NAME

       mkwinpeimg - Make a customized bootable image of Windows PE

SYNOPSIS

       mkwinpeimg [OPTIONS] IMAGE

DESCRIPTION

       mkwinpeimg  is  able  to  make  a  bootable  image  of  Windows PE by taking files from a mounted Windows
       installation ISO image (Vista or later) or the mounted ISO image for the Windows  Automated  Installation
       Kit  (WAIK)  or  the  WAIK  supplement.  The --windows-dir and --waik-dir options are used to specify the
       locations of these mounted ISOs.  You only need one  or  the  other.   The  files  that  mkwinpeimg  will
       retrieve are boot.wim, bootmgr, boot.sdi, and bcd.  If making an ISO image, the file etfsboot.com is also
       retrieved.  Microsoft owns the rights to these files and they are not distributed with wimlib.

       mkwinpeimg  can  make  two  types of bootable images.  The default is to make a bootable disk image.  The
       image is not partitioned and is formatted into a FAT filesystem.  syslinux(1) is required  to  make  this
       type of image, as it is used to chainload bootmgr. Also, mtools(1) is required so that the FAT filesystem
       can be created without root privileges.

       The  other type of bootable image that mkwinpeimg can make is a bootable ISO image.  To make this type of
       image, give the --iso option.  mkisofs(1) is required to make this type of image.  In --iso mode, you can
       specify IMAGE as "-" to write the ISO image to standard output.

       If you make a disk image, you could put it on a USB drive, and if you make an ISO image, you could put it
       on a CD.  In addition, both types of images can be loaded by the SYSLINUX or PXELINUX  bootloaders  using
       the MEMDISK module.

       Windows PE itself is contained in the boot.wim file.  mkwinpeimg can modify this file before embedding it
       in  a bootable image.  The most useful modification is to specify an executable or batch file for Windows
       PE to execute as soon as it starts up.  Use the --start-script FILE option to specify such a  file.   You
       may  also  add  arbitrary files to boot.wim by putting them in a directory, then specifying the --overlay
       DIR option.  However, for more extensive modifications, consider modifying the boot.wim  file  separately
       using wimmountrw(1) or wimupdate(1), then providing it to mkwinpeimg using the --wim option.

       mkwinpeimg  can  also  make  only  a  modified boot.wim, rather than a bootable ISO or disk image, if the
       --only-wim option is given.

OPTIONS

       -i, --iso
             Make an ISO image instead of a disk image.

       -o, --only-wim
             Make neither a disk image nor an ISO image; instead, only make a modified boot.wim file.

       -W, --windows-dir=DIR
             Use DIR as the location of the mounted Windows installation ISO image.   If  neither  --windows-dir
             nor  --waik-dir  is  specified,  then the script looks for the mounted ISO in the following default
             locations: /mnt/windows, /mnt/windows7, /mnt/windows8, and /mnt/windows10.

       -A, --waik-dir=DIR
             Get the boot files and boot.wim from the ISO of the Windows Automated Installation Kit  mounted  on
             DIR instead of from a Windows installation ISO.  This also works if the mounted ISO is for the WAIK
             supplement rather than the WAIK itself.

       -s, --start-script=FILE
             Add  FILE  to  the  root directory of Windows PE image and adjust \Windows\System32\winpeshl.ini to
             execute FILE when Windows PE starts up.

       -w, --wim=WIM
             Use WIM as the "boot.wim" file.  This defaults to the appropriate WIM file from  the  Windows  ISO,
             WAIK, or WAIK supplement.

       -O, --overlay=DIR
             Adds all the files in DIR to the Windows PE image.

       -t, --tmp-dir=DIR
             Use DIR for temporary files.  Defaults to a directory made using "mktemp -d".

       -a, --arch=ARCH
             Use  the  Windows  PE  version from the Windows Automated Installation Kit (or the WAIK supplement)
             that has the CPU architecture ARCH.   Only  valid  with  --waik-dir.   Possible  values:  "x86"  or
             "amd64".  Default is "x86".  Note: the WAIK also contains a Windows PE image for the ia64 (Itanium)
             architecture; however, this is not supported by this script.

       -h, --help
             Display help.

       -v, --version
             Show version information.

EXAMPLES

       Create  a  bootable disk image of Windows PE from the Windows (Vista or later) installation media mounted
       on /media/windows:

              mkwinpeimg --windows-dir=/media/windows winpe.img

       Create a bootable ISO of Windows PE from the WAIK (or WAIK supplement) mounted on  /media/waik,  and  add
       all the files in "winpe_overlay" to Windows PE's filesystem:

              mkwinpeimg --iso --waik-dir=/media/waik --overlay=winpe_overlay winpe.iso

       Create  a bootable image of Windows PE from the Windows installation media mounted on /media/windows, add
       and make it execute "install.cmd" when it starts up.  In this example the image is created  in  the  root
       directory of the TFTP server for network booting.

              mkwinpeimg --start-script=install.cmd --windows-dir=/media/windows /var/tftpboot/winpe.img

NOTES

       Microsoft's licenses may limit the things that Windows PE can be used for, and they may limit your rights
       to redistribute customized versions of Windows PE.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to https://wimlib.net/forums/.

SEE ALSO

       wimlib-imagex(1)

wimlib 1.14.4                                     February 2024                                    MKWINPEIMG(1)