Overview
Paperspace is proud to have users from all over the world. A number of these users prefer to experience their Virtual Machines in their native language. Because we offer the Server version of Windows on our public VM templates, setting a new system-wide language takes some extra steps and time. But don't worry - we've put together this article to make it as simple as possible for you!
This only applies to machines created with the Licensed version of Windows which are based in Windows Server 2019. This will not work on machines created with the Parsec template.
The Process
Get Your Language Packs
First download a .iso file from Microsoft, which contains all language packs for Server, using this link onto your Virtual Machine. It's a little over 2.5GB, so make sure there is space on your VM. The download should take a few minutes at most.
When it's finished downloading, open the file to mount it as a folder on your system to be explored in the next section.
Run Lpksetup.exe and Choose Your Language
Press Windows key + "R" (on Mac, this is achieved by using the Command key in lieu of Windows) to bring up the Run dialogue. Enter "lpksetup.exe" then click "OK."
Choose "Install display languages" then click the "Browse..." button.
At this point, you will need to locate the mount point of the .iso file you downloaded and opened earlier. It will look like a "DVD Drive," and typically mounts to (E:), as seen in the screenshot below.
You'll then explore the folders until you find "langpacks," at which point you can find the language you're looking for, select it, then click OK. Note in the example above we've selected French (France) by abbreviation ("fr-ca" would be French - Canadian).
Installation
With your language selected, click "Next," agree to the Terms of Service, and proceed to install the language.
Note: as the window will tell you, installing the language can take some time. We have seen mixed results, from a couple minutes to about 15-20 minutes, so keep this in mind!
Adjust Your Settings and Restart the VM
This last leg of the journey is a bit more straightforward, and we've copied steps directly from Microsoft's support website:
- Start the Settings application, select Time & Language, and then select Language.
- On the Language page, under the Preferred languages heading, select Add a language.
- In the Choose a language to install dialog box, select an entry that matches the language pack language, and then select Next.
- In the Install language features dialog box, select Install. The Windows display language box should now include the newly added language.
- To switch to the new language, select it from the Windows display language box
At this point you will be notified that you must sign out and back in for the change to take effect; simply restart your VM and you'll see the language changed system-wide.
Conclusion
We always recommend creating a Snapshot of your Virtual Machine whenever making any major system changes.
This article is based largely off of information provided on https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4466511/cannot-configure-language-pack-for-windows-server-2019 and is subject to change in the future.