JSI Tip 2026. Unattended SP5 and SP6a install from Remote Console Client doesn't work?

When you use the Resource Kit Remote Console to perform an unattended install of SP5 or SP6a:

update.exe /u /q

runs, but doesn't do anything usefull. If you use Task Manager, you see a Service Pack Setup Error.

The problem is caused by the failure of the Remote Console client to set the %USERPROFILE% environment variable, as it loads the users NTUSER.DAT.

Setup doesn't accually need the correct user, so running:

set userprofile=%systemroot%profilesdefault user
update.exe /u /q

works just fine.

NOTE: See tip 1981.