BootForge
Fingerprint every file in a tree now, prove later that not one byte moved.
Free right now — no account, no card
Preview
1 interface design, then a screenshot of it running. Drag, scroll or use the arrows.
Free while we’re in preview
Get BootForge
Fingerprint every file in a tree now, prove later that not one byte moved.
The Mac button is for Apple Silicon. On an older Intel Mac, get this one instead.
One file, both ways. Double-click it for the window. Run the same file from a command prompt with arguments and it behaves as the command-line tool, because the engine is inside it. Nothing else to download and nothing to keep beside it.
Early preview. The window has been built and run, but not yet on a real Windows PC or Mac, so expect rough edges. The engine underneath it is fully tested.
- One file — no installer
- Runs on your machine, offline
- Source code published below
Free while in preview. It isn’t signed yet, so Windows or macOS will ask you to confirm the first time you open it. At launch, BootForge is included in every plan along with the rest of the range.
Two commands
bootforge manifest ubuntu.iso -o iso.bfm computes SHA-256 and writes a JSON manifest carrying the generation time, file count, total bytes, and one entry per file with its size and hash. Give it a directory instead of a file and it walks recursively, with paths stored relative and forward-slash normalised whatever OS you’re on.
bootforge verify ubuntu.iso --manifest iso.bfm re-walks, recomputes, and sorts everything into four buckets. OK counts silently. MISMATCH, MISSING and EXTRA each print their own line so a large tree stays readable.
The exit code distinguishes between them. Mismatched or missing gets you a non-zero exit. Extra files on their own don’t, because new files appearing isn’t the same as corruption.
What the name promises and this build doesn’t
There’s no ISO mounting here, no bootable USB writing, no virtual drives. Those want loopback mounting and raw disk access, which aren’t reachable from portable Go. What’s shipped is the checksum half: the mechanism a “verify this image survived the download” feature is built on, and nothing more than that.
--json on either command if a script is reading.
Reading on the job itself
- How to check an ISO before you write it to a USB stick Check the hash against the one the publisher printed, then look inside the image for the boot structures — ...
Advanced & technical details Command-line builds, source code, checksums and a recorded session — for developers and IT teams
A working CLI prototype of the verify-images half of the job: generates a SHA-256 checksum manifest for a file or directory tree, then verifies against it later, catching mismatches/missing/extra files. ISO mounting, USB writing, and virtual drives need privileged OS-specific access and are on the roadmap.
Naming status
Working name only — brand verdict **AVOID** (Very High). Collision: BootForge. Rename completely.
What it draws on
Existing paid software whose best ideas shaped this program: PowerISO, DAEMON Tools Ultra, BurnAware Professional, WinToUSB Professional.
Command line
There is nothing extra to install. The program you download is the command-line tool as well: give it arguments instead of double-clicking it and it runs as one, with its output on your terminal. The standalone builds below are the same engine on its own, for machines where you would rather not ship a window at all.
BootForge 0.1.0 — checksum manifest generator and verifier
Roadmap note: ISO mounting, bootable USB writing, and virtual drives need
privileged OS-specific access and are NOT implemented here. This build is
the manifest/verify engine that a real "verify my boot image" feature
would rely on. See README.txt for details.
Usage:
bootforge manifest <path> -o manifest.bfm [--json]
bootforge verify <path> --manifest manifest.bfm [--json]
bootforge help
Commands:
manifest Walk <path> (a file or directory) and write a SHA-256
checksum manifest to the file given by -o.
verify Re-walk <path> and compare its current SHA-256 checksums
against a previously generated manifest.
Run 'bootforge <command> -h' for command-specific flags.Recorded from the shipped binary, not written by hand.
Source
Every file the program is built from:
console.go · console_test.go · guided.go · main.go
SHA-256 checksums · build instructions & scope notes · full build plan