DISM Configuration List and WimScript.ini Files
The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool is a command-line tool that you can use to capture and apply Windows images. You can create a configuration list file to determine the following:
Which files and folders must be excluded from the capture process when you use the /Capture-Image option with the DISM tool.
Which folders, files, and file types must be excluded from the compression process when you use the /Compress argument.
The /ConfigFile argument enables you to customize specific compression, capture, and boundary alignment actions for each file and folder when you capture an image using DISM.exe. You can create a configuration list (.ini) file by using a text editor, such as Notepad.
Creating a Configuration List File
The following sections appear in the DISM configuration list file.
Section | Description |
---|---|
|
Enables you to define the files and folders to exclude when you use the /Capture-Image option. |
|
Enables you to override the default exclusion list when you use the /Capture-Image option. |
|
Enables you to define the specific files and folders, and also to specify file types, to exclude when you use the /Compress argument.
Note
You can use file or folder matching to exclude a file from compression. You can provide a full path match, or you can use wildcard characters (*). For example, you can use \WINDOWS\inf*.pnf to match a specific type of file, or \WINDOWS\inf* to match a whole folder. |
Default Exclusion List
By default, the DISM.exe tool will exclude the following files.
[ExclusionList]
\$ntfs.log
\hiberfil.sys
\pagefile.sys
\swapfile.sys
"\System Volume Information"
\RECYCLER
\Windows\CSC
[CompressionExclusionList]
*.mp3
*.zip
*.cab
\WINDOWS\inf\*.pnf
Exclusion List Guidelines
You can only use wildcard characters in the last component in a file path that does not begin with a backslash. For example:
myfolder\*.txt
You can use a preceding backslash to limit file-matching and directory-matching relative to the root directory. For example, you can use this exclusion list:
\myfolder \folder\subfolder
This list will exclude the following files and directories when you capture the "C:\" drive:
C:\myfolder C:\folder\subfolder
However, DISM will not exclude files or directories that are contained in the following example.
C:\main\myfolder C:\data\folder\subfolder
You can override the default exclusion list by using the
[ExclusionException]
section. For example:[ExclusionException] \pagefile.sys "\System Volume Information"
If an explicit
[ExclusionException]
section is provided in the WIM configuration file, it will always take precedence over the[Exclusion List]
section.You cannot override the default compression exclusion list by using the
[ExclusionException]
section.
Using the Configuration File
If you create a custom-named configuration file and store it outside the DISM directory, you can use the DISM command to run the file. At a command prompt, open the DISM directory. For example:
Dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:install.wim /CaptureDir:D:\ /Name:Drive-D /ConfigFile:<configuration list>
or
Dism /Append-Image /ImageFile:install.wim /CaptureDir:D:\ /Name:Drive-D /ConfigFile:<configuration list>
where <configuration list> provides the complete directory location for the configuration file. For example, c:\imaging\configuration_list.ini
. You must use either the /Capture-Image option to create a new .wim file or the /Append-Image option to append an existing .wim file.