinstall specific features or reinstall all applications on the administrative image.
REINSTALLMODE=vomus Triggers the recache and reinstallation on the client computer.
/qb or /qb+ Sets the user interface to the basic level (simple progress and error handling). /qb+ supresses all dialog boxes.

Note:  Above, the REINSTALL=[list of features] allows you to update certain Office programs or their components.  For example, if you had an update just for MS Word, you could use REINSTALL=WORDFiles instead of REINSTALL=ALL. The list of features you can use with REINSTALL=[list of features] can be found on this web page.
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/journ/Oxpsp2a.htm

Scroll down to the section on updating client computers.  In most cases it is just easier to use REINSTALL=ALL due the large number of options for the list of features.


Installing Office Service Packs     Top

Installing Office Service Packs is slightly different than installing other Office updates.  Service Packs have 2 components, the updating of the Office MSI file and the updating of the Office Web Components MSI file.  The process is basically the same as other Administrative updates.

Note:
Starting with Office XP SP3 (and Office 2003 Service Packs) you can now download a single
executable file that can be applied to client PCs that were installed from an Office Administrative Installation Point.  Prior to SP3, this was not possible (or at least annoyingly difficult).

Microsoft is now recommending you create a Baseline Administrative Installation Point of Office
(setup /a from the original Office CD).  Install client PCs from that baseline administrative install, and then install the Service Pack directly on client PCs - instead of updating the Administrative Installation Point with the Service Pack.  (Of course you can still update the Administrative Installation Point if you like)
See this MS Office XP SP3 web site for more detailed information.

1. Download the Office Service Pack file which is a self extracting .exe file.  Double click the .exe file and it will expand into 2 MSP files.  One file updates the Office applications and one file updates the Office web components.  I will use Office XP SP2 for this example.
Note: Different Service Packs use different naming conventions for the MSP files.  Why Microsoft doesn't standardize this, is a mystery.

OXPSP2A.EXE The SP2 download file
MAINSP2FF.MSP Updates core components for Office XP
OWC10SP2FF.MSP Updates Office Web Components

Note:  It is best to copy the 2 MSP files to the server that houses the Office Administrative Installation Point before you install them.  Additionally, each MSP file must be installed separately.

2. The commands used to install each of the service pack MSP files are the same, and are the same as the command used for other Administrative updates.  You just reference the different MSP files in separate commands.

[start] msiexec /p path\name of update MSP file /a path\name of MSI file SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* path\name of log file.

ex.:
Update Office applications
msiexec /p c:\ofcupdates\mainsp2ff.msp /a d:\installs\office\PROPLUS.MSI SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* c:\logfiles\ofcupdate.log

Update Office web components
msiexec /p c:\ofcupdates\owc10sp2ff.msp /a d:\installs\office\OWC10.MSI SHORTFILENAMES=TRUE /qb /L* c:\logfiles\ofcupdate.log

Notice that each command references one of the service pack MSP files which is related to the associated Office MSI file.

Notes:
You can use a UNC path or drive letter and path for the location of the MSP and MSI files.
If any of your paths contain a space character, the path must be surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "C:\OfficeXP Admin").
You don't have to create a log file.  This is optional.  Also, you don't have to use the /qb switch.
In the above example the command line wraps to 2 lines.  When entering this command line it should be on one line.
Microsoft recommends copying the MSP fiiles to the server that houses the Administrative Installation Point, and on that server, run the installation commands for the service pack MSP files.
 
3. Updating the Client PCs with the latest Service Pack

Updating the client PCs is the same as updating client PCs with other Office updates. The difference being you must run 2 separate commands. One for the applications MSI file
and one for the web components MSI file.

[start] msiexec /i [path to updated .msi file on the administrative image] REINSTALL=All REINSTALLMODE=vomus /qb

On each PC open Start, Run and enter the following commands:

ex.:

Update Office applications on each PC
msiexec /i \\server01\installs\office\proplus.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus /qb

Update Office web components on each PC
msiexec /i \\server01\installs\office\owc10.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus /qb

Notes:
These command lines can be run from Start, Run on the client PC, from a login script, a command prompt, a batch file or whatever means of file distribution your environment uses.
You can use a UNC path or drive letter and path for the location of the MSI file.
If any of your paths contain a space character, the path must be surrounded by quotation marks (for example, "C:\OfficeXP Admin").
In the above example, make sure when entering the command line it is on one line.



Links

Office 2000 Resource Kit
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/2000/default.htm
Office XP Resource Kit
http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/default.htm
Office 2000 Resource Center
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;ofw2k
Office XP Resource Center
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;offxp



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