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Deploying Communicator 2007 R2

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

You deploy the Communicator 2007 R2 client using the Microsoft Installer package (.msi file). You can perform an IT-managed rollout, or allow your end users to install Communicator individually. The method you choose depends on the size and security requirements of your organization, the deployment methods you already have in place, and the experience level of your users, among other factors. The following sections discuss these options in more detail.

IT-Managed Installation

Office Communicator 2007 R2 can be deployed in a managed-desktop environment using the following methods:

  • Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (SMS) or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2. Use these products for more complex software installation scenarios, where scheduling, inventory, reporting, status, and support for an installation across a wide-area network (WAN) are required.

  • Active Directory Group Policy. You can create a Group Policy object to deploy Communicator 2007 R2 to specific users or computers based on group memberships.

  • Windows logon scripts. The logon script performs an unattended installation of Communicator 2007 R2 when a user logs on. Group policy objects can be used to target logon scripts to specific devices or users.

Note

The new Office Communicator 2007 R2 Automatic Update feature cannot be used to upgrade to Office Communicator 2007 R2 from Office Communicator 2007 or other previous Communicator versions.

Installing on Machines with Multiple Users

After Communicator 2007 R2 is installed on an individual computer, it is available to all users of that computer. Configuration settings for each user are stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive. Communicator 2007 R2 cannot be installed on a per-user basis on an individual computer.

Windows Installer Command Line Options

  • Quiet-Mode Installation

    When deploying Communicator 2007 R2, you can suppress the installation user interface by using the Windows Installer command-line option /qn in your script, as follows. (The filename Communicator.msi is used as an example only. The actual name of the Communicator 2007 R2 .msi file that you deploy may be different.)

    msiexec /qn /i Communicator.msi

    Windows Installer command line options are not case sensitive. For details, see Windows Installer documentation on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site.

  • Generating a Log File

    You can generate a log file during Communicator 2007 R2 setup by adding /l*v followed by a file name to the Windows Installer command line. For example:

    msiexec /qn /i Communicator.msi /l*v logfile.txt

    The asterisk specifies that all possible errors, warnings, and status messages are written to the log file, and the v specifies that all messages are verbose. Other log file flags are possible. For example, /lem generates a log file that contains only errors and out-of-memory or fatal exit information. For a complete list of log file options, see the Windows Installer documentation on the MSDN Web site. Event trace log (ETL) files, which may also be generated on your computer in the <username>/Tracing folder, enable administrators and Microsoft support technicians troubleshoot problems. For details, contact your Microsoft support representative.

User-Managed Installation

Communicator 2007 R2 can be installed in your organization using a file server on your network as a software distribution point for the Communicator 2007 R2 Windows Installer package. At rollout time, you can send an e-mail to users explaining the installation process and provide a link to the distribution point.

Note

Administrator privileges or administrator credentials (in Windows Vista Standard User mode) are required to install Communicator 2007 R2. The files in the installation package are protected from tampering by using digital signatures.

Note

When you try to download and run the .msi installation file, if users see the error message “A network error occurred while attempting to read communicator.msi,” the file was corrupted during the download. The user should download the installation file and run it again.

Client Post-Setup Verification

To complete a quick check of address book and telephony integration on a client machine, locate a contact name and try to call the contact from within Communicator 2007 R2.

Uninstalling Communicator 2007 R2

To uninstall Communicator 2007 R2 using a script, include the following command line in your script:

msiexec /x Communicator.msi

To uninstall Communicator 2007 R2 manually, do the following:

  1. Log on to your computer with administrative credentials.

  2. Click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then click Programs and Features.

  3. Click Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2.

  4. Click Uninstall at the top of the window.