Office365 - Constant requests for sign in

[ctbjs]

We have deployed Office365 to our client computers via SCCM using the Microsoft Office Deployment Tool (Server 2016, Windows 10 (1903))

 

ADFS is in place and is working fine. We have the adfs\services\trust\13\windowstransport endpoint in place.

 

We are operating this under the Shared Computer Activation option which we have embedded into the xml for the ODT

 

We also use roaming profiles, so to combat the size of profiles on a desktop we ensure that these are cleaned at the end of each day or when the user restarts the computer.

 

So this would be the process:

 

• user signs on to the pc

• user launches office and it signs in automatically and generates the office activation tokens and places them in the appdata\local\Microsoft\office\16.0\licensing folder

• User signs off the PC

• PC is restarted

• The profile is then removed as mentioned above

• User then logs back on and is then forced to sign in to Office365 regardless of ADFS

 

It seems clear that the tokens being removed when the computer restarts is causing the issue. Consequently, as it no longer has a token, Office365 requests reactivation. This issue is further exacerbated with Shared Computer Activation in that it will also not work for a student using this computer for one lesson then signing in during another lesson on a different computer as the tokens would remain on the initial PC (or not at all if restarted).

 

This brings me to the desired solution which is that the tokens need to roam with the individual's roaming profile (or a share that is recognised by Office365). A further problem exists in that folder redirection only works via group policy for the appdata\roaming and not the appdata\local where the tokens are stored and therefore when this is used the tokens are not roaming with the profile.

 

Has anyone else had any issues with the constant requirement for Office365 Activation and if you have resolved it, what was it that you did to remedy the issue. I've been looking for so long now I think I'm just seeing mist and maybe can't see the woods for the trees!