BCD-SYS

BASH script utility to setup the Boot Configuration Data store and system files for the Windows Boot Manager (WBM) from a Linux or macOS environment. This can be used to add boot files after applying a Windows image with the wimlib tools, configure the computer to boot from a virtual hard disk (VHDX) file, add a Windows installation to the current boot menu or recreate a system partition that has been corrupted or formatted. Similar to the bcdboot utility.

Example 1: Copy boot files then create BCD store for a physical Windows installation.

Example 2: Copy boot files then create BCD store for a Windows installation on a virtual hard disk.

Usage

Show help

bcd-sys --help

Create a new Windows entry

bcd-sys /media/user/mountpoint

Create a virtual hard disk entry

bcd-sys /media/user/mountpoint/images/windows.vhdx

Specify a system volume (no firmware entry)

bcd-sys /media/user/mountpoint -s /media/user/volname

Specify both UEFI and BIOS firmware

bcd-sys -f both /media/user/mountpoint

Add the WBM to the end of the UEFI boot order

bcd-sys -e /media/user/mountpoint

Specify a custom description

bcd-sys /media/user/mountpoint -n Windows\ 11\ Professional

Specify the locale parameter

bcd-sys -l en-us /media/user/mountpoint

Remove existing stores and create new entries

bcd-sys -c /media/user/mountpoint

Installation

Download from Releases or clone the repository.

git clone https://github.com/jpz4085/bcd-sys.git

Enter the folder for your platform and run for temporary usage.

cd $(uname)
./bcdsys.sh /media/user/mountpoint

Install or uninstall using the setup script if desired.

./setup.sh install | uninstall

Features

BCD-SYS has the following features and differences compared to bcdboot:

• Global objects and settings remain unchanged when modifiying an existing BCD.
• Any existing osloader objects for a Windows volume are replaced and not merged.
• The system BCD-Template is ignored and a Windows10/11 equivalent is used.
• The clean option will delete the existing configuration and create entries in new stores.
• The boot files will be copied by default to a system partition on the Windows device, the
  current root device, or the first disk listed by the system if different from the previous.
• When specifying a virtual hard disk the script will present a list of partitions contained
  in the file. Enter the device name of the volume which contains the Windows image.
• The position of the WBM entry in the UEFI boot order will be preserved when updating
  an existing BCD. A new entry will only be created if missing or creating new stores.
• The description can be specified when creating a new Windows entry.

Requirements

Common Packages: hivexsh and hivexregedit, (readpe - PE Utils¹) pev/peres

Linux Packages: attr/setfattr and fatattr, VHDX Support: qemu-utils and NBD client module.²

macOS Packages: bash (above version 3.2), mtools, bootoption³, signmbr⁴ and NTFS write support.⁵⁶

Legacy BIOS: ms-sys⁷

Footnotes

1. Download and build from source when necessary. ↩

2. These are optional if only working with physical disks. ↩

3. This is optional and only tested on Hackintosh and VirtualBox. ↩

4. Create a Windows Disk Signature on MBR media before running the script. ↩

5. The script supports NTFS-3G as well as the commercial Tuxera and Paragon products. ↩

6. This is optional if not writing to any NTFS partitions (including system) from macOS. ↩

7. This is optional and not required if only using UEFI. ↩