View source for Installing Custom Content On Your Server

== Installing From Source ==
You will need a server dedicated to building bins from loose .def files, see [[Server Setup for Making Bins]] for setting one up and generating your base files.

:1. Merge any changes from the modified .defs for the content you want to install into your existing .def files.
::* Use of a version control system, such as Git, to manage changes is strongly recommended.
::* If this is the first time custom content is being installed on your server, you should be okay to extract the .defs to the appropriate directories in {{ms|localdata}} and update your bins.
:2. Update your client and server bins as per [[Server Setup for Making Bins]].
:3. Shutdown your production (live) server, and copy the modified bins from the {{ms|data\bin}} and {{ms|data\server\bin}} directories of your build server to the corresponding directories on your production server.
:4. Open a command prompt, or create a shortcut and run {{ms|mapserver.exe -productionmode -templates}} on your live server to rebuild your templates.
:5. Start your server and distribute clientside files as necessary to your players.

=== Example Installation From Source ===
You download a mod that adds new items to Reward Merit vendors. You place the source .def (in this case, Merits.recipe) into {{ms|localdata\Defs\Invention}} and then update your client and server bins. You shut down your server, copy those bins (in this case, baserecipes.bin) to {{ms|data\bin}} and {{ms|data\server\bin}}, overwriting the existing bins, and then run {{ms|mapserver.exe -productionmode -templates}}. Finally, you distribute the client bin to your players via direct download or with a manifest, and then start your server.

== Installing Prebuilt Files ==
You will need to ensure that the content you are installing does not conflict with any existing custom content you already have installed on your server; you will lose the functionality of existing files otherwise. If any of the bins for the content you're installing share the same name as any existing bins that you have either built from .defs or installed from other sources, the older files will break unless you acquire the source .defs, merge the necessary changes, and build the bins as outlined above.

:1. Shutdown your server, and add the custom bins, placing client bins in {{ms|data\bin}} and server bins in {{ms|data\server\bin}}.
::* If installing custom piggs, place both the client and server piggs into the {{ms|piggs}} directory on your production server, and delete any conflicting bins contained in those piggs from {{ms|data\bin}} and {{ms|data\server\bin}}. If the loose bins are still present when you rebuild your templates in the next step, your server will disregard the piggs and the installation will fail.
:2. Open a command prompt, or create a shortcut and run {{ms|mapserver.exe -productionmode -templates}} on your live server to rebuild your templates.
:3. Start your server and distribute clientside files as necessary to your players.

=== Example Installation From Prebuilt Piggs ===
You download a mod that adds new items to Reward Merit vendors. You shutdown your server, and then place the client and server piggs in the {{ms|piggs}} directory of your server. You delete conflicting bins (in this case baserecipes.bin) from {{ms|data\bin}} and {{ms|data\server\bin}}, and then run {{ms|mapserver.exe -productionmode -templates}}. Finally, you distribute the client pigg to your players via direct download or with a manifest, and then start your server.