Viewer parameters
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For versions of Second Life prior 1.20 see: Pre 1.20 Client parameters
Using Viewer parameters
There are many ways of passing command line parameters to the Viewer.
Command line
On all platforms, when running the Viewer from a command shell you may specify parameters directly on the command line. For example:
SecondLife.exe --channel "Test 123" --settings settings_workspace.xml --set InstallLanguage en
Settings Files
On all platforms, you can also construct a settings file and specify that with the --sessionsettings command line switch. Please see the table below to understand the settings variables engaged by each command-line switch.
If you edit the user_settings/settings.xml file, that affects future Second Life sessions initiated from your OS account.
Alternatively, you can edit the first_last/settings.xml file, which affects only Second Life sessions for that login user. For example, if your Second Life name is "FooBar Baz", you should find that file in foobar_baz/settings.xml. (Caution: this file uses a different XML format than the other settings files.)
Mac OS X AppleScripts
An alternative (and often easier) way to launch Second Life with command line parameters is to use an AppleScript.
Follow these steps:
- In
/Applications/AppleScriptopen Script Editor. - Open a new document and paste the following text into it:
do shell script "\"/Applications/Second Life.app/Contents/MacOS/Second Life\" -grid Aditi"
The script includes an example parameter that will cause the Viewer to log in to the beta grid; change the parameters as desired.
- Once you're happy with the parameters, click "Compile"
- Choose File > Save As
- Save the script as an Application, and select "Run Only" (may be "Execute" on OS X.4 Tiger). If you want to tweak the script then you can save it as not run-only, and/or save a copy as "Script".
Double-click the application you've compiled to launch the Viewer with the specified parameters.
NOTE: If the Viewer launches then immediately quits, open it normally since there is likely an update available: download it and your script will work again. There is a JIRA issue for this.
Visual Studio
In Visual Studio, the command line paramaters are in the Debug Options pane of the newview project preferences. Ensure newview is your startup project, and launch the compiled viewer from within the debugger for these options to take effect.
XCode
In XCode, first select "newview" under the "Executables" group in XCode. Then open the "Get Info" dialog and click the "Arguments" tab. Add any of the following options to the "Arguments to be passed on launch" pane.
Parameter reference
NOTE: A parameter refers to a directive provided on the command-line following a double-dash (--).
An argument is a value provided for a parameter. For example in --port 13001, "port" is the parameter
and "13001" is the argument.
| Parameter | Argument (if any) | Description | Overridden Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| --analyzeperformance | None | Compare gathered metrics with baseline. Must be used with --logmetrics or --logperformance. | AnalyzePerformance |
| --autologin | None | Login in as last saved user. | AutoLogin |
| --channel <name> | Channel name | Specify version channel name. (For Testing) | CmdLineChannel |
| --console <show> | TRUE or FALSE | Show a debugging console (Windows only) | ShowConsoleWindow |
| --cooperative <ms to yield> | Milliseconds to yield per frame | Yield specified time to host on each frame. | YieldTime |
| --crashonstartup | None | Crashes on startup. For debugging. | CrashOnStartup |
| --debugsession | None | Run as if RenderDebugGL is TRUE, but log errors until end of session. | DebugSession |
| --debugviews | None | Enable UI view debugging information. | DebugViews |
| --disablecrashlogger | None | Disables the crash logger and lets the OS handle crashes. | DisableCrashLogger |
| --drop <percentage> | Percentage to drop (0 - 100) | Specify a percentage of packets to drop. | PacketDropPercentage |
| --god | None | Login in god mode if you are authorized. | ConnectAsGod |
| --graphicslevel | integer level | override the level that would be selected based on your gpu | RenderQualityPerformance |
| --grid <grid name> | Grid name | Specify the grid to connect to. Must specify either a hard-coded grid (agni or aditi), or one defined in grids.xml | CmdLineGridChoice |
| --help | None | Show a message box with available options listed. | N/A |
| --helperuri <URI> | Obsolete- no longer supported. May only be set in the grid definition (grids.xml) | ||
| --ignorepixeldepth | None | Ignore pixel depth settings. | IgnorePixelDepth |
| --inbw <bits> | Bits per second | Specify input bandwidth limit. | InBandwidth |
| --loginpage <URL> | Obsolete- no longer supported. May only be set in the grid definition (grids.xml) | ||
| --loginuri <URI> | Obsolete- no longer supported. May only be set in the grid definition (grids.xml) | ||
| --logfile <filename> | File name | Specify a file name for log output. | UserLogFile |
| --login <firstname> <lastname> <password> | Account first name, last name, and password with which to log in. | Specify login values. | UserLoginInfo |
| --logmetrics | MetricName | Log metrics data in MetricName.slp. See Performance Testers for details. | LogMetrics |
| --logperformance | None | Log performance data in performance.slp. See Performance Testers for details. | LogPerformance |
| --multiple | None | Allow multiple viewers running concurrently. | AllowMultipleViewers |
| --no-verify-ssl-cert | None | Disable SSL certificate verification. | NoVerifySSLCert |
| --noaudio | None | Disable sound from the client. | NoAudio |
| --noinvlib | None | Do not request inventory library. | NoInventoryLibrary |
| --nopreload | None | Disable precaching of sound and bitmaps used by the client. | NoPreload |
| --noprobe | None | Disable hardware checking at startup. | NoHardwareProbe |
| --noquicktime | None | Disable use of quicktime by the client. | NoQuickTime |
| --nosound | None | Disable sound from the client. | NoAudio |
| --novoice | None | Disable voice chat. | CmdLineDisableVoice |
| --outbw <bits> | Bits per second | Specify output bandwidth limit. | OutBandwidth |
| --port <n> | Port number | Set the TCP port for the client; useful to run multiple instances of SL on the same local home network. Values that may work: 13000 and 13001 (Valid numbers are 13000 to 13050) | UserConnectionPort |
| --purge | None | Force the client to clear cached downloads during startup. | PurgeCacheOnNextStartup |
| --qa | None | Enable UI features for used for testing. | QAMode |
| --quitafter <secs> | Number of seconds to wait before quitting | Have the client quit after the specified duration. | QuitAfterSeconds |
| --replaysession | None | Use a saved autoplay file to perform viewer actions automatically. Must be used with --autologin. | ReplaySession |
| --rotate | None | Force the avatar to rotate to the right. (For Testing) | RotateRight |
| --safe | None | Reset preferences and run in safe mode. | SafeMode |
| --sessionsettings <filename> | name of a file in app_settings | Use settings_minimal.xml to force Basic mode on login, an invalid name like none to force Advanced mode. Note that currently (2.6) the login screen mode menu will show "Basic" if this setting appears at all, but the command line setting will still override on actual login. | |
| --set <parameter> <value> | First argument is the name of setting; second is the value to assign to it. | Specify the value of the named setting (view a full list here). | Maps to <setting> arg. |
| --setdefault <parameter> <value> | First argument is the name of setting; second is the value to assign to it. | Specify the value of a particular configuration variable which can be overridden by settings.xml. | Maps to <setting> arg. |
| --settings <filename> | Local file name | Specify the name of the user settings file. | |
| --skin <folder> | Folder name | Specify the skin folder to use. (eg. korean, spanish) | SkinCurrent |
| --slurl <SLurl> | SLurl | Specify the starting region and position (for example, secondlife://Ahern/128/128).
This must be the last parameter on the command line. |
CmdLineLoginLocation |
| --update-service <url> | base url for the viewer version manager update query | Specify the viewer version manager service to use (primarily for upgrade testing) | CmdLineUpdateService |
| --url <SLurl> | SLurl | Specify the starting region and position (for example, secondlife://Ahern/128/128).
This must be the last parameter on the command line. |
CmdLineLoginLocation |
| --usersessionsettings <filename> | name of a file in app_settings | Specify the filename of a configuration file that contains temporary per-session configuration user overrides. |
Specifying new command line parameters
To add a new command line parameter, use the configuration file app_settings/cmd_line.xml to map a command line paramter to a user setting. A parameter can have the following options:
- desc - A description of the paramter.
- short - a single character to map to the paramter.
- count - the number of tokens to follow a option.
- compose - true if the option can be specified multiple times.
- positional - true if the option can be specified without --name.
- last_option - true if the option should be the last option.
- map-to - specify a user setting to map the option to.
The file uses LLSD syntax. Use the existing options as reference.
Examples
Setting a Custom Cache Location
To set a custom cache location when launching Second Life, you should use the set parameter with a value of NewCacheLocation followed by the desired cache folder to use. This will tell Second Life to startup using this location as a new cache location.
NOTE: This may clear any existing cache folder that it has been using, to prevent this you can also the CacheLocation setting to the same value, which will preserve any cache folder saved in your viewer settings. This allows you to, use two different shortcuts in order to launch two different Second Life accounts, each with their own separate cache folder, allowing each to have a fully cached home location, for example. Or, a more complex case, a shortcut could create a temporary RAM disk for use as a cache folder, and set this value for Second Life to use, taking advantage of a RAM disk's speed, before saving the contents to disk afterwards.