[Historic]

Do the standard 1 cd at each time.
Follow the exact procedure as described, separately for each cd.
That is you'd have to repeat the full procedure 5 times for 5 office cd's.

Regarding cabinet compression, let me specify waht I experienced,
All integration was done initially on Windows Server 2003 Enterprise edition which has makecab.exe already present in system32 folder.
So after following the guide, I had 5 folders for 5 cd's which I ran through cdimage.exe with optimization enabled and the final size was above 730mb
Now I deleted everything and followed the guide again, but this time replaced the makecab.exe in system32 fodler with the one found in cabinet sdk kit. That is replaced new makecab with old one.
This time around the final size of 5 folders was more than last time BUT after running it through cdimage.exe the optimized size was 701mb.
This size was for Sp1.

To save myself trouble, followed the same guide once again for Sp2, with the old makecab.exe and the final optimized size from cdimage comes to 679mb. (With the old makecab.exe from cabinet sdk)

Hope this makes things clear.

[Zxian]

@Historic - Thanks for clearing that up... the original guide made it seem like you could do everything at once...

[Zxian]

Hmm.... Ok. I've got CD1 done and re-cabbed. I've got a total size of 399MB. Is this the same as what others have? I've attached a listing of my directory structure just to make sure that what I've got is what I'm supposed to have.

I'm still not able to get the cache to work. I've replaced the regular setup.exe with the enhanced setup to allow for the ENFORCECACHE=TRUE option, but when I copy all the files over into my VM and try to install, I still get no cached installer anywhere on my harddrive (i.e. the msocache folder doesn't exist and the option to save the cache is gone).

Attached File(s)

•  files.txt (10.99K)
  Number of downloads: 111

[marek722]

ok, forgot to set email-notification on this topic ...

here now answers to your questions:

post #5, Historic:

1) ocw10.msi

This one is not included in an admin install. Don't know why and how although I tried many option when making an admin install. The result is not making an admin install but applying the patches with MSI 3.1 to the copied files on your harddisk. A useful side-effect of this is the still working lokal caching (-> msocache). I hoped the updates would still work as well this way - there is still no solution now.

2) "If I perform an admin image first, then copy over the original unaltered .msi's wouldnt the folder structure be different in the target source?"

No, the folder structure is generated from the .msi's and so it should work (did I test this case? Sorry, can't remember)

3) "Although I have yet to try this, I would like to ask if this switch might work while doing the first admin image? msiexec.exe /a pro11.msi MSINODISABLEMEDIA=1"

This switch is necessary if you want to create a install CD/DVD as far as I understand it.

4) "Along with this can we also enable Office Online Update??"

Actually no. But this is a feature I will look for, don't know now where to alter the install.

post #6, Historic:

1) "One more note: Some of the cabinets in different products having the same name do not have the same content, therefore 'the beef stew method' of creating AIO (supposedly vol.msdn cd method) is out of the question here."

All code was especially written to allow 'the beef stew method'. Later more on this one.

post #7, Historic:

Just a hint about size: my experiments endeed in a 540MB 5in1sp1-iso (no hotfixes included).

post #9, Zxian:

1) "How do you go about clearning out all the files that aren't on the original CD?"

This is something for a batch-job saw a solution later in the thread.

2) "Also... do you just take the files that are on each CD and simply copy them over into your working directory, overwriting any existing files?"

the working directory is a temporary directory where you copy all CDs overwriting existing files except the setup.ini and .xml files under /FILES/SETUP. If you rename setup.exe to setupxxx.exe and setup.ini to setupxxx.ini (for each product own name) the setups will continue to work. Seems I forgot to mention this because I started with a AIO version.

post #18, FaceMouth:

"Also, I am not able to make an admin install point with this version, and I think I will have to manually install my key, not sure if it is going to work in the mst file."

Strange, tested it and worked fine with 5in1sp1 (no other hotfixes). Looked like the original. Seems that more testing is needed and a new version including a framework for the main routines to make all easier ...

post #20, tCP:

Thanks for this contribution - didn't test it, maybe i'll include it in a new version later

post #24, Zxian:

"the original guide made it seem like you could do everything at once..."

That's the idea behind all. More explanations in next post.

post #25, Zxian:

you need enough free space for caching and it is not working with a admin install as starting point. Didn't try the enhanced setup.exe so can't help with this. In setup.ini the following should be included:

[Cache]
; The cache section provides settings for caching the install source locally 
;	   Value		   Default		 Description
;	   CDCACHE			2			 Option to specify cache level 
;									   [auto, 0, 1, 2]
;	   LOCALCACHEDRIVE <predefined>	Option to specify a drive to cache 
;									   the install source to
;	   DELETABLECACHE  1				Option to display UI to remove the 
;									   cache at the end of setup [0,1]
;	   PURGE		   0			   Option to always remove cache at end of 
;									   setup [0,1]
CDCACHE=auto
;LOCALCACHEDRIVE=C:\ 
DELETABLECACHE=1
PURGE=0

ok, next post with technical details ... this one is long enough

[marek722]

here we are again with few details about sort2cabs.js and the cabs on the original cds and how I understood the whole thing:

the cabs

On the original cds there are lot of duplicate cabs with same content. This way the products are easy to combine in different packages with more or less cds. Very important are the order of the cabbed files corresponding to the order in the different .msi files. That's the point sort2cabs.js is mostly dealing with.

'the beef stew method' for building an AIO cd only works because it is intended to work. As long as Microsoft is caring about this, sort2cabs.js will work (only very little error checking is included, sorry).

sort2cabs.js

When applying the patches .msi files get altered. New files are added and checksums corrected and badly some other things change (more investigation needed). Really ugly the whole thing gets because of new files which get already used sequence numbers thus destroying the possibility to compress files. This is what sort2cabs.js is supposed to repair

Shortly: sort2cabs collects all information about the files and there install order (sequence numbers). Because not all .msi use all files from the cabs, sort2cabs builds large arrays in memory and sorts the files using the order from all .msi. Some files appear in more than one .msi - those give hints how to sort. After that new sequence numbers are generated and written to the tables (you have to reimport with ORCA). This ordering is also used when generating the new cabs. Sounds easy, ins't it

other thoughts

I really don't know if the idea of just copying files to harddisk and then patching is intended. Somehow it works and gives better results than making an admin install. After I 'accidentally' found this way I belief it's the right one slipstreaming service packs to the install cd(s). Still some things get altered in the .msi files that prevent online updates and I hope to find them.

Optimizing the cd to find duplicate files is not really necessary when running sort2cabs.js on all parts together only once. In the result only setup.exe will be found as a duplicate file (if you rename it when copying files to harddisk). As stated before 5in1 with SP1 is only about 540MB.

One aspect is still unclear: in .xml you'll find a product id and source id. I belief those should change on a slipstreamed version to distinguish original from service pack versions - any one who knows more?

Ok, gonna track the topic now and give more answers ... and I'm planning to add more routines for easier slipstreaming ... if only the day had more than 24 hours

[Historic]

What I meant was that after all the 5 cd's are done re-cabbing and deleting extra files, the final size of all 5 folders is way above 700mb (Dont actually remember the exact size). So to burn all the 5 folders on 1 cd, the source folder containing all 5 folders is scanned for and optimized by cdimage.exe

Now I dont know if you made any change to sort2cab.js regarding the compression max-lzma or default ms-zip but for me the size is exactly 699mb for sp1 (And I put in autorun files etc.. and its 702mb and sizeon cd-disk is 703mb)

I cant figure out what I did wrong to not the size of 540mb like you did.
Any way this question is not important now as I already have an sp2 cd with final size of 679mb (incl. 2-3mb of autorun etc.)

[Historic]

Regarding the setup.xml, if you look at ocw10.xml, ocw11.xml and pro11.xml, get more idea that product id is the msi gui-id.
e.g. if pro11.msi has the product id of xyz when viewed through orca, the pro11.xml should have the product id of xyz.
similarly for owc10 and owc11.
Source id, is the same as product id, maybe a "close xml parsing" statement?
DownloadCode in .xml is the folder name inside msocache where the files will be cached. For my enhancements purposes, including rhd & sounds, kept the download-code the same as pro11 productid, so that files get cached in the same folder as office cache.

[dziubek]

@marek722

When you plane updated your guide for Office 2003 SP2?

BTW Good work
dziubek

[marek722]

dziubek, on Oct 19 2005, 03:37 PM, said:

When you plane updated your guide for Office 2003 SP2?

when next version is ready

Havn't slipstreamed SP2 till now but it should work the same way as SP1.

[Zxian]

This is just bizarre...I've done exactly everything as per the guide (several times) and I still don't get even an option to cache the installer files. The check box in the last window of the installation page doesn't exist, just as if I had performed an administrative install (which I haven't).

I've used tCP's batch file to perform the post-cabbing clean up. When all is said and done, the final directory for CD1 is 399MB and the install works as normal (installs without errors) except for that annoying little non-existant check box.

[Historic]

Zxian do you have enough HDD space on virtual pc ?
I ran my tests on virtual pc initially and there was no cache folder
and no option to enable/delete cache as well. As I had setup minimum
required space to run test on virtual pc.

I installed on "real" system and everything went ok
with msocahce folder created with properly cached files/cabinets.
(Using enhanced setup.exe with enforcecahe=true command passed)

Here are my final sizes for all to reference using sp2.
There is no need for a separate guide for sp2, just follow the initial guide and
it works sp2 as well.

frontpage=189 MB (198,405,064 bytes) 94 files,14 folders
office11=400 MB (420,474,476 bytes) 151 files,19 folders
(this has additional remove hidden data tool, office sounds, outlook personal folder backup
extras included for each extra theres 1 extra folder and 3 files, + the original msi's
which comes to 13 extra files and 3 extra folders)
onenote=67.8 MB (71,124,549 bytes) 53 files,12 folders
project=119 MB (125,037,522 bytes) 107 files,18 folders
visio=219 MB (230,668,792 bytes) 126 files,14 folders.

[Zxian]

Yup... the VM has plenty of free space on the hard drive (3.5GB should be enough.. right? )

I'll give it a shot on a real computer tonight though. We'll see if that works. *crosses fingers*

[FaceMouth]

Quote

post #18, FaceMouth:

"Also, I am not able to make an admin install point with this version, and I think I will have to manually install my key, not sure if it is going to work in the mst file."

Strange, tested it and worked fine with 5in1sp1 (no other hotfixes). Looked like the original. Seems that more testing is needed and a new version including a framework for the main routines to make all easier ...

I just realized you left this post or I would have replied earlier.

My version is not the full package 5 disk. It's just a single trial disk I bought through school. The 5 disk set is the only one you are able to make an admin install point with (I know there is another thread relating to how to change the install options).

Anyway, I haven't really been playing with this much lately. I think I might work on my unattend disk more this week. School has been busy, but next week looks like a light work load.

I do have the 5 disk set, I really don't need all these programs though, and the academic version was more of a challenge. There are other things I want to work on also, so I am just going to add some of the programs from 5 disk set and move on to other stuff.

I know this was a long winded babbling poet, I got up at 5 after sleeping only 3 hours. Insomnia sucks lol

thanks again for a great guide

I think this guide would be a great sticky as well !!

This post has been edited by FaceMouth: 23 October 2005 - 05:53 AM

[suicidal_orange]

Great guide, thought I was gonna manage SP2 on my first go, but no.

Shortly (about a minute) after running sort2cabs.js it errors

md5sum: SETUP.EXE: no such file or directory

the file is there, any suggestions? I'm running a fresh install of winXP sp2 if that makes any difference

Thanks in advance,

Suicidal_Orange

[Stellar7]

Hi all,

First, thanks a lot to marek722 for is wonderful process and also TCP for is "delete batch"

I have followed carefully the instructions to build both "SP2 slipstreamed CDs" and "SP2 slipstreamed AIO CD" of my French Office 2003. Everything went fine during the process (no error from msiexec or from the .js script) and after the "delete batch" I get some SP2 CDs or an AIO CD which looks quite OK.

However when I try to install the five programs I get the following:

Office: NOK (Quickly, before asking for any serial number, I get a popup with "Error 2715. An internal error has occured (IPMAIN11.AW_1036)". Then the installation process is cancelled.

Project/Visio: NOK (Idem, with "Error 2715. An internal error has occured (F346 msdapml.dll.E8D71C4B_62C9_4D1B_A02F_C916CAE50331)". Then the installation process is cancelled.

Frontpage/Onenote: OK (Installation is OK, and programs seems to run OK).

Looks very strange, isn't it?

I have repeated marek722 process twice, being very carefully not to forget anything, but I get always this results, whatever on single or AIO built CDs.

Any idea why I get those weird errors on 3 out of 5 office 2003 components...? Could it be something linked to the fact I am doing it with a French Office 2003 + French SP2? Anything which could be language specific?

Thanks in advance,

Stellar7.

[polysulfide]

ON CAHCED INSTALL and Administrative Install Points
---------------------------------------------------

Microsoft has 2 differnt strategies for patching Office 2003.

1) Optomized for high-availability LAN

2) Optomized for low-availability LAN, slow-links, mobile, etc.


Option 1 and Option 2 are mutually exclusive. You must use one or the other.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutio...ade_5.mspx#EEAA

Option 2 assumes you don't have a lot of bandwidth available and/or that you may be without LAN connectivity from time to time. It compensates for this with LIS (Local Install Sources). LIS keeps a copy of the media on your Local system. The patching stratergy here is based on the same assumption, no connectivity. This istall method favors patches and hotfixes. These are small and install individually. This is the right choice for mobile users or users with slow links.

Option 1 assumes you have a reasonably fast network available all the time. In this situation the network sources are updated en mass. The large scale changes can be easily pushed to the client without as much worry over validation and traffic interruption. THAT is why you can make an administrative install point and install SP1 or SP2 to it.


Once again, Option 1 and Option 2 are mutually exclusive. Therefore if you create an Administrative install point and slipstream it, you have chosen Option 1 and cannot benefit from LIS (Cached install)

On another note: Only Volume License copies of Office can be used for an Administrative install point. You can't buy it in the store and do these procedures.

Now what's my motivation in all this? I'm hoping somebody out there will prove me wrong and show me how to slipstream an SP2 install then repackage it to a compressed CD image that is capable of utilizing the LSI model. Like the rest of you, I want the best of both worlds.

[paulvanleemput]

Nice guide. I'm sure i would give it a try to replace my chained instal i have now.
But i still have some questions:
is it also possible to integrate mui Packs in the installation sources?
Or must i keep these installed with chained install?
And how should I slipstream updates for the MUI packs?

On the moment i have problems with the installation log. If i use the runonceEx command

HKLM,"%RunOnceEx%\install20",1,,"%11%\msiexec.exe /i %CDROM%\Apps\InstallOffice2003\pro11.msi TRANSFORMS="""%CDROM%\Apps\InstallOffice2003\Custom_Setup_1.MST""" /qr /lpiwae """%logdir%\Office Setup(*).log""" "

[marek722]

Hello world

... just realized, that the thread-tracker is purged when no activity is seen - not good!

So here are some good news: finally I found a solution to use the update web pages from microsoft after slipstreaming (better say I managed to convice Office Update to accept my slipstreamed OFF2003SP1 and not to identify it as a administrative version). Looks like approaching the aim and going to build a slipstreamed Office 2003 that will act like the original release version. What's still broken are version numbers in the slipstreamed .msi - actually working on this.

Next steps will be: extend the scripts for easier use, include new changes, test a bit, rewrite the guide and give the code to you for more tests. Stay tuned and patient - this project consumes a lot more time than I can afford.

@paulvanleemput:
Can't test MUI version, but maybe it will work when the integration of other patches after the service packs will work. But this will be interesting after service pack slipstreaming is functional.

@polysulfide:
This project may proof that you are wrong. For instance LIS is already working after slipstreaming SP1. Don't know if I will succeed but I'm trying

@Stellar7:
hmm, looks like missing files. Maybe the new scripts will fix this, otherwise more investigations are nessessary.

@suicidal_orange:
still not tested SP2 cause all seems useless to me, if windows update/office update won't work.

@FaceMouth:
slipstreaming should not change admin install routines in the .msi, in other words if it worked before it should work after too. But I did not read the whole install routines.

next news should include success on updating a slipstreamed SP1 via windows update

[AndrewNi]

I must be doing something wrong... will anyone lend me a hand? I'm using SP2, but I figured as other people have had success there must be some way of getting it to work.

I've tried both methods; 1 CD at a time and all 5 in one directory and both have had quirks.

1 CD at a time results in successful completion of sort2cabs.js and when I go to install the program it usually works. But under some configurations (such as installing Frontpage before Office) I'll get an error saying a CAB file was not found, and when I point it to that file it refuses to have it. Also, on a successful installation ticking the box to delete installation files does nothing (i.e. it doesn't remove the cabs in MSOCache).

5 in 1 is strange because at the end when it tries to calculate the MD5 sums of the cabinets it fails to find one and stops with an object error.

I might try SP1 to see if it makes a difference, but I think I'll wait for this project to ferment a bit futher first

EDIT: With a bit more toying around I've finally managed to make the beef stew method work. The same error occured as last time (just after cab creation is completed) but I decided to comment out the cab compression bit and run the script again, where it continued on as if the error didn't exist.

Cache options don't appear much like Zxian was describing, but I used the enhanced setup thingy with enforcecache=true and that allowed me to cache them.

Anyway thanks for the script marek722

This post has been edited by AndrewNi: 22 November 2005 - 03:53 PM