7-Zip

7-Zip is an open-source archive utility used by OSDeploy in two roles: it is installed on the Windows 11 build machine via winget, and a standalone executable (7zr.exe) is injected directly into WinPE so that it is available at deployment time.

7-Zip is optional for standalone Build-OSDeployBoot workflows but is injected into WinPE automatically when running Invoke-OSDeployMDT at the WIM stage.

Property	Value
Publisher	Igor Pavlov (open source — 7-zip.org)
Version	26.00
winget ID	7zip.7zip
Architecture	amd64
Platform	Windows 11 (build machine) / WinPE (injected)
Required by	Install-OSDeploySoftware, Invoke-OSDeployMDT
Status	Current

Releases · ip7z/7zipGitHub

Overview

OSDeploy uses 7-Zip in two distinct contexts:

Build machine installation — Installed on the Windows 11 build host via winget install 7zip.7zip. This provides the full 7-Zip suite for extracting driver packs and other archives used in build workflows.

WinPE injection — The standalone 7zr.exe (version 26.00) from the 7-Zip extras archive is copied into WinPE's System32 directory during Invoke-OSDeployMDT (at the WIM stage). This makes 7zr.exe available at the command line in WinPE without a full installation.

Why OSDeploy Uses 7-Zip

• Provides archive extraction capability in WinPE where no default decompression utility exists for formats beyond ZIP

• Enables extraction of vendor driver packs (.7z, .cab) during deployment workflows

• Injected as a single-file standalone executable — no installation required in WinPE

Install on the Build Machine

Install-OSDeploySoftware -Name '7zip' -Force

Run Install-OSDeploySoftware without parameters to preview the install command before running it.

Manual install via winget:

winget install --id 7zip.7zip -e -h --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

WinPE Injection

When Invoke-OSDeployMDT runs at the WIM stage, it automatically downloads the 7-Zip extras archive and copies 7zr.exe to the mounted WinPE image's System32 directory. No manual action is required.

The injected binary (7zr.exe) is a reduced-functionality standalone build of 7-Zip that supports extraction but not compression.