Deploy Office 2016 using SCCM: A Step-by-Step Guide

In this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to deploy Office 2016 using SCCM. To implement Office 2016 deployment using SCCM, we will use the Microsoft Office Customization tool to modify the setup.

The Office Deployment Tool allows the administrator to customize and manage Office 2016 Click-to-Run deployments. Administrators can use this tool to manage Office Click-to-Run installation sources, product or language combinations, and deployment configuration options.

For Office 2016 deployment, we have got the Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 32-bit volume license copy with us. We will use the same to customize and distribute it to Windows devices using Microsoft SCCM.

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Also Read: Guide to deploying Microsoft 365 apps using Microsoft Intune

Office Deployment Guides

Take a look at some useful deployment guides for different versions of Microsoft Office using Configuration Manager.

Steps to Deploy Office 2016 using SCCM

We will now go through the steps to deploy Microsoft Office 2016 using SCCM (ConfigMgr).

Step 1: Run the Office 2016 Deployment Tool

In this step, we will run the Office deployment tool. On the Configuration Manager server, run the command prompt as an administrator and change the path where Office 2016 setup files are located. Run the command setup.exe /admin.

Run the Office 2016 Deployment Tool2 — Run the Office 2016 Deployment Tool

Once the Microsoft Office Customization tool launches, select the option “Create a new setup customization file for the following product.” Ensure that the correct product is selected. Click on OK.

Step 2: Customize Office 2016 Setup

The Microsoft Office Customization Tool allows you to customize the Office 2016 before you deploy it with SCCM. You can specify the KMS client key, modify setup preferences, add registry entries, configure office security settings and much more.

First, let’s look at the option – Licensing and user interface. Here you can configure how the Office 2106 is activated after it is installed on the Windows devices. Select the option Licensing and user interface. For product key, choose the option Use KMS client key if you have KMS server in your organization for activating Office 2016, else choose Enter another product key and enter the Office 2016 key.

Select the option I accept the terms in the license agreement. Set the Display level to Basic, checkbox the options “Suppress modal” and “No cancel“. These settings ensure the Office 2016 setup is silent and requires no user intervention.

Now select the Modify Setup properties option. Click Add, specify the Name as SETUP_REBOOT and Value as Never. Click OK.

When you install Office 2016, it begins a wizard on the first run. You can disable this wizard from the Office 2016 deployment tool. Select Modify user settings > Microsoft Office 2016 > Privacy > Trust Center. Double-click the setting Disable Opt-in Wizard on first run and set the status as Enabled.

Once you have configured the required settings, select File > Save As and save the customization file inside the Updates folder. Close the Office 2016 deployment tool.

Step 3: Create Office 2016 Application in SCCM

You can create a new application in SCCM for Office 2016 using the following steps:

Launch the Configuration Manager console.
Go to Application Management, right click Applications and select Create Application.

On the General tab of the Create Application Wizard, select the option “Automatically detect information about this application from installation files“. Select the Application Type as Windows Installer and specify the path to file proplusww.msi. Click Next.

The Office 2016 application information is now imported from msi file. Click Next.

Specify the information about the Office 2016 application. Specify Name, Publisher, and Software version. The installation command of Office 2016 will be changed later because it needs modification. Select the Install behavior as Install for system. Click Next.

The Office 2016 application is now created in ConfigMgr. Close the Create Application Wizard.

Step 4: Modify Office 2016 Installation

Right-click the Office 2016 application and select Properties. Click on the ‘Deployment Types‘ tab, click on the msi file, and click Edit. Select the Content tab, set the Content location to the Office 2016 folder ( or a folder where Office 2016 installation files are present, remove proplus.ww after Office 2016 ). Click on Apply.

How to deploy office 2016 using SCCM 2012 R2

Select the Programs tab, change the Installation Program command to “setup.exe.” Click on Apply and OK.

The next step is to make the application available to DP. Right-click the Office 2016 application, click on Distribute Content, choose your DP and wait until the application is available with DP. You can verify this by checking the Content Status of the Office 2016 application under Distribution Status.

Deploy the Office 2016 application to the desired collection. Right-click on the Office 2016 application and click on Deploy. Select the Device Collection and select the Action as Install and Purpose as Available. (I haven’t covered the screenshots of deploying application as it’s simple to deploy an application to collection).

After few minutes, on the client computer we see that the application is available. Select the software and click on Install Selected.