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Outlook 2010 profiles via Group Policy RRS feed

  • Question

  • We have already deployed Office 2010.  Currently, we are using Groupwise mail & will soon instead be using Outlook 2010 (with Exchange 2010).  We would like to create an Outlook profile and set it to be the default mail profile by purely using Group Policies.  Is this possible or are we forced to script the use of PRF files ?  We won't be purchasing any other deployment products (besides perhaps upgrading our System Centre Essentials)

    Thanks

     

    • Moved by David WoltersModerator Wednesday, September 28, 2011 3:43 PM moving to a more appropriate forum (From:Office IT Pro General Discussions)
    Monday, September 26, 2011 5:56 PM

Answers

  • Hi

     

    Thank you for using Microsoft Office for IT Professionals Forums.

     

    You can manually edit a .PRF file to customize Outlook 2010 to include Outlook settings or MAPI services that are not included in the Office Customization Tool (OCT) user interface.

    Download OCT from the Microsoft Download Center:

    Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=189316).

     

    Apply a .prf file

    You can apply a .prf file in several ways to update Outlook profiles.

    To apply a .prf file by using the customization file

    1. From the root of the network installation point, run the following command line to start the OCT: \\server\share\setup.exe /admin
    2. To edit an existing .msp file, in the Select Product dialog box, click Open an existing Setup customization file. Or to create a new customization file, select the Office suite that you want to customize, and then click OK.
    3. In the Outlook area, click Outlook Profile. Select Apply PRF, and then browse to the file.
    4. On the File menu, click Save to save the .msp file.
    5. Exit the OCT.
    6. Put the .msp file in the Office installation source \Updates folder.
    7. Install Office 2010 from the original installation source.

    To apply a .prf file by using other options

    • Specify the .prf file as a command-line option for Outlook.exe to import a .prf file without prompting the user. For example: outlook.exe /importprf \\server1\share\outlook.prf.
    • Specify the .prf file as a command-line option for Outlook.exe, but prompt the user before importing the .prf file. For example: outlook.exe /promptimportprf \\localfolder\outlook.prf. If you put the specified .prf file in a shared folder on a network, the settings might not be applied if the file is not found or is not available when Outlook runs.

     

    Office Customization Tool in Office 2010

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx

     

    Please take your time to try the suggestions and let me know the results at your earliest convenience. If anything is unclear or if there is anything I can do for you, please feel free to let me know.

     

    Best regards

    William Zhou

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
    Wednesday, September 28, 2011 6:28 AM
    Moderator

All replies

  • Hi

     

    Thank you for using Microsoft Office for IT Professionals Forums.

     

    You can manually edit a .PRF file to customize Outlook 2010 to include Outlook settings or MAPI services that are not included in the Office Customization Tool (OCT) user interface.

    Download OCT from the Microsoft Download Center:

    Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=189316).

     

    Apply a .prf file

    You can apply a .prf file in several ways to update Outlook profiles.

    To apply a .prf file by using the customization file

    1. From the root of the network installation point, run the following command line to start the OCT: \\server\share\setup.exe /admin
    2. To edit an existing .msp file, in the Select Product dialog box, click Open an existing Setup customization file. Or to create a new customization file, select the Office suite that you want to customize, and then click OK.
    3. In the Outlook area, click Outlook Profile. Select Apply PRF, and then browse to the file.
    4. On the File menu, click Save to save the .msp file.
    5. Exit the OCT.
    6. Put the .msp file in the Office installation source \Updates folder.
    7. Install Office 2010 from the original installation source.

    To apply a .prf file by using other options

    • Specify the .prf file as a command-line option for Outlook.exe to import a .prf file without prompting the user. For example: outlook.exe /importprf \\server1\share\outlook.prf.
    • Specify the .prf file as a command-line option for Outlook.exe, but prompt the user before importing the .prf file. For example: outlook.exe /promptimportprf \\localfolder\outlook.prf. If you put the specified .prf file in a shared folder on a network, the settings might not be applied if the file is not found or is not available when Outlook runs.

     

    Office Customization Tool in Office 2010

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx

     

    Please take your time to try the suggestions and let me know the results at your earliest convenience. If anything is unclear or if there is anything I can do for you, please feel free to let me know.

     

    Best regards

    William Zhou

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.
    Wednesday, September 28, 2011 6:28 AM
    Moderator
  • Are there any Group Policy settings that can be useful for configuring an Outlook profile ?
    Thursday, September 29, 2011 4:15 PM
  • Hi,

     

    Deploy Outlook mail profile settings via GPO or script

     

    Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

     

    Best regards

    William Zhou
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

    Friday, September 30, 2011 3:09 AM
    Moderator
  • APang.F1,

    So what did you end up doing? I am going though the exact same thing word for word. I need to create a mail profile for outlook and make it the default. So users do not have issues the first time they try to open Outlook and to tries to open the existing Groupwise mail profile and cause users issue.

    2008r2 native,  Exchange 2010,  XP and Win7 workstations, All Office 2010,    Office and outlook are already installed on each workstation.  

    Thanks Marcus

    Tuesday, March 26, 2013 4:58 PM
  • Unfortunately, we had to ask everyone to manually set their Outlook profile as the default (ie. set the "Always use this profile"), since Groupwise was to continue for a little while.  We had to get the Office365 version of Office 2010 installed anyways, so there was already some user intervention.
    Tuesday, March 26, 2013 5:20 PM
  • Ok, Thank you for the reply. I have 2 more days to try to automate the process, if not I have to write up some instructions since we have 11 sites with some distance between them .
    Tuesday, March 26, 2013 5:24 PM
  • HI All,

      This look very simple but how do we append to currant profile? each time delete my profile mail and append to currant profile with new account. I need both account in one profile. My PRF Look like this

    [General]
    Custom=1
    ProfileName=Newone
    DefaultProfile=Yes
    OverwriteProfile=Append
    ModifyDefaultProfileIfPresent=true

    [Service1]
    OverwriteExistingService=Yes
    UniqueService=Yes
    MailboxName=%UserName%
    HomeServer=server1

    As

    Wednesday, March 4, 2015 1:16 AM