WoW64 Support on Server Core in Windows Server 2008 R2

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Those of you that installed the beta build may have noticed that we made WoW64 an optional feature in Server Core for R2. In the beta it was not installed by default, which caused its share of headaches due to many installers still being 32bit or using 32bit custom actions. Based on all the feedback we received from the beta, in the RC build WoW64 is now installed by default so 32bit tools and installers will work out of the box. WoW64 is still optional, so can be uninstalled if desired.

The following server roles and features have WoW64 packages so if you need 32bit support when using any of these you will need to install the server role or feature and then the WoW64 package:

Server Role / Feature

WoW64 Package Name

.Net 2.0

NetFx2-ServerCore-WOW64

.Net 3

NetFx3-ServerCore-WOW64

Clustering

FailoverCluster-Core-WOW64

Input Method Editor

ServerCore-EA-IME-WOW64

PowerShell

MicrosoftWindowsPowerShell-WOW64

Print Server

Printing-ServerCore-Role-WOW64

Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications

SUACore-WOW64

Comments

  • Anonymous
    January 01, 2003
    Very wise decision. I think otherwise people would try to install 32-bit apps only to see them fail and would attribute the problem to being on server core instead of realizing the the 32-bit subsystem is not installed.

  • Anonymous
    March 13, 2011
    the 32-bit support should have been terminated and/or only release as a add-on package inte the first place......... @csaborio in which case they shouldn't be a server admin / be able to log on to the machine