Customizing Office Solution Installation

If you create a custom Setup program for your Office solution, instead of using the default one that is created by Visual Studio, you can install the solution without opening a Microsoft Office application. Call the Office solution installer tool (VSTOInstaller.exe) as part of the process. By default, the tool is installed in the following location:

%commonprogramfiles%\microsoft shared\VSTO\10.0\VSTOInstaller.exe

Alternatively, you can use the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\VSTO Runtime Setup\v4\InstallerPath or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\VSTO Runtime Setup\v4\InstallerPath registry key to find the path to VSTOInstaller.exe.

Applies to: The information in this topic applies to document-level projects and application-level projects for Microsoft Office 2010 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. For more information, see Features Available by Office Application and Project Type.

Parameters for VSTOInstaller.exe

The following table explains the parameters that are available.

Parameter

Definition

/Install or /I

Install the solution. This option must be followed by the path of a deployment manifest. The path can be on the local computer, a UNC file share, or an HTTP/HTTPS Web site. The path can be local (c:\foldername\publishfolder), relative (publish\), or a fully qualified location (\\servername\foldername or https://servername/foldername).

/Uninstall or /U

Uninstall the solution. This option must be followed by the path of a deployment manifest. The path can be on the local computer, a UNC file share, or an HTTP/HTTPS Web site. The path can be local (c:\foldername\publishfolder), relative (publish\), or a fully qualified location (\\servername\foldername or https://servername/foldername).

/Silent or /S

Install or uninstall without prompting for input or displaying any messages. If a trust prompt is required, the customization is not installed or updated.

/Help or /?

Display the help information.

For an explanation of the error codes that are returned by VSTOInstaller.exe, see VSTOInstaller Error Codes.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Install a ClickOnce Office Solution

Reference

VSTOInstaller Error Codes

Concepts

Publishing Office Solutions by Using ClickOnce

Other Resources

Deployment Overview (Office Development in Visual Studio)