Deploy Office for Mac 2011 updates
Office for Mac 2011 will reach end of support on October 10, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see these resources.
Applies to: Office for Mac 2011_
Topic Last Modified: 2016-12-16_
Microsoft regularly publishes software updates to improve performance or security, or to update features. These updates are released either as an incremental release or a combo release.
An incremental release includes only the files that differ from the last updated release. A combo release includes fixes from all the incremental releases since the last combo release.
To deploy Office 2011 incremental release updates as full updates to client computers from a central location, create your own Office for Mac 2011 image with the latest updates installed. Then deploy this image to the users in the network.
For more information about the different methods that you can use to deploy Office for Mac 2011 to your user environment, see Deploy Office for Mac 2011.
Note
To deploy Communicator for Mac 2011 updates, download the updates from Microsoft AutoUpdate on one computer. To do this, open Communicator, click the Help menu and click Check for Updates. Before you close Microsoft AutoUpdate and the installer, find the <number> Communicator Installer.mpkg in the Users/<Username>/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/ folder. Copy the updates file to another folder and then deploy it to user computers.
Creating and deploying your own Office 2011 image
The following steps provide guidance on how to create your own Office 2011 image with updates and how to deploy it to client computers:
1. Create a network installation point
If the computer is currently running the Classic environment (Mac OS 9), switch to Mac OS X, and then quit the Classic environment.
Verify that your computer meets minimum system requirements. For more information, see the Office for Mac 2011 system requirements.
Turn off virus protection software, and quit any applications that are running.
Log on to Mac OS X with a user account that has administrator access credentials.
2. Install the latest updates
Make sure that this computer has Office for Mac 2011 installed.
To install the latest updates, on the Help menu in any Office for Mac 2011 application, click Check for Updates.
Under How would you like to check for software updates, click Manually, and then click Check for Updates. You can now manually select the updates that you want.
Note
Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac, which is included with Office, can keep Microsoft software up to date. When AutoUpdate is set to check for updates automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you do not have to search for critical updates and information; AutoUpdate delivers them directly to your computer.
3. Package the new image
Note
The following example uses PackageMaker 3.0.4 to create a customized version of the Office for Mac 2011 installer package. PackageMaker is included in the Apple Developer Tools and is located in /Developer/Applications. The PackageMaker user interface will differ depending on the version that you are using.
To define your Office package’s payload (product files), locate the Office for Mac 2011 components to be included in the package, and then add them to the Contents pane in the project window of PackageMaker. If you are using PackageMaker 3.0.4, we recommend that you include the Office folder, Additional Tools folder, Microsoft Fonts folder, Automator, and the different applications as individual components before you create the metapackage. Including the whole Office for Mac 2011 folder as one component could cause PackageMaker to stop responding.
Drag the following files and folders into PackageMaker:
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Additional Tools
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Outlook.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Excel.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft PowerPoint.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Word.app
/Applications/Microsoft Communicator.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Read Me.html
/Library/Automator
/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
/Library/Fonts/Microsoft
/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper
On the Configuration tab, specify the following Install and Destination paths.
Office for Mac 2011 component Install Destination Additional Tools
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Additional Tools
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Office folder
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Office
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Outlook
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Outlook.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Excel
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Excel.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
PowerPoint
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft PowerPoint.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Word
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Microsoft Word.app
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Communicator
/Applications/Microsoft Communicator.app
/Applications/
Read Me.html
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/Read Me.html
/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011/
Automator
/Library/Automator
/Library/
Application Support
/Library/Application Support/Microsoft
/Library/Application Support/
Fonts
/Library/Fonts/Microsoft
/Library/Fonts/
Licensing Helper Property List File
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Licensing Helper Daemon
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/
Licensing Property List File
/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist
/Library/Preferences/
On the Components tab for each folder, clear the Allow Relocation check box.
Note
If the user has installed any previous version of Office, then it can cause install issues. That is why it is recommended you clear the Allow Relocation check box when customizing the package for deployment.
On the Contents tab for the each folder, click the Include root in package check box.
Select the product package in the package list, and then on the Configuration tab, do the following:
Define the product’s packaging details, such as Title and Description.
Add other installation information, such as which type of install the user can perform on the product package: easy, custom, or both.
Specify the locations where the user can install the product: any volume, the system volume, or the user’s home directory.
Configuration tab in PackageMaker
.gif "Configuration tab in PackageMaker")
To build the package for distribution, click Build.
In the Save As field, assign a name to the package file, and then click Save.
After you create the .pkg with all the updates for Office for Mac 2011, copy it to a shared location on the network.
Note
For detailed information about how to create installer packages by using the PackageMaker, see the PackageMaker User Guide.
You can now deploy Office for Mac 2011 applications to users from this installation point by using Apple Remote Desktop.
4. Copy the new image to a shared location
- After you create the .mpkg with all the updates for Office 2011, copy it to a shared location on the network.
5. Deploy the updated image of Office for Mac 2011
- You can now deploy Office 2011 applications to users from this installation point. For more information about how to deploy Office 2011, see Deploy Office for Mac 2011.