LibreOffice MSI Properties for Silent Deployment

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) properties and command-line switches used for silently deploying LibreOffice across enterprise environments. System administrators can leverage these standard and vendor-specific properties to automate installations, suppress reboots, disable automatic update notifications, set default file associations, and tailor installed components to organizational standards.

Standard MSI Execution Switches

When deploying LibreOffice silently via msiexec.exe, standard Windows Installer switches define the execution behavior:

• /i <path_to_msi>: Initiates the installation of the specified package.
• /qn: Runs the installation silently without user interface or user interaction.
• /norestart: Prevents the target machine from automatically restarting after installation.
• /L*v <path_to_log>: Generates a verbose log file for troubleshooting deployment issues.

LibreOffice-Specific Public MSI Properties

LibreOffice provides several custom MSI properties that control application behavior, UI defaults, and integrations.

Update Checks and Telemetry

• ISCHECKFORPRODUCTUPDATES=0: Disables the built-in online update checker. Highly recommended for enterprise environments where updates are managed centrally.
• VC_REDIST=0: Skips the bundled Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable check/installation if the required runtime is already deployed across your fleet.

Shortcuts and Startup

• CREATEDESKTOPLINK=1 (or 0): Controls whether application shortcuts are placed on the public desktop. Set to 0 to prevent cluttering user desktops.
• QUICKSTART=1 (or 0): Controls whether the LibreOffice Quickstarter tray utility loads at Windows login. Set to 0 to optimize boot times and system resource usage.

File Type Associations (Microsoft Office Formats)

• REGISTER_ALL_MSO_TYPES=1: Configures LibreOffice as the default application for all supported Microsoft Office file formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint formats, both legacy and OpenXML).
• REGISTER_NO_MSO_TYPES=1: Prevents LibreOffice from taking over any Microsoft Office file associations.
• Individual Association Properties: Set to 1 to enable or 0 to omit:
  • REGISTER_DOC=1: Microsoft Word (.doc)
  • REGISTER_DOCX=1: Microsoft Word OpenXML (.docx)
  • REGISTER_XLS=1: Microsoft Excel (.xls)
  • REGISTER_XLSX=1: Microsoft Excel OpenXML (.xlsx)
  • REGISTER_PPT=1: Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt)
  • REGISTER_PPTX=1: Microsoft PowerPoint OpenXML (.pptx)

Language Selection

• UI_LANGS: Defines which user interface languages to install using comma-separated language identifiers (e.g., UI_LANGS=en_US,de,fr,es). If omitted, the installer installs languages matching the system locale and standard defaults.

Installation Path

• INSTALLLOCATION or INSTALLDIR: Overrides the default target directory (e.g., INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\LibreOffice").

Component Control with ADDLOCAL and REMOVE

Administrators can selectively install or exclude specific modules using standard MSI feature selection:

• gm_o_Writer: LibreOffice Writer
• gm_o_Calc: LibreOffice Calc
• gm_o_Impress: LibreOffice Impress
• gm_o_Draw: LibreOffice Draw
• gm_o_Base: LibreOffice Base
• gm_o_Math: LibreOffice Math
• gm_r_ex_Dictionary_En: English Dictionaries and proofing tools

Example Deployment Command

The following command installs LibreOffice silently, writes a verbose log file, suppresses reboots, disables auto-updates, disables desktop icons, and sets LibreOffice as the default handler for standard Microsoft Office formats:

msiexec.exe /i "LibreOffice.msi" /qn /norestart /L*v "C:\Logs\LibreOffice_Install.log" ISCHECKFORPRODUCTUPDATES=0 QUICKSTART=0 CREATEDESKTOPLINK=0 REGISTER_ALL_MSO_TYPES=1