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WIM - Apply the delta

dism imagex wim delta

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#1 grrrd

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Posted 29 May 2018 - 09:58 AM

Hi Rebooters;

 

So I have been challenged to deliver a concept of applying a delta of an image over a pre-imaged machine, to ensure that the first boot of a machine is always on the latest version of an image. The question is, is it possible ?

 

So the process would be;

 

1: Pre-imaged machine is installed with a base image 

2: Machine then boots to a Ram Disk (PXE/grub to winpe)

3: PE image then applys a Delta of the base image to recently installed machine

4: PE sorts boot drive and restarts machine into latest image available.

 

 

Reasons;

 

1: Software on installed machines is always latest version on first boot

2: Applying delta would be considerably quicker than re-imaging the full drive

3: Delta file size would be considerably smaller than distributing full base image each time

 

 

Tools;

 

1: Current base image is built via Dism/Imagex - can use WimLib to create Wim Delta

2: Winpe and Grub to apply delta

 

So - do you guys think this is a possible solution? I am going to start full tests today to see if it works at all.

Secondly is there any better methods of performing a delta upgrade on base images on install? (Time is always very limited on install)

 

Thank you!

 

 

 



#2 grrrd

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Posted 30 May 2018 - 09:19 AM

So first few attempts seem to not be the greatest success.

 

Apply a delta has to reference the original base wim (defeats the purpose for me here) but also takes equally as long to apply the delta as it does to apply the full wim - my challenge is SPEED!

 

So next investigation will be to see if i can create a diff of a complete folder structure of 2  WIMs and create a archive to apply to a disk after the wim has been applied.



#3 grrrd

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Posted 06 June 2018 - 02:08 PM

So first few attempts seem to not be the greatest success.

 

Apply a delta has to reference the original base wim (defeats the purpose for me here) but also takes equally as long to apply the delta as it does to apply the full wim - my challenge is SPEED!

 

So next investigation will be to see if i can create a diff of a complete folder structure of 2  WIMs and create a archive to apply to a disk after the wim has been applied.

nope :(


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#4 alacran

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Posted 07 June 2018 - 08:42 PM

Any delta needs the source image + the delta image, so for backup pourposes there is no gain.

 

Best solution I use is a clean install of the OS and programs the way I like, then using wimlib-clc (wimlib-imagex GUI) I make an image of boot and Windows partition (each Windows partition if multiboot) and keep it on another partition of HD for easy recovery plus a backup copy of it on an external USB drive, if space is a concern you can use solid compression (same as *.esd compression), when using solid compression this is a time consuming process, a little faster than using Windows Dism.exe and also no other tool gives you a better compression.

Latter when it is time to make an updated image backup just append it with a new image name to your initial *.wim/*.esd file, (this is faster as wimlib only writes what has changed since previous image).

This procedure works fine on Bios-MBR and also UEFI-GPT, you only need to boot your PC from a second OS or a suitable WinPE.

Of course you can append as many new images as you want, or delete any previous if you want, (I usually keep only the first and the last).


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