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How do I build my Unity Project in Batchmode Locally?

Updated

The article explains troubleshooting Unity Build Automation failures that don't occur locally by testing builds in batch mode, matching the automation environment. It advises deleting the Library folder or using a fresh source checkout to mimic build server behavior. It provides Windows and Mac command-line examples to run batch builds, including optional test flags. A sample build script template is included, and users are directed to Unity's documentation for full command-line options.

Symptoms

My game builds fine locally, but it fails in Unity Build Automation. I need to do a batchmode build test.

 

Causes

There could be a number of reasons why project builds fail only in Unity Build Automation while they work fine locally. First, we need to ensure the same problem does not reproduce in the local batch mode environment because Unity Build Automation runs all builds in batch mode, not via the Unity Editor's UI interface.

 

Resolution

First, you need to either delete the Library folder or check out the source code into a new fresh folder, forcing packages to be re-downloaded. This is to simulate our build server's behavior that checks out the source code on every build.

Here's a Windows and Mac version of the same command. Note that several of these flags are not required. If you do not want to run Unit Tests, you can skip the flags such as the -testPlatform, -testResults, and -runTests.  Furthermore, the directories provided are the default installation folders for the Editor, please adjust them according to the correct path on your local machine.

 

Windows CMD Console:

"C:\Program Files\Unity\Hub\Editor\{UNITY_VERSION}\Editor\unity.exe" -batchMode -skipMissingProjectID -skipMissingUPID -buildTarget {BUILD_TARGET} -logFile C:\{SOME_PATH}\log.txt -projectPath C:\{PROJECT_PATH} -executeMethod {CLASS_AND_STATIC_METHOD_NAME_OF_BUILD_SCRIPT} -quit

 

Mac Terminal:

/Applications/Unity/Hub/Editor/{UNITY_VERSION}/Unity.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity -batchMode -skipMissingProjectID -skipMissingUPID -buildTarget {BUILD_TARGET} -logFile /Users/{SOME_PATH}/log.txt -projectPath /Users/{PROJECT_PATH} -executeMethod {CLASS_AND_STATIC_METHOD_NAME_OF_BUILD_SCRIPT} -quit
 
If you'd like to also run tests, you can add the following tags:
-runTests
-testPlatform {PLATFORM} // playmode or editmode
-testResults {FILE_PATH_AND_FILE_NAME}.xml
 
Place your build script containing the static method that performs the build inside the editor folder.
If you don't have an editor folder yet, create one.
 
Here is a template build script for your reference:
using UnityEditor;
class MyEditorScript
{
   static void PerformBuild ()
   {
       BuildPlayerOptions buildPlayerOptions = new BuildPlayerOptions();
       buildPlayerOptions.scenes = new[] {"Assets/Scenes/MyScene.unity", ...};
       buildPlayerOptions.target = BuildTarget.iOS; // More details on BuildTarget doc
       buildPlayerOptions.options = BuildOptions.None;
       buildPlayerOptions.locationPathName = "iOSBuild";
       BuildPipeline.BuildPlayer(buildPlayerOptions);
   }
}

 

More Information

To learn about all the flags available when running Unity via the command line, please check out our documentation on the Editor's Command-Line Arguments.

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