Generalized support for referencing resources in external WIMs

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

.TH WIMLIB-IMAGEX "1" "August 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
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR extracts an image, or all images, from the Windows
Imaging (WIM) file \fIWIMFILE\fR.  This command is also available as simply
\fBwimapply\fR if the appropriate hard link or batch file has been installed.
.PP
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.  (\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ mount\fR is not
supported on Windows.)
.PP
\fIIMAGE\fR specifies the WIM image in \fIWIMFILE\fR to extract.  It may be a
1-based index of an image in \fIWIMFILE\fR, the name of an image in
\fIWIMFILE\fR, or the keyword "all" to indicate that all images in \fIWIMFILE\fR
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.
.PP
\fITARGET\fR specifies where to extract the WIM image to.  If \fITARGET\fR
specifies a directory, the WIM image is extracted to that directory (see
\fBDIRECTORY EXTRACTION (UNIX)\fR or \fBDIRECTORY EXTRACTION (WINDOWS)\fR).
Similarly, if \fITARGET\fR specifies a non-existent file, a directory is created
in that location and the WIM image is extracted to that directory.
.PP
If \fIIMAGE\fR is specified as "all", then all the images in \fIWIMFILE\fR are
actually extracted into subdirectories of \fITARGET\fR, each of which is given
the name of the corresponding image, falling back to the image index in the case
of an image with no name or a name not valid as a filename.
.PP
Alternatively, on UNIX-like systems 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 (see \fBNTFS VOLUME EXTRACTION (UNIX)\fR).  Only a single
image can be extracted in this mode, and only extracting to the root of the NTFS
volume (not a subdirectory thereof) is supported.
.PP
\fIWIMFILE\fR may be "-" to read the WIM from standard input rather than from a
file, but see \fBPIPABLE WIMS\fR for more information.
.PP
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR supports applying images from stand-alone WIMs as
well as split WIMs.  See \fBSPLIT WIMS\fR.
.SH DIRECTORY EXTRACTION (UNIX)
This section documents how \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR (and also
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ extract\fR) extract a WIM image (or a possibly a subset
thereof, in the case of \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ extract\fR) to a directory on
UNIX-like systems.  See \fBDIRECTORY EXTRACTION (WINDOWS)\fR for the
corresponding documentation for Windows.

As mentioned, a WIM image can be applied to a directory on a UNIX-like system by
providing a \fITARGET\fR directory.  However, it is important to keep in mind
that the WIM format was designed for Windows, and as a result WIM files can
contain data or metadata that cannot be represented on UNIX-like systems.  The
main information that \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR will \fInot\fR be able to extract
on UNIX-like systems is the following:
.IP \[bu] 4
Windows security descriptors (which include the file owner, group, and ACLs).
.IP \[bu]
Named data streams.
.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.
.IP \[bu]
File creation timestamps.
.PP
Notes: Unsupported data and metadata is simply not extracted, but
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR will attempt to warn you when the contents of the WIM
image can't be exactly represented when extracted.  Last access and last
modification timestamps are specified to 100 nanosecond granularity in the WIM
file, but will only be extracted to the highest precision supported by the
underlying operating system, C library, and filesystem.  Compressed files will
be extracted as uncompressed, while encrypted files will not be extracted at
all.
.SH NTFS VOLUME EXTRACTION (UNIX)
This section documents how \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR extracts a WIM image
directly to an NTFS volume image on UNIX-like systems.  See \fBDIRECTORY EXTRACTION
(WINDOWS)\fR for the corresponding documentation for Windows.
.PP
As mentioned, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR running on a UNIX-like system can apply a
WIM image directly to an NTFS volume by specifying \fITARGET\fR as a regular file
or block device containing an NTFS filesystem.  The NTFS filesystem need not 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 provided
with \fBntfs-3g\fR.
.PP
In this NTFS volume extraction mode, the WIM image is extracted to the root of
the NTFS volume in a way preserves almost all information contained in the WIM
image.  It therefore does not suffer from the limitations described in
\fBDIRECTORY EXTRACTION (UNIX)\fR.  This support relies on libntfs-3g to write
to the NTFS volume and handle NTFS-specific and Windows-specific data.
.PP
Please note that this NTFS volume 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).
.PP
This NTFS volume extraction mode attempts to extract as much information as
possible, including:
.IP \[bu] 4
All data streams of all files, including the unnamed data stream as well as all
named data streams.
.IP \[bu]
Reparse points, including symbolic links, junction points, and other reparse
points.
.IP \[bu]
File and directory creation, access, and modification timestamps, using the
native NTFS resolution of 100 nanoseconds.
.IP \[bu]
Windows security descriptors, including all components (owner, group, DACL, and
SACL).
.IP \[bu]
DOS/Windows file attribute flags.
.IP \[bu]
All names of all files, including names in the Win32 namespace, DOS namespace,
Win32+DOS namespace, and POSIX namespace.  This includes hard links.
.PP
However, there are also several known limitations of the NTFS volume extraction
mode:
.IP \[bu] 4
Encrypted files will not be extracted.
.IP \[bu]
Although sparse file attributes will be applied, the full data will be extracted
to each sparse file, so extracted "sparse" files may not actually contain any
sparse regions.
.PP
Regardless, since 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-like systems 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).
.PP
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.
.PP
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 DIRECTORY EXTRACTION (WINDOWS)
On Windows, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR and \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ extract\fR
natively support Windows-specific and NTFS-specific data.  For best results, the
target directory should be located on an NTFS volume and \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR
should be run with Administrator privileges; however, non-NTFS filesystems and
running without Administrator privileges are also supported.
.PP
On Windows, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR and \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ extract\fR
try to extract as much data and metadata as possible, including:
.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 target volume.
.IP \[bu]
Reparse points, including symbolic links, junction points, and other reparse
points, if supported by the target volume.  (Note: see \fB--rpfix\fR and
\fB--norpfix\fR for documentation on exactly how absolute symbolic links and
junctions are extracted.)  However, as per the default security settings of
Windows, it is impossible to create a symbolic link or junction point without
Administrator privileges; therefore, you must run \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR as the
Administrator if you wish to fully restore an image containing symbolic links
and/or junction points.  (Otherwise, merely a warning will be issued when a
symbolic link or junction point cannot be extracted due to insufficient
privileges.)
.IP \[bu]
File and directory creation, access, and modification timestamps, to the highest
resolution supported by the target volume.
.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
descriptors for individual files or directories may be omitted or only partially
set if the user does not have permission to set them, which can be a problem if
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR is run as a non-Administrator.
.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
Additional notes about extracting files on Windows:
.IP \[bu] 4
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR will issue a warning when it is unable to extract the
exact metadata and data of the WIM image, for example due to features mentioned
above not being supported by the target filesystem.
.IP \[bu]
Since encrypted files (with FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED) are not stored in
plaintext in the WIM image, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR cannot restore encrypted
files to filesystems not supporting encryption.  Therefore, such files are not
extracted.  Furthermore, even if encrypted files are restored to a filesystem
that supports encryption, they will only be decryptable if the decryption key is
available.
.IP \[bu]
Files with names that cannot be represented on Windows will not
be extracted by default; see \fB--include-invalid-names\fR.
.IP \[bu]
Files with full paths over 260 characters (MAX_PATH) are extracted by using the
\\\\?\\-prefixed path hack.  But beware that such files will be inaccessible to
most Windows software and may not be able to be deleted easily.
.SH SPLIT WIMS
You may use \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR to apply images from a split WIM.  The
\fIWIMFILE\fR argument must specify the first part of the split WIM, while the
additional parts of the split WIM must be specified in one or more
\fB--ref\fR="\fIGLOB\fR" options.  Since globbing is built into the \fB--ref\fR
option, typically only one \fB--ref\fR option is necessary.  For example, the
names for the split WIM parts usually go something like:
.RS
.PP
.nf
mywim.swm
mywim2.swm
mywim3.swm
mywim4.swm
mywim5.swm
.RE
.fi
.PP
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
As a special case, if you are applying an image from standard input from a split
WIM that is also pipable (as described in \fBPIPABLE WIMS\fR), the \fB--ref\fR
option is unneeded; instead you must ensure that all the split WIM parts are
concatenated together on standard input.  They can be provided in any order,
with the exception of the first part, which must be first.
.SH PIPABLE WIMS
As of wimlib 1.5.0, \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply\fR supports applying a WIM from a
nonseekable file, such as a pipe, provided that the WIM was captured with
\fB--pipable\fR (see \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR(1)).  To use standard input
as the WIM, specify "-" as \fIWIMFILE\fR.  A useful use of this ability is to
apply an image from a WIM while streaming it from a webserver; for example, to
apply the first image from a WIM file to an NTFS volume on /dev/sda1:
.PP
.RS
wget -O - http://myserver/mywim.wim | wimapply - 1 /dev/sda1
.RE
.PP
(The above also used the \fBwimapply\fR abbreviation for \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@
apply\fR.) Note: WIM files are \fInot\fR pipable by default; you have to
explicitly capture them with \fB--pipable\fR, and they are \fInot\fR compatible
with Microsoft's software.  See \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture\fR(1) for more
information.
.PP
It is possible to apply an image from a pipable WIM split into multiple parts;
see \fBSPLIT WIMS\fR.
.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 WIMs or split WIM parts to reference resources from.
See \fBSPLIT_WIMS\fR.  This option can be specified multiple times.  Note:
\fIGLOB\fR is listed in quotes because it is interpreted by
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR and may need to be quoted to protect against shell
expansion.
.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.
.IP ""
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.
.IP ""
Reparse point fixups are never done in the NTFS volume extraction mode on
UNIX-like systems.
.IP ""
\fB--verbose\fR
Print the path to of each file or directory within the WIM image as it is
extracted.
.TP
\fB--hardlink\fR
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.
.IP ""
However, hard-linked extraction mode does have some additional quirks.  Named
data streams will not be extracted, and files can be hard linked even if their
metadata is not fully consistent.
.TP
\fB--symlink\fR
This option is similar to \fB--hardlink\fR, except symbolic links are created
instead.
.TP
\fB--unix-data\fR
(UNIX-like systems only)  By default, in the directory 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
Do not restore security descriptors on extracted files and directories.
.TP
\fB--strict-acls\fR
Fail immediately if the full security descriptor of any file or directory cannot
be set exactly as specified in the WIM file.  On Windows, 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
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR does not have permission to set the desired one.  Also,
on UNIX-like systems, this flag can also be combined with \fB--unix-data\fR to
cause \fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR to fail immediately if the UNIX owner, group, or
mode on an extracted file cannot be set for any reason.
.TP
\fB--include-invalid-names\fR
Extract files and directories with invalid names by replacing characters and
appending a suffix rather than ignoring them.  The meaning of this is
platform-dependent.
.IP "" 6
On POSIX-compliant systems, filenames are case-sensitive and may contain any
byte except '\\0' and \'/', so on a POSIX-compliant system this option will only
have an effect in the unlikely case that the WIM image for some reason has a
filename containing one of these characters.
.IP "" 6
On Windows, filenames are case-insensitive, cannot include the characters '/',
\'\\0', '\\', ':', '*', '?', '"', '<', '>', or '|', and cannot end with a space
or period.  Ordinarily, files in WIM images should meet these conditions as
well. However, it is not guaranteed, and in particular a WIM image captured with
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR on a POSIX-compliant system could contain such files.  By
default, invalid names will be ignored, and if there are multiple names
differing only in case, one will be chosen to extract arbitrarily; however, with
\fB--include-invalid-names\fR, all names will be sanitized and extracted in some
form.
.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 that need to be
extracted 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.  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.
.SH EXAMPLES
Extract the first image from the Windows PE image on the Windows Vista/7/8
installation media to the directory "boot":
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply /mnt/windows/sources/boot.wim 1 boot
.RE
.PP
Same as above, but using the \fBwimapply\fR abbreviation:
.RS
.PP
wimapply /media/windows/sources/boot.wim 1 boot
.RE
.PP
On Windows, apply an image of an entire volume, for example from "install.wim"
which can be found on the Windows Vista/7/8 installation media:
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply install.wim 1 E:\\
.RE
.PP
Same as above, but running on a UNIX-like system where the corresponding
partition is /dev/sda2:
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply install.wim 1 /dev/sda2
.RE
.PP
Note that before running either of the above commands, an NTFS filesystem may
need to be created on the partition, for example with format.exe on Windows or
\fBmkntfs\fR(8) (part of NTFS-3g) on UNIX-like systems.  For example, you might
run:
.RS
.PP
mkntfs /dev/sda2 && wimapply install.wim 1 /dev/sda2
.RE
.PP
(Of course don't do that if you don't want to destroy all existing data on the
partition!)
.PP
An example of applying a pipable WIM from a pipe can be found in \fBPIPABLE
WIMS\fR, and an example of applying a split WIM can be found in \fBSPLIT
WIMS\fR.
.PP
And finally, just for fun, a silly way to recursively copy a directory tree
\fIsrc\fR to \fIdst\fR (but subject to the documented limitations, e.g.
platform and filesystem-dependent, of the capture and apply functionality of
\fB@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@\fR):
.RS
.PP
@IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ capture src - | @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ apply - dst
.RE
.PP
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@ (1)
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-capture (1)
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-extract (1)
.BR @IMAGEX_PROGNAME@-info (1)