Office Update Packager
Office 2004 (Mac) Update
Background:
Microsoft’s MBU distributes Office 2k4 updates using a VISE Installer. For everyday users this isn’t a bad thing, it works well, and rarely screws things up. For SysAdmins managing any number of Macs its a huge PITA though, because VISE Installers can’t be distributed using Apple Remote Desktop.
To solve this, there are several solutions, including simply updating one copy of office, then using ARD’s Copy Items… feature to copy the entire application down to every computer. This brute force method isn’t very nice.
My chosen solution was to use the Office 2004 Package Maker available from MacEnterprise. This uses a PERL script to parse the updater log and copy the updated files to a “virtual root” (VR) so that they may be added to a Package File quickly and simply using Apple’s PackageMaker
The script itself is simple enough, though I would not have been 1337 enough to write it. It takes two arguments, the path to the installer log the VISE installer leaves behind, and the path you want to save the update to.
To simplify things somewhat, I used AppleScript and built a quick, simple interface that just issues a few prompts for the required information and then does the job. Helpful for somebody who doesn’t know their way around a terminal window
Note: The script doesn’t actually create the package file, it merely copies the files the Updater changed/updated so that they can be packaged more easily.
Prereqs:
- Office 2004 Installed, with the desired patch applied through the AutoUpdate utility or the Microsoft VISE Installer
- PackageMaker Installed, available on any OSX Install Disc, as part of the Developer Tools.
- My Office Builder Applscript .app, and the MacEnterprise Office 2004 script, both available via the download button on the right.
Steps:
- Unzip the Office Package Builder Script and .app
- Run the .app
- It will ask for the script file first, it should be where ever you unzipped it.
- Next it will ask for the Office Updater Log of the update you wish to package.
These are located in /Applications/Microsoft Office 2004/Updater Logs/ - Next you must choose a path to save the Virtual Root.
- Now you must give it a version number.
This represents the name of the folder that will be created as the virtual root - It will prompt you with the path to the Log File that will be created with the output of the script, just click OK and it will go. Cancel will stop the operation
- Now that we have our VR, its time to build the package itself.
- Fire up PackageMaker, and select “Single Package Project”.
- Give it a title and a description. These will go into the metadata, so they kind of count…See Figure 1
- I always go into the interface editor and add a custom background, but that’s just me.
- Under the Contents heading, the simplest thing to do is just to drag the folder the script created from its location in Finder to the Root: box, see Figure 2.
- After setting the root, I always set the Identifier, info string, and version number under the Package Version heading, just for vanity sake if for no practical reason. There’s an example in Figure 3:
- Next you’ll want to build the package. Just select Project from the menubar and hit build, or use ⌘-B, whichever works.
- It will prompt for credentials, think for a minute, prompt you with something about permissions for resource forks, just click OK and enter your credentials again, and it will do the rest and give you a fun little log on the side.
- That’s it, test, debug, deploy and enjoy!
Figure 1 (click to expand)
Figure 2 (click to expand)
Figure 3 (click to expand)