1WIMEXPORT(1) User Commands WIMEXPORT(1)
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6 wimexport - Export image(s) from a WIM archive
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9 wimexport SRC_WIMFILE SRC_IMAGE DEST_WIMFILE
10 [DEST_IMAGE_NAME [DEST_IMAGE_DESC]] [OPTION...]
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13 wimexport, or equivalently wimlib-imagex export, exports the specified
14 image from SRC_WIMFILE into DEST_WIMFILE, optionally changing the im‐
15 age's name and/or description. If DEST_WIMFILE already exists, the im‐
16 age will be appended to it; otherwise, a new WIM archive will be cre‐
17 ated to contain the exported image.
18 SRC_IMAGE specifies the image in SRC_WIMFILE to export. It may be the
20 1-based index of an image, the name of an image, or the keyword "all"
21 to specify all images. You can use wiminfo(1) to list the images con‐
22 tained in SRC_WIMFILE.
23 If specified, DEST_IMAGE_NAME is the name to give the image being ex‐
25 ported. The default is its name in SRC_WIMFILE. If specified,
26 DEST_IMAGE_NAME must be either a name not already used in DEST_WIMFILE,
27 or the empty string to leave the image unnamed. DEST_IMAGE_NAME cannot
28 be specified if "all" images are being exported.
29 If specified, DEST_IMAGE_DESC is the description to give the image be‐
31 ing exported. The default is its description in SRC_WIMFILE.
32 wimexport supports exporting images from stand-alone WIMs as well as
34 from split WIMs and delta WIMs. See SPLIT WIMS.
35 wimexport also supports exporting images from a non-pipable WIM into a
37 pipable WIM or vice versa, or from a non-solid WIM into a solid WIM or
38 vice versa. It can also export a pipable WIM directly to standard out‐
39 put if DEST_WIMFILE is specified as "-"; see --pipable.
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42 --boot
43 Mark the exported image as the "bootable" image of the WIM; or,
44 if multiple images are being exported, make the image that was
45 the bootable image of the source WIM also the bootable image of
46 the destination WIM.
47 --check
49 Before exporting the image(s), verify the integrity of the source
50 WIM, destination WIM, and any referenced WIMs whenever they have
51 extra integrity information present. Also include extra integ‐
52 rity information in the destination WIM, even if it was not
53 present before.
54 --nocheck
56 Do not include extra integrity information in the destination
57 WIM, even if it was present before.
58 --include-integrity
60 Include extra integrity information in the destination WIM, i.e.
61 like --check but don't do any verification beforehand.
62 --compress=TYPE[:LEVEL]
64 Specify the compression type, and optionally the compression
65 level for that compression type, for DEST_WIMFILE. Note that if
66 DEST_WIMFILE already exists, then its compression type cannot be
67 changed by this option. See the documentation for this option to
68 wimcapture(1) for more details.
69 --chunk-size=SIZE
71 Set the WIM compression chunk size to SIZE. See the documenta‐
72 tion for this option to wimcapture(1) for more details.
73 --recompress
75 Force all exported data to be recompressed, even if the destina‐
76 tion WIM will use the same compression type as the source WIM.
77 --solid
79 Create a "solid" archive that compresses multiple files together.
80 This usually results in a significantly better compression ratio
81 but has disadvantages such as reduced compatibility. See the
82 documentation for this option to wimcapture(1) for more details.
83 --solid-compress=TYPE[:LEVEL]
85 Like --compress, but set the compression type used in solid re‐
86 sources. See the documentation for this option to wimcapture(1)
87 for more details.
88 --solid-chunk-size=SIZE
90 Like --chunk-size, but set the chunk size used in solid re‐
91 sources. See the documentation for this option to wimcapture(1)
92 for more details.
93 --threads=NUM_THREADS
95 Number of threads to use for compressing data. Default: autode‐
96 tect (number of processors).
97 --rebuild
99 If exporting to an existing WIM, rebuild it rather than appending
100 to it. Rebuilding is slower but will save some space that would
101 otherwise be left as a hole in the WIM. Also see wimoptimize(1).
102 --ref="GLOB"
104 File glob of additional WIMs or split WIM parts to reference re‐
105 sources from. See SPLIT_WIMS. This option can be specified mul‐
106 tiple times. Note: GLOB is listed in quotes because it is inter‐
107 preted by wimexport and may need to be quoted to protect against
108 shell expansion.
109 --pipable
111 Build or rebuild DEST_WIMFILE as a "pipable WIM" that can be ap‐
112 plied fully sequentially, including from a pipe. See wimcap‐
113 ture(1) for more details about creating pipable WIMs. The de‐
114 fault without this option is to make DEST_WIMFILE pipable only if
115 it was "-" (standard output) or was an existing pipable WIM.
116 --not-pipable
118 Rebuild DEST_WIMFILE as a normal, non-pipable WIM. This only
119 useful if you are exporting image(s) to a pipable WIM but you
120 want it rebuilt as non-pipable.
121 --wimboot
123 Mark the destination image as WIMBoot-compatible. Also, if ex‐
124 porting to a new archive, set the compression type to that recom‐
125 mended for WIMBoot (currently, XPRESS with 4096 byte chunks).
126 --unsafe-compact
128 Compact the existing destination WIM in-place and append any new
129 data, eliminating "holes". This is efficient, but in general
130 this option should not be used because a failed or interrupted
131 compaction will corrupt the WIM archive. For more information,
132 see the documentation for this option to wimoptimize(1).
133
135 You may use wimexport to export images from (but not to) a split WIM.
136 The SRC_WIMFILE argument must specify the first part of the split WIM,
137 while the additional parts of the split WIM must be specified in one or
138 more --ref="GLOB" options. Since globbing is built into the --ref op‐
139 tion, typically only one --ref option is necessary. For example, the
140 names for the split WIM parts usually go something like:
141 mywim.swm
143 mywim2.swm
144 mywim3.swm
145 mywim4.swm
146 mywim5.swm
147 To export the first image of this split WIM to a new or existing WIM file
149 "other.wim", run:
150 wimexport mywim.swm 1 other.wim --ref="mywim*.swm"
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154 Data consistency: Except when using --unsafe-compact, it is safe to
155 abort a wimexport command partway through. However, after doing this,
156 it is recommended to run wimoptimize on the destination WIM to remove
157 any data that was appended to the physical WIM file but not yet incor‐
158 porated into the structure of the WIM, unless the WIM was being rebuilt
159 (e.g. with --rebuild), in which case you should delete the temporary
160 file left over.
161 Data deduplication: The WIM format has built-in deduplication (also
163 called "single instancing") of file contents. Therefore, when an image
164 is exported, only the file contents not already present in the destina‐
165 tion WIM will be physically copied. However, a new copy of the image's
166 metadata resource, which describes the image's directory structure,
167 will always be created.
168 ESD files: wimexport supports solid-compressed WIMs, or "ESD" (.esd)
170 files, except for encrypted ESDs, which must be decrypted first. The
171 source and destination files of wimexport can be solid WIMs, non-solid
172 WIMs, or a combination thereof. If the destination file does not ex‐
173 ist, then by default it will be created as solid if the source was
174 solid, or as non-solid if the source was non-solid. To override this,
175 either specify --solid to create a solid WIM (.esd file), or specify
176 --compress=LZX to create a standard non-solid WIM (.wim file).
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179 Export the second image of 'boot.wim' to the new WIM file 'new.wim':
180 wimexport boot.wim 2 new.wim
182 The above example creates "new.wim" with the same compression type as
184 "boot.wim". If you wish to change the compression type, specify --com‐
185 press=TYPE; for example:
186 wimexport boot.wim 2 new.wim --compress=LZX
188 Export "ESD to WIM" --- that is, solid WIM to non-solid WIM:
190 wimexport install.esd all install.wim --compress=LZX
192 Export "WIM to ESD" --- that is, non-solid WIM to solid WIM:
194 wimexport install.wim all install.esd --solid
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198 wimlib-imagex(1) wiminfo(1) wimoptimize(1)
199wimlib 1.14.3 September 2023 WIMEXPORT(1)