WIMOPTIMIZE(1)                   User Commands                  WIMOPTIMIZE(1)

NAME
       wimoptimize - Optimize a WIM archive

SYNOPSIS
       wimoptimize WIMFILE [OPTION...]

DESCRIPTION
       wimoptimize, or equivalently wimlib-imagex optimize, rebuilds the
       standalone WIM archive WIMFILE.  The new WIM is written to a temporary
       file, and it is renamed to the original file when it's ready.  This
       will remove any holes that have been left in the WIM as a result of
       appending or deleting files or images, so the new WIM may be smaller
       than the old WIM.

       By default, wimoptimize will reuse (not recompress) compressed data and
       will not change the solid or pipable status of the WIM.  However, it
       can also perform recompression and/or convert between solid, non-solid,
       pipable, and non-pipable WIMs; see the options and examples below.

OPTIONS
       --check
             Before optimizing the WIM, verify its integrity if it contains
             extra integrity information.  Also include extra integrity
             information in the optimized WIM, even if it was not present
             before.

       --nocheck
             Do not include extra integrity information in the optimized WIM,
             even if it was present before.

       --include-integrity
             Include extra integrity information in the optimized WIM, i.e.
             like --check but don't also verify the WIM beforehand.

       --recompress
             Recompress all data in the WIM while optimizing it.  This will
             significantly increase the time needed to optimize the WIM, but
             it may result in a better compression ratio if wimlib can do a
             better job than the program that created the WIM --- which is
             likely the case if the WIM was Microsoft-created, as wimlib's
             compressors are slightly stronger.

       --compress=TYPE[:LEVEL]
             Recompress the WIM using the specified compression type, and
             optionally the specified compression level for that compression
             type.  This implies --recompress.  See the documentation for this
             option to wimcapture(1) for more details.

       --chunk-size=SIZE
             Set the WIM compression chunk size to SIZE.  See the
             documentation for this option to wimcapture(1) for more details.

       --solid
             Create a "solid" archive that compresses multiple files together.
             This usually results in a significantly better compression ratio
             but has disadvantages such as reduced compatibility.  See the
             documentation for this option to wimcapture(1) for more details.

       --solid-compress=TYPE[:LEVEL]
             Like --compress, but set the compression type used in solid
             resources.  See the documentation for this option to
             wimcapture(1) for more details.

       --solid-chunk-size=SIZE
             Like --chunk-size, but set the chunk size used in solid
             resources.  See the documentation for this option to
             wimcapture(1) for more details.

       --threads=NUM_THREADS
             Number of threads to use for compressing data.  Default:
             autodetect (number of processors).

       --pipable
             Rebuild the WIM so that it can be applied fully sequentially,
             including from a pipe.  See wimcapture(1) for more details about
             creating pipable WIMs.  By default, when neither --pipable or
             --not-pipable is specified, the optimized WIM will be pipable if
             and only if it was pipable before.

       --not-pipable
             Rebuild the WIM in the non-pipable format.

       --unsafe-compact
             Compact the WIM in-place, without using a temporary file.
             Existing resources are shifted down to fill holes and new
             resources are appended as needed.  The WIM is truncated to its
             final size, which may shrink the on-disk file.  This is more
             efficient than a full rebuild, but it is only supported when no
             recompression is being done.  More importantly, AN UNSAFE
             COMPACTION OPERATION CANNOT BE SAFELY INTERRUPTED!  If the
             operation is interrupted, then the WIM will be corrupted, and it
             may be impossible (or at least very difficult) to recover any
             data from it.  Users of this option are expected to know what
             they are doing and assume responsibility for any data corruption
             that may result.

NOTES
       wimoptimize does not support split WIMs or delta WIMs.  For such files,
       consider using wimexport(1) instead.  Note that wimoptimize is roughly
       equivalent to:

              wimexport WIMFILE all tmp.wim && mv tmp.wim WIMFILE

EXAMPLES
       Rebuild 'install.wim':

              wimoptimize install.wim

       Rebuild and recompress 'install.wim':

              wimoptimize install.wim --recompress

       Rebuild and recompress 'install.wim' using LZX ("maximum") compression
       at a higher-than-default compression level.  The compression chunk size
       remains unchanged.  This command will be slow, but it might be useful
       for optimizing files for distribution.  See
       https://wimlib.net/compression.html for some benchmark results.

              wimoptimize install.wim --compress=LZX:100

       Recompress 'install.wim' using solid-mode compression, then rename it
       to 'install.esd'.  This will decrease the archive size significantly.
       (Also consider using 'wimexport install.wim all install.esd --solid'.):

              wimoptimize install.wim --solid
              mv install.wim install.esd

       Turn 'install.esd' back into 'install.wim':

              wimoptimize install.esd --compress=LZX
              mv install.esd install.wim

SEE ALSO
       wimlib-imagex(1) wimexport(1) wimverify(1)

wimlib 1.14.4                    February 2024                  WIMOPTIMIZE(1)