We are currently busy with a pilot roll out in Europe and while deploying the farm with various updates I came across the fact that not a lot of information on Windows Server 2008 and Language Packs are available. In any event, I soldiered on and eventually got it to work thanks to lots of trial and error and a colleague from home.
Now most if not all websites I consulted prior to installing the language packs simply mention that you need to install the MOSS Language Packs if you are running SharePoint and there is no need for the WSS Language Packs. Well, thanks to a colleague that figured this out the hard way, we installed the WSS language packs after the MOSS language packs (yes I frowned as well) and badaboomtish, the language features started working.
I find it very odd that this isn’t well documented on the net, but ja, here is the installation path I took to get our server farm up and running language packs, infrastructure updates included:
- Scripted MOSS Installation (Not slipestreamed as I’ve read about some issues with it)
- WSS and SPS SP1
- Infrastructure Update (read more here)
- All necessary updates (August Cumulative et al, read more here)
- WSS / MOSS Language Packs (order does not matter)
- Language Pack Service Packs
Note: If you are busy with a particular update, complete that on all the servers in the farm before moving to the next. For example, don’t install WSS language packs and move onto the MOSS language packs without installing them on all and executing the configuration wizard.
Pay special attention to each step and if the wizard fails to update (Configuration Failed) there is a 99% chance that your server is not on the same patch level (one or two behind) as the other servers. Trust me, spending an extra hour on a large farm will save you days in the long run.
I’ve seen posts where people are asked to add missing files to 12 hive directories and dll’s to the bin directory and honestly, if it gets to that, it’s time to re roll.
If I come across any other funky workarounds I will be sure to update this post.
Happy Deploying.
