Add Windows Update Package to Windows 10 image

In this short post I am going to cover the steps to add a Windows update package to a Windows 10 image (install.wim). If you want to slipstream updates into your Windows 10 setup media, this post should help you.

By definition, the process of adding Windows update packages into the Windows setup media is known as Slipstreaming. Instead of deploying a Window 10 image and installing updates via WSUS, you can slipstream or add the latest windows cumulative update to windows image.

If you are using SCCM, you might be familiar with the term offline servicing. Using offline servicing, you inject Software Updates in your WIM file. I will cover about offline servicing in another post. If you are looking to add language packs offline using DISM read this post.

You should always add the latest cumulative update package to your Windows 10 image. And to download the latest cumulative update, go to Microsoft Update Catalog site.

Add Windows Update Package to Windows 10 image

I will split the process of adding update packages to Windows 10 image into steps. This should make it easier to follow.

Step 1 – Download Windows 10 ISO file

You can download the Windows ISO file either from MSDN or VLSC site. In my case I am going to add the latest available cumulative update to my Windows 10 1809 media. You can go with Windows 10 edition of your choice.

After you download the ISO, extract the ISO file to a folder. Or right-click the ISO file and mount it. Copy the contents of Windows 10 media to a folder.

Step 2 – Download Cumulative Update from Microsoft Update catalog

I have seen some sites offering cumulative update downloads. However I would suggest not to download the updates from any of those sites. Download cumulative updates or any updates only from Microsoft Update Catalog site.

Visit the Microsoft update catalog site, in the search box type you Windows 10 version and click Search. From the list of updates, sort the results by Last Updated column.

Look for the cumulative update for your Windows 10 version. Before you download it, click on the update title.

The update details window shows detailed information of this update. Click Package Details tab and notice the updates that this update replaces.

So from the below screenshot one can understand that this cumulative update is the latest one and replaces the previous months updates.

Download the cumulative update for Windows 10. The update always ends with .msu extension. Save the update file to a separate folder.

Step 3 – Determine Image Index Number

It is important to find the image index before you proceed further. Type the following command to retrieve the name or index number. Using the below command we can find out index number and name of the image as well.

Dism /Get-ImageInfo /ImageFile:path to install.wim file

Since I am going to deploy Windows 10 Enterprise, the index is 3.

Step 4 – Mount the WIM File

To add the update package to windows 10 media, we must first mount the install.wim file. Create a folder anywhere on your drive and name it as mount.

Run the command to mount the install.wim file.

DISM /mount-wim /wimfile:"path to .wim file" /index:3 /mountdir:"path to mount dir"

Step 5 – Add Windows Update Package to Install.wim

Finally we are at the step where we are going to add or inject the cumulative update into the .wim file.

Dism /Add-Package /Image:"path to mount dir" /PackagePath="path to .msu file" /LogPath=log the output to a file

When you run this command, it takes some time to inject the msu file into the install.wim.

In case you have got multiple cumulative updates in the folder, you can inject them with the help of below command.

Dism /Add-Package /Image:"mount dir" /PackagePath="updates folder\cu1.msu" /PackagePath="updates folder\cu2.msu" /PackagePath="updates folder\cu3.msu" /LogPath=log the output to a file

Step 6 – Verify update package

After you successfully add the update package to image file, using the below command you can verify the update package.

Dism /Get-Packages /image:<path_to_image>

Output:-

Package Identity : Package_for_RollupFix~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~17763.737.1.5
State : Installed
Release Type : Security Update
Install Time : 9/13/2019 1:05 PM

Step 7 – Dismount the WIM file and Commit Changes

After you add the update package to the image, the last step is to dismount the wim file and commit changes. Unless you commit the changes the process isn’t complete.

To dismount wim file and commit changes run the below command :-

dism.exe /Unmount-wim /mountdir:"E:\Mount" /commit

After you commit the changes, using free tools, you can create an ISO file from the updated setup folder.