Installing a Binary Build

An installed build is a precompiled, redistributable copy of the editor. It behaves like an Epic Games Launcher installation: you can open and cook projects, but you cannot modify or debug into engine source. This is the right choice for artists, designers and anyone evaluating the fork.

Installed builds are produced from a source build by the team. If you need to make one yourself, see Installed Builds.

Contents of a build archive

A packaged Vite build extracts to a folder containing:

Item	Purpose
`Engine\`	The engine itself, including `Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe`
`MakeShortcut.bat`	Creates `UEViteFork.lnk` pointing at the editor executable
`RegistryAdd.bat`	Registers the folder as the `UEViteFork` engine association
`RegistryRemove.bat`	Removes that registration
`Templates\`	Project templates, if the build was packaged with them
`FeaturePacks\`	Feature packs, if the build was packaged with them
`Samples\`	Sample content, if the build was packaged with them

Lean builds omit templates, feature packs, samples and debug symbols. Some builds ship an accompanying ExcludedPlugins.7z containing plugins that were split out of the main archive to keep it small; extract it over the same folder if you need those plugins.

Installation

Install and register an installed build

Extract UE_ViteFork.7z to a path with no spaces or non-ASCII characters, for example D:\Engines\UE_ViteFork. Avoid Program Files; the editor writes to its own directory and the permission prompts are not worth it.
If the build shipped a separate ExcludedPlugins.7z and you need those plugins, extract it into the same folder now.
Run RegistryAdd.bat. This writes the engine path to HKCU\Software\Epic Games\Unreal Engine\Builds under the name UE_ViteFork, and removes stale GUID-keyed entries that pointed at the same folder.
Run MakeShortcut.bat to create UEViteFork.lnk next to the engine folder.
Launch the editor through the shortcut, or directly via Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe.

Pointing a project at the build

Open your .uproject file in a text editor and set the engine association:

{
    "FileVersion": 3,
    "EngineAssociation": "UE_ViteFork",
    "Category": "",
    "Description": ""
}

Projects packaged inside an installed build archive already have this set. If you right-click a .uproject and choose Switch Unreal Engine version, UE_ViteFork will appear in the list once the build is registered.

Moving or removing a build

The registry entry stores an absolute path, so moving the engine folder breaks it. If you relocate a build:

Run RegistryRemove.bat from the old location, or delete the UE_ViteFork value manually.
Move the folder.
Run RegistryAdd.bat from the new location.

To uninstall entirely, run RegistryRemove.bat and then delete the folder. Nothing is written outside the engine directory and the single HKCU registry value, apart from the usual per-user Unreal directories under %LOCALAPPDATA%\UnrealEngine and %APPDATA%\Unreal Engine.

Running source and binary builds side by side

You can have both installed. They are separate engine associations as long as they register under different names, so if you want a source build and an installed build available at the same time, change the ENGINE_ASSOCIATION value in one of them before registering. Note that both builds share the per-user Unreal directories, so editor layout and some settings will be common between them.

Unreal Engine Vite Help