I have language packs KB3012997 and KB2839636 staged and approved in Windows Server Update Services 2012 R2, but my Windows Server Core 2012 R2 clients refuse to install it. After googling the issue, it appears that these language pack updates are unable to be installed via WSUS, and have to be manually installed on the clients via the Language Control Panel. Unfortunately the Language Control Panel is not available on the Core edition of Windows server, both control.exe input.dll and control.exe /name Microsoft.Language do not work. I've tried installing the CAB files manually with dism /online /Add-Package /Package-Name:E:WsusContent65F1C5505C26603C0E907DEDD5A4B3A0E6511E44C65.cab but the updates are not registered as being installed in the WSUS console.How can I go about getting these language packs installed on Server Core 2012 R2? Yes I know these language packs do little to nothing on Server Core.
And that I could work around this issue by creating separate groups in the WSUS console for the Core and non-Core editions of Windows Server, and approving these updates only for the non-Core editions. But to satisfy my autism i'd like to get these updates installed anyways, because if they really were never intended to target Core editions of Windows Server, i'm assuming the WSUS console wouldn't say my Core servers are applicable for them. Right now the only way I can think of is using a tool like Altiris RapidInstall or Sysinternals Process Monitor to see what file/registry changes are made while adding a language pack on a non-Core edition of Windows Server, after it has already been installed with dism.exe and then applying these changes to the Core edition servers. This is working as designed. It is a 'feature' / 'defect' of WSUS exposed by a select group of 'updates' that are not in fact updates in the typical meaning of the term.Certain WSUS updates including language packs are detected as applicable to a machine in the sense that they may optionally be installed manually by some mechanism outside of Windows Update. By approving the update you are making the update available to be downloaded from WSUS however this does not actually trigger any automatic download or installation. It is necessary to trigger the update through another tool such as the Control Panel language settings.In addition to language packs various dynamic installers have similar functionality for similar reasons.
Linux Server Software
The dynamic installers are downloaded from WSUS at the time that an installation is run, but are not in fact updates for the system upon which the installation is being run (they update the installer, not the system).
Windows Server 2012 Language Pack
Installing Multilingual User Interface (MUI) Language Packs on a Windows Server OS can be useful when you allow end users to log in on those system. This is the case in, for example, Citrix XenApp Servers or Remote Desktop Servers (formerly Terminal Servers).This way administrators will have the benefit of eventlog descriptions in English which are easier to troubleshoot and run internet searches on, and quicker access to updates, but users will still be able to use an interface in their native language.For this you need to find a Language Pack in.cab format. You can download an ISO containing every Language Pack available from Microsoft: (7601.19-1850x64freserverlangpacks1-GRMSXLP1DVD.iso)Be carefull to download the correct ISO compatible with your OS and Service Pack level, otherwise you'll get an error message: 'Language pack is incompatible with this version of Windows'.