Customizing the shared cache locations

By default, the Package Manager uses the following folder structure for its caches:

<global-cache-root>
  ├── npm
  │   └── <registry data (package metadata and tarballs)>
  ├── packages
  │   └── <uncompressed contents of package tarballs>
  └── git-lfs (if enabled)
       └── <downloaded Git LFS files>

To override the default location of the Package Manager’s global cache root, you can use either the cacheRoot property in the user configuration file or set the UPM_CACHE_ROOT environment variable.

Note: For macOS and Linux systems, consider using the configuration file strategy for macOS and Linux systems, because it can be hard to launch Unity with environment variables on those systems.

You can also set environment variables to override the registry data cache, the uncompressed packages cache, and the Git LFS cache. However, environment values and configuration file properties are not equivalent, so using different methods to configure settings can produce unexpected results.

There are many factors affecting how setting several values with different methods works together:

• If you set different values for the global cache root with both the UPM_CACHE_ROOT environment variable and the cacheRoot property, Package Manager uses the location in the UPM_CACHE_ROOT environment variable.
• If you set an environment variable for the registry data cache (UPM_NPM_CACHE_PATH), the uncompressed packages cache (UPM_CACHE_PATH), or the Git LFS cache (UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH), Package Manager uses the location specified by the environment variable, regardless of where the global cache root is.
• When you use a user configuration file, the change is applied to the current user account.
• If you enable the Git LFS cache (UPM_ENABLE_GIT_LFS_CACHE) without explicitly setting its path (UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH), Package Manager uses the git-lfs folder under the global cache root as its location.

Using a configuration file

Follow these instructions to override the location of the global cache root:

1. Locate the .upmconfig.toml user configuration file. To find the file location, see Configuration files. If the file doesn’t exist, create an empty text file.

2. Set the cacheRoot property to a custom location with an absolute path. For example:

   cacheRoot = "/dev/external/shared/Unity/cache"
   

You don’t need to restart the Unity Editor or the Hub after updating the cacheRoot property for them to take effect.

Using environment variables

You can use environment variables to configure several settings for the Package Manager. However, in order for these settings to apply, you have to launch Unity or the Hub from a terminal or command prompt where those environment variables have been defined and exported every time.

For example, you can run these commands in a macOS or Linux terminal to configure the location of the global cache root and enable the Git LFS cache:

# On macOS/Linux:
export UPM_CACHE_ROOT=/dev/ssd/shared/Unity/cache
export UPM_ENABLE_GIT_LFS_CACHE=true
echo "Launching Unity with the Git LFS cache enabled and using this global cache location: '$UPM_CACHE_ROOT'"
"/Applications/Unity Hub.app/Contents/MacOS/Unity Hub"

This Windows example configures the locations of both the global cache root and the Git LFS cache:

# On Windows:
set UPM_CACHE_ROOT=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Unity\cache
set UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH=%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\repos\caches\lfs
echo "Launching Unity with this global cache location: '%UPM_CACHE_ROOT%'"
echo "... and this Git LFS cache location: '%UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH%'"
"C:\Program Files\Unity Hub\Unity Hub.exe"

The following environment variables are available:

Configuration files

Package Manager supports two configuration files: a global configuration file and a user configuration file. Both of these files use the TOML format and they appear in different locations:

• Global configuration files apply to all users on the machine. For example, you can define additional SSL certificate authorities when setting up a proxy server for the entire machine.
• User configuration files apply to a single user. For example, you can set up authentication tokens to use for custom package registry servers that you access with scoped registries. These tokens authenticate a specific user account.

Global configuration file location

Package Manager uses a global configuration file named upmconfig.toml, which you can find here:

User configuration file location

Package Manager uses a user configuration file named .upmconfig.toml, which you can find here:

• Setting the global cache root now supported in Package Manager configuration files in Unity 2021.2 NewIn20212