Office 2016 for Mac comes in an installer package that has been. Bad sign that 2016 for Mac has begun its life as an installer that cannot be. Ed doesn't want to pay an annual subscription for Office 365 and he's looking. I chose Microsoft Word for Mac when I switched to a MacBook Pro some. And can't afford £100 a year for Office 365 – less for a boxed version.
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Table of Contents.IntroMicrosoft Office 2016 for Mac had a. With that being said things have gotten better and quite rapidly. This post will focus on where Office 2016 for Mac currently stands, commonly asked questions, best practices, and solutions for updates.This post should serve as a overview of the changes to Office 2016 (O2016) for Mac from about November 2015 to Present (January 14th).Before we can get too far into this post it needs to be noted that none of this would be possible without the hard work and support of the following individuals. Contact info is in the form of Twitter/Slack handle.
William Smith (/) took it on himself to reach out to the Apple Platform Experience (APEX) Team at Microsoft and helped push them into our community Slack group. Paul Bowden (/) and Erik Schwiebert (/) are both Software Engineers at Microsoft inside the APEX team.
They have been very responsive to feedback from the community.And so you don’t think I’m making up facts I will be supplying quotes from Microsoft’s pbowden on almost everything. You will need to join our MacAdmins Slack group if you wish to view the source. Sign up page is. Video Presentation: Paul Bowden gave a presentation, 2016.01.20, at the University of Utah’s Mac Managers meeting which can be viewed. It covers many of the topics from this post in video form.Office PackagesFive months into Office 2016 being out and there are five six different kinds of installers/updaters.
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Plus a bonus serializer package. This table should help clarify what is available and the differences between each package. NameTypeCommentsRequires Live SystemFile Size★SKU-less★★InstallerContains all apps. Good for O365 installations. Can be used in combination with the VL Serializer to create a VL Installer without needing to visit Microsoft’s Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC).Yes1.3 GBVolume License (VL)InstallerContains all apps. Available from VLSC only.
Has Serializer package embed.Yes1.3 GBStandaloneInstallerAvailable from. These install packages can be combined with the VL Serializer below to have a custom install solution of just “one” or a “handful” of O2016 apps★★★. These will also work with O365 installs. OneNote standalone not available (obtain from Mac App Store MAS if needed).No550 MB per appStandalone VLInstallerAvailable from VLSC only. These are standalone install packages that contain your VL serial.
They can be used to have a custom install solution of just “one” or a “handful” of O2016 apps★★★.Yes1 GB per appComboUpdateThese updates can take any previous Office 2016 installed app and make them current. These are per app upgrade packages, a difference from Office 2011’s combo update packages.Yes1 GB per appDeltaUpdateThese were first publicly available with 15.18.
These significantly reduce the file size that is required to update an Office app. Also per app upgrade packages.Yes780 MB for suiteVL SerializerSerializerThis is a special package that was released with 15.17. The purpose of this package is to apply the Office serialization process to the SKU-less installations.Yes5 MBIf Requires Live System, is ‘yes’ these installers must be ran on fully booted Mac. IE - You must see the loginwindow or be logged into the physical Mac that you are installing O2016 on. If this option is ‘no’ you can bake these installers into a base image using tools like, or Casper’s Image creation process.★All file sizes should be considered estimates and subject to change★★This installer is often the most confusing as it is also commonly called: Full Suite, O365, or a Retail installer. They are all the same.★★★This level of customization can also be achieved by using a with the SKU-less and VL installers.
How do I install O2016?You should install the package that Microsoft is giving you. End of story. Stop taking their package apart and “fixing things”. It is fine to poke your nose under the hood but there is absolutely no reason for you to be re-packaging anything Office 2016 related.
This was a common practice with Office 2011 and at the start of Office 2016. All issues that were resolved with re-packaging have been fixed by Microsoft. Microsoft has listened and now it is your turn.
Method 1 - Office 365 installationYou can download a SKU-less installer from your VLSC dashboard or from. Both locations point to the same file as it a public release.
This installer is deployed via Apple’s Installer Application (command line & GUI) and can be deployed via:. Apple Remote Desktop.
Munki. Casper. While at the loginwindow. And can be baked into an image There is currently a bug in the postflight script such that the correct target drive is not selected.It all-around should be good to go! Method 2 - Volume License InstallationIf you are a Volume License (VL) customer your first step is to log into the VLSC and download the latest Office 2016 for Mac iso file. Inside of this file you will find the latest VL Installer package and the VL Serializer package. At this time, the VLSC has 15.17 however 15.18 has been released.
Microsoft is working to sync the development and VLSC teams so that the latest update is available on the VLSC faster.This installer is deployed via Apple’s Installer Application (command line & GUI) and can be deployed via:. Apple Remote Desktop. Munki. Casper.
While at the loginwindow. And can NOT be baked into an image. This is due to how the serialization process works.Your options are to now deploy the VL installer package or you can now download the latest SKU-less installer package to deploy. When you use the second option you are able to deploy the SKU-less installer and then apply your VL Serializer package to create a supported install. This is a kind of “future proof” solution as you would not have to access the VLSC again to receive updates.A third, and slightly less preferred (personal opinion) option would be to download the Standalone Installer(s) from. After one or more Standalone installs have taken place you can run the VL Serializer in order to properly serialize your computers.
This solution looks like it might be the most flexible upfront however, the same can be accomplished by using a (detail later in this post). Plus, after two standalone installers you would be much better off with the SKU-less installer package due to file size. With that said it is supported, I however do not believe it is the correct workflow for 99% of Mac Admins.VLSC won’t be updated with the 15.17 build until first week of January. While the portal team is working on getting faster at making new builds available, the underlying reason for releasing the VL Serializer separately is so that you can take the Office 365/Retail (aka SKU-less) installer from future builds (15.18, 15.19, etc), deploy it, run the Serializer, and you have a fully up to date VL install. Update: I made an incorrect assumption regarding SIP and the change with 10.12.4. This post has been corrected. Thanks Patrick Gallagher and Pepijn Bruienne for pointing out the mistake.New with 10.12.4, Apple has decided to protect the locationd LaunchDaemon with System Integrity Protection (SIP).If you are not aware the locationd daemon is used for Location Services.
This is the process that drives: FindMyMac, “Set time zone automatically using current location”, it allows applications to locate your computer, and more.
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