office 2000 full deployment

[Adrian Marsh (NNTP)]

Hi,

I've tried to deploy office out to my network using Active Directory
Software installation.

I have my OUs as:

Main
|
|-- XP
|--Laptops
|
|----- DFS
|--Others....

So that DFS is a sub-ou of Laptops, and Laptops is a sub OU of XP.

Within XP OU, i define that Office should be installed via Published
method to Users.

In Laptops, I define it as Assigned to the Computer.

When I start my test PCs, they do seem to install office fully, as they
sit there for >10 mins on the "installing office" notice.

But when I start Word, etc, with no network cable in, they all want
access to the network drive for installing files.

Where have I gone wrong?

Adrian

 

[Adrian Marsh (NNTP)]

Forgot to mention that the PCs in question are in the DFS OU.

 

[NIC Student]

Hi Adrian,

That is normal behavior for an Office installation done with a GPO. You can
either go to the workstations and do a full/complete install of Office or
use the Office 2000 Resource Kit wo make a custom MST that use use with your
GPO to push a complete install. I prefer the MST becasue you can configure
the installation settings including self-configuring Exchange settings.

 

[Adrian Marsh (NNTP)]

Hmm... Thanks for that - its what i thought.

First question - whats an MST?
Is it the same as an MSI? I've setup Orca, and was thinking that way,
but not sure what to change

Adrian

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Hi, Adrian,

An MST is different from an MSI. MSI is a Microsoft Installer file. An MST
is a Microsoft Transform file for an installer file. You can create them to
transform how the default installation behaves.

With Office, you can use the Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) to create and
manage transforms. For Office 2000, you can find it here:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011383061033.aspx

Use the Office Resource Kit to help you work with your options for
deployment:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011511491033.aspx

 

[Adrian Marsh (NNTP)]

Thanks Susan,

Once I've been through the CIW, how do I integrate that back into Active
Directory? I've a network deployment share setup, so will it just take
immediate affect?

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Sorry; I'm not an AD expert, so I can't point you any farther...have you
checked the rest of the Office Resource Kit to get more information on using
GPO for deployments?

 

[Adrian Marsh (NNTP)]

I think I've figured this out. When adding the MSI to AD, you also add
the .mst in the Modifications tab.

I wonder how that affects upgrades to the msi's, would the MST propagate
through, or would the new msi override (and you'd have to add the MST to
the upgrade MSI definition as well).

Anyway, Susan - thanks for pointing me in the right direction.