This is probably more for my benefit than anyone else's, but who knows, it might help someone!

So, it's been a little while since I rolled out Windows 10 to staff, and needed a new image, for both staff and students. I'll use this blog to note my successes and inevitable failures on the journey to getting a working, student safe Windows 10 image.

Getting Windows 10 without inBuilt Apps

First up, we need a Windows 10 image, and since the latest one seems to not delete My Documents on a whim, I plumped for Windows 1903, and duly grabbed the .ISO from VLSC and imported it into MDT. Previously I had mounted the .wim and stripped out the inbuilt apps that way, however I wanted to try something new, and so decided on a method that removed the apps as part of the MDT process. There are also scripts for earlier versions of Windows 10 as well. Following the guide was pretty straightforward, and on a test build the apps were removed. Success!

Getting Office 2019

Next up, I wanted to get Office 2019 installed. At some point I should move to Office 365, but installing that for students PCs seems a bit more complicated, so for the time being I'll stick with Office 2019. That said, installing Office 2019 is no longer a simple process.

First up, you'll need the Office Deployment Tool from Microsoft

When prompted for an installation folder, make a new folder on your machine, say Office2019-Install

You'll then need a config file that can be created using the Office Customization Tool Export and save into the folder created in the previous step. I've called mine StudentConfig2019.xml

Then run a powershell session, and browse to the Office2019-Install folder and run:

.\setup.exe /download .\StudentConfig2019.xml

This will download Office 2019 using the parameters setup in the xml file created using the Office Customization Tool.

Copy this folder to your MDT server.

Installing Office 2019 as a MDT task - Adapted/Taken from this guide

In your MDT Workbench, open your build deployment share and expand the Applications Folder. Create a new folder called Microsoft, then right click the Microsoft folder and choose New Application

Choose Application with source files. click Next

In the Application Name field enter Install - Microsoft Office 2019 Pro Plus click Next.

Click the Browse button to navigate to the Install - Office2019-Install folder you copied over. Tick the box to Move the files to the deployment share. Click Next.

Name the folder Install - Microsoft Office 2019 Pro Plus. Click Next.

The Command Line to enter in the field is:

setup.exe /configure configuration-Office2019Enterprise.xml - I should say that it didn't work using this, I had to put in the full path, including server name, for this to work. So I put in this, but YMMV:

setup.exe /configure "\\<WDSSERVER>\deploymentshare$\applications\microsoft office 2019 Pro Plus\May2019.xml"

Click Next. Click Next.

Open the task sequence and add the application. With your build task sequence open, click Add -> General -> Install Application

Choose Install a single application. Click Browse and choose your Install - Microsoft Office 2019 Pro Plus application. I like to move the install application tasks into a separate folder for Custom Tasks, before a Windows Update task to ensure the build has the latest office updates.

Hopefully this helps and it's helped me realise I need a different Office 2019 config file for staff and students!