Unity Build Server

Unity Build Server is not an actual server or server farm. It’s a floating licensing model to offload project builds to on-prem network hardware so teams can iterate faster.

Large projects might take hours to build. Using Build Server prevents the need to use a developer’s primary workstation to build, so iteration can continue.

It also lets more team members request builds at their own pace, when they need them, so there is no waiting for a nightly build to see if something got fixed, test a gameplay idea, or verify that the new build works properly on a different target platform.

No, despite its name, Unity Build Server is not a server, nor is it a physical machine with hardware and software requirements. Build Server is a floating licensing deployment of headless entitlements of the Unity Editor meant to help you scale your CI/CD pipeline. It uses an on-premises license server to deploy the licenses to build machines in your environment.

Unity Build Server licensing is managed through a locally installed license server on your studio network. The license server can be managed directly through the Unity ID portal. Build Server runs Unity in batchmode through a command line interface and can only be used to generate builds, not to author project content.

Getting started with Build Server is divided into two parts. First, you must set up the server. Take the course on Unity Learn, or follow the detailed setup documentation:

• Unity Floating License Quickstart Guide
• Unity Licensing Server Manual

After the server is properly set up, you will need to provision and set up the Build Server licenses. If you need help or have questions, contact us.

20 Unity Enterprise seats come with 10 Unity Build Server licenses, and five additional Build Server licenses are included with every 20 additional Enterprise or Industry seats, up to a maximum of 30 Build Server licenses. Additional Unity Build Server licenses are available for purchase.

Build server offers floating licenses only.

No, Unity Build Server license is not required to build Unity projects. Anyone using Unity can build their projects. Unity Build Server is a more cost-effective way for creative studios to offload the computational requirements of building projects to network hardware, freeing up developer workstations and enabling higher levels of productivity.

Unity Build Server is available for Unity Pro, Enterprise, and Industry subscribers. It is not available with Unity Personal.

Unity Build Server requires Unity 2019.4.3 LTS or later.

Users looking to compile their projects typically have two options: build locally/on-prem, or build in the cloud via a managed service.

Unity DevOps Build Automation (formerly called Cloud Build) is our managed solution to compile builds in the cloud. Build Server is a licensing solution meant to scale on-prem build capacity. At a high level, if you are looking to build in the cloud, Build Automation is the recommended solution. If you are looking to scale your on-prem build capacity, Build Server is the recommended solution. There are other factors that may determine whether one solution is more suited to your needs. Contact us to discuss specific project requirements.

Yes, customers can generate project builds with their regular Unity Pro licenses. Doing so requires the full attention of the Unity Editor, rendering it unavailable for continued development work. This is why studios choose to dedicate specific computers to be their “build machines,” and why solutions like Unity Build Server are appealing.