Office 2016 AutoUpdate

[KMak84]

Hi

What is the simplest and easy way of getting Office 2016 updates pushed to my environment without the end user having to seek an admin to put in their creds.

Ideally we just want it to check the device and if it finds an update, then for it to do it in silent mode.

Probably been asked plenty of times but would like to see peoples experiences on this.

[Yebubbleman]

This may be a stupid way to do this, but why not download the updates manually (either in the form of the updates to the individual updates or in the form of the package that updates all of them), upload them to your JAMF Pro Server (unless the nature of this particular beast is that you don’t have JAMF Pro), and then create a policy that installs them on all Macs running any version of Office 2016 for Mac lower than the version you just downloaded?

[summoner2100]

As long as the MAU is at least 3.8, Office 2016 should just prompt the user in the notification area that an update is available and ask to either restart the app, or delay.

Here's a page about it some more. MAU Update

It also adds the option of being able to setup a caching server for updates, and set the clients using plists to direct to hosted cache servers and saving bandwidth.

[c_archibald]

I download updates manually & run polices that check out of date versions to push across the network in JAMF. EZPZ.

[mconners]

On our employee Macs, we use the MAU autoupdate option to check in regularly when users open their office apps. Student computers, we manually download the updates and install on a monthly basis.

[talkingmoose]

Assuming your Macs are allowed to connect freely to the Internet, use Microsoft AutoUpdate (MAU) with a configuration profile to automatically download and silently install updates. The silent part is only for Office applications that are currently quit (not running). The end user will receive a notification an update is ready to install if he or she has an open application. If the end users opts not to install when notified, the update waits until the next time the app restarts.

As of MAU 3.6, it no longer requires the current user be an admin. It instead uses a privileged helper tool that runs as root. Current version is 4.4.

Review the available com.microsoft.autoupdate2 key/value pairs for managing MAU. For a basic "just keep everything updated" configuration profile, I suggest uploading this plist to a Custom Settings payload in a new Configuration Profile in Jamf Pro and deploying to your managed Macs. That should get what you're wanting. You can do more if you like by adding additional key/value pairs.

This is for Office 2019 (version 16.17 and higher)

Domain: com.microsoft.autoupdate2

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Applications</key>
    <dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Excel.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>XCEL2019</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft OneNote.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>ONMC2019</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <string>1033</string>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>OPIM2019</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft PowerPoint.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>PPT32019</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Word.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSWD2019</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Skype for Business.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSFB16</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Remote Desktop.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSRD10</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Company Portal.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>IMCP01</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSau03</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
    </dict>
    <key>HowToCheck</key>
    <string>AutomaticDownload</string>
    <key>StartDaemonOnAppLaunch</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

This is for Office 2016 (version 16.16 and lower)

Domain: com.microsoft.autoupdate2

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Applications</key>
    <dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Excel.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>XCEL15</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft OneNote.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>ONMC15</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <string>1033</string>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Outlook.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>OPIM15</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft PowerPoint.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>PPT315</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Word.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSWD15</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Skype for Business.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSFB16</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Microsoft Remote Desktop.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSRD10</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Applications/Company Portal.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>IMCP01</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
        <key>/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0/Microsoft AutoUpdate.app</key>
        <dict>
            <key>Application ID</key>
            <string>MSau03</string>
            <key>LCID</key>
            <integer>1033</integer>
        </dict>
    </dict>
    <key>HowToCheck</key>
    <string>AutomaticDownload</string>
    <key>StartDaemonOnAppLaunch</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

[jakeah18]

Where can I find this plist for Office LTSC 2021? Or do i/can i just change the values from 2019 to 2021?

[SGN]

talkingmoose: Thanks for the details on the forum about Office 2016 (version 16.16 and lower) to upgrade with latest version. What is the best practice that user can follow to update with the latest version of office post 2-3 prompts /reminder, as your .plist still have an option for end user to extend the update N number of times.

[sk8559]

@talkingmoose How i can install forcfully/silently from jamf on the machines on which MAU is not installed.

[talkingmoose]

@sk8559, download the installer from https://macadmins.software, upload it to your distribution point and add it to a policy scoped to your Macs.

[sk8559]

Thank you for response @talkingmoose Please accept my silly question may be. But still would request to share if any script can install the app silently and forcefully so that i can push in policy along with app package.

[talkingmoose]

@sk8559, what do you want the script to do? The policy takes care of installing the package. No script required.

[sk8559]

@talkingmoose Thank again for response. Yes i could deploy the app.