How to Force Microsoft 365 Desktop App Updates via Syncro

1

Hello,
Looking for a way to force MS 365 Dektop App updates to assets via a setting in Syncro. We see the setting for Update Windowsbut the MS365 Apps at times need an update outside of windows.

Thank you.

2

Am I dumb or doesn’t MS Office update automatically, through Windows update? We do nothing special for Office and it stays up-to-date.

Here is a script I’ve used in the past to force an immediate update of Office. Used it for zero days, to force immediate patching.

#Set a Syncro variable $ForceShutdown - dropdown with options True or False.
#If False , Office apps will need to be manually restarted. If True, the script will forceably restart Office aps
# Check if running as System
$sid = ([System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()).User.Value
if ($sid -ne "S-1-5-18") {
    Write-Host "This script needs to be run as System."
    Exit 1
}

$C2RPaths = @(
  "$env:SystemDrive\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe"
  "$env:SystemDrive\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun\OfficeC2RClient.exe"
)

$C2RPaths | ForEach-Object {
  if (Test-Path -Path $_ -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
    $updateExePath=$_
  }
}


# Exit if executable not found
$pathExists = Test-Path -Path $updateExePath -PathType Leaf
if(!($pathExists)) {
    Write-Host "Office C2R not found on this system."
    Exit 0
}
else {
  Write-Host "Using $updateExePath"
}

# Update Office using ClickToRun
try {
    Write-Host "Updating Office..."
    $result = Start-Process -FilePath $updateExePath -ArgumentList "/update user displaylevel=false forceappshutdown=$ForceShutdown" -PassThru -Wait
    if($result.ExitCode -eq 0) {
        Write-Host "Office was successfully updated."
    } else {
        Write-Host "Office was not updated successfully."
        Exit 1
    }
} catch {
    Write-Host "An error occurred while updating Office."
    Exit 1
}
3

Thank you Doc, we’ll take a look at this and post the solution. It may be a component in our client policy that is not updating office365 apps with windows updates.

4

Why not add the office install in chocolaty in 3rd party apps?

5

Updating and the branch can be enforced within the Office365 Office Deployment in the Microsoft 365 Admin Panel. We set this up when we setup our clients. One and done, when office updates it still allows you to continue to work. Haven’t had any clients complain yet.

6

Thank you Dudley!

We will check this out.