How to Install Office 365 Offline for Enterprise Deployment

Start by creating a dedicated folder and downloading the latest ODT version 16.0.16825.20102. This tool is Microsoft's official method for enterprise Office deployments.

Create the ODT directory:

mkdir C:\ODT
cd C:\ODT

Download the Office Deployment Tool from the Microsoft Download Center. Search for "Office Deployment Tool" or visit the official download page. Save the officedeploymenttool.exe file to your C:\ODT folder.

Extract the ODT files by double-clicking officedeploymenttool.exe. Accept the license agreement and the tool will extract setup.exe and sample configuration files to your ODT folder.

The configuration XML file defines what Office applications to install, the update channel, and deployment settings. Create a file called configuration.xml in your C:\ODT folder.

Here's a comprehensive configuration for enterprise deployment:

<Configuration>
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="MonthlyEnterprise">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
  <Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="0" />
  <Property Name="FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN" Value="TRUE" />
  <Updates Enabled="FALSE" />
  <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
  <Logging Level="Standard" Path="C:\ODT\Logs" />
</Configuration>

Key configuration options explained:

• OfficeClientEdition="64": Installs 64-bit version (recommended for enterprise)
• Channel="MonthlyEnterprise": Uses Monthly Enterprise Channel for stability
• ExcludeApp: Removes OneDrive for Business and Skype for Business
• Updates Enabled="FALSE": Disables automatic updates for controlled environments

Create the logs directory:

mkdir C:\ODT\Logs

Now download the complete Office installation source files (approximately 4-6 GB) to create your offline installation package. This step requires internet connectivity but only needs to be done once.

Run the download command from your ODT directory:

C:\ODT\setup.exe /download C:\ODT\configuration.xml

The download process will create an Office subfolder containing all installation files. Monitor the download progress - it typically takes 15-30 minutes depending on your internet connection.

During download, you'll see output similar to:

Downloading Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise in English (United States)...
Download has started...
Download completed successfully.

The final directory structure should look like:

C:\ODT\
├── setup.exe
├── configuration.xml
├── Logs\
└── Office\
    ├── Data\
    └── [Various .cab and .msi files]

For enterprise-wide deployment, copy your offline installation files to a network share accessible by all target computers. This centralizes the installation source and simplifies management.

Create a network share on your file server. For example, on Windows Server:

mkdir D:\Shares\Office365Offline
net share Office365Offline=D:\Shares\Office365Offline /grant:"Domain Users",READ

Copy the entire ODT folder contents to your network share:

xcopy C:\ODT\* \\fileserver\Office365Offline\ /E /H /C /I

Set appropriate NTFS permissions on the share folder:

• Domain Users: Read & Execute
• Domain Admins: Full Control
• SYSTEM: Full Control

Test network access from a client computer:

dir \\fileserver\Office365Offline

You should see the setup.exe, configuration.xml, and Office folder.

Now deploy Office to your target computers using the offline installation files. You can do this locally on each machine or remotely using deployment tools.

For local installation on each computer, run:

\\fileserver\Office365Offline\setup.exe /configure \\fileserver\Office365Offline\configuration.xml

For silent deployment via Group Policy or deployment tools, create a batch script:

@echo off
echo Installing Microsoft 365 Apps...
\\fileserver\Office365Offline\setup.exe /configure \\fileserver\Office365Offline\configuration.xml
if %errorlevel% equ 0 (
    echo Installation completed successfully
) else (
    echo Installation failed with error code %errorlevel%
)
pause

For PowerShell deployment across multiple computers:

$computers = Get-Content "C:\computers.txt"
foreach ($computer in $computers) {
    Write-Host "Installing Office on $computer"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -ScriptBlock {
        Start-Process "\\fileserver\Office365Offline\setup.exe" -ArgumentList "/configure \\fileserver\Office365Offline\configuration.xml" -Wait
    }
}

Monitor installation progress by checking the log files:

type C:\ODT\Logs\*.log

After installation, users need to activate their Office applications using their Microsoft 365 enterprise credentials. This step requires internet connectivity on each client computer.

For user-based activation, instruct users to:

1. Open any Office application (Word, Excel, etc.)
2. Click "Sign in" when prompted
3. Enter their organizational Microsoft 365 credentials
4. Complete the activation process

For shared computer scenarios (RDS/Citrix), modify your configuration.xml to include:

<Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="1" />

Verify activation status using the Office Software Licensing Management Tool:

cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus

For bulk activation verification across multiple computers, use this PowerShell script:

$computers = Get-Content "C:\computers.txt"
foreach ($computer in $computers) {
    Write-Host "Checking activation on $computer"
    Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computer -ScriptBlock {
        $status = cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16\ospp.vbs" /dstatus 2>$null
        if ($status -match "LICENSE STATUS: ---LICENSED---") {
            Write-Host "$env:COMPUTERNAME: Activated" -ForegroundColor Green
        } else {
            Write-Host "$env:COMPUTERNAME: Not Activated" -ForegroundColor Red
        }
    }
}

Once deployment is complete, configure how Office updates will be managed in your environment. You can enable automatic updates or maintain centralized control.

To enable automatic updates after deployment, create a new configuration XML file called enable-updates.xml:

<Configuration>
  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="" />
  <Display Level="None" />
</Configuration>

Apply the update configuration:

\\fileserver\Office365Offline\setup.exe /configure enable-updates.xml

For centralized update management, set up a local update source by downloading updates:

<Configuration>
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="MonthlyEnterprise">
    <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
      <Language ID="en-us" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="\\fileserver\Office365Updates" />
</Configuration>

Download updates to your update share:

C:\ODT\setup.exe /download update-config.xml

Monitor update status across your environment:

Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Microsoft 365*"} | Select-Object Name, Version, InstallDate