Problem Installing Office Pro Plus 2021 locally via officedeploymenttool

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

Windows 11 Pro 23H2
Office 2021 Retail

I am trying to install only Word, Excel and Access - I do not want anything else.

I went to MS's online Office Customization Tool and created the below Configuration.xml.
I also downloaded deployment tool and it extracted the setup.exe and various configuration file examples.

I down loaded the Office Pro plus 2021 Retail Img file from microsoft so I know its a legit MS one.

I placed the Office Pro plus 2021 Retail Img file and the deployment tool setup.exe in a folder C:\Office2021Install

I then mounted the Img file and made a note of the Drive Letter which I then appened to the Configuration.xml that
I downloaded from MS's online Office Customization Tool.

First I tried using Windows 11 terminal, opening it from within

The command line I use to to run the deployment tool setup.exe is ".\\setup.exe /configure Configuration.xml"

I am getting the error message

"We found a problem
We're sorry, we can't continue because we weren't able to download a required file.
Please make sure you're connected to the internet or connect to a different
network, then try again."

I then opened Command Prompt from Win 11 task bar search as Admin and then navigated to C:\Office2021Install.

I then used the command setup.exe /configure Configuration.xml

I got the same error meassage.

I do not understand the error as I was connected to the internet and it does not saty what file it was
trying to download. After all, I am installing offline from a genuine MS Image file.

Looking at the tutorials on the net, this should work but I'd be grateful for any assistence as I have been trying to install this for 2 days straight now
and I have signifcantly more grey hair than I started with.

This is my configuration file.

<Configuration ID="7b438bdd-f6a0-48d4-b104-612e6a5ccc0e">
<Info Description="" />
<Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current" SourcePath="E:" AllowCdnFallback="FALSE">
<Product ID="ProPlus2021Retail" PIDKEY="My Key Goes Here">
<Language ID="en-gb" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
<ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
<ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Project" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Outlook" />
<ExcludeApp ID="PowerPoint" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Outlook" />
<ExcludeApp ID="Visio" />
</Product>
</Add>
<Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="0" />
<Property Name="FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN" Value="FALSE" />
<Property Name="DeviceBasedLicensing" Value="0" />
<Property Name="SCLCacheOverride" Value="0" />
<Property Name="AUTOACTIVATE" Value="1" />
<Updates Enabled="TRUE" UpdatePath="E:" />
<RemoveMSI />
<AppSettings>
<Setup Name="Company" Value="My Name Goes Here" />
</AppSettings>
<Display Level="Full" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
</Configuration>

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

If this is Office 2021 Retail like you say, when you launch the installer you should be able to click on customize and choose which products you want to install.

The deployment tool as far as I know is only for office 365 apps.

Edit: Looks like office 2021 doesn't let you choose what products to install. My apologies.

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

I found this:

If you don’t specify a SourcePath when installing Office, the ODT looks for the installation files in the folder it’s located in. If it doesn’t find the Office installation files there, it goes to the Office CDN to get the installation files.

We recommend that you install Office directly from the Office CDN, if internet connectivity and network bandwidth make that possible.

So if you use the sourcepath to point to the installer files to do offline, for the configuration.xml that should bypass the internet which hopefully would work?

Unfortunately (or fortunately), In my environment we use the 365 installer so I never had to mess with the config file.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

andrew129260 said:
If this is Office 2021 Retail like you say, when you launch the installer you should be able to click on customize and choose which products you want to install.

The deployment tool as far as I know is only for office 365 apps.

Edit: Looks like office 2021 doesn't let you choose what products to install. My apologies.

Sadly MS changed thier installer for Office 2021 onwards to force install everything, however it is documented on MS Online that you can get around this by using the downloadable deployment tool and an appropiate Configuration file. MS even provides some templates but it is recomended that a person uses the online Microsoft 365 Apps admin center - Office Customization Tool to create the Configuration file. BTW. You do not have to be an admin to use the online tool.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

andrew129260 said:
I found this:

So if you use the sourcepath to point to the installer files to do offline, for the configuration.xml that should bypass the internet which hopefully would work?

Unfortunately (or fortunately), In my environment we use the 365 installer so I never had to mess with the config file.

Seems like we are both posting at the same time

In my configuration file i do specify the source " SourcePath="E:", this is the Microsoft Office Img file mounted so, yeah, as you say it should workj but, for me, it is not.

KYHI · Apr 5, 2024

I use this > Releases · YerongAI/Office-Tool

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

Event2020 said:
Seems like we are both posting at the same time

In my configuration file i do specify the source " SourcePath="E:", this is the Microsoft Office Img file mounted so, yeah, as you say it should workj but, for me, it is not.

yeah looking over the documentation I am not seeing anything wrong with your config file but ill keep researching to see what I can find.

) You have office uninstalled from the machine your trying this on yes?
) Also, If you've saved the configuration.xml file with a different name, make sure you used that name in the command.

setup /configure configuration.xml

3.) Try going to regedit as admin and navigate to local machine > software > Microsoft> Office and delete any numbered entries in that key path like 15 or 16 etc.

4.) Run cmd as admin, Then delete the items in the %temp% folder:

Code:

del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\%Username%\AppData\Local\Temp*.*"

del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\%Username%\Local Settings\Temp\*.*"

Then restart and try again.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

Hi Andrew

Thank you for your reply which I really do appreciate.

Forgive me for asking but within in what do I run the delete CMDs, Power Shell, Command Prompt or other?

I tried within Windows button+R and that gives an error "Windows cannot find 'del
and Command Shell states "The system cannot find the path".

The only change I made was to add my user name here

Code:

\%Username%\

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

Event2020 said:
Hi Andrew

Thank you for your reply which I really do appreciate.

Forgive me for asking but within in what do I run the delete CMDs, Power Shell, Command Prompt or other?

I tried within Windows button+R and that gives an error "Windows cannot find 'del
and Command Shell states "The system cannot find the path".

The only change I made was to add my user name here

Code:

\%Username%\

sorry, simply copy the string one at a time and right click in cmd as admin and it will do its thing. Don't change the code. Leave the username the way its written

Here is a video:

Recording 2024-04-05 104417.mp4

Shared with Jumpshare

jmp.sh

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

I did briefly have MS Office Pro Plus 2021 installed but when I saw that it had installed everything I uninstalled it.

Done some tests re: temp folders.

I do have users>"my name">AppData>Local>Temp
which has a deployment folder inside it

I also have Windows>Users>Default>AppData>Local>Temp
This is empty

I then did Win Button + R, %Temp% and deleted evereything except and file that windows would not allow
which is in use by Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (SxS).

A quick look in Task Manager shows that it is an active service and I have stopped it as there was option to disable.
I then did Win Button + R, PreFetch and deleted everything that was not in use.

In my C Program Files folder I have found two folders, 1. Microsoft Office, 2. Microsoft Office 15.
I have deleted both of these.

I did a full Registry Backup to a USB stick first then I tried to delete the following keys and thier sub keys
Office - I was allowd to delete all except Office>Common>Actions>{B7EFF951-E52F-45CC-9EF7-57124F2177CC}
OfficeCSP - Fully deleted
OfficeSoftwareProtectionProgram- Fully deleted

I have rebooted my machine and it appears to have booted correctly.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

andrew129260 said:
sorry, simply copy the string one at a time and right click in cmd as admin and it will do its thing. Don't change the code. Leave the username the way its written

Here is a video:

Recording 2024-04-05 104417.mp4

Shared with Jumpshare

jmp.sh

Just see this and I will try as you suggest

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

Those ran fine except the 2nd one which could not delete 8 .tmp files as they are being used by another process
which was to be expected I guess.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

Should I go ahead and try the deployment tool again now that all that suff has been deleted and / of cleaned out?

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

Event2020 said:
Should I go ahead and try the deployment tool again now that all that suff has been deleted and / of cleaned out?

yeah give it a try :)

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

Thanks Andrew

Well I ran CMD as admin, changed the directorys to my Office2021Install folder and ran the command

Code:

setup.exe /configure Configuration.xml

This time the error messager said
"We found a problem!

We're sorry, we can't contimue because we wernt able to download a required file.

Please make sure that you are connected to the internet."

I was monitoring my internet traffic and there was none, zero.

On my machines I run BitDefender Internet Security so, just in case I disabled its firewall and online threat protection and tried again
but received the same error.

If it is needing to download a file it is not using my internet to try.

This is so fraustrating.

Try3 · Apr 5, 2024

pparks posted a video on the subject in this related thread

Office 365

O365 - What is actually installed on my pc? I do not want access ppoint etc... and as far as I can tell they are not installed. There were shortcuts for them but I deleted them. I assumed that if I ever chose Access then it would install. Today I spilled an entire cup of coffee :censored: on...

www.elevenforum.com

You might usefully search the TenForums MSOffice section to see if there is any guidance there [ElevenForum does not have an MSOffice section].

Denis

andrew129260 · Apr 5, 2024

Try deleting the office setup files and config file and start from scratch.

Start fresh with a new download of the tool

Download Office Deployment Tool from Official Microsoft Download Center

The Office Deployment Tool (ODT) is a command-line tool that you can use to download and deploy Click-to-Run versions of Office, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, to your client computers.

www.microsoft.com

This weekend I can give it a try in a virtual machine

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

KYHI said:
I use this > Releases · YerongAI/Office-Tool

Is this safe, my copy of the Office 2021 Pro Plus Img file is legit from MS Servers
and the license key is likewise legit and purchased by me.

Event2020 · Apr 5, 2024

andrew129260 said:
Try deleting the office setup files and config file and start from scratch.

Start fresh with a new download of the tool

Download Office Deployment Tool from Official Microsoft Download Center

The Office Deployment Tool (ODT) is a command-line tool that you can use to download and deploy Click-to-Run versions of Office, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, to your client computers.

www.microsoft.com

This weekend I can give it a try in a virtual machine

Thank you Andrew but dont waste your Weekend, free time is important.

So here is what I have been doing.

I went to the online Office Customization Tool and recreated the configuration from scratch but with less options.

This is the code it created:

Code:

<Configuration ID="c8d54674-effd-4911-9823-6c9600a6362b">
  <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current" SourcePath="F:">
    <Product ID="ProPlus20231Retail">
      <Language ID="en-gb" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="OneNote" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Outlook" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="PowerPoint" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Bing" />
      <ExcludeApp ID="Visio" />
    </Product>
  </Add>
  <Updates Enabled="TRUE" />
  <Display Level="Full" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
</Configuration>

I ran CMD as admin and the cmd line setup.exe /Configure New_Configuration.xml

This time the we are getting ready window popped up, followed 1/2 a second later by the below error.

I then disabled all parts of my anti-virus, and turned off UAC and ran it again
and guess what?

The same error.

I was monitoring my internet traffic and there was no outing data call made by anything.

This is becoming a farce now, it really is. MS is as bad as Apple.
this is my fourth whole day, from the moment I get up to when I go to bed trying to get this working.
A brand new 5 day old, top spec, high powered £2,400+ laptop and I cant get office to install.