Create a Distribution Share for a Multilingual Image

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

Note

This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.

If you plan to use Windows® Setup to deploy a multilingual edition of Windows, you can copy one or more language packs to the \Langpacks directory in your distribution share, update the lang.ini file, and then use Setup to install the language packs that are in the distribution share. This is a typical scenario for corporations deploying Windows in a multilingual environment where the end users need to be able to switch the display language between multiple languages on a single computer.

Important

Licensing requirements state that Windows® 7 can include only a single language. However, Windows Ultimate and Enterprise editions can include multiple languages. These are referred to as multilingual editions. The following procedure is applicable only to multilingual editions of Windows. For more information, review your Microsoft Software License Terms and see Understanding Multilingual Deployments.
Adding language packs to the \Langpacks directory might extend the Windows Setup installation time. Packages in the \Langpacks directory are added to the Windows image during the windowsPE configuration pass, before Windows is actually installed. If Windows Setup must install several language packs, then installation might be delayed.

To copy a language pack to the \Langpacks directory

1. Copy your Windows distribution to a local directory. For example, copy the contents of the Windows product DVD to a directory named C:\my_distribution.

2. Create the \Langpacks directory in the distribution share. For example,

   mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks 
   

3. Copy the language pack (Lp.cab) and the parent folder (fr-FR, en-US, and so on) to the \Langpacks directory of your distribution share. For example,

   mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\fr-fr
   mkdir C:\my_distribution\langpacks\de-de
   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\langpacks\fr-fr\lp.cab
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\lp.cab C:\my_distribution\langpacks\de-de\lp.cab
   

4. Locate the Lp.cab file for the language that you intend to add support for. Use the Expand.exe version included with the Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) to expand the contents of the Lp.cab file to a local directory. For example,

   expand.exe -f:* C:\LPs\fr-fr\lp.cab C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded
   expand.exe -f:* C:\LPs\de-de\lp.cab C:\LPs\de-de\expanded
   

   Then, copy the sources and the license directories from the expanded language pack to the distribution share. For example,

   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded\sources\license\* c:\my_distribution\sources\license\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\fr-fr\expanded\setup\sources\* c:\my_distribution\sources\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\expanded\sources\license\* c:\my_distribution\sources\license\ /cherkyi
   xcopy C:\LPs\de-de\expanded\setup\sources\* c:\my_distribution\sources\ /cherkyi
   

5. Mount the Windows image that is in the distribution share. This is required for the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM.exe) to report the list of languages installed in the .wim file and to recreate the Lang.ini file. Use DISM to mount the Windows image. For example,

   DISM.exe /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\my_distribution\sources\install.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\test\offline
   

6. Report the languages that are available in the distribution share or installed to the Windows image by using the /Get-Intl option and specifying the distribution share. For example,

   DISM.exe /image:c:\test\offline /distribution:c:\my_distribution /Get-Intl
   

   Verify that the correct languages are displayed as available languages.

7. Recreate the Lang.ini file and select the default international values to use. For example, you can recreate the Lang.ini file and set all the international values to French with the following command.

   DISM.exe /image:c:\test\offline /Gen-LangINI /distribution:c:\my_distribution /Set-AllIntl:fr-fr
   

   When you add or remove language packs from a distribution share, you must recreate the Lang.ini file. The Lang.ini file is used during Windows Setup. It contains a list of all the language packs that are available, the locations of the language packs, and the default language to use during Windows Setup.

Note

If you do not set the default language, you will be given the option to choose a language for Windows Setup from those that are available in the distribution share, only when you run Setup from a full operating system. If you are running Windows Setup for bootable media or Windows PE, you must add optional components to the Boot.wim file for multilingual support. For more information, see Walkthrough: Add Multilingual Support to Windows Setup.

8. Unmount the .wim file and commit the changes. For example,

   DISM.exe /unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\test\offline /commit 
   

After the language packs have been added to the distribution share and the lang.ini file is recreated, you can use Windows Setup and an answer file to create a multilingual image that contains the languages in the distribution share.

In addition, you can change the default international language settings at any time in one of the following ways.

• Use DISM international servicing commands to set the default languages and the locale settings. For more information, see Languages and International Servicing Command-Line Options.

• Use an answer file to specify the languages and the locale settings. For more information, see Configure International Settings in an Answer File.

See Also

Concepts

Understanding Multilingual Deployments
Create or Open a Distribution Share
Deployment Image Servicing and Management Technical Reference
Walkthrough: Add Multilingual Support to Windows Setup