These activation tokens are saved to a network location that the users has access to which allows the user to roam.ĭue to the nature of non-persistent VDI, a user will always be logging in to a system they have never logged in to before. When utilizing SCA (Shared Computer Activation), when a user runs and activates Office 365, an activation token is generated and saved. Later, this technology was modified to handle Office 365 activations in non-persistent VDI environments. Originally this technology was used for Office 365 on RDS (Remote Desktop Servers) to handle multiple users since Office 365 is activated and licensed per user. Shared computer activation is an optional activation method built inside of Office 365 and Microsoft 365, designed to control and manage activations on shared computers.
Microsoft 365 Standard, Office 365 Business, Office 365 Business Premium, and Office 365 Business Essentials cannot be used as they do not include or support Shared Computer Activation.Īn exception is made for Microsoft 365 Business Premium which actually includes Microsoft 365 Apps for Business, but doesn’t support enabling “Shared Computer Activation” via Group Policy Object and SCA must be enabled using the XML configuration file method.
In this guide I will teach you how to deploy Office 365 in a VDI environment, both with persistent and non-persistent (Instant Clones) VDI Virtual Machines.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Office\16.When you deploy and install Microsoft Office 365 to a VDI environment, especially with non-persistent VDI (such as VMware Horizon Instant clones), special considerations must be followed. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\setupĭWORD: DisableOffice365SimplifiedAccountCreation Users, especially those with consumer accounts should use this key: This will allow you to create an account with "mail" as the incoming server name and the actual SMTP server name in outgoing.Īs always, if the keys don’t exist, you’ll need to create them. While this is not necessary for most situations, it is necessary to set this key if you want to create a send-only account. You can turn off the simplified version and revert to the older Add Account dialog by editing the registry. I think the old dialog is faster, as you don't need to wait for Outlook to search for accounts, but POP users definitely benefit from the new dialog. Honestly, in the end, for most of us, it’s just a prettier version of the old dialog, but some people prefer the older, familiar dialog.