Getting on track with Office2016 licensing

gistfile1.md

This gist gives a short outline of how to get back on track with Office 2016 licensing if you have been using the Combo Update packages available via AutoPKG to distribute Office 2016 applications and thus copying the Office license file around.

1. download an installer package from http://macadmins.software (e.g. Word Standalone installer)

2. extract the LauncDaemon and PrivilegedHelperTool from the installer package (e.g. by running the installer on a VM):

• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist
• /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper

3. package the abovementioned two files

4. remove the existing "unofficial" license file from the client (/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.plist, remove e.g via Munki preinstall)

5. install the package BEFORE installing the VL Serializer Package (set as required in Munki) and remember to load the launchdaemon (with launchctl)

6. install the VL Serializer Package (Microsoft_Office_2016_VL_Serializer.pkg, which you should get from Microsoft VLSC)

Now your Update package matches the Standalone installer EXCEPT MAU is not installed at any point (it's not included anywhere)

For further info on Office 2016 licensing and deployment see Clayton Burlison's great blog post: https://clburlison.com/demystify-office2016/

You can also use Autopkg: https://github.com/arubdesu/microsoft-recipes/tree/master/Office2016-IndividualApps (Change MSKEY to Standalone). See Readme