Configure a silent install of the 2007 Office system with Config.xml

The Config.xml file is used to configure installation tasks and is used only while running Setup; it is not installed or cached on users' computers. You can edit the Config.xml file to customize the installation. By default, the Config.xml file that is stored in the core product folders (core_product_folder_name.WW folder, for example, Enterprise.WW or Pro.WW) directs Setup to install that product. For example, the Config.xml file in the Pro.WW folder installs Microsoft Office Professional 2007.

To configure a silent install (unattended install) of a 2007 Office system product that requires no user interaction, modify the Config.xml file for the product you are installing and set the Display element's Level attribute to "none" (Display Level="none" ), and then save the Config.xml file, as shown in the following procedure. The Display element specifies the level of user interface that Setup displays to users.

Specify silent installation options in Config.xml

  1. Open the Config.xml file for the Office product (such as Microsoft Office Professional 2007) that you are installing by using a text editor tool such as Notepad.
  2. Locate the line that contains the Display element, as shown in the following example:

<!-- <Display Level="full" CompletionNotice="yes" SuppressModal="no" AcceptEula="no" /> -->

  1. Modify the Display element entry with the silent options that you want to use. For example, use the following syntax:

<Display Level="none" CompletionNotice="no" SuppressModal="yes" AcceptEula="yes" />

These options will direct Setup to run silently, prevent prompting users to enter information, and prevent the installation from waiting for any user interaction. For more information about the syntax and Config.xml, see Display element in Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179195.aspx).

  1. Save the Config.xml file.

Make sure that no Office applications are running when you install the 2007 Office system. For example, to install Office Professional 2007 after you modify the Config.xml file to specify silent install options, use the following command:

\ serversharesetup.exe /config \ serversharePro.WWconfig.xml

where:
\servershareis the path to the Office Professional 2007 source files

/config is a Setup command-line option that specifies the location of the Config.xml file. See Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178956.aspx).

\ serversharePro.WWconfig.xml is the location of your modified Config.xml file for Office Professional 2007.

Administrators can also use the Config.xml file to specify installation options such as the path to the network installation point, the product to install, and custom setup options, and to specify the languages to install. See Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179195.aspx) for a complete description of the areas you can configure in Config.xml. 

For more information about customizing your Office installation, see Deploy custom configurations of the 2007 Office system (step-by-step) (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178960.aspx). This article provides information about how to deploy an initial customized installation of the 2007 Microsoft Office system to users in your organization and includes an example of a Config.xml file.

Note Note:

If you use the Config.xml file to set silent install options as in the preceding example, you will also want to use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to create a Setup customization file to configure additional installation customizations. For example, you can use the OCT to specify previous versions of Microsoft Office applications to keep or remove. You can also set feature installation states with the OCT to change the default way in which Office features are installed. For a complete description of the areas you can configure with the OCT, see Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx). Also see Deploy custom configurations of the 2007 Office system (step-by-step) (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178960.aspx).

Note that you can also set silent install options by using the OCT. For information, see the Display level and license agreement settings in the Licensing and user interface section in Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx). (The Level attribute of the Display element in the Config.xml file is equivalent to the Display level option in the OCT). In enterprise deployments, it is recommended that you set Display level to None if using the OCT to ensure that Setup runs silently, to prevent prompting users to enter information, and prevent the installation from waiting for any user interaction, including when files are in use. Setting the Display level option to None assumes that the Suppress modal and Completion notice options are silenced and that the I accept the terms in the License Agreement option is accepted (check box is selected). As noted previously, administrators must also make sure that no Office applications are running during an installation of the 2007 Office system.

The OCT is available only with volume licensed versions of the 2007 Office system. Office Standard 2007, Office Small Business 2007, Office Professional Plus 2007, and Office Enterprise 2007 are available for purchase through volume licensing. For more information, see the following 2007 Microsoft Office suites article in the Office Online Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121942). To determine if your 2007 Office suite installation is a volume licensed version, check the 2007 Office suite installation disk to see if it contains a folder named Admin. If the Admin folder exists, the disk is a volume license edition. If the Admin folder does not exist, the disk is a retail edition.