Another second Tuesday of the month, another set of updates, on my Windows Server 2012 Core I get:
List of applicable items on the machine:
1> Update for Windows Server 2012 (KB2769165)
21> Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 10 for Windows Server 2012
(KB2792100)
26> Security Update for Windows Server 2012 (KB2778344)
Select an option:
(A)ll updates, (N)o updates or (S)elect a single update?
As you see there is one update for IE10 which my machine does not have, so much for 'applicable'.
I could now select the other 25 updates one by one which would be a pain, so I go for All.
When done, the installed hotfixes include one for KB2792100, the IE patch.
Okay that one was a recommended update, not a critical one, but still why does it download 14MB and installs it, shouldn't it figure out that this is a Server Core installation which does not have Internet Explorer?
Or does it actually patches the IE files that are somewhere in WinSxS just in case I may change into GUI mode some time in the future?
One marketing argument by Microsoft for Server Core is that it requires less patching, is that actually true?
Best Answer
In many cases IE is fairly well integrated into the OS for other functions beside simple web browsing. For instance, if you open the Internet Control Panel in a full GUI version of Windows it is essentially the IE control panel. IE is never really "gone". I would imagine that in core the same is still applicable and the updates may actually be fixing common components of IE that also affect your OS.