Command-Line Interface

IPED provides a powerful command-line interface for batch processing of digital evidence. This allows for automation, scripting, and headless operation on servers.

Basic Usage

The basic syntax for running IPED from the command line:

java -jar iped.jar -d <data_source> -o <output_folder> [options]

Required Parameters

Data Source Input

file

required

Input data source (can be used multiple times for multiple sources)Supported formats:

Disk images: DD, E01, Ex01, VHD, VHDX, VMDK
Forensic formats: AD1 (AccessData), UFDR (Cellebrite), AFF (Linux)
Virtual disks: ISO, ISO9660, UDF
Physical drives
Local folders
IPED files (*.iped with tagged files)

Alias: -data

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001

Output Directory

path

required

Output folder where the processed case will be created

Alias: -output If not specified, IPED creates an “iped” folder in the parent directory of the data source.

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/device.dd -o /cases/investigation_2024

Processing Options

Profile Selection

string

Select a processing profile that optimizes IPED for specific investigation typesAvailable profiles:

forensic - Full forensic analysis (default)
pedo - CSAM investigations with specialized detection
triage - Fast on-scene processing with basic indexing
fastmode - Fastest preview mode (minimal processing)
blind - Automated data extraction without GUI

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/phone.dd -o /cases/csam_case -profile pedo

See Processing Profiles for detailed information about each profile.

Multiple Data Sources

Process multiple evidence sources into a single case:

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/laptop.E01 \
  -d /evidence/phone.dd \
  -d /evidence/usb_drive \
  -o /cases/multi_device

Data Source Names

string

Custom display name for the preceding data source

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/disk1.E01 -dname "Suspect Laptop" \
  -d /evidence/disk2.dd -dname "USB Drive" \
  -o /cases/case001

Advanced Options

Continue and Restart

boolean

Resume a stopped or aborted processing from where it left off

boolean

Discard the last aborted processing and start from the beginning

Terminal

# Resume interrupted processing
java -jar iped.jar --continue -o /cases/case001

# Start over after failure
java -jar iped.jar --restart -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001

Append to Existing Case

boolean

Add new data sources to an existing processed case

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar --append -d /evidence/new_device.dd -o /cases/existing_case

The IPED version must match when appending. Cannot append to cases created with different minor versions.

Remove Evidence

string

Remove a specific evidence source by name from an existing case

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -remove "USB Drive" -o /cases/case001

Encryption and Security

Passwords

string

Password for encrypted images or volumes (can be used multiple times)

Alias: -password

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/encrypted.E01 -p "password123" -o /cases/case001

For multiple encrypted sources:

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/disk1.E01 -p "pass1" \
  -d /evidence/disk2.E01 -p "pass2" \
  -o /cases/case001

Search and Analysis

Keyword Lists

file

Line-delimited file with keywords to import and search. Keywords with no hits are automatically filtered out.

Alias: -keywordlist

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -l /config/keywords.txt -o /cases/case001

Example keywords.txt:

confidential
password
credit card
suspect name
company name

Selective OCR

string

Run OCR only on specific categories or bookmarks (can be used multiple times)

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -ocr "Images" -ocr "Documents" -o /cases/case001

File System Options

Timezone

string

Original timezone of FAT file systems (e.g., GMT-3, GMT-4). Uses local system timezone if not specified.

Alias: -timezone

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.dd -tz GMT-5 -o /cases/case001

Block Size

integer

Sector block size in bytes. Required for devices with 4K sectors.

Alias: -blocksize

Terminal

# For 4K sector drives
java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -b 4096 -o /cases/case001

File Owner Information

boolean

Index file owner information when processing local folders. This is slow over network shares.

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /network/share --addowner -o /cases/case001

Export and Reporting

Report Configuration

string

Do not export file contents to report for a specific category/bookmark, only thumbnails and properties

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -nocontent "Videos" -o /cases/case001

boolean

Do not automatically export PST/OST email attachments to reports

boolean

Do not automatically export items linked to chats

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 --nopstattachs --nolinkeditems -o /cases/case001

ASAP Integration

file

Brazilian Federal Police .asap file with case information to include in HTML reports

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -asap /cases/case001.asap -o /cases/case001

Portable Cases

boolean

Use relative paths to forensic images so the case can be moved to other machines (images must be on the same volume)

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d ./evidence/disk.E01 --portable -o ./cases/case001

Interface Options

No GUI Mode

boolean

Run in text mode without progress windows for batch/automated processing

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar --nogui -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001

Logging

file

Redirect log output to a specific file

boolean

Send log messages to standard output instead of a file

Terminal

# Custom log location
java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -log /logs/case001.log -o /cases/case001

# Log to stdout for piping
java -jar iped.jar --nogui --nologfile -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001 | tee processing.log

Custom Splash Message

string

Custom message to display in the splash screen

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -splash "Processing Case #2024-001" -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001

Network Features

Internet Data Download

boolean

Download Internet data to enrich evidence (e.g., WhatsApp media files still available on servers)

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/phone.dd --downloadInternetData -o /cases/case001

This downloads external data from the internet. Ensure you have proper legal authorization and network access.

Module-Specific Parameters

Extra Parameters

key=value

Pass extra configuration options to specific modules

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -Xmodule.option=value -o /cases/case001

Help and Information

boolean

Display help information with all available parameters

Aliases: -h, /?

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar --help

Complete Examples

Basic Forensic Case

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/laptop.E01 \
  -o /cases/investigation_001 \
  -profile forensic \
  -l /config/keywords.txt

CSAM Investigation

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/suspect_device.dd \
  -o /cases/csam_investigation \
  -profile pedo \
  --nogui \
  -log /logs/csam_case.log

Multi-Device Case

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/laptop.E01 -dname "Suspect Laptop" \
  -d /evidence/phone.dd -dname "iPhone 12" -p "1234" \
  -d /evidence/usb_drive -dname "USB Drive" \
  -o /cases/fraud_investigation \
  -profile forensic \
  -tz GMT-5 \
  --portable

Fast Triage Processing

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/seized_device.dd \
  -o /cases/triage_001 \
  -profile fastmode \
  --nogui \
  -l /config/urgent_keywords.txt

Encrypted Device with Resume

Terminal

# Initial processing
java -jar iped.jar \
  -d /evidence/encrypted.E01 \
  -p "SecurePassword123" \
  -o /cases/encrypted_case \
  -profile forensic

# Resume if interrupted
java -jar iped.jar --continue -o /cases/encrypted_case

Batch Processing Script

batch_process.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Process multiple cases in batch
for evidence in /evidence/*.E01; do
  case_name=$(basename "$evidence" .E01)
  echo "Processing $case_name..."
  
  java -jar iped.jar \
    --nogui \
    -d "$evidence" \
    -o "/cases/$case_name" \
    -profile forensic \
    -log "/logs/$case_name.log"
  
  if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "$case_name completed successfully"
  else
    echo "$case_name failed"
  fi
done

Exit Codes

Code	Description
0	Processing completed successfully
1	Processing failed or was aborted

Performance Tips

Use appropriate profiles

Select the right profile for your investigation type. Using fastmode for triage can save hours.

Optimize Java heap size

Allocate sufficient memory for large cases:

Terminal

java -Xmx32G -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/large.E01 -o /cases/case001

Process locally

Process evidence on local drives, not network shares, for optimal performance.

Use SSD storage

Store output on SSD drives for 2-3x faster processing.

Monitor resources

IPED can process at up to 400GB/h with modern hardware and proper configuration.

Common Issues

Out of Memory Error

Increase Java heap size:

Terminal

java -Xmx16G -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/disk.E01 -o /cases/case001

See the Troubleshooting guide for more solutions.

Cannot append to existing case

Ensure versions match. IPED checks minor version compatibility:

Appending to case with old version X.Y.Z not supported.

Use the same IPED version or create a new case.

Profile not found

Verify the profile name is spelled correctly and exists:

Terminal

ls iped-app/resources/config/profiles/

Encrypted image won't open

Ensure the password is provided correctly:

Terminal

java -jar iped.jar -d /evidence/encrypted.E01 -p "YourPassword" -o /cases/case001

Next Steps

Processing Profiles

Learn about the five processing profiles and when to use each

Configuration

Customize IPED processing options and module settings

Data Sources

Detailed information about supported evidence formats

Troubleshooting

Solutions to common processing issues

​Basic Usage

​Required Parameters

​Data Source Input

​Output Directory

​Processing Options

​Profile Selection

​Multiple Data Sources

​Data Source Names

​Advanced Options

​Continue and Restart

​Append to Existing Case

​Remove Evidence

​Encryption and Security

​Passwords

​Search and Analysis

​Keyword Lists

​Selective OCR

​File System Options

​Timezone

​Block Size

​File Owner Information

​Export and Reporting

​Report Configuration

​ASAP Integration

​Portable Cases

​Interface Options

​No GUI Mode

​Logging

​Custom Splash Message

​Network Features

​Internet Data Download

​Module-Specific Parameters

​Extra Parameters

​Help and Information

​Complete Examples

​Basic Forensic Case

​CSAM Investigation

​Multi-Device Case

​Fast Triage Processing

​Encrypted Device with Resume

​Batch Processing Script

​Exit Codes

​Performance Tips

​Common Issues

​Next Steps

Processing Profiles

Configuration

Data Sources

Troubleshooting

Basic Usage

Required Parameters

Data Source Input

Output Directory

Processing Options

Profile Selection

Multiple Data Sources

Data Source Names

Advanced Options

Continue and Restart

Append to Existing Case

Remove Evidence

Encryption and Security

Passwords

Search and Analysis

Keyword Lists

Selective OCR

File System Options

Timezone

Block Size

File Owner Information

Export and Reporting

Report Configuration

ASAP Integration

Portable Cases

Interface Options

No GUI Mode

Logging

Custom Splash Message

Network Features

Internet Data Download

Module-Specific Parameters

Extra Parameters

Help and Information

Complete Examples

Basic Forensic Case

CSAM Investigation

Multi-Device Case

Fast Triage Processing

Encrypted Device with Resume

Batch Processing Script

Exit Codes

Performance Tips

Common Issues

Next Steps