platforms as well, with some limitations. A WIM archive contains one or more
images, each of which is a logically independent directory tree. Images are
indexed starting from 1, and each may also have a name. File data is stored as
-content-addressable "streams" that are deduplicated across the entire archive.
-Streams may be compressed using one of several compression algorithms, including
-XPRESS and LZX.
+content-addressable "blobs" that are deduplicated across the entire archive.
+Data may be compressed using one of several compression algorithms.
.PP
An update of the WIM format released with Windows 8 features solid compression
using the LZMS compression algorithm. Such files are also called "ESD files"
directly from a block device containing an NTFS volume, or applying a WIM image
directly to a block device containing an NTFS volume. This allows saving and
restoring NTFS-specific data, such as security descriptors and named data
-streams, which is otherwise only supported on Windows. This feature is
-unavailable if wimlib was configured using --without-ntfs-3g.
+streams, which would otherwise only be supported on Windows.
.IP \[bu]
-Long path support on Windows. \fBwimlib-imagex\fR can capture and apply
-files with paths exceeding the MAX_PATH (260 character) limitation of the Win32
+Long path support on Windows. \fBwimlib-imagex\fR can capture and apply files
+with paths exceeding the MAX_PATH (260 character) limitation of the Win32
subsystem.
.IP \[bu]
-Non-Administrator support on Windows. You can run \fBwimlib-imagex\fR
-without Administrator rights, subject to some limitations.
+Non-Administrator support on Windows. You can run \fBwimlib-imagex\fR without
+Administrator rights, subject to some limitations.
.IP \[bu]
Support for WIM integrity tables. An integrity table is a list of SHA-1 message
digests appended to the end of a WIM file which gives checksums over the WIM
-file itself. The \fB--check\fR option to several \fBwimlib-imagex\fR
-commands can be used to verify or add integrity tables.
-.IP \[bu]
-Support for "pipable" WIMs. This is a wimlib extension and is not compatible
-with the Microsoft implementation. A pipable WIM, created with
-\fBwimlib-imagex capture\fR with the \fB--pipable\fR option, can be written
-to standard output or read from standard input. This can be used to pipe images
-to or from a server over the network to implement fast filesystem imaging and
-restore.
+file itself. The \fB--check\fR option to several \fBwimlib-imagex\fR commands
+can be used to verify or add integrity tables.
.IP \[bu]
On UNIX-like systems, support for saving and restoring UNIX uids (user IDs),
gids (group IDs), and modes to/from WIM images. This is a wimlib extension, but
the Microsoft implementation ignores this extra metadata.
.IP \[bu]
Multithreaded compression. By default, data compression is multithreaded and
-will use all available processors. In most cases, this can be changed by the
-\fB--threads\fR option.
+will use all available processors.
.IP \[bu]
XPRESS, LZX, and LZMS decompression and compression. wimlib contains
independent implementations of all these compression algorithms. Sometimes they
support was first present in wimlib v1.6.0, but v1.7.0 and later have improved
compatibility.
.IP \[bu]
-Mounting WIM images. This relies on FUSE (Filesystem in UserSpacE) and is only
-supported on compatible UNIX-like systems, in particular Linux. FreeBSD may
-work but is untested.
+On Linux, support for mounting WIM images with FUSE (Filesystem in UserSpacE).
+.IP \[bu]
+"Pipable" WIMs. This is a wimlib extension and is not compatible with the
+Microsoft implementation. A pipable WIM, created with \fBwimcapture\fR with the
+\fB--pipable\fR option, can be written to standard output or read from standard
+input. This can be used to pipe images to or from a server over the network to
+implement fast filesystem imaging and restore.
.IP \[bu]
Split WIMs. A split WIM is a WIM archive split into multiple parts.
-\fBwimlib-imagex split\fR can create a split WIM from a standalone WIM, and
-\fBwimlib-imagex join\fR can create a standalone WIM from a split WIM.
+\fBwimsplit\fR can create a split WIM from a standalone WIM, and \fBwimjoin\fR
+can create a standalone WIM from a split WIM.
.IP \[bu]
Delta WIMs. A delta WIM contains image metadata but excludes file data already
-present in another WIM file. A delta WIM can be created using
-\fBwimlib-imagex capture\fR with the \fB--delta-from\fR option.
-.IP \[bu]
-WIMBoot support. On Windows 8.1 and later, files on an NTFS volume can be
-externally backed by a WIM archive with the help of Microsoft's Windows Overlay
-FileSystem Filter Driver (WOF). With the \fB--wimboot\fR flag,
-\fBwimlib-imagex apply\fR will extract "pointer files" (actually NTFS
-reparse points handled by the WOF driver) to the WIM archive rather than the
-files themselves.
+present in another WIM file. A delta WIM can be created using \fBwimcapture\fR
+with the \fB--delta-from\fR option.
.IP \[bu]
Fast incremental backups. Using the \fB--update-of\fR option of
-\fBwimlib-imagex capture\fR or \fBwimlib-imagex append\fR, you can
-optimize an image capture so that files that are unmodified based on timestamps
-are not be read from disk. But even without this option, since the WIM format
-features single-instance files, a file identical to any already present in the
-WIM archive (in any image) will not be written, but rather a reference to the
-stored file will be used.
+\fBwimcapture\fR or \fBwimappend\fR, you can optimize an image capture so that
+files that are unmodified based on timestamps are not be read from disk. But
+even without this option, since the WIM format features single-instance files, a
+file identical to any already present in the WIM archive (in any image) will not
+be written, but rather a reference to the stored file will be used.
+.IP \[bu]
+Windows-specific image metadata support. When capturing an image of a Windows
+operating system, wimlib will automatically populate XML metadata fields such as
+the Windows OS version details by scanning well-known system files.
+.IP \[bu]
+WIMBoot support. On Windows 8.1 and later, files can be "externally backed" by
+a WIM archive with the help of Microsoft's Windows Overlay Filesystem filter
+driver (WOF). With the \fB--wimboot\fR option, \fBwimapply\fR will extract
+"pointer files" to the WIM archive rather than the files themselves.
+.IP \[bu]
+VSS snapshot support. On Windows, \fBwimcapture\fR or \fBwimappend\fR with the
+\fB--snapshot\fR option will automatically create a temporary VSS snapshot and
+capture the image from it. This can be used to image a "live" Windows system.
.SH LOCALES AND CHARACTER ENCODINGS
WIM files themselves store file and stream names using Windows native "wide
character strings", which are UTF-16. On Windows, wimlib works using these same
git://wimlib.net / wimlib / commitdiff