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Trying to ThinApp Office 2010
Has anyone had success in getting office to work consistently in a ThinApp environment? I have been gone through the process multiple times and cannot get consistency.
My situation is this:
VMWare 5.5
ThinApp 5.1.0
Office 2010 with a valid KMS key
KMS server is confirmed accessible from the workstations
I have found articles indicating that I should make sure to activate it first and read articles that indicate that I should NOT activate it. I have tried both ways and still run into the same issue. One day, the office products will open fine. The next day, they will show as not activated and crash out. Sometimes they give the error that the product is not activated and sometimes they work fine.
Thank you for any assistance that you can give.
My situation is this:
VMWare 5.5
ThinApp 5.1.0
Office 2010 with a valid KMS key
KMS server is confirmed accessible from the workstations
I have found articles indicating that I should make sure to activate it first and read articles that indicate that I should NOT activate it. I have tried both ways and still run into the same issue. One day, the office products will open fine. The next day, they will show as not activated and crash out. Sometimes they give the error that the product is not activated and sometimes they work fine.
Thank you for any assistance that you can give.
I pinged our ThinApp devs on this as well. Here are a couple of things they responded with.
During testing phases, the activation issue was seen when:
1. The KMS server and the client machine are in different time zones.
2. When the OS on which you are running office 2010 is not activated.
Additionally, office ThinApp activates only during first launch (for each user) and the activation details gets saved into sandbox. Unless the sandbox is deleted, the ThinApp packaged Office will not reactivate.
Here are the possibilities for the issue:
1. Non persistent desktops may be in use where the sandbox gets deleted everytime when the user logs off.
2. Roaming profiles are not configured properly to include sandbox location.
In either of the last two scenarios, this can be resolved by correctly configuring the sandbox location - whether by redirecting the sandbox to the user home directory or other static user location or by configuring the roaming/synchronized profile to include replication of the sandbox.
Thanks to Guru and Lakshmana for this info.
During testing phases, the activation issue was seen when:
1. The KMS server and the client machine are in different time zones.
2. When the OS on which you are running office 2010 is not activated.
Additionally, office ThinApp activates only during first launch (for each user) and the activation details gets saved into sandbox. Unless the sandbox is deleted, the ThinApp packaged Office will not reactivate.
Here are the possibilities for the issue:
1. Non persistent desktops may be in use where the sandbox gets deleted everytime when the user logs off.
2. Roaming profiles are not configured properly to include sandbox location.
In either of the last two scenarios, this can be resolved by correctly configuring the sandbox location - whether by redirecting the sandbox to the user home directory or other static user location or by configuring the roaming/synchronized profile to include replication of the sandbox.
Thanks to Guru and Lakshmana for this info.
ASKER
Thank you for the feedback.
The article you cited was one of that I read and followed to the letter. It indicates that you should make sure to activate Office. There is an additional VMware article that indicates if you have issues that you should NOT activate the product.
Further clarity:
This is 32-bit Office running on a 32-bit Win 7 desktop.
The KMS server and the client machine are in the same building.
The OS was activated months ago on the same KMS server.
I agree that activation SHOULD only occur on the first launch. However, it seems to be treating every launch as the first launch. I have checked to make sure that the sandbox is being created and it is definitely there.
You strike a chord with the second part of this. We are trying to push this to physical desktops, not VMs. In addition, we are not using roaming profiles. I have directed the sandbox to multiple locations including a totally separate directory on the workstation (C:\Thinapps).
Some background data on what we are attempting to do. We have a third party product that is causing major issues with the users current Excel add-ins. For this reason, we are attempting to give them a ThinApp version of Excel in addition to their local copy. Both copies are 32-bit and are identical in every way to prevent versioning issues. Other than the activation issue, the side by side installs seem to work flawlessly. I just need to find a way around the activation issue.
The article you cited was one of that I read and followed to the letter. It indicates that you should make sure to activate Office. There is an additional VMware article that indicates if you have issues that you should NOT activate the product.
Further clarity:
This is 32-bit Office running on a 32-bit Win 7 desktop.
The KMS server and the client machine are in the same building.
The OS was activated months ago on the same KMS server.
I agree that activation SHOULD only occur on the first launch. However, it seems to be treating every launch as the first launch. I have checked to make sure that the sandbox is being created and it is definitely there.
You strike a chord with the second part of this. We are trying to push this to physical desktops, not VMs. In addition, we are not using roaming profiles. I have directed the sandbox to multiple locations including a totally separate directory on the workstation (C:\Thinapps).
Some background data on what we are attempting to do. We have a third party product that is causing major issues with the users current Excel add-ins. For this reason, we are attempting to give them a ThinApp version of Excel in addition to their local copy. Both copies are 32-bit and are identical in every way to prevent versioning issues. Other than the activation issue, the side by side installs seem to work flawlessly. I just need to find a way around the activation issue.
No VMs, good to know. :-)
One question for clarification on the two instances of Excel. Is one native and one ThinApp'ed or are both ThinApp'ed?
One question for clarification on the two instances of Excel. Is one native and one ThinApp'ed or are both ThinApp'ed?
ASKER
One is native and the other is ThinApp'ed. Two conflicting third party add-ins for Excel, so this was the (hopefully) least painful solution.
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ASKER
Thank you very much for the feedback! I had tried the package on a totally clean Win7 desktop and the same inconsistency persisted.
I was finally able to get it fairly stable in the dual-office environment by doing the following:
Create a clean Windows 7 box.
Take a pre-install capture.
Install Office and let it auto-activate.
Open Excel to confirm it is active.
Close Excel.
Open Excel again and CHANGE THE KEY but just re-enter the same KMS key that it used previously.
Re-activate Office.
Make changes according to the links previously discussed.
Take a post-install capture and generate the package.
Test on a user machine.
Of course now that I have all of that done... they decided that they want full dedicated virtual desktops after all. :(
Again, thank you for all of your assistance!
Tom
I was finally able to get it fairly stable in the dual-office environment by doing the following:
Create a clean Windows 7 box.
Take a pre-install capture.
Install Office and let it auto-activate.
Open Excel to confirm it is active.
Close Excel.
Open Excel again and CHANGE THE KEY but just re-enter the same KMS key that it used previously.
Re-activate Office.
Make changes according to the links previously discussed.
Take a post-install capture and generate the package.
Test on a user machine.
Of course now that I have all of that done... they decided that they want full dedicated virtual desktops after all. :(
Again, thank you for all of your assistance!
Tom
Glad to hear you solved the issue! Don't discount the work done on the package - make sure you keep the project. You may find it comes in handy later. ;-) You never know when you may need a package of Office to work - especially if you migrate to the next version of Office but need the older version for a few one-off scenarios. Also, with VMware's recent announcement on the acquisition of CloudVolumes, you may find the two technologies work very well together if you decide to explore it's use.
Best of luck!
Best of luck!
See VMware's Packaging Guid for ThinApp 5.x and Microsoft Office 2010 (2062694) for further details.
NOTE: As the KB says, capturing a 64-bit version of Office 2010 is only supported on a 64-bit Win7 OS. These instructions, however, will work for both 32-bit and 64-bit captures of Office 2010.