TUI tool to download, install, and update your DCS liveries from DCS User Files.
DCS Livery Manager on DCS User Files
DCS Livery Manager on the Eagle Dynamics forums
Installing liveries for DCS isn't the most streamlined experience as the livery files can come in various forms of archive file types, may have some form of folder hierarchy or none at all, and can contain multiple liveries! The DCS Liveries Manager (DCSLM) aims to make that same experience as simple as possible.
DCSLM is setup to handle multiple archive types (see pre-requisites), and any sort of folder hierarchy contained within, all from the DCS User Files URL or ID! DCSLM also works with a locally downloaded archive (make sure to put the path in quotes). DCSLM will register the livery and allows you to check for updated versions of the same livery uploaded to DCS User Files.
DCSLM relies on the patool library, which in turn relies on the installed archive programs you have on your computer. It's highly recommended you install 7-Zip as it's a free, open-source program that can handle any archive you will encounter on DCS User Files. You must make sure the 7z install directory is on your path for it to work correctly. DCSLM will notify you on launch if it cannot find 7z on the path.
Your antivirus software may flag DCSLM.exe and attempt to remove it due to it being an unsigned and untrusted executable. Very understandable! You may need to add an exception to stop that from happening. I promise nothing funky is going on in this program, check the source code!
DCSLM is packaged as a single Windows EXE that needs to be placed in the proper directory depending on your setup:
- Place DCSLM.exe in your DCS Saved Games directory (i.e. C:\Users\sneep\Saved Games\DCS)
- For use with a mod manager, like OVGME or JSGME, you should place DCSLM.exe in the folder that is configured to be installed to your DCS Saved Games directory. You must make sure to enable Mod Manager Mode when you first run DCSLM.
- Do NOT place it in your core DCS install directory.
Installing liveries is as simple as running the install command with any number of DCS User Files URLs or IDs:
install https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3312290/ 3313120 digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313122/ "C:\Users\sneep\Downloads\420th_Blazers.zip"
dcslm_install.mp4
There are many commands available in DCSLM. Here are quick explanations of each command and how they are used. For more complete instructions, argument explanations, and usage you can use the help command within DCSLM.
The install command takes any number of DCS User Files URLs or IDs (taken from the last part of the URL), or the path to the archive locally, and attempts to install those liveries. You will be prompted to select which units to install to when there are multiple choices available (i.e. A-10, F-14). When installing a livery in the Other category, DCSLM will attempt to use the tags to attempt to match a unit, and if it can't, you will be prompted to choose one. These tags are defined in the unit files (see units command below).
The uninstall command takes any number of installed livery IDs and will remove the files and directories from disk.
The info command displays information about the given livery, such as its DCS User Files info, the unit it's installed to, the names of the liveries installed, and the file paths of the directories created.
The list command displays all installed liveries, what units they're installed to, and their size on disk (including if they've been optimized).
The check command will go through every installed livery and see if there is a new version uploaded to DCS User Files. The status of each livery will be displayed in a table at the end of the check process.
update is like check but will download the liveries that have an update available. This is done by re-installing the livery, so you will be given any applicable choice prompts again and if you optimized the livery previously you will need to run the optimize command on them again.
The optimize command is useful when installing a livery with multiple liveries contained within. It will attempt to find shared files and will edit the description.lua to correct the filepaths for the different parts. This can be useful for reducing the amount of disk space used when you have many liveries installed.
The scan command can be used to search your Liveries folder for existing .dcslm files to detect installed liveries that are missing from your installed list. This can be useful if your dcslm.json saved settings file gets removed or corrupted.
The units command displays all the recognized units by DCSLM, and when given a specific unit displays their configuration. By default, these are all the aircraft units selectable on the DCS User Files website. You can use the units command to export those default units to modify their settings. DCSLM is setup to import any units defined by .json files in the /DCSLM/units/ directories.
The config command can display, reload, or export, the settings for configurable DCSLM systems, such as the DCS User Files Parser. This allows the user to make various changes to some of the DCSLM settings.
The upgrade command will download and replace the current DCSLM.exe program if there is a newer version available on GitHub.com or DCS User Files.
The help command displays more information for every command available in DCSLM, such as their arguments, flags, usage, as well as descriptions for those.
exit cleanly exits the DCSLM program.
Any issues you find, or liveries that fail to install from DCS User Files, can be reported to the issues panel on the DCS Livery Manager GitHub site. You can also post in the DCS Livery Manager thread on the Eagle Dynamics forum.
DCSLM relies on writing a .dcslm file alongside every livery installed through the application. This has important information such as the DCS User Files data, what liveries were installed, and where they were installed. While these files can be found with the scan function if your DCSLM registered livery database is missing, scan will ignore livery folders that do not have them. You will need to install those liveries through DCSLM, which will overwrite the existing livery files you had installed and create the .dcslm files.