# Packaging the game from outside the editor.

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882>\
**Category:** C++\
**Tags:** unreal-engine\
**Created:** [October 26, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882 "2016-10-26T10:46:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ShirtyKezRat](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@ShirtyKezRat](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ShirtyKezRat)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/1 "2016-10-26T10:46:49Z")

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Is there anyway to run Project Launcher profiles or packaging for a project from outside the editor (from a batch to automate release on steam for example)? If so where can i find some documentation on the subject, for things like .ini options etc?  
Is the solution to manually run cooker etc and place the files correctly with a script?

As a side note, I find some little things with the Project Launcher and Package Project a bit annoying, there seems to be settings found in one but not the other. (Example: Include debug files and crash reporter in package project not present in Project Launcher which on other matters has more detailed options). Anyway the lack of consistency is a bit confusing imo. I am assuming Package Project is a more straight forward approach to be used, maybe for less tech savy? and project launcher for more intricate details? Which might explain the inconsistency.

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**Author:** ![Duetoxplode](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Duetoxplode](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Duetoxplode)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/2 "2016-10-26T21:02:06Z")

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This is how we package our client:

```auto

cd /D "UE4_ROOT_DIR\Engine\Build\BatchFiles"
RunUAT BuildCookRun -project=PROJECT_ROOT_DIR\PROJECT_NAME.uproject -build -cook -clientconfig=Development -NoP4 -pak -crashreporter -stage -serverplatform=Win64 -stagingdirectory=PROJECT_ROOT_DIR\Build
pause

```

I tossed that into a bat file to make things easier.  
Make sure to replace UE4\_ROOT\_DIR with your source checkout directory and PROJECT\_ROOT\_DIR with your project directory.

Hope this helps!

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**Author:** ![ShirtyKezRat](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@ShirtyKezRat](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ShirtyKezRat)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/3 "2016-10-27T12:10:00Z")

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Yes! Thanks! I just came back here to post this link:

> **[A new, community-hosted Unreal Engine Wiki](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/a-new-community-hosted-unreal-engine-wiki/141494)**
>
> After over a year in maintenance mode, the official Unreal Engine Wiki is now permanently offline. These resources now live on a new community-run Unreal Engine Community Wiki — ue4community.wiki! You will be able to find content from the official...

I actually retraced what command that was run in the source code to find this… Feel kind of stupid…

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**Author:** ![ShirtyKezRat](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@ShirtyKezRat](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ShirtyKezRat)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2016, 11:16am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/4 "2016-10-28T11:16:47Z")

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I’ve been look around the source code and I can’t seem to find proper clean documentation regarding arguments to UAT or any other program for that matter.  
Am I missing something? What is the help attribute i see in a lot of these source code files, can that be used somehow?  
Do any UE programs have any help output?  
Do I really have to read the source code to understand what commands do what?

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**Author:** ![ShirtyKezRat](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@ShirtyKezRat](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ShirtyKezRat)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/5 "2016-10-31T18:14:32Z")

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For anyone who comes across this post you can access help with “RunUAT.bat -help” or for subcommands “RunUAT.bat BuildCookRun -help” for example.

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**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_e61ecb23](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_e61ecb23](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_e61ecb23)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:04pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/packaging-the-game-from-outside-the-editor/76882/6 "2016-11-02T16:04:48Z")

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> [@ShirtyKezRat;614797](#):
>
> Is the solution to manually run cooker etc and place the files correctly with a script?

I do this all the time using Powershell, and my [script is on Github](https://github.com//Powershell/blob/master/Unreal/EtherealBuild.ps1) if you want to modify it for yourself.