[VISTA] Article: Ximage and WIM Image Format

  Ximage and WIM Image Format  File-based disk imaging is a core capability of 
Windows Vista  Originally posted at: 
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/expert/ximage.mspx
  By Jerry Honeycutt
    I'm a BDD (business desktop deployment) kind of guy, so Microsoft doesn't 
often give me cool new presents to unwrap. The company has certainly provided 
me with the tools necessary to do my job, but I haven't had that 
rip-open-a-wrapped-box feeling in a while. Windows Vista promises to give me 
that buzz, though. Windows Vista deployment is based on disk imaging, and the 
operating system will come with a built-in disk-imaging tool: XImage.
    
  On This Page          File-based Image Format      XImage Features      
Windows Vista Installation      Conclusion  File-based Image Format  Before I 
tell you about XImage, I should describe the image format it uses: the 
Microsoft Windows Imaging Format (WIM) image format. Instead of the 
sector-based image formats, which are rather common these days, the WIM image 
format is file-based. Using a file-based image format, WIM provides several 
benefits over other formats:
        ?    This WIM image format is hardware-agnostic, meaning that you need 
only one image to address many different hardware configurations.
    ?    The WIM image format also lets you store multiple images within one 
actual file. For example, Microsoft can ship multiple SKUs in one WIM image 
file. You store images with and without core applications in a single image 
file. Also, you can mark one of the images as bootable, allowing you to start a 
computer from a disk image contained in a WIM file.
    ?    The WIM image format enables compression and single instancing, thus 
reducing the size of image files significantly. Single instancing is a 
technique that allows you to store two or more copies of a file for the space 
cost of one copy. For example, if images 1, 2, and 3 all contain file A, 
single-instancing stores a single copy of the file A and points images 1, 2, 
and 3 to that copy.
    ?    The WIM image format allows you to service an image offline. You can 
add or delete certain operating system components, patches, and drivers without 
creating a new image. Rather than spending a few hours updating an image, which 
you do now with Microsoft Windows XP, for example, you can update an image in 
minutes. For example, to add a patch to a Windows XP image, you must boot the 
master image, add the patch, and then prepare the image again. With Windows 
Vista, you can simply service the image offline.
    ?    The WIM image format lets you install a disk image on partitions of 
any size, unlike sector-based image formats that require you to deploy a disk 
image to a partition that's the same size or larger than the source disk.
    ?    Windows Vista provides an API for the WIM image format called WIMGAPI 
that developers can use to work with WIM image files.
    ?    The WIM image format allows for non-destructive deployment. This means 
that you can leave data on the volume to which you apply the image because the 
application of the image does not erase the disk's existing contents.
  Top of page
  XImage Features  XImage itself is a rather straightforward program, which is 
one of the reasons I like it so much. It's a simple, command-line drive utility 
that you run from the command prompt or from Microsoft Windows Preinstallation 
Environment (Windows PE). In other words, you interact with XImage the same way 
you interact with Xcopy. I hope the fact that it's a command-line utility 
doesn't discourage you. I prefer that my disk-imaging tools have command-line 
interfaces because they make it incredibly simple to script a tool's use. And 
the batch-scripting features in Windows Vista are so capable that there isn't 
much I can't script XImage to do.
  XImage's core features let you capture a volume to a WIM file and apply a WIM 
file to a volume. For example, the command to capture an image is nothing more 
than ximage /capture C: image.wim "Name". The command to apply an image to a 
volume is simply ximage /apply image.wim 1, where 1 tells XImage to apply the 
image from the file image.wim that has the index number 1.
  Of course, XImage includes numerous commands for maintaining images and using 
them in creative ways. Table 1 provides an overview of these commands.
        Table 1. Overview of XImage Command-Line Options              /append
    Appends a volume image into an existing WIM file
      /apply
    Applies a volume image to the specified drive
      /capture
    Captures a volume image into a new WIM file
      /commit
    Commits the changes made to a mounted WIM
      /compress
    Sets compression type to none, fast, or maximum
      /config
    Uses the specified file to set advanced options
      /delete
    Deletes an image from a WIM file with multiple images
      /dir
    Displays a list of files and folders within a volume image
      /export
    Transfers an image from one WIM file to another WIM file
      /info
    Returns the store's XML descriptions for the specified WIM
      /ref
    Sets WIM references for an apply operation
      /scroll
    Scrolls output for redirection
      /split
    Splits an existing WIM file into multiple read-only WIM parts
      /verify
    Verifies duplicate and extracted files
      /mount
    Mounts an image, with read-only access, to the specified directory
      /mountrw
    Mounts an image, with read-write access, to the specified directory
      /unmount
    Unmounts the image mounted to the specified directory
      /?
    Returns valid command-line parameters for XImage
  
  One capability deserves a bit more discussion, just because I think it's very 
cool-the capability to mount an image to a directory. You can mount an image, 
modify the image just like you would any file or folder on the file system, and 
then unmount the image. For example, you can mount an operating-system image, 
add device drivers, and then unmount it. This certainly beats rebuilding the 
disk image from scratch.
  Top of page
  Windows Vista Installation  Now that you know a bit about XImage and the WIM 
image format, I bet you're wondering what the disk-image deployment process 
looks like. Installing Windows Vista, whether doing an in-place upgrade or a 
complete wipe-and-load, is a new, completely image-based process. In fact, 
Windows Vista ships exclusively in the WIM image format.
  In fact, the in-place upgrade process works better than it did in Windows XP. 
The reason is that upgrading to Windows Vista is really a clean installation 
with the migration of user settings, documents, and applications from an older 
version of Windows. The in-place upgrade process is better named 
wipe-and-reload.
  The following steps describe how you use these tools to deploy a Windows 
Vista disk image:
          1.
    You can enhance a Windows Vista image by using the desktop-engineering 
tools that Microsoft provides for selection of device drivers and optional 
components such as languages.
      2.
    You install the image on a test computer, add applications (e.g., Microsoft 
Office or a Line of Business Application), and then save the image to the 
network.
      3.
    You deploy the image to the user by using tools that Microsoft provides. 
You can completely automate the installation by using the new scripting and 
answer file capabilities that Windows Vista provides. If you are upgrading a 
computer from an earlier version of Windows to Windows Vista, then the setup 
program will migrate users' documents, settings, and applications without 
prompting the user for input.
  Top of page
  Conclusion  XImage and the new WIM image format is a significant enhancement 
for Windows Vista. These technologies offer you a faster and more 
cost-effective way to deploy the new operating system.
  You have far fewer disk images to maintain, and maintaining those images are 
much easier and require less time. And due to the new image-based setup 
process, desktop deployment takes less than an hour to not only install the 
computer but also migrate users' state data.
  Note Features discussed on this site are subject to change. Some may not be 
included in the final product due to marketing, technical, or other reasons.
    
---------------------------------
    For More Information  Contact ME
Jerry Honeycutt is a writer, speaker, and technologist. He has written more 
than 25 books, including Microsoft Windows Desktop Deployment Resource Kit 
(Microsoft Press, 2004). Jerry's consulting practice is in the Dallas area, but 
he travels frequently. For more information about Jerry, see his complete bio 
at http://www.honeycutt.com, or contact him at jerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx




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