Using PDQ Deploy OR Standalone BAT to install Office 2019.

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WARNING: I will NOT be responsible for your fuckery that happens from you reading this, possibly badly written and maybe incorrect guide. I assume no responsibility if it works, does works, or bricks your net. Triple check your information before deploying it live. TLDR – DONT BE STUPID.

So thanks to Tard’soft (I mean Microsoft) and their infinite wisdom, they are forcing everyone to use this asinine XML style installer to deploy Office 2019, which is a push to get everyone using SCCM, which don’t get me wrong is a great tool but its not for everyone. We all want the MSI packager back please.

First you’ll need information from this page – Office 2019 Deployment for IT Pros.

This post is written under the impression you are smart enough to configure your own activation type and to input your own 5×5 key in to the XML and set the correct channel, etc.

  1. -Download the the Office 2019 Deployment tool, here. You will need to run it to get the sample XML’s and the setup.exe tool.
  2. Open a Elevated CMD in the directory where the Deployment Tool setup.exe is located. (Hint – give it its own folder)
  3. Configure your XML file for deployment, here.
    a. Under Installation options in the tool, you will set this to CDN
    b. Add <AllowCDNFallback="False"> to your XML – This will disable the content delivery network during install. – Example <Add ForceUpgrade="TRUE" AllowCdnFallback="FALSE" SourcePath="\" Channel="PerpetualVL2019" OfficeClientEdition="64">
    c. Good to set <Display Level="Full" AcceptEULA= "TRUE" /> –
    I also take this time to set up the Agree to ELUA and to Show the Install, as a visual confirmation that this train wreck of an installer is running on the target.
    c. Set source path to “\” – this points the tool to the folder you are in.
    d. You should 100% be using <RemoveMSI="TRUE"/> to remove old copies of Office 2016.
  4. Run this command and reference your XML file. setup /download insertnameofyourxml.xml
    Note – It will look as if nothing is happening, but the download is happening in the background. Once the download is complete, you are returned to a command prompt. If you want to check that the files are downloading, go to the location you specified for your SourcePath in the configuration.xml file. You should see a folder named “Office” with a subfolder named “Data.” There will also be a folder named with the version number of the download. For example, 16.0.10336.2004.
  5. Once Downloaded, Set PDQ Deploy to run setup.exe
    with the following as the appended as a parameter /configure yourxmlhere.xml Make sure you check to copy the entire folder.
  6. Alternative PDQ Deploy method is to create a .BAT file, composed as the following, to have PDQ Deploy or a User run the installers without needing to type on the command line. This runs the BAT file in the same directory you open it from, instead of from the system32. Be advised, you may need to append the silent parameter or /q/ or /s to make this silent in PDQ Deploy, otherwise it may hang.
    pushd %~dp0
    setup.exe /configure yourxmlhere.xml
    popd

    Note – You can also use this .BAT method to run the installer locally, on said PC, without needing to type in CMD prompt. Just insert the .BAT in to the same folder as the data files and XML files, copy entire folder to target with handy dandy USB stick OR plop on PC over network and run the BAT as admin.

    NOTE – I have successfully used both the BAT and setup.exe with parameters as Deploy User in PDQ Deploy. The Biggest thing is to turn off CDN fall back.

PDQ Deployment Window Configuration

PDQ Package Window Configuration

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