Alfresco Outlook Integration

Install Outlook Integration

Outlook Integration is an extension to Content Services and Microsoft Outlook that allows you to save and file your emails to Alfresco from within Microsoft Outlook, in a centralized and structured way.

You can drag and drop emails in and out of the repository, and add metadata automatically when an email is filed. Other features include leveraging Alfresco’s in-built workflow processing and filtered search capabilities.

Advanced metadata support includes:

Full support for custom models
A configurable and dynamic metadata dialog
The ability to map metadata configuration to a path, folder type, or aspect
The ability to assign the same metadata to a set of emails in Microsoft Outlook, or a set of files in your file system

You can apply a sorted view to the Alfresco repository (from within Microsoft Outlook), and page through a folder or site if it contains a large number of files.

You can also create new versions of existing documents, review the version history of a versioned document, and revert back to previous versions.

This information helps system administrators to install, configure, and manage Outlook Integration.

The software you need to install Outlook Integration is as follows:

AMP files that are applied to Alfresco and provide the administration tooling in Alfresco Share
A server license that is applied in Alfresco Share
Client licenses that can be applied in Alfresco Share or in Microsoft Outlook
A zip file that provides an addition to the Microsoft Outlook toolbar, which you unzip and install before you start up Microsoft Outlook

If you plan to use SAML Module for Alfresco Content Services authentication, you need to install and configure the SAML Module for Alfresco Content Services.

You can download the Outlook Integration software from Hyland Community.

Prerequisites

There are a number of software requirements for installing Outlook Integration.

You need one of each of the following components:

Operating system requirements

You can use one of the following operating systems:

Microsoft Windows 10 with latest updates (only in combination with Microsoft Outlook 2016)
Microsoft Windows 8.1 with latest updates

Software requirements

You can use one of the following Outlook releases:

Microsoft Outlook 2019 (x86/x64)
Microsoft Outlook 2016 (x86/x64)
Microsoft Office 2013 (x86/x64)
Visual Studio Tools for Office 4.0 Runtime
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or above

Alfresco requirements

Alfresco Content Services 6.0 or later. See Supported Platforms for more information.

If you plan to use SAML Module for Alfresco Content Services authentication, check the requirements in Prerequisites.

Install AMPs

There are three steps to installing the Outlook Integration: install the Alfresco AMP files (the Alfresco Outlook Server software), apply the licenses and then install the Microsoft Outlook zip file (the Alfresco Outlook Client software).

Make sure you are running the correct versions of operating system and software before you install the AMP files. If you plan to use SAML Module for Alfresco Content Services authentication, check the requirements in Prerequisites for more information.

Stop the Alfresco server.
Browse to Hyland Community, download and unzip the Outlook Integration zip package:

alfresco-outlook-integration-2.6.x.zip
Copy the provided AMP files to the Alfresco amps and amps_share directories.

Copy this file to the amps directory:

alfresco-outlook-repository-2.6.x.amp

and this file to the amps_share directory:

alfresco-outlook-share-2.6.x.amp
To install the AMP files, run the apply_amps.bat file from the Alfresco bin directory.

Check the output from the script to ensure that the AMP files have installed successfully.
Restart the Alfresco server.
Open Alfresco Share, and click Admin Tools on the Alfresco toolbar to see the Outlook configuration section.

The URL is: http://localhost:8080/share/page/console/admin-console/mail-customization-config

where localhost:8080 is your Alfresco server and port number.

If you plan to use SAML SSO, you need to install and configure the Alfresco SAML module. See Install with Zip and Configure SAML SSO for more information.

Install server and client licenses in Alfresco Share

Use Alfresco Share Admin Tools to install your Outlook Integration server and client licenses.

Ensure that you have applied the Alfresco Outlook Server AMP files (see Install Outlook Integration AMPs).

Open Alfresco Share, and click Admin Tools on the Alfresco toolbar.

The URL is: http://localhost:8080/share/page/console/admin-console/mail-customization-config

where localhost:8080 is your Alfresco server and port number.
Select Licenses and click Edit.
Open the server license file in a text editor, and copy and paste the contents into the Server License field.
(Optional) Open the client license file in a text editor, and copy and paste the contents into the Outlook Client License field.

Alternatively, specify the client license in Microsoft Outlook in Alfresco Client > Configure > License.

Note: There is no Lotus Notes capability, so you do not need to add information in Lotus Notes Client License.
Click Save.

The server license status, number of current users, maximum users, product version and other information is displayed. Check that the license status is valid.

Note: If you added a client license, the license key is displayed, with a message to check the Alfresco Client > Configure > License tab in Microsoft Outlook (do this check after you have installed Alfresco Outlook Client).

Install the Alfresco Outlook Client in Microsoft Outlook

Inside the Outlook Integration zip is another zip file that installs the Alfresco Outlook Client into Microsoft Outlook.

You might need local administrator rights to install .NET 4.5 and Microsoft VS Tools for Office Runtime. Ensure you have already installed the required AMP files in your Alfresco instance (see Install Outlook Integration AMPs).

Note: If you are distributing Alfresco Outlook Client across an organization, see Install the Alfresco Outlook Client in unattended mode for guidance on installing in unattended mode.

Extract the contents of the alfresco-outlook-client-2.6.x.zip file using a standard unzip tool.
Navigate to the directory containing the unzipped content and double click the install.bat file.

The Alfresco Outlook Client installer checks whether the required components already exist on the system. The required files are installed and the Alfresco Outlook Client installer wizard opens.
Read the copyright information and click Next.
Specify the folder where you would like the Outlook Client to be installed and click Next.

Alternatively, accept the default path specified.
Click Next to confirm that the installation can start.
Select your preferred language, and click Continue.

Microsoft Office Primary Interop Assemblies are also installed, if they do not already exist in your version of Microsoft Office.
Click Close to complete the installation.
Open Microsoft Outlook.

You will see an Alfresco Client tab on the toolbar. Click this tab to view options for configuring the Alfresco Outlook Client.

If you did not enter a client license key in Alfresco Share, you must enter one when you open Microsoft Outlook. Navigate to Alfresco Client > Configure > License to enter your key.

Install the Alfresco Outlook Client in unattended mode

You can automate the Alfresco Outlook Client installation by using the msiexec command.

You might need local administrator rights to install .NET 4.5 and Microsoft VS Tools for Office Runtime. Ensure you have already installed the required AMP files in your Alfresco instance (see Install Outlook Integration AMPs).

Note: If you plan to use SAML Module for Alfresco Content Services authentication, ensure you have already installed and configured the Alfresco SAML module. See Install with Zip and Configure SAML SSO for more information.

Extract the contents of the alfresco-outlook-client-2.6.x.zip file using a standard unzip tool.
Locate x64/AlfrescoOutlookClient_x64_2.6.x.msi or x86/AlfrescoOutlookClient_x86_2.6.x.msi, depending on whether you are running a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows.

From a command line, navigate to the x64 or x86 directory, and run the msiexec command. For example:


 msiexec /i AlfrescoOutlookClient_x86_2.6.x.msi HOST=127.0.0.1:8080 AUTH=basic

for an interactive installation:


 msiexec /i AlfrescoOutlookClient_x86_2.6.x.msi HOST=127.0.0.1:8080 AUTH=basic /quiet

for an installation with no interaction, or:


 msiexec /i AlfrescoOutlookClient_x86_2.6.x.msi HOST=127.0.0.1:8080 AUTH=saml /quiet

for a non-interactive installation with SAML authentication enabled.

Note: Microsoft Office Primary Interop Assemblies are also installed, if they do not already exist in your version of Microsoft Office.

Here is a full list of parameters that can be used with the msiexec command:

Parameter	Values	Description
`HOST`	Format: `<http\|https>://<hostname>:<port>`	Sets the Alfresco server URL. Port is optional.
`SHARE`	Default: `share`	Sets context to Alfresco Share.
`ALFRESCO`	Default: `alfresco`	Sets context to the Alfresco repository.
`CULTURE`	`en\|de\|es\|it\|fr\|ja\|ru\|zh-cn\|pt-br\|nl\|nb-no` Default: `en`	Sets language for Alfresco Outlook Client.
`SHAREALT`	No default	Sets alternative URL for Alfresco Share.
`AUTH`	`basic\|windows\|saml`	Sets authentication type.
`APPTITLE`	Default: Alfresco Outlook Plugin	Sets a custom title for Alfresco Outlook Client. Format: `"My Custom Title"`

Verify that Alfresco Outlook Client has installed in Microsoft Outlook.

You will see an Alfresco Client tab on the toolbar. Click this tab to view options for configuring the Alfresco Outlook Client.

If you did not enter a client license key in Alfresco Share, you must enter one when you open Microsoft Outlook. Navigate to Alfresco Client > Configure > License to enter your key.

Uninstall

This section walks through how to uninstall Outlook Integration.

Uninstall Outlook Integration

To uninstall the Alfresco Outlook files, use the Module Management Tool (MMT). To completely remove Outlook Integration, you must uninstall the Outlook package from Alfresco, as well as from Microsoft Outlook on all Windows clients.

This information provides uninstall directions for Alfresco Content Services.

Note: See Uninstall Outlook Client to uninstall the Alfresco Outlook Client.

Stop the Alfresco server.

Use the information in Uninstall an Amp file to uninstall each AMP file.

For example, from the Alfresco root directory, you need two commands:


 java -jar bin/alfresco-mmt.jar uninstall com.westernacher.wps.AlfrescoMailIntegrationRepository tomcat/webapps/alfresco.war

 java -jar bin/alfresco-mmt.jar uninstall com.westernacher.wps.AlfrescoMailIntegrationShare tomcat/webapps/share.war

Use these commands to check whether the AMP files were removed:


 java -jar bin/alfresco-mmt.jar list tomcat/webapps/alfresco.war
               java -jar bin/alfresco-mmt.jar list tomcat/webapps/share.war

Delete the tomcat/webapps/alfresco and tomcat/webapps/share folders in the Alfresco installation directory.

Deleting these directories forces Tomcat to read the edited WAR files when Alfresco is restarted.
Restart the Alfresco server.

Uninstall Outlook Client

Learn how to uninstall the Alfresco Outlook Client.

Note: You can uninstall the Outlook client from your Microsoft Windows machines. Using the standard Programs > Uninstall Program feature in Windows. Look for Alfresco Outlook Client and uninstall it.

There are two different ways to uninstall the Alfresco Outlook Client for enterprise installations:

Use the original .msi file to uninstall the client by running a single command.
```
 msiexec /x <Path_to_msi_file> /q
```
where /x = uninstall, /q = silent.
Use the identifying number.

The identifying number is tied to a specific version of your Outlook Integration. If your users have different versions installed, you need to find out the product IDs for each version.
1. Install the plugin version that was distributed to the machines of your end users.
2. Run the PowerShell command:
```
 get-wmiobject Win32_Product | Format-Table IdentifyingNumber, Name, LocalPackage -AutoSize
```
3. Search for Alfresco Outlook Client and copy the identifying number from the first column of the output (including the brackets).
4. Run the msiexec command with administration permissions on the end user machine using the identifying number. For example:
```
 msiexec /x  {723B7FFD-3B53-4786-9741-D845BC1796A3} /q
```
  where /x = uninstall, /q = silent.
  
  Note: For more Microsoft msiexec documentation, see Command-Line Options.

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