ewfacquire

NAME
ewfacquire - acquires data in the EWF format

SYNOPSIS
ewfacquire [-A codepage] [-b number_of_sectors] [-B number_of_bytes] [-c compression_values] [-C case_number] [-d digest_type] [-D description] [-e examiner_name] [-E evidence_number] [-f format] [-g number_of_sectors] [-l log_filename] [-m media_type] [-M media_flags] [-N notes] [-o offset] [-p process_buffer_size] [-P bytes_per_sector] [-r read_error_retries] [-S segment_file_size] [-t target] [-T toc_file] [-2 secondary_target] [-hqRsuvVwx] source

DESCRIPTION
ewfacquire is a utility to acquire media data from a source and store it in EWF format (Expert Witness Compression Format). ewfacquire acquires media data in a format equivalent to EnCase and FTK imager, including meta data. Under Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, MacOS-X/Darwin ewfacquire supports reading directly from device files. On other platforms ewfacquire can convert a raw (dd) image into the EWF format.

ewfacquire is part of the libewf package. libewf is a library to access the Expert Witness Compression Format (EWF).

source the source file(s) or device

The options are as follows:

-A codepage
    the codepage of header section, options: ascii (default), windows-874, windows-932, windows-936, windows-949, windows-950, windows-1250, windows-1251, windows-1252, windows-1253, windows-1254, windows-1255, windows-1256, windows-1257 or windows-1258

-b number_of_sectors
    the number of sectors to read at once (per chunk), options: 16, 32, 64 (default), 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384 or 32768

-B number_of_bytes
    the number of bytes to acquire

-c compression_values
    specify the compression values as: level or method:level compression method options: deflate (default), bzip2 (bzip2 is only supported by EWF2 formats) compression level options: none (default), empty-block, fast or best

-C case_number
    the case number (default is case_number)

-d digest_type
    calculate additional digest (hash) types besides md5, options: sha1, sha256

-D description
    the description (default is description)

-e examiner_name
    the examiner name (default is examiner_name)

-E evidence_number
    the evidence number (default is evidence_number)

-f format
    the EWF file format to write to, options: ewf, smart, ftk, encase1, encase2, encase3, encase4, encase5, encase6 (default), encase7, linen5, linen6, linen7, ewfx.

-g number_of_sectors
    the number of sectors to be used as error granularity

-h  shows this help

-l log_filename
    logs acquiry errors and the digest (hash) to the log filename

-m media_type
    the media type, options: fixed (default), removable, optical, memory

-M media_flags
    the media flags, options: logical, physical (default)

-N notes
    the notes (default is notes)

-o offset
    the offset to start to acquire (default is 0)

-p process_buffer_size
    the process buffer size (default is the chunk size)

-P bytes_per_sector
    the number of bytes per sector (default is 512) (use this to override the automatic bytes per sector detection)

-q  quiet shows minimal status information

-r read_error_retries
    the number of retries when a read error occurs (default is 2)

-R  resume acquiry at a safe point

-s  swap byte pairs of the media data (from AB to BA) (use this for big to little endian conversion and vice versa)

-S segment_file_size
    the segment file size in bytes (default is 1.4 GiB) (minimum is 1.0 MiB, maximum is 7.9 EiB for encase6 and encase7 format and 1.9 GiB for other formats)

-t target
    the target file (without extension) to write to (default is image)

-T toc_file
    specify the file containing the table of contents (TOC) of an optical disc. The TOC file must be in the CUE format.

-u  unattended mode (disables user interaction)

-v  verbose output to stderr

-V  print version

-w  zero sectors on read error (mimic EnCase like behavior)

-x  in single-threaded mode use the chunk data instead of the buffered read and write functions.

-2 secondary_target
    the secondary target file (without extension) to write to

ewfacquire will read from a file or device until it encounters a read error. On read error it will retry the number of retries specified. If ewfacquire still is unable to read and, if specified, it will zero (wipe) the the remainder of the number of sectors specified as error granularity. If ewfacquire should mimic EnCase it will zero all of sectors specified as error granularity.

Empty block compression detects blocks of sectors with entirely the same byte data and compresses them using the default compression level.

The encase6 and encase7 format allows for segment files greater than 2 GiB (2147483648 bytes).

ENVIRONMENT
None

FILES
None

EXAMPLES
ewfacquire can either image devices, (split) RAW image file(s) or optical disc (split) RAW image files. ewfacquire will try to detect device information, but results may vary per platform. In attended mode (default) ewfacquire will ask for the information it requires.

  To image a floppy:

    # ewfacquire /dev/fd0
    ewfacquire 20120805
    Device information:
    Bus type:
    Vendor:					Y-E DATA
    Model:					USB-FDU
    Serial:
    Storage media information:
    Type:					Device
    Media size:				1.4 MB (1474560 bytes)
    Bytes per sector:			512
    Information about acquiry required, please provide the necessary input
    Image path and filename without extension: floppy
    Case number: 1
    Description: Floppy
    Evidence number: 1.1
    Examiner name: John D.
    Notes: Just a floppy in my system
    Media type (fixed, removable, optical, memory) [fixed]: removable
    Media characteristics (logical, physical) [logical]:
    Use EWF file format (smart, ftk, encase1, encase2, encase3, encase4, encase5, encase6, encase7, linen5, linen6, linen7, ewfx) [encase6]: encase5
    Compression method (deflate) [deflate]:
    Compression level (none, empty-block, fast, best) [none]:
    Start to acquire at offset (0 <= value <= 1474560) [0]:
    The number of bytes to acquire (0 <= value <= 1474560) [1474560]:
    Evidence segment file size in bytes (1.0 MiB <= value <= 1.9 GiB) [1.4 GiB]:
    The number of bytes per sector (1 <= value <= 4294967295) [512]:
    The number of sectors to read at once (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768) [64]:
    The number of sectors to be used as error granularity (1 <= value <= 64) [64]:
    The number of retries when a read error occurs (0 <= value <= 255) [2]:
    Zero sectors on read error (mimic EnCase like behavior) (yes, no) [no]:
    The following information was provided:
    Image path and filename:		floppy.E01
    Case number:				1
    Description:				Floppy
    Evidence number:			1.1
    Examiner name:				John D.
    Notes:					Just a floppy in my system
    Media type:				removable
    Is physical:				no
    EWF file format:			Encase 5 (.E01)
    Compression method:			deflate
    Compression level:			none
    Acquiry start offset:			0
    Number of bytes to acquire:		1.4 MiB (1474560 bytes)
    Evidence segment file size:		1.4 GiB (1572864000 bytes)
    Bytes per sector:			512
    Block size:				64 sectors
    Error granularity:			64 sectors
    Retries on read error:			2
    Zero sectors on read error:		no
    Continue acquiry with these values (yes, no) [yes]:
    Acquiry started at: Sun Aug  5 11:32:41 2012
    This could take a while.
    Status: at 2%.
            acquired 32 kB (32768 bytes) of total 1.4 MiB (1474560 bytes).
        ...
    Status: at 100%.
            acquired 1.4 MiB (1474560 bytes) of total 1.4 MiB (1474560 bytes).
            completion in 1 second(s) with 1 MiB/s (1474560 bytes/second).
    Acquiry completed at: Sun Aug  5 11:32:42 2012
    Written: 1.4 MiB (1474560 bytes) in 1 second(s) with 1 MiB/s (1474560 bytes/second).
    MD5 hash calculated over data:		ae1ce8f5ac079d3ee93f97fe3792bda3

  To convert a split RAW image into an EWF image:

    # ewfacquire usb256.raw.0??
    ewfacquire 20120805
    Storage media information:
    Type:					RAW image
    Media size:				262 MB (262144000 bytes)
    Bytes per sector:			512
        ...

  To convert an optical disc RAW image with a table of contents file into an EWF image:

    # ewfacquire -T cdrom.cue cdrom.iso
    ewfacquire 20120805
    Storage media information:
    Type:					Optical disc RAW image
    Media size:				42 MB (42885120 bytes)
    Bytes per sector:			2048
    Sessions:
    	total number: 2
    	at sector(s): 0 - 20619 number: 20620
    	at sector(s): 20620 - 20939 number: 320
        ...

DIAGNOSTICS
Errors, verbose and debug output are printed to stderr when verbose output -v is enabled. Verbose and debug output are only printed when enabled at compilation.

BUGS
Please report bugs of any kind to <joachim.metz@gmail.com> or on the project website: https://github.com/libyal/libewf/

AUTHOR

These man pages were written by Kees Mastwijk.

Alterations for distribution have been made by Joachim Metz.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2006-2015, Joachim Metz <joachim.metz@gmail.com>.

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
ewfacquirestream(1), ewfexport(1), ewfinfo(1), ewfmount(1), ewfrecover(1), ewfverify(1)