UnixImage

Portable by standard. Break a leg!

A cross-platform disk image writer for Unix and Unix-like systems, with both GTK GUI and CLI modes.

UnixImage is a straightforward image writer built in C for people who want a native-feeling tool instead of a giant kitchen-sink app.

It is designed to write disk images to removable media with a GUI when GTK3 is available, while still supporting a CLI-only build for lean systems and minimal environments.

What it does

• Writes disk images to target devices
• Supports both GUI and CLI builds
• Detects many common disk image formats
• Handles several compressed image formats
• Includes optional verification after writing
• Includes sync-write support
• Exposes block size, partition, and bootable options in the GUI
• Ships with desktop integration assets and an install script

Project layout (just so ya know)

• uniximage.c - main source file
• install.sh - install helper that builds and installs the app
• uniximage.desktop - desktop entry
• uniximage.svg - scalable app icon
• uniximage.png - 256x256 icon
• uniximage-128.png - 128x128 icon
• uniximage-48.png - 48x48 icon
• LICENSE - GPLv3
• README.md - this file

Platform status (tested vs untested)

Tested

• Linux
• FreeBSD

Implemented in source

• Linux
• macOS
• FreeBSD
• DragonFly BSD

Experimental or not fully verified

• OpenBSD
• NetBSD
• Solaris / illumos
• AIX
• HP-UX
• Other Unix-like targets may compile or partially work, but are not guaranteed

Supported image formats

Disk images

• ISO
• IMG
• RAW
• DMG
• VHD
• VHDX
• VDI
• VMDK
• QCOW
• QCOW2
• WIM
• SWM

Compressed images

• XZ
• GZ
• BZ2
• ZSTD
• LZ4
• ZIP

Dependencies

GUI mode requires GTK3.

CLI mode only requires a C compiler, libc, and pthreads.

Building

GUI build

cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

CLI-only build

cc -o uniximage uniximage.c -DCLI_MODE -lpthread

Build examples

Debian / Ubuntu

apt install build-essential libgtk-3-dev pkg-config
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

Fedora / RHEL

dnf install gcc gtk3-devel pkgconf-pkg-config
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

Arch Linux

pacman -S base-devel gtk3 pkgconf
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

FreeBSD

pkg install gtk3 pkgconf
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

OpenBSD

pkg_add gtk+3 pkgconf
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

NetBSD

pkgin install gtk3 pkgconf
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

macOS

brew install gtk+3 pkg-config
cc -o uniximage uniximage.c $(pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0) -lpthread

Install

The repository includes an install script that builds the CLI version, attempts the GTK GUI build, and installs the binary, desktop file, and icons under /usr/local by default.

sudo ./install.sh

To install somewhere else:

sudo INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr ./install.sh

Usage

GUI

sudo ./uniximage

CLI

sudo ./uniximage -i image.iso -d /dev/sdX
sudo ./uniximage -i image.iso -d /dev/sdX -V -y
sudo ./uniximage --list

Notes

• Root privileges are generally required for writing directly to block devices
• GTK3 is optional, not mandatory
• Linux and FreeBSD are the currently tested targets
• Other targets should be treated as experimental until verified

License

GPLv3

Prologue

I understand, and im fully aware im highly completionist. I aim for posix standard philosophy for Unix!