[wimlib] / doc / imagex-apply.1.in

.TH IMAGEX "1" "April 2013" "@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ @VERSION@" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-apply \- Extract one image, or all images, from a WIM archive

.SH SYNOPSIS
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR \fIWIMFILE\fR [\fIIMAGE\fR] \fITARGET\fR [\fIOPTION\fR...]

.SH DESCRIPTION
.PP

\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR extracts an image, or all images, from the Windows
Imaging (WIM) file \fIWIMFILE\fR.

This command is designed to extract, or "apply", one or more full WIM images.
If you instead want to extract only certain files or directories contained in a
WIM image, consider using \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ extract\fR or
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ mount\fR instead.

\fIIMAGE\fR specifies the WIM image to extract.  It may be a 1-based index of an
image in the WIM, the name of an image in the WIM, or the keyword "all" to
indicate that all images are to be extracted.  Use the \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@
info\fR (1) command to show what images a WIM file contains.  \fIIMAGE\fR may be
omitted if \fIWIMFILE\fR contains only one image.

\fITARGET\fR specifies where to extract the WIM image(s) to.  If \fITARGET\fR
specifies a directory, the WIM image(s) are extracted to that directory.  If
\fITARGET\fR specifies a non-existent file, a directory is created in that
location and the WIM image(s) are extracted to that directory.  Alternatively,
on UNIX only, if \fITARGET\fR specifies a regular file or block device, it is
interpreted as an NTFS volume to which the WIM image is to be extracted.

\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR supports applying images from stand-alone WIMs as
well as split WIMs.  See \fBSPLIT WIMS\fR.

.SH NORMAL MODE (UNIX)

This section documents how files are extracted on UNIX from the WIM image to a
directory.  See \fBWINDOWS VERSION\fR for the corresponding documentation for
the Windows version.

On UNIX, the "normal" extraction mode is entered when \fITARGET\fR is a
directory or non-existent file.  If a single WIM image is being extracted, it is
extracted with the root directory of the image corresponding to the directory
named by \fITARGET\fR; or, if the keyword \fBall\fR is given, the images are
extracted into subdirectories of \fITARGET\fR that are be named after the image
names, falling back to the image index for an image with no name.  \fITARGET\fR
can specify a directory on any type of filesystem.

In the "normal" mode of extraction on UNIX, the following information is
extracted from the WIM image(s):

.IP \[bu] 4
The default (unnamed) data stream of each file
.IP \[bu]
Hard links
.IP \[bu]
File and directory creation, access, and modification timestamps to the nearest
100 nanoseconds, if supported by the underlying filesystem, operating system,
and C library
.IP \[bu]
Symbolic links and junction points.  Drive letters will be stripped.
(Note: see \fB--rpfix\fR and \fB--norpfix\fR for documentation on how absolute
symbolic links and junctions are applied.)

.PP
However, in the "normal" mode of extraction on UNIX, the following information
will \fInot\fR be extracted from the WIM image(s):

.IP \[bu] 4
Security descriptors (file permissions) except through the extensions available
through the \fB--unix-data\fR option
.IP \[bu]
The alternate (named) data streams for each file
.IP \[bu]
Reparse points other than symbolic links and junction points
.IP \[bu]
Certain file attributes such as compression, encryption, and sparseness.
.IP \[bu]
Short (DOS) names for files

.SH NTFS MODE (UNIX)

This section documents how files are extracted directly to an NTFS volume image
on UNIX.  See \fBWINDOWS VERSION\fR for the corresponding documentation for the
Windows version.

On UNIX, a special extraction mode is entered when \fITARGET\fR is a regular
file or block device.  If this is the case, \fITARGET\fR is interpreted as an
NTFS volume and opened using libntfs-3g.  If successful, the WIM image is
extracted to the root of the NTFS volume in a special mode that preserves all
information contained in the WIM image.  \fIIMAGE\fR may not be "all" for this
action.

The NTFS volume does not need to be empty, although it's expected that it be
empty for the intended use cases.  A new NTFS filesystem can be created using
the \fBmkntfs\fR (8) command.

The NTFS extraction mode is not available if wimlib was compiled using the
\fB--without-ntfs-3g\fR option.

Please note that the NTFS extraction mode is \fInot\fR entered if \fITARGET\fR
is a directory, even if an NTFS filesystem is mounted on \fITARGET\fR.  You must
specify the NTFS volume itself (and it must be unmounted, and you must have
permission to write to it).

In the NTFS extraction mode on UNIX, the following information will be extracted
from the WIM image:

.IP \[bu] 4
The data streams of all files, including the un-named data stream as well as all
named data streams.
.IP \[bu]
Reparse points, including symbolic links, junction points, and other reparse
points.
.IP \[bu]
Hard links.
.IP \[bu]
File and directory creation, access, and modification timestamps are set to the
100-nanosecond resolution values specified in the WIM file.
.IP \[bu] 4
The security descriptor for each file is applied if there is one specified in
the WIM.
.IP \[bu]
File attribute flags are applied.
.IP \[bu]
Short (DOS) names for files are extracted.  The corresponding long name for each
DOS name is made to be a Win32 name.  Any additional names for the file in the
same directory are made to be names in the POSIX namespace.

.PP
However, the extraction of encrypted files is not supported in this mode.
.PP
Since all (or almost all) information from the WIM image is restored in this
mode, it is possible to restore an image of an actual Windows installation using
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR on UNIX in addition to with \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR on
Windows.  In the examples at the end of this manual page, there is an example of
applying an image from the "install.wim" file contained in the installation
media for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 in the "sources" directory.
.PP
But in order to actually boot Windows from an applied image, you must understand
the boot process of Windows versions Vista and later.  Basically, it is the
following:

.nr step 1 1
.IP \n[step]. 3
The Master Boot Record loads the Volume Boot Record (also called the Boot
Sector) of the active partition, which is on an NTFS filesystem.  This partition
is called the "system partition".
.IP \n+[step].
The "bootmgr" program on the "system partition" is loaded (\\BOOTMGR).
.IP \n+[step].
bootmgr loads the Boot Configuration Data (\\Boot\\BCD) from the "system
partition".
.IP \n+[step].
Based on the information contained in the Boot Configuration Data, a loader for
the Windows kernel is executed from the "Boot" partition, which is where Windows
is installed.

.PP

So let's say you applied an image from an existing "install.wim" as in the
example, or you've applied a custom Windows image that you've created using the
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR (1) command.  You've just applied the "Boot" partition, or
the main Windows partition, but there is no "System" partition yet (i.e.  no
\\BOOTMGR and no \\Boot\\BCD).

A "System" partition can be created created by running the "bcdboot.exe" program
from within Windows or Windows PE.  Alternatively, you can capture a separate
WIM image containing the "System" partition.  Or, the "System" partition may the
same as the "Boot" partition, so the two "partitions" may be combined in one WIM
image.  However, as the \\Boot\\BCD file contains the Windows bootloader
configuration, a WIM containing it can only be used on systems where you are
setting up the same bootloader configuration, including the same partition
layout.

Besides setting up the files on the "System" partition, don't forget to set the
bootable flag on it, and have a master boot record that loads the bootable
partition (Windows' MBR does, and SYSLINUX provides an equivalent MBR).

.SH SPLIT WIMS

You may use \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR to apply images from a split WIM.  The
\fIWIMFILE\fR argument is used to specify the first part of the split WIM, and
the \fB--refs\fR="\fIGLOB\fR" option is used to provide a shell-style file glob
that specifies the additional parts of the split WIM.  \fIGLOB\fR is expected to
be a single string on the command line, so \fIGLOB\fR must be quoted so that it
is protected against shell expansion.  \fIGLOB\fR must expand to all parts of
the split WIM, except optionally the first part which may either omitted or
included in the glob (but the first part MUST be specified as \fIWIMFILE\fR as
well).

Here's an example.  The names for the split WIMs usually go something like:

.RS
.PP
.nf
mywim.swm
mywim2.swm
mywim3.swm
mywim4.swm
mywim5.swm
.RE
.nf

To apply the first image of this split WIM to the directory "dir", run:
.PP
.RS
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply mywim.swm 1 dir --ref="mywim*.swm"
.RE
.PP

.SH WINDOWS VERSION

The Windows version of \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR acts similarly to the
corresponding command of Microsoft's ImageX.  For best results, the target
directory should be on an NTFS volume and you should be running with
Administrator privileges; however, non-NTFS filesystems and running without
Administrator privileges are also supported.

On Windows, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR tries to extract as much data as
possible.  This includes:

.IP \[bu] 4
All data streams of all files.  This includes the default file contents, as well
as named data streams if supported by the filesystem.
.IP \[bu]
Reparse points, including symbolic links, junction points, and other reparse
points, if supported by the underlying filesystem.  (Note: see
\fB--rpfix\fR and \fB--norpfix\fR for documentation on how absolute symbolic
links and junctions are applied.)
.IP \[bu]
File and directory creation, access, and modification timestamps.
.IP \[bu]
Security descriptors, if supported by the filesystem and \fB--no-acls\fR is not
specified.  Furthermore, unless \fB--strict-acls\fR is specified, the security
descriptor for individual files or directories may be omitted or only partially
set if the user does not have permission to set them.
.IP \[bu]
File attributes, including hidden, sparse, compressed, encrypted, etc, when
supported by the filesystem.
.IP \[bu]
DOS names (8.3) names of files; however, the failure to set them is not
considered an error condition.
.IP \[bu]
Hard links, if supported by the filesystem.

.PP
Note: encrypted files will be extracted as raw encrypted data if the filesystem
does not support encryption.  Compressed files and directories (with the
compression attribute set) will be extracted as uncompressed if the filesystem
does not support transparent compression.

.SH OPTIONS
.TP 6
\fB--check\fR
When reading \fIWIMFILE\fR, verify its integrity if the integrity table is
present.
.TP
\fB--ref\fR="\fIGLOB\fR"
File glob of additional split WIM parts that are part of the split WIM being
applied.  See \fBSPLIT_WIMS\fR.
.TP
\fB--rpfix\fR, \fB--norpfix\fR
Set whether to fix targets of absolute symbolic links (reparse points in Windows
terminology) or not.  When enabled (\fB--rpfix\fR), extracted absolute symbolic
links that are marked in the WIM image as being fixed are assumed to have
absolute targets relative to the image root, and therefore have the actual root
of extraction prepended to their targets.  The intention is that you can apply
an image containing absolute symbolic links and still have them be valid after
it has been applied to any location.

The default behavior is \fB--rpfix\fR if any images in \fIWIMFILE\fR have been
captured with reparse-point fixups done.  Otherwise, it is \fB--norpfix\fR.

Reparse point fixups are never done in the NTFS extraction mode on UNIX.
.TP
\fB--verbose\fR
Print the path to of each file or directory within the WIM image as it is
extracted.
.TP
\fB--hardlink\fR
(UNIX only) When extracting a file from the WIM that is identical to a file that
has already extracted, create a hard link rather than creating a separate file.
This option causes all identical files to be hard-linked, overriding the hard
link groups that are specified in the WIM image(s).  In the case of extracting
all images from the WIM, files may be hard-linked even if they are in different
WIM images.  This option is not available in the NTFS extraction mode.
.TP
\fB--symlink\fR
(UNIX only) This option is similar to \fB--hardlink\fR, except symbolic links are created
instead.
.TP
\fB--unix-data\fR
(UNIX only)  By default, in the normal extraction mode on UNIX,
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR will ignore both Windows-style security
descriptors and UNIX-specific file owners, groups, and modes set when
using \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR with the \fB--unix-data\fR flag.
By passing \fB--unix-data\fR to \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR instead,
this causes this UNIX-specific data to be restored when available.  However, by
default, if \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR does not have permission to set the UNIX
owner, group or file mode on an extracted file, a warning will be printed and it
will not be considered an error condition; use \fB--strict-acls\fR to get
stricter behavior.
.TP
\fB--no-acls\fR
(Windows only) Do not restore security descriptors on extracted files and directories.
.TP
\fB--strict-acls\fR
On Windows: Fail immediately if the full security descriptor of any file or
directory cannot be set exactly as specified in the WIM file.  The default
behavior without this option is to fall back to setting a security descriptor
with the SACL omitted, then only the default inherited security descriptor, if
we do not have permission to set the desired one.  On UNIX: with
\fB--unix-data\fR, fail immediately if the UNIX owner, group, or file mode on an
extracted file cannot be set for any reason.

.SH NOTES

\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR calculates the SHA1 message digest of every file stream it
extracts and verifies that it is the same as the SHA1 message digest provided in
the WIM file.  It is an error if the message digests don't match.  It's also
considered to be an error if any WIM resources cannot be found in the stream
lookup table.  So you can be fairly certain that the file streams are extracted
correctly, even though \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR don't have a \fB/verify\fR option like
Microsoft's ImageX does.  Please note that this is separate from the integrity
table of the WIM, which provides SHA1 message digests over raw chunks of the
entire WIM file and is checked separately if the \fB--check\fR option is
specified.

You cannot use \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR to apply a WIM from a pipe (such as standard
input) because the WIM file format is not designed for this.

.SH EXAMPLES
.SS Applying a WIM image to a directory (both UNIX and Windows)
Extract the first image from the Windows PE image from the Windows Vista/7/8
installation media to the directory "boot":
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply /media/windows/sources/boot.wim 1 boot
.RE
.PP
Extract all images from the Windows PE image from the Windows Vista/7/8
installation media to the directory "boot", and hard link all identical files:
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply /media/windows8/sources/boot.wim all boot --hardlink
.RE
.PP
.SS Applying a WIM image directly to a NTFS volume image (UNIX only)
Apply a WIM image to an NTFS filesystem image:
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply mywim.wim 1 fsimage.ntfs
.RE
.PP
Create a new NTFS filesystem on the partition /dev/sda2 and apply the first
image in the Windows Vista/7/8 installation WIM to it.  (Obviously, only do this
if you want to erase everything on that partition.)
.RS
.PP
mkntfs /dev/sda2 && @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply /media/windows/sources/install.wim 1 /dev/sda2
.RE
.PP

.SH SEE ALSO
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ (1)
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-extract (1)
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-info (1)