Best way to deploy office 2019 w/ serializer on macs

You can get the suite and individual app pkgs from https://macadmins.software

I run 2 policies: One to cache the packages because of the size & the second to install the specific cached packages. I have the volume licence key packaged separately so I can uninstall it easily without removing all the apps.

Here is our policy, sweet and simple. It doesn't update inventory because it runs as part of DEPNotify, which will recon at the end of the "imaging" process.

@mlizbeth Im trying to package both in as one in composer do you think that will work?

You could put together an installer package using Composer that would copy both the MS Office installer and Serializer to a temporary location and include a postinstall script to run the two in sequence using the installer command then remove the two once that is completed. That would work.

Just to chime in, I also use a single policy with two packages, exactly like @mlizbeth. I don't know if packaging both in Composer will work but I would advise against it unless there's a specific need in your environment for it. Having the packages separate in one policy works perfectly and allows you to update the policy easily by just uploading the updated installer and changing the installer package in the policy instead of having to rebuild a composer package every time you need to update.

I would keep it one policy, two separate packages. Since new versions of Office 2019 come out every month, it would save a whole of time. Also, I've noticed from time to time Office 2019 becomes unlicensed after applying updates. I have a policy available in Self Service that re-installs the serializer so that the users can re-serialize office if it becomes unlicensed.

@EliasG

When I first started as an administrator, I wanted to put everything in one package, from Adobe to Office. In my experience, and I am sure others too, keeping it modular is better because it can be reused in multiple different ways. That's not to say that installing Office and the Serializer and capturing with composer won't work, just that if someone needs to be reactivated and that is your only package, it turns out to be a ~2GB download.

In one case when I was deploying Office 2019 for the first time, it upgraded the Office 2016 users to 2019 but did not serialize properly and I had to run the seralizer separately instead of the giant activated package. Just my 2 cents though, there is no wrong way to approach this.

One year I put all my configuration type packages into one super-giant package for deployment to a bunch of student labs. I wrote a script that installed all the packages in alphabetical order and I was really impressed with my ingenuity. At the time (for some reason) I thought it would be really cool and I figured I wouldn't need to change any of the individual component packages over the course of the year. Except I did have to make changes and it was a massive pain having to replace individual components by rebuilding the super-giant package each time. So yeah probably don't do that. Keep it all separate if you can.

I'm on the super granular, Individual policies for everything and anything that needs deployment train. As stated by others above...

1 Policy, 2 Packages.

MS Installer - Deployed 1st

MS Serializer - Deployed 2nd

Done Deal. Easy to swap out the package on the fly to the latest version of ms office.

@Hugonaut for us Noobs could you, if it's not to much trouble specify the workflow a bit more in detail here for testing?

@CorpIT_eB

The workflow is likely the same, if not similar to the image I posted above.
Make a policy -> add the Office Installer -> add the Office Serializer -> Scope it
and it will install Office first, then serialize the installation.

If you want to deploy a new version of Office 2019, just upload it to the JSS, go to your policy and select the new Office pkg.
I like to delete both packages from the payload and reselect Office 2019 and then the Serializer just so I know it executes in the proper order: Office -> Serial license

However in my environment, Office 2019 updates are managed with Configuration Profiles, so I only update the Office package as needed for our DEPNotify installation.

Thank you @mlizbeth thats exactly it (Except I always disable that annoying Restart Option payload!)

Thanks to you both @Hugonaut & @mlizbeth

Our Environment is all O365 and have a configuration with scripts to keep it all updated as they come in, but could be useful thread for someone in the future who may not know how to do it

Never the less, you're both awesome!

Thanks

@mlizbeth problem i am running into is it wont let me select the office package to instal first and then the serial. The serial keeps putting itself to the top.

@EliasG

Change the priority of the serializer to 11, they both will default to 10.

@EliasG The serializer doesn't require the Office apps to be installed before it's run.

@sdagley then I am doing something wrong because it wont activate office then, unless it takes a while to activate?

It should be activated immediately. Do you have the latest version for your organization? You can get it here https://www.microsoft.com/Licensing/servicecenter/default.aspx

@mlizbeth yeah, it activated the office when i packaged on the laptop, when i pushed the policy it did not activate it.

@EliasG For the perpetual license installed via the serializer the effect should be immediate as it's just writing the appropriate configuration file. It sounds like something isn't right in your policy to install the serializer package.

@sdagley All I did was launch composer, run the serial, close the composer when its done and add it to Jamf Admin. Did I miss something?

@EliasG You can't capture a license with Composer. As @john-hsu implies, add the serializer .pkg you download from the Microsoft portal to your DP, and call it in your policy that installs Office.

Thanks never had to do this before. Microsoft did not explain that process very well.

You can use this to create individual Office PKGs for use in patch management, but the entire office installer should work too. It will embed the serializer in the resulting PKG.

https://github.com/ryangball/create-microsoft-office-patch-pkgs