Installed Builds

A source build requires a full toolchain, a long compile and a lot of disk. An installed build does not: artists, designers and anyone who does not modify engine C++ can use one directly.

Building

RunUAT.bat at the engine root drives the BuildGraph installed-build target:

Engine\Build\BatchFiles\RunUAT.bat BuildGraph
    -script="Engine\Build\InstalledEngineBuild.xml"
    -target="Make Installed Build Win64"
    -nosign
    -set:GameConfigurations=Development;Shipping
    -set:WithWin64=true
    -set:WithWin32=false
    -set:WithMac=false
    -set:WithAndroid=false
    -set:WithIOS=false
    -set:WithTVOS=false
    -set:WithLinux=false
    -set:WithLinuxAArch64=false
    -set:WithDDC=false
    -clean

The configuration is Win64-only with Development and Shipping game configurations, matching Vite's platform focus. WithDDC=false skips derived data cache generation, which shortens the build considerably at the cost of first-launch shader compilation for the end user.

You can also reach this through ViteSetup — step 4, binary option, or menu option 8. The ViteSetup path is incremental; RunUAT.bat as shipped passes -clean.

Output lands in LocalBuilds\Engine\Windows.

Packaging

Four scripts in LocalBuilds\ compress the staged build with 7-Zip. All expect LocalBuilds\Engine\Windows to contain the staged build, and all look for 7-Zip at C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe unless the SEVEN_ZIP environment variable points elsewhere.

Script	Debug symbols	Plugins
`CompressBuild.bat`	Excluded per `ExcludedPdbs.txt`	Single archive
`CompressBuildSeparate.bat`	Excluded per `ExcludedPdbs.txt`	Split into a second archive
`CompressBuildSymbols.bat`	Excluded per `ExcludedPdbs.txt`	Single archive
`CompressBuildSymbolsSeparate.bat`	Included	Split into a second archive

All four exclude FeaturePacks\, Samples\ and Templates\ from the main archive.

Outputs:

File	Contents
`LocalBuilds\Engine\UE_ViteFork.7z`	The engine
`LocalBuilds\Engine\ExcludedPlugins.7z`	Plugins, in the `Separate` variants only

The exclusion lists

ExcludedPdbs.txt lists roughly 1,100 PDB paths covering the engine modules and plugins. Debug symbols are a very large fraction of a source build's size, so excluding them is the single biggest packaging saving.

ExcludedPlugins.txt is the same list used by the debloat suite. In the Separate variants it splits plugins into their own archive rather than removing them — users extract the base engine and add the plugin archive only if they need it.

Why split plugins

A team where most people need the base engine and only a few need the full plugin set can distribute a much smaller primary download. The split is by archive, not by deletion, so nothing is lost.

Installing on a target machine

Install a packaged Vite build

Extract UE_ViteFork.7z to its final location. Moving it later requires re-registering.
If you were given ExcludedPlugins.7z and need those plugins, extract it over the same folder.
Run RegistryAdd.bat from the extracted root. This writes the engine path to HKCU\Software\Epic Games\Unreal Engine\Builds under the name UEViteFork.
Run MakeShortcut.bat to create UEViteFork.lnk pointing at the editor.
Right-click a .uproject, choose Switch Unreal Engine version, and select UEViteFork.

The packaged archive root contains MakeShortcut.bat, RegistryAdd.bat and RegistryRemove.bat alongside Engine\, plus FeaturePacks\, Templates\ and Samples\ if they were included at build time.

Moving or removing

Registration stores an absolute path, so moving the build breaks it.

Move an installed build

Run RegistryRemove.bat from the current location.
Move the folder.
Run RegistryAdd.bat from the new location.
Run MakeShortcut.bat again; the old shortcut points at the old path.

To remove entirely, run RegistryRemove.bat, delete the shortcut, and delete the folder.

Running alongside a source build

Both can coexist, but they register under the same UEViteFork name, so only one is registered at a time. Whichever ran RegistryAdd.bat most recently is the one projects will find.

If you regularly switch, note which is currently registered, or edit the registry key manually to give them distinct names.

Limitations

Installed builds cannot compile engine C++. Projects using them can still have their own C++ modules, which compile against the installed engine's headers and libraries, but engine source changes require a source build.

This includes compile-time switches. If your project needs VITE_RT_PSO_DEBLOAT=0 for path tracing or RTXDI, that has to be baked into the installed build at the time it is produced.

Unreal Engine Vite Help