SQL Service Packs (SP) and Cumulative Updates (CU) Install Server Core 2016
Tech 2016 Core Microsoft Server SQL Windows
In order to manually install any Service Pack or Cumulative Update to SQL on Server Core all you need to do is download and run the exe with the following parameters:
/q /action=patch /allinstances /IAcceptSQLServerLicenseTerms
Example:
C:TempSQLServer2016-KB3194717-x64.exe /q /action=patch /allinstances /IAcceptSQLServerLicenseTerms
or
C:TempSQLServer2016SP1-KB3182545-x64-ENU.exe /q /action=patch /allinstances /IAcceptSQLServerLicenseTerms