How to stop Outlook 2010 from setting up a new profile for users using Citrix XenDesktop virtual desktops when the pool gets refreshed with an updated image

As fellow administrations who have deployed Citrix XenDesktops in their environment may know, Outlook profiles do not get retained by redirected profiles and when ever they refresh a desktop catalog’s pool with an updated image, users who log onto their virtual desktops will get the following prompt:

Microsoft Outlook 2010 Startup

As with many of the small annoyance challenges that a virtual desktop environment can bring, this is yet another one that can annoy users enough to complain and generate calls to the IT help desk.

The solution to address this is to simply customize your Office 2010 installation with a custom.msp file created in the OCT (Office Customization Tool) so that if an Outlook profile does not exist, Office will automatically create one.  Prior to installing your office, execute the command setup.exe /admin to bring up the OCT wizard and create a new customization file:

Navigate to Outlook –> Outlook profile then sSelect the Modify Profile radio button and in the Define changes to profile named: txt field, type in Outlook:

Select the Add accounts node and select the Customize additional Outlook profile and account information radio button then click on the Add button to create a new Outlook profile:

In the Exchange Settings window, enter the following:

Account Name: %UserName%@yourDomain.com

User Name: %UserName%

Exchange Server: yourExchangeServerCASFQDN

Click on the More Settings… button to launch the additional settings window:

There’s been many blog posts discussing Exchange Cached Mode and unless you’re using VMware View that allows you to assign a persistent disk to desktop pools, I always recommend disabling cached mode since there’s no way to roam OST files (Microsoft does not support it and more information can be found here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office-2003-resource-kit/configuring-outlook-for-roaming-users-HA001140269.aspx) and the OST file gets destroyed whenever you refresh your master image:

Click the OK button to save the settings:

Save the customization as custom.msp in the Updates folder of your Office installation folder and install Office 2010 via the following command:

setup /adminfile c:\Office_2k10_Pro\Updates\custom.msp

Now regardless of whether an Outlook profile exists on the virtual desktop, Office will automatically create one for the user with the settings set above which to the user will appear seamless.