Engine Commands

ue4 build-target

Build the specified target using UBT.

Usage syntax:

ue4 build-target <TARGET> [CONFIGURATION] [EXTRA UBT ARGS]

Description:

This command invokes UBT to directly build arbitrary targets. Unlike the ue4 build command, these targets are not scoped to a project or plugin descriptor, so this is primarily useful for building Engine tools and programs when working with a source build of the Unreal Engine.

The first parameter specifies the target to build (e.g. UE4Editor, ShaderCompileWorker, UnrealFrontend) and is required.

The second parameter optionally specifies the build configuration to build, which can be any of the valid Unreal Engine build configuration states:

  • Debug
  • DebugGame
  • Development
  • Shipping
  • Test

If no build configuration is explicitly specified then the Development configuration will be built by default.

Examples:

# Build the Unreal Editor using the default Development configuration
# (Works for source builds of the Engine and is a no-op in Installed Builds)
ue4 build-target UE4Editor

# Build the Unreal Editor, explicitly using the Development configuration
# (Works for source builds of the Engine and is a no-op in Installed Builds)
ue4 build-target UE4Editor Development

# Build the ShaderCompileWorker tool using the Shipping configuration
# (Works for source builds of the Engine and fails in Installed Builds because the target doesn't exist)
ue4 build-target ShaderCompileWorker Shipping