Set up the ADT CLI

Last updated on October 23, 2024

Overview

The AccelByte Development Toolkit (ADT) CLI is used by build engineers to work with the ADT suite of tools. It interfaces directly with the ADT backend and can get, set, list, upload, and download most ADT features and elements. You can run the ADT CLI manually, or build it into scripts and build pipelines.

Set up the base URL

Before using the ADT CLI, ensure there is a config.ini file in the same folder as BlackBoxCLI.exe.

1. If the config.ini file is not there, create one using any text editor and add the following code:

   [url]
   base_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io

2. Save the config.ini file to the same folder as BlackBoxCLI.exe.

Check the version of the ADT CLI

To check the version of ADT CLI you're running, add the --help argument when you run it.

BlackBoxCLI.exe --help

tip

The --help argument displays other useful information about the ADT CLI, including:

BlackBox Command Line Interface tools v1.3.4
Build date: 16/09/2020 21:36
GIT Commit: 3d4ea73
Copyright 2020 AccelByte Inc.

Use subcommands

The ADT CLI has several subcommands that are explained in the table below. To use a subcommand, enter it as the first argument in your command line instruction, as follows:

BlackBoxCLI.exe <subcommand> <second argument>

The following table shows the subcommands and describes their use.

Subcommand	Description
build	Register the build ID for a newly created game build
credentials	Configure the credentials, such as the API Key
config	Configure the ADT CLI
crash-url	Manage the engine crash URL endpoint
upload	Parse the game executable file and upload filtered PDB contents to the ADT Backend
version	Manage the game version from the ADT CLI
build-channel	Build channel management for the project in the ADT Backend
game-binary	Upload or download a game binary (credentials required)

Set up your unique API Key for the BlackBox CLI

When you use the credentials subcommand, the system prompts you to set your API Key, which it uses to grant you access to ADT services. The API Key is unique to your game; it's important that you keep it secure and don't share it or send it via email or insecure channels. You use your API Key to upload .pdb files to our system and keep them private. You also need your API Key to create new game versions and manage your builds.

info

If you lose your API Key, generate a new one and propagate it throughout your ADT SDK and CLI setup. Your Admin can do this for you in the Game Settings section of the ADT Web Portal.

These steps show you how to set or get your API Key.

Set the value of the credentials

Credentials are here: C:\\User<Username>\\.blackbox\\default file. To set their value from the credential name, in this case the API Key, use this command:

BlackBoxCLI.exe credentials set <creds_name> <creds_value>

Here is an example of a command for setting the credential value.

BlackBoxCLI.exe credentials set APIKey <YOUR_API_KEY>

Get the value of a single credential

Execute this command to get the API key:

BlackBoxCLI.exe credentials get APIKey

The command returns your API Key.

[Credentials]
APIKey = YOUR_API_KEY

Get the value of all credentials

You can print the value of all credentials on screen using this command:

BlackBoxCLI.exe credentials list

The command returns your API Key.

APIKey: YOUR_API_KEY

Configure the ADT CLI

Now that your credentials are set up, the next step in the ADT CLI configuration is to input your namespace and project location. There are three ways to configure the ADT CLI:

1. Interactive subcommand
2. Environment variables
3. Inline configuration

Interactive subcommand

To configure the ADT CLI to use the interactive mode subcommand, use the following command.

BlackBoxCLI.exe config set

An interactive interface appears where you can input configuration details.

BlackBoxCLI.exe config set
New configuration file created...
namespace[]: avengers
game_engine[]: F:\UE4\UE_4.21
game_archive[]: D:\Work\SampleGame\OutputGithubSource\WindowsNoEditor
game_server_archive[]: D:\Work\SampleGame\OutputGithubSource\WindowsServer
game_project[]: D:\Work\SampleGame

If you don't want to use the interactive mode, you can set the configuration using a single command line, as shown below.

Single command line

Input the details of the credentials for the ADT CLI. See below for the credentials and their descriptions.

Credential	Description
namespace	The namespace for the game
game\_engine	Game engine root path, the location of GenerateProjectFiles.bat and UE4.sln or UE5.sln
game\_archive	The location of a packaged game's executable file
game\_server\_archive	The location of a packaged server game's executable file
game\_project	The game project root folder that contains the .uproject file

Here is an example, using ADT CLI credentials:

BlackBoxCLI.exe config set game_engine "F:\UE4\UE_4.21"
BlackBoxCLI.exe config set game_archive "D:\Projects\AccelByte\justice-crashreporter-accelmania_baked"

Get a single configuration value

Execute this command to get the configuration value from the configuration name:

BlackBoxCLI.exe config get <config_name>

Here is an example of the command to get a single value from a configuration named game_archive:

BlackBoxCLI.exe config get game_archive

The command would return the game_archive path as follows:

[Path]
game_archive = D:\Projects\AccelByte\justice-crashreporter-accelmania_baked

Single command examples

You can set or get a configuration with the following commands:

caution

Configuration variables are case sensitive.

BlackBoxCLI config set game_engine <value>
BlackBoxCLI config set game_archive <value>
BlackBoxCLI config set game_server_archive <value>
BlackBoxCLI config set game_project <value>
BlackBoxCLI config set namespace <value>


BlackBoxCLI config get game_engine
BlackBoxCLI config get game_archive
BlackBoxCLI config get game_server_archive
BlackBoxCLI config get game_project
BlackBoxCLI config get namespace

List all configuration values for your project

You can get all of the configuration values and show them on the screen by executing this command:

BlackBoxCLI.exe config list

The command returns text similar to this:

[Config]
namespace = mygamenamespace
[BaseURL]
profiling_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io/profiling
iam_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io/iam
symbol_service_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io/symbol
data_service_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io/data


[Path]
game_engine = D:\UE4\UE_4.25
game_archive = D:\Work\SampleGame\OuputGithubSource\WindowsNoEditor
game_server_archive = D:\Work\SampleGame\OuputGithubSource\WindowsServer
game_project = D:\Work\SampleGame

Inline configuration

You can use the BlackBox CLI without setting the configuration value upfront. To do so, enter the configuration variables with the main command. See the configuration options below.

Command	Description
\-a, --apikey	Set the API Key
\-n, --namespace	Set the namespace
\-p, --game-project	Set the game project path
\-e, --game-engine	Set the game engine path
\-r, --game-archive	Set the packaged game path
\--game-server-archive	Set the packaged server game path

Example

BlackBoxCLI.exe upload --namespace MyAwesomeNamespace --game-project D:\MyProjects\MyAwesomeGame --game-engine D:\GameEngine\UE4-425 --game-archive D:\MyProjects\MyAwesomeGame\ClientBuild\WindowsNoEditor --apikey <your API key>

Configuration file

The configuration details are in the config.ini file, which the ADT CLI config file generates. The config.ini file is in the same folder as the ADT CLI executable.

[url]
base_url = <Blackbox Base URL>

[Config]
namespace = <Your Namespace>

[Path]
game_engine = <The location of game engine>
game_archive = <The location of your game's packaged build>
game_server_archive = <The location of the packaged server build of your game>
game_project = <The root folder of your game project>

Here is an example after you have run the ADT CLI config command.

[url]
base_url = https://blackbox.accelbyte.io

[Config]
namespace = myawesomegame

[Path]
game_engine = F:\UE4\UE_4.21
game_archive = D:\Work\SampleGame\OutputGithubSource\WindowsNoEditor
game_server_archive = D:\Work\SampleGame\OutputGithubSource\WindowsServer
game_project = D:\Work\SampleGame

info

When you run commands with inline configuration, this doesn't create or modify the config.ini file. However, those commands will take precedence over the ones in the config.ini file.

Terms in the configuration file

Here are the terms we use for configuration names in the config.ini file.

Game engine

This is the root directory of Unreal Engine. For example, if you install the Unreal Engine in C:\\Program Files\\UE4\\UE\_4.21 the game_engine value should be C:\Program Files\UE4\UE_4.21.

[Path]
game_engine = C:\Program Files\UE4\UE_4.21

Game archive directory

This is the directory of the packaged game. Typically, the directory structure is <path to packaged builds>/<platform name>. For example, if you set the packaged build path to E:\Project\Output for Windows, the game archive is E:\Project\Output\WindowsNoEditor. The game archive is the directory where the packaged game executable resides.

Game project directory

The game project is the directory where the .uproject file resides.

+-- Config
    +-- DefaultEditor.ini
    +-- DefaultEditorPerProjectUserSettings.ini
    +-- DefaultEngine.ini
    +-- DefaultGame.ini
    +-- DefaultInput.ini
+-- Content
+-- Plugins
+-- Source
+-- MyAwesomeGame.sln
+-- MyAwesomeGame.uproject

info

If your game_project is in D:\GameProjects\MyAwesomeGame make sure the .uproject file is in the same directory. The ADT CLI finds [/Script/BlackBoxSDK.BlackBoxSettings] in the Config/DefaultEngine.ini and reads the configuration values.

Engine name

The ADT CLI operates differently with each game engine. When you enter a game engine's name, this dictates the mode the ADT CLI operates in.

[base]
engine_name = ue4

Valid values for engine_name are: ue4, ue5 and unity

Set up the Unreal Crash Report URL

info

You can only use this command on Windows and Linux platforms.

Refer to Manage Unreal's Crash Report Client URL for more information.