dfhack/docs/Installing.rst

.. _installing:

=================
Installing DFHack
=================

.. contents::
    :local:

Requirements
============

DFHack supports all operating systems and platforms that Dwarf Fortress itself
supports, which at the moment is just 64-bit Windows. However, the Windows
build of DFHack works well under ``wine`` (or ``Proton``, Steam's fork of
``wine``) on other operating systems.

.. _installing-df-version:

DFHack releases generally only support the version of Dwarf Fortress that they
are named after. For example, DFHack 50.05 only supported DF 50.05. DFHack
releases *never* support newer versions of DF -- DFHack requires data about DF
that is only possible to obtain after DF has been released. Occasionally,
DFHack releases will be able to maintain support for older versions of DF - for
example, DFHack 0.34.11-r5 supported both DF 0.34.11 and 0.34.10. For maximum
stability, you should usually use the latest versions of both DF and DFHack.

.. _downloading:

Downloading DFHack
==================

Stable builds of DFHack are available on
`Steam <https://store.steampowered.com/app/2346660/DFHack__Dwarf_Fortress_Modding_Engine/>`__
or from our `GitHub <https://github.com/dfhack/dfhack/releases>`__. Either
location will give you exactly the same package.

On Steam, note that DFHack is a separate app, not a DF Steam Workshop mod. You
can run DF with DFHack by launching either the DFHack app or the original Dwarf
Fortress app.

If you download from GitHub, downloads are available at the bottom of the
release notes for each release, under a section named "Assets" (which you may
have to expand). The name of the file indicates which DF version, platform, and
architecture the build supports - the platform and architecture (64-bit or
32-bit) **must** match your build of DF. The DF version should also match your
DF version - see `above <installing-df-version>` for details. For example:

* ``dfhack-50.07-r1-Windows-64bit.zip`` supports 64-bit DF on Windows

In between stable releases, we may create beta releases to test new features.
These are available via the beta release channel on Steam or from our regular
Github page as a pre-release tagged with a "beta" suffix.

.. warning::

    Do *not* download the source code from GitHub, either from the releases page
    or by clicking "Download ZIP" on the repo homepage. This will give you an
    incomplete copy of the DFHack source code, which will not work as-is. (If
    you want to compile DFHack instead of using a pre-built release, see
    `building-dfhack-index` for instructions.)

Installing DFHack
=================

If you are installing from Steam, this is handled for you automatically. The
instructions here are for manual installs.

When you `download DFHack <downloading>`, you will end up with a release archive
(a ``.zip`` file on Windows, or a ``.tar.bz2`` file on other platforms). Your
operating system should have built-in utilities capable of extracting files from
these archives.

The release archives contain a ``hack`` folder where DFHack binary and system
data is stored, a ``stonesense`` folder that contains data specific to the
`stonesense` 3d renderer, and various libraries and executable files. To
install DFHack, copy all of the files from the DFHack archive into the root DF
folder, which should already include a ``data`` folder and a ``save`` folder,
among other things. Some redistributions of Dwarf Fortress may place DF in
another folder, so ensure that the ``hack`` folder ends up next to the ``data``
folder, and you'll be fine.

.. note::

    On Windows, installing DFHack will overwrite ``SDL.dll``. This is
    intentional and necessary for DFHack to work, so be sure to choose to
    overwrite ``SDL.dll`` if prompted. (If you are not prompted, you may be
    installing DFHack in the wrong place.)

Uninstalling DFHack
===================

Manually uninstalling DFHack essentially involves reversing what you did to
install. On Windows, replace ``SDL.dll`` with ``SDLreal.dll`` first. Then, you
can remove any files that were part of the DFHack archive. DFHack does not
currently maintain a list of these files, so if you want to completely remove
them, you should consult the DFHack archive that you installed for a full list.
Generally, any files left behind should not negatively affect DF.

On Steam, uninstalling DFHack will cleanly remove everything that was installed
with DFHack, **including** the ``SDL.dll`` file, which will render Dwarf
Fortress inoperative. In your Steam client, open the properties window for
Dwarf Fortress, select "Local Files", and click on "Verify integrity of game
files...". This will get Dwarf Fortress working properly again.

Note that Steam will leave behind the ``dfhack-config`` folder, which contains
all your personal DFHack-related settings and data. If you keep this folder,
all your settings will be restored when you reinstall DFHack later.

Upgrading DFHack
================

Again, if you have installed from Steam, your copy of DFHack will automatically be kept up to date. This section is for manual installers.

First, remove the ``hack`` and ``stonesense`` folders in their entirety. This
ensures that files that don't exist in the latest version are properly removed
and don't affect your new installation.

Then, extract the DFHack release archive into your Dwarf Fortress folder,
overwriting any remaining top-level files (including SDL.dll).