-.TH IMAGEX 1 "September 2012" "imagex (wimlib @VERSION@)" "User Commands"
+.TH IMAGEX 1 "March 2013" "imagex (wimlib @VERSION@)" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
imagex \- Create, modify, extract, mount, or unmount a WIM (Windows Imaging Format) archive
.SH SYNOPSIS
.br
\fBimagex mountrw\fR \fIarguments...\fR
.br
+\fBimagex optimize\fR \fIarguments...\fR
+.br
\fBimagex split\fR \fIarguments...\fR
.br
\fBimagex unmount\fR \fIarguments...\fR
interfaces for manipulating WIM archives. You could wimlib in your own programs
if you wanted to. wimlib's public interface is documented.
-See \fBWARNING\fR.
-
.SH COMMANDS
There is a separate manual page for each \fBimagex\fR command.
.SH SUPPORTED FEATURES
-The following features are currently supported:
+The following general features are currently supported (note: this is not a
+complete list):
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Mount an image in a WIM read-only (\fBimagex mount\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Mount an image in a WIM read-write (\fBimagex mountrw\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Create a WIM from a directory or NTFS volume (\fBimagex capture\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Append a directory or NTFS volume onto a WIM as a new image (\fBimagex
+.IP \[bu] 3
+Create a stand-alone WIM from a directory or NTFS volume (\fBimagex capture\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Append a directory or NTFS volume onto a stand-alone WIM as a new image (\fBimagex
append\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Delete image(s) from a WIM (\fBimagex delete\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Export image(s) from a WIM (\fBimagex export\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
+.IP \[bu]
+Apply an image from a stand-alone or split WIM to a directory or NTFS volume
+(\fBimagex apply\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Mount an image from a stand-alone or split WIM read-only (\fBimagex mount\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Mount an image from a stand-alone WIM read-write (\fBimagex mountrw\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Delete image(s) from a stand-alone WIM (\fBimagex delete\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Export image(s) from a stand-alone or split WIM (\fBimagex export\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
Display information about a WIM file (\fBimagex info\fR, \fBimagex dir\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
+.IP \[bu]
Change the name or description of an image in the WIM (\fBimagex info\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
+.IP \[bu]
Change which image in a WIM is bootable (\fBimagex info\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Combine split WIMs into one WIM (\fBimage join\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Split a WIM into multiple parts (\fBimage split\fR)
-.IP \[bu] 2
+.IP \[bu]
+Combine split WIMs into one stand-alone WIM (\fBimage join\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
+Split a stand-alone WIM into multiple parts (\fBimage split\fR)
+.IP \[bu]
Support for all WIM compression types, both compression and decompression (LZX,
XPRESS, and none)
-.IP \[bu] 2
-Integrity table
-.IP \[bu] 2
-XML data (parsed and written using \fBlibxml\fR(3))
-
-.SH UNSUPPORTED FEATURES
-
-As of version 1.0.0, wimlib supports capturing and applying WIMs directly from
-NTFS and has much improved support for hard links and symbolic links. I don't
-think there are many other features that would be worth it to implement; the
-only significant thing missing (in my opinion) is that split WIMs need to be
-handled better (e.g. it should be possible to apply a split WIM using \fBimagex
-apply\fR). And if Microsoft updates the WIM format, I'd need to support it, but
-it looks like the format for Windows 8 is the same as that of Windows 7.
+.IP \[bu]
+WIM integrity table is supported (\fB--check\fR option to many commands)
+.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.
+as Microsoft's version. In addition, I have added additional useful features
+when appropriate.
-In particular, because Microsoft designed the WIM file format to accomodate
-Windows-specific and NTFS-specific features, we must have two separate image
-capture and application modes (although the \fBimagex\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.
-
-Some features, such as the ability to keep files hard-linked across WIM images
-when they are extracted from a WIM, are not available in Microsoft's version of
-imagex. Also, doesn't seem to be an equivalent of \fBimagex join\fR in
-Microsoft's version; you would have to use \fBimagex.exe /export\fR, but that
-doesn't let you export all images at once.
+.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 \fBimagex\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 \[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, although it won't actually run on Windows anyway.
-There are bugs in Microsoft's WIM library and I obviously have not included
-these bugs in my version; however it's to be expected that despite that fact, my
-version has more bugs because it's been less widely tested and used.
+.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
+compatibility purposes.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex\fR offers the extra command \fBimagex optimize\fR,
+which lets you easily remove wasted space in a WIM (which can arise after
+a WIM image is appended or mounted read-write).
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex\fR also offers the command \fBimagex join\fR, which lets you
+easily join the parts of a split WIM.
-Obviously, this version of imagex is free software but Microsoft's version is
-not.
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex apply\fR supports keeping files hard-linked or symlinked
+across WIM images when extracted from a WIM. So you can, for example, extract
+different versions of Windows from an install.wim without using much extra space.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex capture\fR supports combining multiple separate directories
+and files together in a configurable way to create a WIM image.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's XPRESS compressor is better than Microsoft's.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib supports multithreaded compression, which can make it much faster to
+create compressed WIM files.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex capture\fR supports a special mode where UNIX file modes,
+owners, and groups are stored.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex mount\fR and \fBimagex mountrw\fR are much faster than
+Microsoft's versions for some reason. I don't know what they have their program
+do that takes so long to simply set up a mountpoint.
+
+.IP \[bu]
+wimlib's \fBimagex mount\fR supports mounting an image from a split WIM, but
+Microsoft's software does not.
.SH WARNING
Note: \fBwimlib\fR and \fBimagex\fR are experimental. Use Microsoft's
-imagex.exe if you have to make sure your WIM files are made "correctly". Not
-all features listed under \fBSUPPORTED FEATURES\fR have been thoroughly tested.
-Feel free to submit a bug report if you find a bug.
+imagex.exe if you have to make sure your WIM files are made "correctly". Feel
+free to submit a bug report if you find a bug.
Some parts of the WIM file format are poorly documented or even completely
undocumented, so I've just had to do the best I can to read and write WIMs in a
.BR imagex-join (1),
.BR imagex-mount (1),
.BR imagex-mountrw (1),
+.BR imagex-optimize (1),
.BR imagex-split (1),
.BR imagex-unmount (1),
-
git://wimlib.net / wimlib / blobdiff