-wimlib 1.3.0 has added experimental support for Windows builds. These builds
-include both the "wimlib" library (built as a DLL) and the "imagex" executable.
-The Windows builds use native Win32 calls when appropriate to handle alternate
-data streams, security descriptors, and reparse points.
+ INTRODUCTION
-Windows support currently has the following limitations:
+wimlib is free and open source software that is available on both UNIX-like
+systems and Windows. This file provides additional information specifically
+about the Windows version of wimlib and the command line tool "wimlib-imagex"
+that is distributed with it. It does not obsolete the generic README.txt, which
+you should read too.
-- It relies on the Cygwin UNIX-compatibility layer. You do not, however, need
- to have the Cygwin distribution installed to run it, as I have posted a ZIP
- file on SourceForge that contains the build of wimlib and "imagex" along with
- the DLLs needed for it to run. Please note that these DLLs are free and open
- source software; see http://www.cygwin.com/ for more details.
+ WINDOWS DISTRIBUTION
-- Mounting WIM files is not supported.
+The Windows distribution of wimlib is a ZIP file containing the following items:
-- wimlib's API is not compatible with Microsoft's WIMGAPI, although they offer
- some of the same functionality.
+ * wimlib-imagex.exe, a command-line tool to deal with WIM (.wim), split WIM
+ (.swm), and ESD (.esd) files that is inspired by Microsoft's ImageX and
+ DISM. This is a ready-to-run executable and not an installer.
-So, in terms of the "imagex" program:
+ * Very short batch scripts (e.g. wimapply.cmd) which are shortcuts to the
+ corresponding wimlib-imagex commands (e.g. `wimlib-imagex apply').
-"imagex capture", "imagex append", and "imagex apply" will work on Windows and
-have the added advantage of saving and restoring alternate data streams,
-security descriptors, and reparse points.
+ * The library itself in DLL format (libwim-15.dll). wimlib-imagex.exe
+ requires this to run.
-"imagex delete", "imagex dir", "imagex export", "imagex info", "imagex join",
-"imagex optimize", and "imagex split" are all portable and should work the same
-way on Windows as on UNIX.
+ * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and
+ PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' folder.
-"imagex mount", "imagex mountrw", and "imagex unmount" will NOT work on Windows.
+ * License files for all software included. These are all free software
+ licenses. COPYING.txt is the main license, and it refers to
+ COPYING.GPLv3.txt and COPYING.LGPLv3.txt. The other licenses are for
+ third-party software included in the library.
-So on Windows, why would you want to use wimlib's ImageX instead of Microsoft's?
-Well, here are a few reasons:
+ * Development files in the 'devel' folder. These are only needed if you
+ are developing C or C++ applications that use wimlib.
-- wimlib can be freely distributed; there is no need to download a 1.8 gigabyte
- "Windows Automated Installation Kit".
-- wimlib offers fast multithreaded compression, so making WIM images can be much
- faster.
-- wimlib is free software, so you can modify and/or audit the source code.
+Note that there are separate ZIP files for 32-bit (i686) and 64-bit (x86_64)
+binaries. They are both fully supported, but you should prefer the 64-bit
+binaries when possible as they can be noticeably faster.
+
+ WIMLIB-IMAGEX
+
+wimlib-imagex supports most features of Microsoft's ImageX as well as some
+features that are supported by DISM but not by ImageX. wimlib-imagex also
+supports some features that neither ImageX nor DISM support. Some of the
+advantages of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are:
+
+ * wimlib-imagex provides "extract" and "update" commands which allow
+ you to quickly work with WIM images without mounting them.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command which removes
+ wasted space from a WIM file and optionally recompresses it with stronger
+ compression.
+
+ * wimlib includes advanced implementations of all compression algorithms used
+ in WIM files. They usually outperform and outcompress their Microsoft
+ equivalents.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex supports solid WIM files and LZMS compression, for example as
+ used in ESD (.esd) files. (These are partially supported by recent DISM
+ versions but not by ImageX.)
+
+ * wimlib-imagex supports imaging a live Windows system. Just use the
+ --snapshot option.
+
+ * In many cases, wimlib-imagex has simpler command-line syntax than either
+ ImageX or DISM.
+
+ * Whenever possible, wimlib-imagex includes improved documentation and
+ informational output compared to Microsoft's software.
+
+ * wimlib and wimlib-imagex are free software, so you can modify and/or audit
+ the source code.
+
+However, some limitations of wimlib-imagex compared to ImageX and DISM are:
+
+ * On Windows, wimlib-imagex does not support mounting WIM images.
+
+ * wimlib-imagex has no awareness of Windows "packages".
+
+ ADDITIONAL NOTES
+
+It's recommended to use wimlib-imagex in scripts to avoid having to
+interactively enter commands. However, note that wimlib-imagex is largely just
+a command-line front-end for wimlib, and it's possible to use wimlib's API in
+other front-ends or applications. Currently there is no official graphical user
+interface available for wimlib or wimlib-imagex. However, an unofficial
+Windows-only graphical user interface that provides a thin wrapper around
+wimlib-imagex can be downloaded at
+http://reboot.pro/files/file/485-wimlib-imagex-command-line-compiler/.
+
+ BUILDING FROM SOURCE
+
+As with other open source software, advanced users may choose to build wimlib
+from source, potentially with customizations. Currently, wimlib depends on
+MinGW-w64 for its Windows support; Visual Studio is not supported. The Windows
+binaries can be cross-compiled on Linux, or built on Windows using MSYS2 or
+Cygwin. The following instructions show the MSYS2 method.
+
+First, install MSYS2 by running the installer from https://www.msys2.org/.
+
+Then, open any MSYS2 shell and run the following command:
+
+ pacman -Syu --noconfirm
+
+After that, open any MSYS2 shell again and run the following commands:
+
+ pacman -Syu --noconfirm git
+ git clone git://wimlib.net/wimlib
+
+Note: By default the git repository will be on the "master" branch, which is the
+latest development snapshot. Optionally, you can check out a specific version,
+e.g. 'cd wimlib && git checkout v1.14.0'. For old versions, please refer to the
+documentation for that version, as things may have changed. Also, it is
+possible to use a release tarball (e.g. wimlib-1.14.0.tar.gz) instead of the git
+repository; however, the make-windows-release script will not be available in
+that case and you will need to handle more things yourself.
+
+Finally, to actually do a build, close the MSYS2 shell you have open, then open
+one of the following from the Start menu:
+
+ * "MSYS2 MINGW64" - for x86_64 binaries, built with gcc
+ * "MSYS2 CLANG64" - for x86_64 binaries, built with clang
+ * "MSYS2 MINGW32" - for i686 binaries, built with gcc
+ * "MSYS2 CLANG32" - for i686 binaries, built with clang
+ * "MSYS2 CLANGARM64" - for ARM64 binaries (EXPERIMENTAL, needs Windows ARM64)
+
+(If unsure, use "MSYS2 MINGW64".) Then run the following commands:
+
+ cd wimlib
+ tools/make-windows-release --install-msys2-packages
+
+The script will automatically download and install the MSYS2 packages needed to
+build wimlib in the chosen MSYS2 environment, then build wimlib. The output
+will be in a folder named similarly to "wimlib-1.14.0-windows-x86_64-bin". Note
+that your "home" folder within MSYS2 is C:\msys64\home\%USERNAME% by default.
+Therefore, the full path to the output folder will be similar to
+C:\msys64\home\%USERNAME%\wimlib\wimlib-1.14.0-windows-x86_64-bin.
git://wimlib.net / wimlib / blobdiff