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Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise - en-us Package

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Daniel O'Connell

We are looking to patch Office 365 Apps as part of our monthly patching cycle and would like this to be packaged in PDQ. We currently have a workaround to run the command to ""C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe" /update user updatepromptuser=true forceappshutdown=true displaylevel=true", but it does not take into account what patch we are trying to install. For example, if we are patching and it rolls into a new Microsoft patching window, this command will install the latest version that has not been properly tested. 

 

  • Is this commercial software that requires a license or is this free for business customers to use? - Free for customers with valid MSFT licensing
  • Does the Package End-User License Agreement (EULA) allow us to redistribute the software? - unknown
  • Is this software deployed to the majority of an organization's endpoints/servers or is only used as a utility for a handful of admins? We are interested in software that maximizes the time savings for SysAdmins - Used by majority of users.
  • Are we able to automate checking the Software publisher's site for when new versions are released? - Update history for Microsoft 365 Apps (listed by date) - Office release notes | Microsoft Learn
  • Does the package include silent parameters to install for all users (machine-wide installation)? - yes
  • Does it require maintaining a corresponding collection in PDQ Inventory? - yes
  • Download Link? EULA Link?- 
  • Documentation for Silent Parameters?
  • Do you have the package working already as a custom package? Can you share this with us? What's your recommendation for silent installation? - ""C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe" /update user updatepromptuser=true forceappshutdown=true displaylevel=true", but goes out and gets latest version and does not allow for granular control.
  • Are there additional addons or preferences we should consider when creating this package?
  • State Your Case! When we publish a new package in the Package Library, we are committing to ownership for our customers in keeping that up to date. Why do you feel this would be a benefit/time savings for our customers? - I imagine most PDQ admins would love to have this capability to patch O365 apps and not leave it up to chance. Additionally other patching platforms have this as part of their repository (ex. Ivanti Security Controls).

Thanks

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Comments

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    Chad Cooper

    Hi Daniel, Thank you for the detailed information. Many of our customers have implemented a GPO or used registry setting to enable auto-updates for Office 365, especially in the last few years with more remote workers. If you are concerned about releasing untested versions, you might opt for a GPO or registry setting that subscribes to a very conservative update schedule (semi-annual enterprise channel), this way you can still have automatic updates enabled and you don't have near as much management.

    I'm not quite understanding how we (Package Library) would help with granular control over the updated versions when OfficeC2RClient.exe updates to the latest patch for that particular release channel you select when installing.

    I hope that provides a possible solution for you. Please help us understand a little bit more about how we might be able to accomplish this as a package library package.

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