Fix Office Deployment Tool Silent Mode Not Exiting
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where the Office Deployment Tool setup.exe continues running in the background and fails to exit after completing a silent operation.
- Product
- Microsoft Office Deployment Tool
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Automating Microsoft Office deployment or uninstallation using silent mode via the setup.exe command-line tool.
- Observed behavior
- The setup.exe process does not terminate automatically after the silent operation finishes, causing deployment scripts to hang indefinitely.
Ensure you have administrator privileges on the deployment machine and access to modify the configuration XML file used by the Office Deployment Tool.
Update the XML Configuration File with CompletionNotice Attribute
Modify your configuration XML to explicitly disable the completion notice, which is required for some ODT versions to exit properly during silent operations.
In some versions of the Office Deployment Tool, setting DisplayLevel to 'None' is not enough to fully automate the exit process. Adding CompletionNotice='No' ensures that no hidden prompts prevent setup.exe from closing.
Right-click your deployment configuration XML file and select 'Edit' or open it using a text editor like Notepad.
Find the `<Display>` element within your XML structure. If it does not exist, you will need to add it inside the main `<Configuration>` tags.
Update the element to include the completion notice attribute so it reads exactly as follows: `<Display Level="None" AcceptEULA="TRUE" CompletionNotice="No" />`.
Save the changes to the XML file and rerun your deployment script. Verify in Task Manager that setup.exe successfully terminates after the installation or uninstallation completes.
Use an Older Version of the Office Deployment Tool
If the latest setup.exe contains a bug preventing it from closing, reverting to an earlier, stable version can resolve the hang.
Report the Setup.exe Behavior to Microsoft
If the issue persists despite XML corrections, it may be a version-specific bug that requires a fix from the Microsoft product team.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does setup.exe stay running in the Task Manager after deployment?
This typically happens if the installation encounters a hidden prompt, or if the `CompletionNotice` attribute is not explicitly disabled in the configuration XML, causing the silent process to wait indefinitely for user interaction.
What is the DisplayLevel attribute in the Office Deployment Tool?
The `DisplayLevel` attribute dictates the user interface behavior during installation. Setting it to 'None' hides the installation UI entirely, which is intended for silent, automated enterprise deployments.
Can I force setup.exe to close using a batch script?
While you can use commands like `taskkill /IM setup.exe /F` at the end of your script, this is a risky workaround. It may terminate the process before the installation has genuinely finished, potentially causing software corruption. It is highly recommended to fix the XML configuration instead.
How do I check which version of the Office Deployment Tool I am currently using?
Right-click the `setup.exe` file, select Properties, and navigate to the Details tab. The 'File version' entry will display your current ODT build number.
