Installing Office 2000 on Windows 2000 Terminal Services

Terminal Services is a new application server in Windows 2000 that integrates the functionality from the previously separate Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server into the base Server operating system. As a terminal emulator, Terminal Services allows users on remote computers to access applications running on the server. Once Terminal Services is setup and configured properly, users connect to the server using a client connectivity tool. Microsoft provides Terminal Services clients for all 16-bit and 32-bit Windows platforms. To connect to a Terminal Server from a non-Windows machine such as the Macintosh or Linux, you will need to install a new network protocol and client support that are provided by third parties such as Citrix Corporation. From the user's standpoint, the application may as well be running on the local computer. Even at modem speeds, Terminal Services is fast and seamless.

The most popular group of applications that administrators will want to install on Windows 2000 Terminal Services is Microsoft Office 2000. And though Office 2000 was designed with Terminal Services in mind, you can't just install it on a Terminal Server out of the box. Let's take a look at how you need to install Office 2000 to work with Terminal Services.

Obtaining and installing the Office 2000 Resource Kit Terminal Services Tools
If you have the Office 2000 Resource Kit, you're all set: The tools you need can be installed right from the CD-ROM. But purchasing the full kit isn't necessary because Microsoft makes the tools available for free from the World Wide Web. Navigate to Microsoft's Office Web site and follow the links to the Office Resource Kit (ORK) and then the Office Resource Kit Toolbox. The file you're looking for is called the Office Resource Kit core tool set; it's a 9MB download.

Once you've obtained either the full Resource Kit or the core tool set, you can install the Terminal Services Tools. Launch the ORK setup program and navigate past the license agreement. Then choose an install location (C:Program FilesORKTools by default). In the next step of the install wizard, you will need to choose the components that you'd like to install. The only component that needs to be installed for Office 2000 to install on Terminal Services is the Terminal Services Tools; you may optionally choose to not install any of the other tools (Figure 1).

Then click Install Now and the Terminal Services Tools will be installed on the server.

Installing Office 2000
Once the tools are installed, you'll need to prepare a custom command line to install Office 2000. This command line will resemble the following:

"" TRANSFORMS=""

So, for example, you might use the following command line to install Office 2000:

"c:program filesofficecd1setup.exe" TRANSFORMS="C:Program FilesORKToolsToolBoxToolsTerminal Server ToolsTERMSRVR.MST"

In this example, the Office installation files from the first CD are found in c:program filesofficecd1setup.exe and the location of the transform file points to the appropriate place in the Office 2000 Resource Kit Terminal Server Tools directory that we just installed. These tools include the appropriate transform for Office to install properly on a Terminal Services server.

Note too that the location of the Office files is not on a CD-ROM in this example: Because Office 2000 includes an install on demand feature, you should copy the contents of the Office CD-ROMS to a hard drive that is shared for your users. This way, Office can easily and quickly install new features each time your users need them.

To execute this command line, you'll need to launch the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel; you can't just run this from a Windows 2000 command line (Figure 2). That's because you need to put the server in Install mode. Otherwise, the application you're installing won't be available to users of Terminal Services.  To do this, launch the Add/Remove Programs applet, select Add New Programs, and click the CD or Floppy button. Using the example command line above as a starting point, add the proper command line to the Open text box and click Finish. The Office 2000 Setup wizard will open and you can install the components you desire.

And that's all there is to it: Now even your legacy Windows users will have access to Office 2000, courtesy of Windows 2000 Terminal Services (Figure 3 and Figure 4).

--Paul Thurrott
September 5, 1999
This technology showcase is excerpted from Paul Thurrott's upcoming book, Teach Yourself Windows 2000 Server, coming in mid-2000 from IDG Books.