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Deploy language packs (SharePoint Server 2010)

  • Article

 

Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010

In this article:

  • About language IDs and language packs

  • Downloading language packs

  • Installing language packs on the web and application servers

  • Uninstalling language packs

Language packs enable site owners and site collection administrators to create SharePoint sites and site collections in multiple languages without requiring separate installations of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. You install language packs, which contain language-specific site templates, on web and application servers. When an administrator creates a site or a site collection that is based on a language-specific site template, the text that appears on the site or the site collection is displayed in the site template's language. Language packs are typically used in multinational deployments where a single server farm supports people in different locations, or when sites and web pages must be duplicated in one or more languages.

product logo for Microsoft ProjectIf users are accessing Microsoft Project Server 2010 in the SharePoint Server 2010 farm and have to view their project data in another language, they will also have to install a corresponding Project Server 2010 language pack. For more information about Project Server 2010 language packs, see Deploy language packs (Project Server 2010).

Note

You cannot change an existing site, site collection, or web page from one language to another by applying different language-specific site templates. After you use a language-specific site template for a site or a site collection, the site or site collection will always display content in the language of the original site template.

Word breakers and stemmers enable you to efficiently and effectively search across content on SharePoint sites and site collections in multiple languages without requiring separate installations of SharePoint Server 2010. Word breakers and stemmers are automatically installed on web servers by Setup.

Important

If you are uninstalling SharePoint Server 2010, you must uninstall all language packs before you uninstall SharePoint Server 2010.

About language IDs and language packs

When site owners or site collection administrators create sites or site collections, they can select a language for each site or site collection.

The language that they select has a language identifier (ID). The language ID determines the language that is used to display and interpret text that is put on the site or site collection. For example, when a site owner creates a site in French, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists, and column headings appear in French. Similarly, if a site owner creates a site in Arabic, the site's toolbars, navigation bars, lists, and column headings appear in Arabic. In addition, the default left-to-right orientation of the site changes to a right-to-left orientation to correctly display Arabic text.

The list of available languages that people can use to create a site or site collection is generated by the language packs that are installed on the web and application servers. By default, sites and site collections are created in the language in which SharePoint Server 2010 was installed. For example, if you install the Spanish version of SharePoint Server 2010, the default language for sites, site collections, and web pages is Spanish. If someone has to create sites, site collections, or web pages in a language other than the default SharePoint Server 2010 language, you must install the language pack for that language on the web and application servers. For example, if you are running the French version of SharePoint Server 2010, and a site owner wants to create sites in French, English, and Spanish, you must install the English and Spanish language packs on the web and application servers.

Note

By default, when a site owner creates a new web page in a site, the site displays text in the language that is specified by the language ID.

Language packs are not bundled into multilingual installation packages. You must install a specific language pack for each language that you want to support. Also, language packs must be installed on each web and application server to ensure that each web and application server can display content in the specified language.

Important

You cannot change an existing site, site collection, or web page from one language to another by applying different language-specific site templates. After you use a language-specific site template for a site or a site collection, the site or site collection will always display content in the language of the original site template.

For a list of all the language packs available, see Language packs (SharePoint Server 2010).

Although a site owner specifies a language ID for a site, some user interface elements such as error messages, notifications, and dialog boxes do not display in the language that was specified. This is because SharePoint Server 2010 relies on several supporting technologies — for example, the Microsoft .NET Framework, Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation, Microsoft ASP.NET, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 — some of which are localized into only a limited number of languages. If a user interface element is generated by any of the supporting technologies that is not localized into the language that the site owner specified for the site, the user interface element appears in English. For example, if a site owner creates a site in Hebrew, and the .NET Framework component displays a notification message, the notification message will not display in Hebrew because the .NET Framework is not localized into Hebrew. This situation can occur when sites are created in any language except the following: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.

Important

Each language pack that you install creates a folder at %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\14\LAYOUTS\Locale_ID that contains culture-specific data. In each locale_ID folder. you must have only one HTML error file that contains the error information that is used when a file cannot be found. Anytime a file cannot be found for any site in that culture, this file will be used. You can specify which file to use by setting the SPWebApplication.FileNotFoundPage property for each web application. For more information, see SPWebApplication.FileNotFoundPage Property. (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=169319)

In some cases, some text might originate from the original installation language, which can create a mixed-language experience. This kind of mixed-language experience is typically seen only by content creators or site owners and is not seen by site users.

Downloading language packs

You must follow these steps for each language that you want to support. If you decide to download more than one language, please be aware that a unique file that has a common name is downloaded for each language. Therefore, make sure that you download each language pack to a separate folder on the hard disk so that you do not overwrite a language pack of a different language.

Important

By default, the Windows PowerShell 2.0 Help files are installed in English (en-us). To view these files in the same language as the operating system, you must install the language pack for the same language that the operating system was installed in.

You can download language packs at 2010 Server Language Packs for SharePoint Server 2010, Project Server 2010, Search Server 2010, and Office Web Apps 2010Language Packs for SharePoint Foundation 2010.

Important

If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Microsoft SharePoint Server and you are using the Group Approval (eApproval) features, you must install all the following language packs before you run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard:

  • Chinese (Simplified) - 2025

  • Chinese (Traditional) - 1028

  • Japanese - 1041

  • Korean - 1042

After installing the language packs, run the following command in the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14 folder:
psconfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace v2v

Download the language pack

  1. Download the 64-bit version of the language pack by using one of the download links.

  2. On the download page, select the language that you want from the Change Language list, and then click Change.

  3. Click Download on the web page.

  4. In the dialog box that appears, click Save to download a copy of the file to the local computer.

Note

If you are uninstalling SharePoint Server 2010, you must uninstall all language packs before you uninstall SharePoint Server 2010.

Installing language packs on the web and application servers

After you install the necessary language files on the web and application servers, you can install the language packs. Language packs are available as individual downloads (one download for each supported language). If you have a server farm environment and you are installing language packs to support multiple languages, you must install the language packs on each of the web and application servers.

Important

The language pack is installed in its native language. For example, the Russian language pack executable file is in Russian. The procedure that follows is for the English language pack.
SharePoint Foundation 2010 language packs are not required for SharePoint Server 2010.

Install a language pack

  1. Run setup.exe.

  2. On the Read the Microsoft Software License Terms page, review the terms, select the I accept the terms of this agreement check box, and then click Continue.

  3. The Setup wizard runs and installs the language pack.

  4. Rerun the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard by using the default settings. If you do not run the SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard after you install a language pack, the language pack will not be installed correctly.

Rerun the SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, click Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, and then click SharePoint 2010 Products Configuration Wizard.

  2. On the Welcome to SharePoint Products page, click Next.

  3. Click Yes in the dialog box that alerts you that some services might have to be restarted during configuration.

  4. On the Modify Server Farm Settings page, click Do not disconnect from this server farm, and then click Next.

  5. If the Modify SharePoint Central Administration Web Administration Settings page appears, do not change any of the default settings, and then click Next.

  6. On the Completing the SharePoint Products and Technologies Configuration Wizard page, click Next.

  7. On the Configuration Successful page, click Finish.

When you install language packs, the language-specific site templates are installed in the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web server extensions\14\TEMPLATE\LanguageID directory, where LanguageID is the Language ID number for the language that you are installing. For example, the United States English language pack installs to the %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\1033 directory. After you install a language pack, site owners and site collection administrators can create sites and site collections based on the language-specific site templates by specifying a language when they are creating a new SharePoint site or site collection.

Important

After you install a new language pack, you must deactivate and then reactivate any language-specific features before you use the new language pack.

Note

After you install a new language pack, you can start user profile synchronization manually, or you can wait up to 24 hours for the new language pack to take effect. For the procedure to start profile synchronization manually, see Start profile synchronization manually (SharePoint Server 2010). For more information about user profile synchronization, see Manage profile synchronization (SharePoint Server 2010).

Uninstalling language packs

If you no longer have to support a language for which you have installed a language pack, you can remove the language pack by using the Control Panel. Removing a language pack removes the language-specific site templates from the computer. All sites that were created that have those language-specific site templates will no longer work (the URL will produce a HTTP 500 - Internal server error page). Reinstalling the language pack will make the site functional.

Note

You cannot remove the language pack for the version of SharePoint Server 2010 that you have installed on the server. For example, if you are running the Japanese version of SharePoint Server 2010, you cannot uninstall the Japanese language support for SharePoint Server 2010.

See Also

Other Resources

Resource Center: Installation and Deployment for SharePoint Server 2010