X-Git-Url: https://wimlib.net/git/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README.WINDOWS;h=dbbf3a07f99f272d71fef98565e828279327d8c6;hb=b143910f8f18f0725adaf4af7e0bbe7ac5ab5382;hp=84402e3b7f75dd80cd23bbc57933ed4cf1b9d0e0;hpb=4d071e9bb670d082872f39a99366d70708db10a4;p=wimlib diff --git a/README.WINDOWS b/README.WINDOWS index 84402e3b..dbbf3a07 100644 --- a/README.WINDOWS +++ b/README.WINDOWS @@ -9,68 +9,126 @@ you should read too. WINDOWS DISTRIBUTION -For the convenience of Windows users, the Windows distribution of wimlib is a -ZIP file containing the following items: +The Windows distribution of wimlib is a ZIP file containing the following items: - * wimlib-imagex.exe, a command-line tool to deal with WIM (.wim) and split WIM - (.swm) files that is similar to Microsoft's ImageX. This is a ready-to-run - executable and not an installer. + * 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. * Very short batch scripts (e.g. wimapply.cmd) which are shortcuts to the corresponding wimlib-imagex commands (e.g. `wimlib-imagex apply'). - * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and - PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' directory. + * The library itself in DLL format (libwim-15.dll). wimlib-imagex.exe + requires this to run. - * Various DLL (.dll) files, including the wimlib library itself - (libwim-9.dll). The C header wimlib.h is not included; download the source - if you want it. + * The documentation, including this file, the generic README.txt, and + PDF documentation for wimlib-imagex in the 'doc' folder. * License files for all software included. These are all free software - licenses. + 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. + + * Development files in the 'devel' folder. These are only needed if you + are developing C or C++ applications that use wimlib. + +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 provides most features of Microsoft's ImageX, plus additional -features. Perhaps the main limitation is that mounting images from a WIM file -is not supported on Windows. However, wimlib-imagex provides a number of -advantages compared to Microsoft's ImageX, including but not limited to the -following: +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 that can be used to - work around the lack of mount support. These commands are very fast - compared to mounting and unmounting images with Microsoft's ImageX, so you - may prefer them anyway. + * 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 to remove wasted - space from WIM files. + * wimlib-imagex provides an easy-to-use "optimize" command which removes + wasted space from a WIM file and optionally recompresses it with stronger + compression. - * In some cases, wimlib-imagex uses simpler command-line syntax. For - example, integrity tables are treated as persistent, and in some cases image - names need not be explicitly specified. + * wimlib includes advanced implementations of all compression algorithms used + in WIM files. They usually outperform and outcompress their Microsoft + equivalents. - * Whenever possible, wimlib-imagex includes improved documentation and - informational output compared to Microsoft's software. + * 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.) - * On Windows, wimlib-imagex can correctly save and restore some combinations - of data that Microsoft's ImageX runs into bugs on --- for example, - uncompressed files in compressed directories, or files with alternate data - streams and multiple hard links. + * wimlib-imagex supports imaging a live Windows system. Just use the + --snapshot option. - * wimlib-imagex also supports ESD (.esd) files, except when encrypted. (These - use a newer version of the WIM file format.) + * 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. 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/; however, -as of 2014-03-23 it is still under development and is only released for testing. +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 +https://reboot.pro/files/file/588-wimlib-clc/. + + 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. It is also possible +to use a release tarball (e.g. wimlib-1.14.0.tar.gz) instead of the git repo. + +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) + +(If unsure, use "MSYS2 MINGW64".) Then run the following commands: + + cd wimlib + tools/windows-build.sh --install-prerequisites + +The script will automatically download and install the 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.