Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your SDI file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert SDI to another file type
To convert SDI images to another format, you need Microsoft Windows or other Disk Image software.
Convert a file to SDI
To convert other file formats to the "System Deployment Image" file type, you need software like Microsoft Windows or a similar tool.
About SDI files
A .sdi file most commonly acts as a System Deployment Image created by Microsoft. These files store bootable disk images used for Windows installation, deployment, and system recovery. Alternatively, in the database world, a .sdi file represents Serialized Dictionary Information for MySQL servers, holding critical table metadata formatted as standard JSON. A much rarer third use case is for structural analysis projects in Soldis PROJEKTANT software. The primary disadvantage of .sdi files is their highly specialized, system-level nature. Windows deployment images are large, proprietary binaries that cannot be easily browsed or extracted without heavy, dedicated tools like the Windows ADK or AOMEI Backupper. They are entirely useless on macOS or Linux without specific virtualization. On the other hand, MySQL .sdi files are strictly internal server files. While technically readable as text, manually parsing their raw JSON structure without database management software is tedious and prone to human error. Converting a .sdi file depends heavily on what type it is. For MySQL .sdi files, the best approach for archiving or readability is to convert the metadata to JSON, CSV, or TXT so it can be reviewed in standard spreadsheet software. For Windows .sdi files, you generally want to extract their contents or convert them to standard ISO or WIM formats for broader compatibility.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SDI file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert SDI file to IP, TDI, ISO, IMG, DMG, VHD, VMDK, VDI, HDD, QCOW, QCOW2 or RAW, you can use Microsoft Windows or similar software from the "System Backup and Database Metadata" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert VFD, DMG, OVA, IMA, VBOX, ADF, PVS, VHD, OVF, ISO, DSK or IMG files to SDI, try Microsoft Windows or another comparable tool in the "System Backup and Database Metadata" category.
The SDI Converter Story
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our SDI converter.