Ubuntu – Activate Office 2010 running in PlayOnLinux with a KMS server

licensemicrosoft-officeplayonlinuxwine

Is it possible to activate a volume licensed copy of Microsoft Office installed using PlayOnLinux with my organisation's Key Management server?

The installation with PlayOnLinux worked flawlessly but the not long afterwards the activation notification pops up with "Error 0x8007232B" in the bottom left corner http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929826 informing that the KMS services host was not found.

(Note: I would love to exclusively use LibreOffice but unfortunately it's the usual story: I have to collaboratively work on documents with complex tables and figures shared with Microsoft Office users, despite being able to save in the same file formats these figures are invariably interpreted differently by the various office applications.)

Best Answer

In order to activate Office with a KMS you will have to edit a number of registry values. So first start the Wine registry editor for your office prefix:

Open PlayOnLinux Choose Configure
Select Office 2010 from list of installed applications on left
Click on the Wine Tab
Click Registry Editor

Next you will have to navigate to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform. Add the following string values under this key:

KeyManagementServiceName (insert server address)
KeyManagementServicePort (insert server port, default 1688)

If you don't know the values for your server ask your Sys Admin or look them up in regedit on a windows machine that has an activated copy.

Now open and exit any office application. A new key should have been created under HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Software\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform

(You may have to refresh the registry editor with F5 to see it,)

Under this new key now add a new binary value:

VLRenewalSchedule (any value)

Start Office again and check if the activation worked by looking under File --> Help

Sources:
http://wine.1045685.n5.nabble.com/Bug-30033-New-Office-2010-Standard-Volume-activation-fails-td5520490.html
https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/forum/microsoft-office-2010?msg=128241

Install Microsoft Office 2010 on Ubuntu

Requirements

We'll install MSOffice using the PlayOnLinux wizard. Additionally, MSOffice requires samba and winbind to properly work.

So, if not installed, install them:

sudo apt-get install playonlinux samba winbind

Of course, you'll need the MSOffice installer files (either DVD/folder files), in the 32 bits version. Even if you're under Ubuntu 64, we'll use a 32 bits wine installation.

Then open POL (PlayOnLinux) from command line (playonlinux &) or using Dash.

Pre Install

In the POL window menu, go to Tools > Manage Wine versions and install Wine 2.13. Versions below it will crash after click on a document hyperlink. Versions above it will not properly handle the launcher icon (due missing WM_CLASS when window is maximized).

Install

In the POL window, click on Install at top (the one with a plus sign).

1. PlayOnLinux Install menu

At the Install window, at the bottom, select Office and make sure Commercial (at top) is marked.

Now select Microsoft Office 2010 and click on Install.

2. Welcome to PlayOnLinux Installation Wizard

Nothing to do here other then click on the Next button.

3. Please Choose an Installation Method

Now it's up to you: select DVD or file installation according your MSOffice installation.

Then click on Next.

Browse the files or the DVD: the goal here is select the MSOffice setup.exe, from the 32 bits version.

Now, after click on Next: you'll see a sequence of PlayOnLinux installation windows, configuring the new Windows virtual drive, installing components, etc.

4. The MSOffice Install Wizard

Automatically the MSOffice installer will be displayed.

Install the MSOffice as on Windows: agree with EULA, select install type, etc.

In the last Install window, click on Close in the MSOffice installer: you'll see a PlayOnLinux window still running some additional configurations.

Then, a successful message: click on Next and the install window will be closed.

Now you can close PlayOnLinux.

Post Install

1. Desktop Files

Current PlayOnLinux Office2010 script already creates the above shortchuts.

But in case you deleted them or want to fix something...

Now let's create some .desktop files to provide better integration into Ubuntu: you can associate typical MSOffice files, like .docx to Word; at Dash, type winword to run Word, etc.

Open a text editor (like gedit, nano or vim) and create 3 files under ~/.local/share/applications, with the following names and contents.

Please, replace /home/<user> (at the Icon line) by your home folder path:

Word.desktop:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;WordProcessor;
StartupWMClass=WINWORD.EXE
Name=Microsoft Office Word 2010
Comment=winword
Exec=env XMODIFIERS='' playonlinux --run "Microsoft Word 2010" %F
Icon=/home/<user>/.PlayOnLinux/icones/full_size/Microsoft Word 2010

Excel.desktop:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Spreadsheet;
StartupWMClass=EXCEL.EXE
Name=Microsoft Office Excel 2010
Comment=excel
Exec=env XMODIFIERS='' playonlinux --run "Microsoft Excel 2010" %F
Icon=/home/<user>/.PlayOnLinux/icones/full_size/Microsoft Excel 2010

PowerPoint.desktop:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Presentation;
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=POWERPNT.EXE
Name=Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010
Comment=powerpnt
Exec=env XMODIFIERS='' playonlinux --run "Microsoft Powerpoint 2010" %F
Icon=/home/<user>/.PlayOnLinux/icones/full_size/Microsoft Powerpoint 2010

OneNote.desktop:

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Documentation;
Terminal=false
StartupWMClass=ONENOTE.EXE
Name=Microsoft Office OneNote 2010
Comment=onenote
Exec=env XMODIFIERS='' playonlinux --run "Microsoft OneNote 2010" %F
Icon=/home/<user>/.PlayOnLinux/icones/full_size/Microsoft OneNote 2010

After create those 4 files, open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T`) and run this command to refresh the Dash entries:

sudo update-desktop-database

One clarification: the env XMODIFIERS='' command in the Exec line is to prevent wine to change keyboard behavior (sometimes while using wine the keyboard uses a different layout, so accents will not work properly, etc).

2. Printers

If you have a printer properly configured under Ubuntu, probably it'll be automatically available to MSOffice under wine.

If not, we can make it available. Basically, your printer must be installed using cups. No problem if the printer is installed using other softwares/drivers, but to get it available for wine, it must be installed under cups too.

If cups package is not installed, install it:

sudo apt-get install cups

Then, open http://localhost:631/ and add your printer.

After configure it, print a test page using the related printer in Printers from System Settings.

Now, make sure you have this file: /etc/printcap. If it's not present, create it this way:

ln -sf /var/run/cups/printcap /etc/printcap

Reboot wine: open PlayOnLinux, click Configure, select Office2010, click on Wine tab and click on Windows reboot button.

3. Fix Alternate between Excel windows

When you open 2 files in Excel, and click on Excel icon in the launcher by the second time to see opened files (Expose), you'll see a weird behavior: one window properly rendered, and the second with just a single icon.

To fix this, open Excel, then File > Options > Advanced > General and check Ignore other applications that use Dyanamic Data Exchange (DDE).

Then, to alternate between Excel files, on Excel click on View tab and then click on Alternate Windows.