Manifest XML file in the Admin Center environment

Question

I have the following question that involves the Microsoft Office add-in. After the team has prepared the manifest file and wants to make it available to organizations that will be using this add-in/solution, should the organization be in the Admin Center - Microsoft 365 environment? I ask this, thinking about the distribution of the supplement to the groups of the organization

Answer 1

There are two main ways of deploying / sideloading Outlook (Office) mail add-ins:

1. For on-premises and online environments that do not use the Azure AD identity service, you can deploy Outlook add-ins via the Exchange server.

   Outlook add-in deployment requires:

   • Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, or Exchange Server 2013 or later
   • Outlook 2013 or later

   To assign add-ins to tenants, use the Exchange admin center to upload a manifest directly, either from a file or a URL, or add an add-in from AppSource. To assign add-ins to individual users, you must use Exchange PowerShell. For details, see Add-ins for Outlook in Exchange Server.

2. In a cloud deployment, to distribute your add-in to users in your organization by using the Microsoft 365 admin center. See Test and deploy Microsoft 365 Apps by partners in the Integrated apps portal for more infomation.

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You can find all possible ways of sideloading Office add-ins described in the Deploy and publish Office Add-ins article.