Installing Microsoft Office on AVD Session Hosts with Microsoft 365 Business License

Applies to: Nerdio for Azure (NFA) Professional and Enterprise 

Refer to this KB article to determine if you are a NFA user.

The following article is a step-by-step guide to change the Microsoft Office version installed on the default Nerdio image from Office ProPlus to Office Business to use with the Microsoft 365 Business license. Note that this article only applies to environments deployed before May 2020 as Office is no longer installed by default. For accounts provisioned after May 2020, please see our updated article.

There are two versions of Office that can be used in a Nerdio for Azure AVD environment: Office ProPlus and Office Business.  By default, Office ProPlus is installed on the Nerdio virtual machine images that are used to create the Golden Image and pool templates.  

Until recently, only Office ProPlus could be used in a Shared Computer Activation (SCA) scenario.  SCA is mandatory in any virtual desktop scenario, including AVD and RDS.  This meant that only Office ProPlus could be used on virtual desktops running in Azure.  In 2019 Microsoft changed the entitlements of Microsoft 365 Business license to become capable of activating Office Business.  

The following is a Step-by-Step guide to uninstall Office ProPlus and install Office Business.

Changing Office Versions in a AVD Host Pool

Required:  User account with domain admin privileges and credentials for an account with a Microsoft 365 Business license to download software

1. Once logged into the Nerdio Admin Portal (NAP) go to Servers > Host Pool Section > and select Manage hosts
2. Under Manage Hosts go the the Manage Template section and select Power on to modify
3. Record the IP of the template (10.125.0.X)
4. Go to the servers section and select Generate RDP File on either DC01 or FS01
5. After a minute, the RDP icon file will be available for use and a login with the domain admin user will be possible
6. From DC01 or FS01, launch the native Remote Desktop Connection application
7. In the Computer input box, enter the IP of the template host that was recorded earlier
8. Once connected, from the template desktop perform the uninstall of Microsoft Office ProPlus
9. With the uninstall complete, open a internet browser and go to https://portal.office.com
10. From the Office portal, choose the Install Office drop down which will be in the upper right portion of the window and select install Office Apps
    
11. A download will start and can be executed once the download completes
12. With the Office apps install complete, go to the Windows button and type regedit to open Registry Editor
13. Use Registry Editor to add a string String value of SharedComputerLicensing with a setting of 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\Configuration
14. Close Registry Editor and sign out of the template RDP session
15. From the NAP go to Servers > select Manages hosts for the pool > in the Manage Template section choose Power off and set as image
16. At this point you can test by adding a new host to the pool or update an existing hosts to allow for proper access to Office applications from users with Microsoft 365 Business licensing