-.TH IMAGEX 1 "May 2013" "@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ @VERSION@" "User Commands"
+.TH IMAGEX 1 "August 2013" "@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ @VERSION@" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ \- Create, modify, extract, mount, or unmount a WIM (Windows Imaging Format) archive
.SH SYNOPSIS
.IP \[bu] 4
Create a stand-alone WIM from a directory or NTFS volume (\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR)
.IP \[bu]
+Capture a WIM image directly to standard output in a special pipable format
+(\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
Append a directory or NTFS volume onto a stand-alone WIM as a new image (\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@
append\fR)
.IP \[bu]
Apply an image from a stand-alone or split WIM to a directory or NTFS volume
(\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR)
.IP \[bu]
+Apply an image from a special pipable WIM format sent over standard input
+(\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
Mount an image from a stand-alone or split WIM read-only (\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ mount\fR)
.IP \[bu]
Mount an image from a stand-alone WIM read-write (\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ mountrw\fR)
.IP \[bu]
WIM XML data (parsed and written using \fBlibxml\fR(3))
.SH DIFFERENCES FROM MICROSOFT IMAGEX
-While similar to Microsoft's "imagex.exe" program, this program is designed for
-UNIX-based systems and by the nature of the platform cannot be exactly the same
-as Microsoft's version. In addition, I have added additional useful features
-when appropriate.
-.IP \[bu] 4
-Because Microsoft designed the WIM file format to accomodate Windows-specific
-and NTFS-specific features, wimlib must have two separate image capture and
-application modes (although the \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR subcommands for the modes are the
-same): one for general image capture and application, and one for the capture or
-application of an image specifically from/to an NTFS volume.
+Although \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR is similar to Microsoft's implementation of
+ImageX, there are a number of key differences between the two programs:
+.IP \[bu] 6
+\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR is supported on both UNIX-based systems and Windows;
+thus, much functionality was designed around this.
+.IP \[bu]
+The command-line syntax of the two programs is similar but not exactly the same.
+.IP \[bu]
+As of wimlib v1.5.0, for convenience \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR automatically
+preserves the integrity table in WIMs that have one, even when \fB--check\fR is
+not specified.
+.IP \[bu]
+As of wimlib v1.5.0, a special "pipable" WIM format that is not compatible with
+Microsoft's software is supported. This allows capturing and applying images
+directly to standard output or from standard input, respectively; this can be
+used to pipe images to or from a server over the network to implement fast
+filesystem imaging and restore.
+.IP \[bu]
+On UNIX, because Microsoft designed the WIM file format to accomodate
+Windows-specific and NTFS-specific features, wimlib must have two separate image
+capture and application modes (although the \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR subcommands
+for the modes are the same): one for general image capture and application, and
+one for the capture or application of an image specifically from/to an NTFS
+volume.
.IP ""
-Note: the above applies to UNIX builds. On the Windows builds of wimlib, there
-is only one image capture and application mode, similar to Microsoft's ImageX.
+Note: the above applies to UNIX builds of \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR. On the
+Windows build, there is only one image capture and application mode, similar to
+Microsoft's ImageX.
.IP \[bu]
Microsoft's version has some weird limitations, like it won't let you extract a
WIM on a shared folder, and it requires some commands to be run only from
-Windows PE and not from regular Windows. This version does not have these
-unusual limitations.
+Windows PE and not from regular Windows. \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR does not have
+these unusual limitations.
.IP \[bu]
There are bugs in Microsoft's WIM library and I obviously have not included the
same bugs in wimlib, although in some cases I have had to work around bugs for
.IP \[bu]
wimlib's XPRESS compressor is better than Microsoft's.
.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's LZX compressor is worse than Microsoft's.
+.IP \[bu]
wimlib supports multithreaded compression, which can make it much faster to
create compressed WIM files.
.IP \[bu]
Microsoft's software does not. (Note: this functionality is only available in
UNIX builds.)
.SH LOCALES AND CHARACTER ENCODINGS
-On Windows, wimlib 1.3.2 and later works in UTF-16LE, and there should be no
-problems with character encodings.
+On Windows, wimlib works in UTF-16LE, and there should be no problems with
+character encodings.
.PP
On UNIX, wimlib works primarily in the locale-dependent multibyte encoding,
which you are strongly recommended to set to UTF-8 to avoid any problems.
+.SH CASE SENSITIVITY
+The case sensitivity of \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR differs somewhat between UNIX
+and Windows. \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR internally treats filenames as
+case-sensitive, but on Windows it will treat paths actually provided by the user
+as case-insensitive in order to get the "expected" behavior. Otherwise, options
+and non-path arguments should be specified in lower case.
.SH WARNING
Note: \fBwimlib\fR and \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR are experimental. Use Microsoft's
imagex.exe if you have to make sure your WIM files are made "correctly". Feel
git://wimlib.net / wimlib / blobdiff