Install Word and Excel via ODT on Windows Server 2025

Hi David Soto Valverde,

How is your issue going? Has it been resolved yet? If it has, please consider accepting the answer as it helps others sharing the same problem benefit too. Thank you :)

VP

Hi David Soto Valverde,

Internet access on your Windows Server 2025 machine is not mandatory for deploying Office applications. Your goal of an offline installation is completely supported by the Office Deployment Tool. The corrupted DLL errors you encountered typically result from an interrupted download process, file manipulation during the transfer, or antivirus software quarantining specific cabinet files or stream files located in the Office\Data directory.

To ensure a clean deployment, run your download command on a stable, internet-connected workstation. Wait until the command prompt completely returns to the system path, such as C:\ODT, which guarantees all payload files are verified. Once the download finishes, compress the entire working directory into a ZIP archive, transfer it to your server, and extract it to a local path like C:\OfflineOffice to maintain file integrity.

The most critical configuration step requires modifying your offline XML file to explicitly define the local file repository. You must add the SourcePath attribute to the Add element, formatting it as SourcePath="C:\OfflineOffice". If this attribute is missing, the setup.exe executable will default to contacting the Microsoft Content Delivery Network, resulting in standard network timeout error codes like 30088-1028. Executing your configure command from this verified local setup will complete the installation without requiring external network access.

Hope this answer brought you some useful information. If it did, please consider hitting "accept answer". Should you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

VP

Internet access on the server is not mandatory if the installation files are downloaded in advance and the configuration XML correctly points to that local source.

To install Word and Excel on Windows Server using ODT without internet on the server, the supported pattern from the context is:

1. Download installation files on a machine with internet
   • On an internet-connected machine, place setup.exe and a download configuration file (for example downloadconfig.xml) in a folder.
   • The configuration must specify a SourcePath where the files will be stored, and the products/languages to download. Example pattern:

          <Configuration>
            <Add SourcePath="\\server\share" OfficeClientEdition="32">
              <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
                <Language ID="en-us" />
              </Product>
            </Add>
          </Configuration>
     

   • Run:

          setup.exe /download downloadconfig.xml
     

   • Verify that an Office folder with the downloaded files exists in the specified SourcePath.
2. Copy the downloaded files to a share or local path accessible by the server
   • Ensure the folder structure (including the Office folder and setup.exe) is preserved.
3. Create a configuration file for installation that uses the local SourcePath
   • The key point from the Q&A in the context is that the XML must explicitly specify the path to the already-downloaded files; otherwise setup.exe /configure will try to download again from the CDN and can hang.
   • Example pattern for install configuration:

          <Configuration>
            <Add SourcePath="\\Server\Share" OfficeClientEdition="32">
              <Product ID="O365ProPlusRetail">
                <Language ID="en-us" />
                <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" />
              </Product>
            </Add>
            <Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" />
          </Configuration>
     

   • Adjust SourcePath, OfficeClientEdition, Product ID, and Language ID to match the downloaded content and the desired apps (Word/Excel as part of the chosen suite).
4. Run the install on the server using configure mode
   • On the server, from an elevated command prompt in the folder containing setup.exe and the configuration XML, run:

          setup.exe /configure installconfig.xml
     

   • Because SourcePath points to the local or network location with the Office files, the server does not need internet access for the installation step.
5. If download or configure hangs
   • Confirm that:
     • SourcePath in the XML exactly matches the location of the Office files.
     • The Office folder exists at that path.
     • The newest version of ODT is used.
   • If the configuration file does not include SourcePath, ODT will attempt to download from the CDN, which can fail or stall on a server without internet.

In summary, internet access is required only on at least one machine to download the Office installation files with ODT. The server itself can remain offline if the configuration XML for /configure correctly references a local or network SourcePath containing the pre-downloaded Office files.

References:

• Overview of the Office Deployment Tool
• Deploy Microsoft 365 Apps from a local source
• Use the Office offline installer
• Office install hangs up - Microsoft Q&A