Hi @dylan. I have the Windows Server 2016 Standard edition without the GUI. I had been using Windows Server 2012R2 Standard in minimal core mode and that worked fine. And 2016 in full GUI works fine as well.
I guess I don’t know if my license key will work for the 2016 Essentials version. I will have to see. And I presume you don’t think that any media pack can be installed into the Standard edition without the GUI? JCR