Office Web Apps Server

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Office Web Apps deployment simplified

What is Office Web Apps Server? How Office Web Apps Server works
Office Web Apps Server is an Office server product that provides It is easier to deploy and manage Office Web Apps within your A key part of the new integration model is a new public Here’s an example of the data flow between the browser,
browser-based file viewing and editing services for Office files. Office organization now that it is a stand-alone product. If you deploy WOPI API that Office Web Apps Server uses to SharePoint Server 2013, and Office Web Apps Server.
Web Apps Server works with products and services that support WOPI, SharePoint 2013, for example, you no longer have to optimize the communicate with hosts. Office Web Apps Server
the Web app Open Platform Interface protocol. These products, known as SharePoint infrastructure to support Office Web Apps, which in fetches and manipulates files using the WOPI API. We SharePoint
hosts, include SharePoint 2013, Lync Server 2013, and Exchange Server earlier versions was tightly integrated with SharePoint Server 2010. often refer to Office Web Apps Server as a WOPI App. Browser
2013. You can also apply updates to the Office Web Apps Server farm Hosts must recognize WOPI requests from WOPI apps. WOPIFrame
separately and at a different frequency than you update SharePoint WordViewer WOPI
An Office Web Apps Server farm can provide Office services to multiple 2013, Exchange Server 2013, or Lync Server 2013. Having a stand-
on-premises hosts, and you can scale out the farm from one server to alone Office Web Apps Server farm also means that users can view Office
OfficeWeb
Web
multiple servers as your organization’s needs grow. Although Office Web or edit Office files that are stored outside SharePoint 2013, such as WOPI Source Apps
AppsServer
Server
AccessToken
Apps Server requires dedicated servers that run no other server those in shared folders or other websites. This functionality is
applications, you can install Office Web Apps Server on virtual machine provided by a feature known as Online Viewers. Office Web Apps Server usage scenarios
instances.
1 Katie clicks the preview link in a Word
Office Web Apps then and now email attachment in Outlook Web App

2010 2013 5

Exchange Server 2013

SharePoint
SharePoint Lync
Office Lync
Web
SharePoint Apps
PowerPoint
Office 2007 Internet
Web
Apps Open from
Office
Office URL Corporate intranet
SharePoint SharePoint SharePoint
Web
Web Apps
Apps
3

Office Office Server

Server Dual homed
Web Web Hardware Load Balancer
Apps \ Firewall 4
SharePoint Apps SharePoint
SharePoint
Office Office 1 Sanjay opens an Excel workbook from a
Web Web
Apps Apps
SharePoint SharePoint document library

Exchange SharePoint 2 3
Exchange
3rd
Party 4
5
Viewer

SharePoint 2013

Office Web Apps Server farm

1 Pilar attends an online Lync Meeting where a
Office Web Apps Server host capabilities and the user experience PowerPoint presentation is being shared by the
meeting presenter 3

Host Office Capabilities User Experience 2

Web Apps
4
Users can view and, in some cases, edit Office documents in Document preview in SharePoint 2013 library or search results 5
SharePoint libraries by using a supported web browser on
computers and on many mobile devices, such as Windows Phones,
SharePoint iPhones, iPads, and Windows 8 tablets.
2013 Lync Server
The following illustration summarizes the viewing and editing 2013
capabilities of Office Web Apps on different kinds of devices.

How WOPI works:

Supports Editing & Viewing Supports Viewing

1 The user wants to view or open a document that is stored on a host that runs Exchange Server 2013,
PCs & Macs Tablets & Slates Smart Phones Phones
SharePoint 2013, or Lync Server 2013.
Internet Explorer Windows Windows Any
Firefox iOS iOS browser-
Chrome Android enabled 2 The host directs the browser to a special page that contains an IFRAME that connects to a page on
Office Web Apps Server.
https://Contoso-My.SharePoint.com/personal/sanjay_contoso
Safari phone

The page initiates a request to Office Web Apps Server. The request includes the file name, access
3
Optimized for touch screens token, and the URL of the file location on the host.
Office Web App when opened from SharePoint 2013
Office Web Apps Server responds to the request by getting the document from the host and then
4 5 rendering the document in the IFRAME. The user can then view or edit the document in the web
//Contoso-My.SharePoint.com/personal/sanjay_contoso_com/_layout

browser.

Deployment process
Prepare the environment Create the farm Connect the hosts
On all servers that will run Office Web Apps Server On each server to join the farm On separate servers

1 2 5a 6 7

Users of Outlook Web App can preview Office file attachments by Attached files in an email shown in Outlook Web App with .exe
Exchange 2013 configured to use Office Web Apps Server Create the farm on the Connect SharePoint Connect Exchange 2013
using Word Web App, Excel Web App, and PowerPoint Web App.
KB first server 2013 to the farm to the farm
These previews provide rich, full-fidelity viewing of Office files and any
Exchange comments within them, without downloading the files before viewing 5b 8 9
Server them.
2013
Office Web Apps Server won’t be used to render any attachments in
Install prerequisite Install Office Web Apps
IRM protected messages.
features, Windows Server, updates, and
Office Web Apps Server integration for attachment previews is roles, and services language packs Add other servers to the Connect Lync 2013 to Connect custom WOPI
available to all Exchange Online customers. Exchange on-premises farm the farm host to the farm
customers have to deploy Office Web Apps Server to enable the
functionality. Outlook Web App preview of Excel document 3 4

Configure a load
balancer Obtain a certificate
(for multiserver farms) (for HTTPS scenarios)

Video demo: see how it’s done

Users can present and view PowerPoint presentations in Lync 2013 on
many different devices. Lync Server 2013 now uses standard DHTML
Lync and JavaScript to broadcast PowerPoint presentations instead of
Server customized DHTML and Silverlight.
2013
Also, users who have appropriate permissions can scroll through and
view any slide they wish during the presentation, without affecting the
presentation.
To watch a demonstration of how to setup Office
Web Apps Server and configure SharePoint 2013
PowerPoint presentation broadcast in Lync 2013 configured to to use Office Web Apps for a test environment,
use Office Web Apps Server scan the QR code with your smart phone or tablet.
This video covers procedures that are performed
on two servers: the server that runs Office Web
Apps Server, and the server that runs SharePoint
2013. Remember that these must always be
separate servers as described in the software,
hardware, and configuration requirements for
Office Web Apps Server.

The high-level steps to follow along with this

video are described in the TechNet article
Overview of Office Web Apps and how they work
on-premises with SharePoint 2013.

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