dosforge is a DOS-focused image utility that runs on Linux (with a full Textual TUI + kernel-mount workflow) and Windows (CLI + a Windows 11-styled tkinter GUI with a wizard-like flow — no admin, no sudo, no kernel modules; single portable dosforge.exe / dosforge-gui.exe bundle).

It can create, browse, and modify:

• fixed-size VHD images (FAT12/FAT16/FAT32) for IDE or MFM controllers
• floppy IMG/IMA/VFD images (FAT12)

with optional boot/system-file staging for 17 bootable DOS modes spanning 1984-1999 (Compaq DOS 2.11 through MS-DOS 7.10 / Win95 OSR2, plus PC-DOS, DR-DOS, and FreeDOS).

dosforge produces 17 bootable DOS configurations plus none (non-bootable) and 4dos (overlay, planned). Source media is staged in dosassets/<mode>/ (each mode folder ships a readme.txt with the expected files / .7z names).

Every dosassets/<mode>/ directory transparently accepts any one of:

• A WinWorldPC .7z (or .zip) archive — auto-extracted on first use via py7zr
• A raw .img / .ima / .dsk / .xdf / .vfd floppy file
• A pre-extracted directory tree with system files at the root

Whichever you have, drop it in and dosforge resolves it automatically.

w95 retail GUI install — multi-disk CAB extraction + Setup wizard deemed out of scope. Use msdos71 instead for FAT32 + DOS without the GUI.

VHD output is organized controller-first. Pick --disk-controller (or let dosforge auto-detect from boot mode), then optionally pick a geometry source.

Auto-detect rules when --disk-controller is omitted:

• MFM: compaq2, msdos33, ibm8088+dos33
• IDE: everything else

# Default — IDE controller, canonical 16h/63s geometry, FAT16, 64 MiB
dosforge create --media-type vhd --boot-mode msdos622 \
    --format fat16 --size 64M \
    --path ~/vhd/msdos622.vhd

# MFM controller with authentic ST-225 geometry for Compaq DOS 2.11
dosforge create --media-type vhd --boot-mode compaq2 \
    --format fat12 \
    --disk-controller mfm --bios-drive-type phoenix:1 \
    --path ~/vhd/compaq2-mfm.vhd

# Custom CHS for an unusual emulator preset (XT-IDE 504 MiB cap)
dosforge create --media-type vhd --boot-mode msdos5 \
    --format fat16 \
    --custom-chs 1024,16,63 \
    --path ~/vhd/msdos5-xtide.vhd

# Authentic floppy IMG — 360k DSDD Compaq DOS 2.11
dosforge create --media-type img --boot-mode compaq2 \
    --format fat12 --floppy-type 360k --img-system-format \
    --path ~/floppy/compaq2.img

160K, 180K, 360K, 720K, 1.84M (XDF), 1.2M, 1.44M, 2.88M.

Floppy IMG formatting uses explicit DOS geometry/BPB settings per preset:

Base runtime (Linux):

• mkfs.fat
• mount, umount
• sudo (one-time auth, no NOPASSWD rules required)
• xdg-open

VHD runtime (Linux):

• qemu-img, qemu-nbd, qemu-system-i386
• parted, partprobe
• modprobe (kmod)
• mcopy, mattrib, mformat, mdir (mtools)
• p7zip-full / p7zip (auto .7z extraction)

Windows: all tools are bundled inside the PyInstaller distribution (_internal/vendor/windows/bin/). No system installs required.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flynnsbit/dosforge/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

That's it. The installer:

1. Detects your distro (Debian/Ubuntu/Mint/Pop/Fedora/RHEL/Arch/openSUSE) and installs the system tools dosforge shells out to (qemu-system-x86, mtools, p7zip, innoextract, etc.) via your native package manager. Will prompt for sudo.
2. Downloads the latest dosforge release tarball from GitHub Releases — no version pin, always grabs whatever's current.
3. Creates an isolated venv under ~/.local/share/dosforge/venv/. On upgrade the old venv is removed first, so disk usage stays flat (no leftover version directories piling up).
4. Symlinks ~/.local/bin/dosforge so it's on your PATH after the first install (if ~/.local/bin isn't on your PATH already, the installer warns you and shows what to add to your shell rc).
5. Hydrates the ~/.local/share/dosforge/dosassets/ folder skeleton (one folder + readme.txt per supported DOS mode). This folder is your user data and is never touched on upgrade.
6. Smoke-tests dosforge --help before finishing.

~/.local/share/dosforge/
├── venv/          # Python env — replaced on upgrade
├── bundle/        # extracted release contents — replaced on upgrade
└── dosassets/     # USER DATA — never touched on upgrade
    ├── compaq2/   # drop Microsoft MS-DOS 2.11 [Compaq OEM]...7z here
    ├── msdos622/  # drop Microsoft MS-DOS 6.22...7z here
    └── ...        # one folder per supported DOS mode

Override with --prefix DIR if you want it somewhere else (the dosassets/ subdirectory always lives under <prefix>/dosassets/).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/flynnsbit/dosforge/main/scripts/install.sh -o install-dosforge.sh
less install-dosforge.sh   # review
bash install-dosforge.sh

Useful flags (pass after bash install-dosforge.sh):

rm -rf ~/.local/share/dosforge/venv ~/.local/share/dosforge/bundle
rm -f ~/.local/bin/dosforge
# Your dosassets/ stays put for the next install.  Wipe it too with:
# rm -rf ~/.local/share/dosforge/dosassets

dosforge --help              # full reference
dosforge create --help       # create command reference
dosforge where-assets        # show dosassets resolution order
dosforge fetch-pcdos71-assets   # download IBM PC-DOS 7.1 from archive.org

git clone https://github.com/flynnsbit/dosforge.git
cd dosforge
python3 -m venv .venv
. .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .[dev]

# System tools (same packages the installer above would pull in)
sudo apt install qemu-system-x86 qemu-utils nbd-client \
    mtools p7zip-full innoextract python3-tk

When installed editable from a checkout, the repo's own dosassets/ directory is the search root — just run dosforge from the repo and drop install media into dosassets/<mode>/ as usual.

You can also run dosforge init-assets from an editable install to hydrate ~/.local/share/dosforge/dosassets/ with the per-mode folder + readme.txt skeleton; the readmes ship inside the wheel so it works from any working directory.

dosforge looks for install diskettes in this order (highest priority first):

1. $DOSFORGE_DOSASSETS_DIR — export this to override everything
2. $PWD/dosassets/ — wins when you cd into the extracted bundle or repo
3. $XDG_DATA_HOME/dosforge/dosassets/ (defaults to ~/.local/share/dosforge/dosassets/)
4. ~/.dosforge/dosassets/
5. /usr/local/share/dosforge/dosassets/
6. /usr/share/dosforge/dosassets/ — for distro packagers

Run dosforge where-assets at any time to see which of these paths currently exist on your machine.

PC-DOS 7.1 was only ever distributed inside the IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit. ibm.com no longer hosts it but the Internet Archive preserves a verified mirror. dosforge ships a fetcher that downloads, verifies, and stages the required files. Three equivalent entry points (all call the same library):

# 1. Recommended: dosforge CLI (works from any directory once installed).
dosforge fetch-pcdos71-assets

# 2. Or from the TUI: open New Disk → Step 3, set boot-mode=pcdos71,
#    click "Fetch IBM PC-DOS 7.1 assets (SGTK download)".

# 3. Or the standalone script (no dosforge install required — useful in CI).
python3 scripts/fetch-pcdos71-assets.py

All three download the IBM installer (SHA-1 verified) and unpack the required files into ~/.local/share/dosforge/dosassets/pcdos71/ (or the path dosforge where-assets reports first, or wherever DOSFORGE_DOSASSETS_DIR points if set) with per-file SHA-256 verification against community-published reference hashes.

Optional flags:

• --force — re-extract even if the SGTK cache looks fresh.
• --keep-extract — leave the extracted SGTK tree in the cache dir.
• --target DIR — override the staging directory.

Two ways to run dosforge on Windows:

Download the latest Windows release zip from GitHub Releases (look for dosforge-<version>-windows.zip). Each release ships two EXEs sharing one bundle:

• dosforge.exe — CLI / TUI entry point
• dosforge-gui.exe — Windows 11-styled tkinter GUI

# 1. Extract the zip somewhere outside Program Files (avoids UAC weirdness)
Expand-Archive dosforge-windows.zip -DestinationPath C:\Apps\DosForge

# 2. Stage your DOS install media (one folder per supported mode)
#    Drop .7z archives or pre-extracted floppies into
#    C:\Apps\DosForge\dosassets\<mode>\

# 3. Run
C:\Apps\DosForge\dosforge.exe create --help
C:\Apps\DosForge\dosforge.exe ls C:\path\to\image.vhd /
C:\Apps\DosForge\dosforge-gui.exe   # double-click for GUI

The Windows bundle ships QEMU, mtools, and DOSBox-X (for LOADDSKF unpacking) inside _internal/vendor/windows/bin/. No external dependencies, no admin rights required.

# One-time setup (fetches QEMU + mtools + py7zr into vendor/windows/bin/
# and builds the PyInstaller bundle under dist\dosforge\).
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install -e .[dev]
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe scripts\fetch-windows-vendor.py
.\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m PyInstaller windows\dosforge.spec --noconfirm

# Run from the repo root.
.\dist\dosforge\dosforge.exe ls testimages\vhd-msdos622-128m.vhd /
.\dist\dosforge\dosforge.exe create --media-type vhd --format fat32 --size 2G ^
    --boot-mode pcdos71 --path C:\temp\pcdos71.vhd

The root-level dosforge.bat / dosforge.ps1 are thin wrappers that forward every argument to dist\dosforge\dosforge.exe.

dosforge        # Linux: launches the TUI (sudo auth happens up-front)
.\dosforge      # Windows: launches the TUI (or `dosforge gui` for tkinter)

dosforge performs startup sudo auth for the TUI (sudo -v) on Linux so credential prompts happen up front. The same one-time prompt fires for headless CLI invocations of create, mount, and unmount too. A background keep-alive thread refreshes the kernel sudo timestamp cache once a minute while a build is running so long operations (PC-DOS 7.1 + FAT32 install, Win95 OSR2 SYS) don't expire mid-flight. No NOPASSWD sudoers rules are required. The Windows backend reports requires_sudo_for_disk_ops=False, so no sudo prompts ever appear there.

1. Launch dosforge
2. In Create disk image:
   • choose Media type (VHD or IMG)
   • choose Boot mode (filters disk controller + FAT options)
   • set Disk controller (Auto, IDE, or MFM) and Geometry source if VHD
   • set path / size or floppy preset
   • optionally enable DOS install profile + provide assets
3. Click Create + format ...
4. Select image in browser and click Mount selected image (Linux only)
5. Image opens in GUI file manager automatically (Linux + Windows)

The file browser accepts .vhd, .img, .ima.

# Check dependencies (all VHD paths by default)
dosforge check-deps

# Check IMG-only dependencies
dosforge check-deps --media-type img

# Sudo/privilege diagnostics
dosforge sudo-check

# List the full BIOS Type 1-45 geometry table
dosforge list-bios-drive-types

# Create fixed-size FAT16 VHD on default IDE controller
dosforge create --path ~/vhd/demo.vhd --size 512M --format fat16

# Create IBM DOS 5.0 VHD (8088/V20 profile) on auto-detected IDE
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/xt-dos5.vhd \
  --size 32M \
  --format fat16 \
  --boot-mode ibm8088 \
  --ibm-dos-version dos50 \
  --boot-assets-path ./dos5

# Create Compaq DOS 2.11 VHD on MFM controller with ST-225 geometry
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/compaq2-mfm.vhd \
  --format fat12 \
  --boot-mode compaq2 \
  --disk-controller mfm --bios-drive-type phoenix:1

# Create non-bootable 1.44M floppy IMG
dosforge create --path ~/floppy/tools.img --media-type img --floppy-type 1440k

# Create bootable 360k Compaq DOS 2.11 floppy IMG
dosforge create \
  --path ~/floppy/compaq2.img \
  --media-type img \
  --floppy-type 360k \
  --img-system-format \
  --boot-mode compaq2

# Create bootable 720K DR-DOS 6 floppy IMG
dosforge create \
  --path ~/floppy/drdos6-boot.img \
  --media-type img \
  --floppy-type 720k \
  --img-system-format \
  --boot-mode drdos6

# Create bootable 1.84M XDF-style PC-DOS 7.0 floppy IMG
dosforge create \
  --path ~/floppy/pcdos7-boot.img \
  --media-type img \
  --floppy-type 1840k \
  --img-system-format \
  --boot-mode pcdos7 \
  --boot-assets-path ./pcdos7

# Create FAT32 PC-DOS 7.1 / MS-DOS 7.10 VHD with FULL DOS tools tree
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/pcdos71-1g.vhd \
  --size 1G \
  --format fat32 \
  --boot-mode pcdos71 \
  --dos-install-profile full

# MS-DOS 7.10 / Win95 OSR2 (DOS-only boot, FAT32)
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/msdos71-2g.vhd \
  --size 2G \
  --format fat32 \
  --boot-mode msdos71 \
  --boot-assets-path ./w95   # Win95 OSR2 floppy set

# Create DOS disk with core \DOS utilities + startup files
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/msdos622-full.vhd \
  --size 512M \
  --format fat16 \
  --boot-mode msdos622 \
  --boot-assets-path ./msdos622 \
  --dos-install-profile full

# Create VHD from a custom payload directory (auto-sizes VHD to fit payload)
dosforge create \
  --path ~/vhd/apps.vhd \
  --format fat16 \
  --custom-payload-path ./payload

# Add payload files while system-formatting a floppy IMG (fails if payload won't fit)
dosforge create \
  --path ~/floppy/custom-dos.img \
  --media-type img \
  --floppy-type 1440k \
  --img-system-format \
  --boot-mode msdos622 \
  --boot-assets-path ./msdos622 \
  --custom-payload-path ./payload

# Mount + open (Linux only)
dosforge mount --path ~/vhd/demo.vhd --open
dosforge mount --path ~/floppy/tools.img --open

# Unmount
dosforge unmount --mount-point ~/.local/state/dosforge/mounts/demo-xxxxxxxx

Read-only structural inspection of any VHD — useful for downstream tooling (e.g. exodosconverter) that wants to decide whether to grow vs. rebuild before constructing a manifest.

# Human-readable summary
dosforge inspect path/to/disk.vhd

# JSON for tooling (stable sort_keys output, diff-friendly)
dosforge inspect path/to/disk.vhd --json

Returns the VHD container shape (file size, footer CHS), MBR partition entry (type / LBA / sector count), BPB (OEM stamp, FAT format, cluster size, total clusters, volume label + serial), root system files present (IO.SYS / MSDOS.SYS / IBMBIO.COM / IBMDOS.COM / KERNEL.SYS / COMMAND.COM / CONFIG.SYS / AUTOEXEC.BAT / FDCONFIG.SYS / FDAUTO.BAT), and an inferred boot mode via two-stage fallback:

1. Match BPB OEM stamp against known dosforge stamps (MSDOS5.0, IBM 3.3, MSWIN4.1, FRDOS5.1, DRDOS 7, …).
2. When the OEM is generic (mkfs.fat, MTOOLxxxx from mformat), fall back to root-system-file presence: KERNEL.SYS → freedos, IO.SYS + MSDOS.SYS on FAT32 → msdos71, IO.SYS + MSDOS.SYS on FAT16 → msdos622, IBMBIO.COM + IBMDOS.COM → compaq331.

Grows an existing FAT16 (BIGDOS, ≤2 GiB) or FAT32 (LBA, ≤2 TiB) VHD to a larger size while preserving the user's files, attributes, volume label, system files, CONFIG.SYS / AUTOEXEC.BAT, and any custom directory trees. Optionally appends new staging directories at the same time — the canonical "add some games to my existing build" path.

Supported boot modes: compaq331, msdos622, msdos71, freedos. Every other mode falls outside the FAT12-or-too-quirky bands; use dosforge create to rebuild instead.

# Grow a 32 MiB MSDOS 6.22 VHD to 128 MiB and stage a games folder
dosforge grow \
  --target ~/vhd/dos.vhd \
  --new-size 128M \
  --boot-mode msdos622 \
  --add-from /tmp/games=C:\\GAMES

# Or via JSON manifest (preferred for tooling integration)
dosforge grow --manifest /tmp/grow-plan.json

JSON manifest schema (v1):

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "target_vhd": "/home/u/dos.vhd",
  "new_size_bytes": "128M",
  "boot_mode": "msdos622",
  "staging_sources": [
    {"src": "/tmp/games", "dest": "C:\\GAMES"}
  ],
  "boot_probe": true,
  "keep_backup": true
}

What survives: system files (IO.SYS / MSDOS.SYS / IBMBIO.COM / IBMDOS.COM / KERNEL.SYS / COMMAND.COM), CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, volume label, every user directory, attributes.

Cluster-band safety check: grows that would force a different mformat cluster size (e.g. FAT16 128 MiB → 256 MiB crosses 2 KiB → 4 KiB) are refused with an actionable error. Stay within the same band, or use dosforge create for a fresh rebuild.

v1 limitations (deferred to v2): custom MBR / VBR boot code is replaced with dosforge's standard bootstrap for the chosen mode (no observable effect for the four supported modes; matters only for power users who hand-patched their boot sector).

dosforge looks for install media under a top-level dosassets/ folder. Each boot mode has its own subdirectory with a readme.txt documenting which diskette images (or .7z archive) to drop in. A full layout covering every wired mode:

dosassets/
├── compaq2/        # boot-mode=compaq2     (Compaq OEM MS-DOS 2.11 .7z, 360k)
├── compaq3/        # boot-mode=compaq3     (Compaq OEM MS-DOS 3.00 .7z, 360k)
├── compaq331/      # boot-mode=compaq331   (Compaq DOS 3.31 .7z, 720k)
├── drdos6/         # boot-mode=drdos6      (Digital Research DR DOS 6.0 .7z)
├── drdos7/         # boot-mode=drdos7      (Caldera DR-DOS 7.03 .7z, 1.44M)
├── freedos/        # boot-mode=freedos     (KERNEL.SYS + COMMAND.COM + boot template)
├── ibm8088/        # boot-mode=ibm8088     (IBM PC-DOS 3.3 or 5.0 install floppies)
├── msdos33/        # boot-mode=msdos33  /  ibm8088+dos33
├── msdos331/       # boot-mode=msdos331    (Microsoft MS-DOS 3.31)
├── msdos5/         # boot-mode=msdos5   /  ibm8088+dos50
├── msdos6/         # boot-mode=msdos6      (MS-DOS 6.00)
├── msdos622/       # boot-mode=msdos622    (DOS 6.22 + Enhanced Tools)
├── pcdos3/         # boot-mode=pcdos3      (IBM PC-DOS 3.00 .7z)
├── pcdos7/         # boot-mode=pcdos7      (IBM PC-DOS 7.0 XDF .DSK)
├── pcdos2000/      # boot-mode=pcdos2000   (IBM PC-DOS 2000 6-floppy .7z)
├── pcdos71/        # boot-mode=pcdos71     (auto-fetched IBM SGTK)
└── w95/            # boot-mode=msdos71     (Win95 OSR2 floppy set for FAT32 DOS)

Per-mode readme.txt files document the expected file names. As noted above, any one of .7z / raw .img / pre-extracted directory works — pick whatever matches what you downloaded.

Pass --boot-assets-path <name> (a bare name like msdos33) and dosforge will resolve it to ./dosassets/<name>/. Pass a full path (./foo/bar or /abs/path) to use any other location. Omit the flag entirely and dosforge auto-resolves the boot mode's default subdirectory.

Typical workflow: download the WinWorldPC .7z for the DOS version, drop it into the matching subdirectory (no manual extraction needed — dosforge unpacks .7z archives transparently via py7zr), then run dosforge.

• Local dir or image with KERNEL.SYS, COMMAND.COM, boot template (BOOTSECT_FAT16.BIN / BOOTSECT_FAT32.BIN)
• Or auto-download path for FreeDOS image (--freedos-source auto)
• FreeDOS bootable VHDs use a curated payload filter that ships authentic minimal DOS files (~85 files vs 1388 from a full install) for fast builds.

• IMG output (360k floppy): authentic 1984 Compaq DOS 2.11 medium, boots in any emulator with a 5.25" 360k or 1.2M drive.
• VHD output: requires --disk-controller mfm because DOS 2.x's 1984 boot code depends on Compaq-specific BIOS extensions that no modern emulator's AT-class IDE BIOS provides. Use --bios-drive-type phoenix:1 (10 MiB ST-225) or phoenix:2 (20 MiB ST-225). Boots in MartyPC with Xebec Type 1 preset (other MFM-capable emulators may need experimentation).

• MS-DOS 7.10 was never sold as a standalone product — it shipped only inside Windows 95 OSR2/OSR2.1/OSR2.5 (build 4.00.1111+) and Windows 98.
• dosforge sources install files from a Win95 OSR2 floppy set in dosassets/w95/ (see that folder's readme.txt for layout).
• Produces a DOS-only boot — no Win95 GUI Setup, just IO.SYS / MSDOS.SYS / COMMAND.COM + a CONFIG.SYS that bypasses WIN.COM.
• Supports FAT16 (≤2 GiB) and FAT32 (above) on IDE controllers.

• The only PC-DOS variant with FAT32 + LBA support.
• Uses a QEMU-driven FORMAT32 /S install (see vogons.org/viewtopic.php?t=93030).
• FULL install profile hydrates C:\DOS\ with PC-DOS 2000 utilities merged into the SGTK base (EMM386, DOSSHELL, MEMMAKER, etc.) — the one exception to dosforge's no-cross-DOS-borrowing rule.

• FAT16-only legacy profile.
• dos33 max 32 MiB; dos50 max ~504 MiB.
• Assets can be direct files or floppy images.
• DOS 3.3 IMG system-format auto-aligns to install-media geometry and stages only core system files.

Resolver accepts either:

• IO.SYS + MSDOS.SYS + COMMAND.COM, or
• IBMBIO.COM + IBMDOS.COM + COMMAND.COM

plus BOOTSECT_FAT16.BIN, or install images (*.img / *.ima / *.dsk / *.xdf), or a WinWorldPC .7z (auto-extracted).

For VHD targets sourced from install images, dosforge keeps DOS mode behavior strict and normalizes legacy floppy-style FAT12 boot sectors to a DOS HDD-compatible FAT16 VBR for IO.SYS/MSDOS.SYS profiles before boot staging.

--dos-install-profile:

• minimal (default): stage boot-critical system files only.
• full: stage root CONFIG.SYS / AUTOEXEC.BAT (from media when available, otherwise generated defaults) plus a curated core DOS utility set under \DOS (or \FDOS\BIN for FreeDOS).

Curated FULL-profile payload (v0.9.23 / v0.9.24): the resolver ships only end-user-runnable utilities and filters out installer wizards, multi-user subsystems, and distro internals even when referenced by the install media's CONFIG.SYS / AUTOEXEC.BAT.

Always included when present on the install media:

Always excluded (even when referenced in startup scripts):

Same resolver as the MS-DOS family. For PC-DOS 7.0 install sets, SaveDskF-wrapped .DSK sources are unpacked to raw floppy payload automatically. When install images are present in the assets directory, PC-DOS 7.0 system files are extracted live at create-time (preferred over stale pre-extracted files). PC-DOS 7.0 system-format keeps the user-selected floppy geometry.

--dos-install-profile works for these modes too.

• FAT12 IMG: 160 KiB .. 2.88 MiB (floppy presets only)
• FAT12 VHD: MFM controller only + ≤16 MiB partition (DOS 2.x era)
• FAT16 VHD: 16 MiB .. 2 GiB
• FAT32 VHD: 64 MiB minimum (up to 2 TiB)
• IMG mode uses fixed floppy capacities and FAT12 geometry with explicit BPB/media profile checks
• Legacy DOS profiles enforce FAT16-compatible boot workflows on IDE
• MFM controller restricts to XT-era DOS (compaq2 / msdos33 / ibm8088+dos33) — anything else raises a clear ValidationError

• Use --custom-payload-path <directory> to copy that directory's contents into the created filesystem root.
• Directory structure is preserved recursively, including hidden entries.
• For IMG/IMA, dosforge checks available free space on the formatted image and errors if payload does not fit.
• For VHD, if the requested size is too small, dosforge automatically grows the VHD size to fit payload + safety buffer.
• When combined with DOS system-format, boot/system files are installed first, then custom payload content is copied.
• VCS metadata (.git*, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, __pycache__/, .svn/, .hg/, etc.) is automatically filtered out.

• Linux: ~/.local/state/dosforge/state.json, mount points under ~/.local/state/dosforge/mounts/
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\dosforge\ (state + asset cache)

List active mounts:

dosforge list-mounts

Run tests:

pytest -q

Run native Linux floppy integration tests (real loop-mount + fsck checks):

DOSFORGE_RUN_NATIVE_IMG_TESTS=1 pytest -q -m native_linux

Run native VHD/IMG boot integration matrix tests (QEMU boot-stage + failure-signature probes):

# Optional if assets are not in ./freedos
export DOSFORGE_NATIVE_FREEDOS_ASSETS=/path/to/freedos-assets

pytest -q -m native_boot

Run 86Box parity lane (external command contract):

# The command must include {image} and print emulator console/log
# output to stdout/stderr.
export DOSFORGE_86BOX_BOOT_COMMAND='86Box --headless --config /path/to/86box.cfg --image {image}'
pytest -q -m native_86box

1. Create bootable media from a generated matrix:
   • VHD: all supported boot modes across FAT16/FAT32 where valid, IDE + MFM controllers.
   • IMG: system-format floppy combinations across supported boot modes/geometries.
2. Boot each artifact in QEMU (qemu-system-i386) via -nographic for a bounded window.
3. Require expected boot stage (Booting from Hard Disk or Booting from Floppy) and fail on explicit boot-failure signatures.
4. Fail immediately if known boot failure signatures appear (e.g. This is not a bootable disk, Non-System disk or disk error, Disk I/O error).
5. Include QEMU output tail in failure details for quick triage.
6. Persist per-case diagnostics in each test tmp path (*.command.txt, *.returncode.txt, *.output.log).

native_86box remains the prompt-proof lane. When DOSFORGE_86BOX_BOOT_COMMAND is configured, the test is active and must reach a DOS prompt marker.

The trailer-cleanup script itself lives in the shared ~/Projects/shared-scripts/ folder so it can be reused across repos. Set SHARED_SCRIPTS to override the default $HOME/Projects/shared-scripts location.

If you want local hooks that strip the Copilot co-author trailer on commit (commit-msg) and also enforce cleanup before push:

./scripts/install-githooks.sh

Manual dry-run check:

~/Projects/shared-scripts/strip-copilot-coauthor.sh --range HEAD --dry-run

dosforge tags follow v<X.Y.Z> (single combined tag — was linux-v<X.Y.Z> + windows-v<X.Y.Z> before v0.7.2). Every release produces one GitHub release with all platforms' assets attached:

• dosforge-<X.Y.Z>-linux.tar.gz — Linux bundle (wheel + sdist + installer)
• dosforge-<X.Y.Z>-py3-none-any.whl — Linux pip wheel
• dosforge-<X.Y.Z>-windows-x64.zip — Windows full bundle (CLI + GUI + DOSBox-X + QEMU)
• dosforge-<X.Y.Z>-cli-windows-x64.zip — Windows CLI-only bundle

Browse the latest release at github.com/flynnsbit/dosforge/releases/latest or grab specific release notes from releases/v<X.Y.Z>-release-notes.md.