umu(1) General Commands Manual umu(1)

umu-run - Unified Launcher for Windows Games on Linux

umu-run [FILE]

umu-run [FILE [ARG...]]

umu-run [winetricks [ARG...]]

umu-run --config [FILE]

umu-run --help

winetricks

Run winetricks[1] verbs (Requires GE-Proton or UMU-Proton).

See winetricks(1) for more info or below for an example.

-h, --help

Show this help message.

--config <config>

Path to TOML configuration file (Requires Python 3.11+).

See umu(5) for more info and examples.

The Unified Launcher for Windows Games on Linux (umu) was created to make Valve's Proton[2] and the protonfixes[3] project accessible outside the Steam client, providing a standardized way for other clients (e.g., Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher, Bottles, or Rare) to run games via Proton and configure WINE prefixes.

As a result, clients:

  • No longer require Steam or Steam binaries to be installed
  • Can contribute and automatically benefit from protonfixes
  • Can run games through Proton as it were a native Steam game
  • Can reference a unified online database of game fixes (protonfixes)

You can run umu directly from a terminal emulator, or through your launcher of choice if supported.

Example 1. Run a game

$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine PROTONPATH=~/GE-Proton9-4 umu-run foo.exe

Example 2. Run a game and apply a specific protonfix

# Applies the Star Citizen fix to the current WINE prefix
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine GAMEID=umu-starcitizen PROTONPATH=~/GE-Proton9-4 umu-run foo.exe

Example 3. Run a game via a configuration file

# config.toml
[umu]
prefix = "~/.wine"
proton = "~/GE-Proton30"
game_id = "0"
exe = "~/foo.exe"
launch_args = ["-opengl", "-SkipBuildPatchPrereq"]
store = "gog"
$ umu-run --config config.toml

Example 4. Create a umu WINE prefix

$ WINEPREFIX=~/foo PROTONPATH=~/GE-Proton9-4 umu-run ""

Example 5. Run a game and automatically set Proton

# Uses the latest UMU-Proton and automatically removes old UMU-Proton builds
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine umu-run foo.exe

Example 6. Run a game, automatically set Proton, and create a WINE prefix

# Creates the prefix as $HOME/Games/umu/umu-default and uses the latest UMU-Proton
$ umu-run foo.exe

Example 7. Run a game and explicitly set a valid Proton verb

$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine GAMEID=0 PROTONPATH=~/GE-Proton9-4 PROTON_VERB=waitforexitandrun umu-run foo.exe

Example 8. Run a game and enable debug logs

$ UMU_LOG=debug WINEPREFIX=~/.wine PROTONPATH=~/GE-Proton9-4 umu-run foo.exe

Example 9. Run a game and set a Proton by its version name

# Checks for GE-Proton9-1 at $HOME/.local/share/Steam/compatibilitytools.d
$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine PROTONPATH=GE-Proton9-1 umu-run foo.exe

Example 10. Run a game and automatically use the latest GE-Proton

$ WINEPREFIX=~/.wine PROTONPATH=GE-Proton umu-run foo.exe

Example 11. Run winetricks verbs

$ PROTONPATH=GE-Proton umu-run winetricks quartz wmp11 qasf

Example 12. Run a game, but do not apply protonfixes

$ GAMEID=umu-genshin PROTONPATH=GE-Proton PROTONFIXES_DISABLE=1 umu-run foo.exe

GAMEID

Optional. Can be an arbitrary value or a valid id in the umu-database[4]. If unset, defaults to umu-default (does not apply any fixes automatically).

PROTONPATH

Optional. Path to a Proton directory, version name (e.g., GE-Proton9-5) or codename (e.g., GE-Proton).

Otherwise, defaults to using UMU-Proton.

Valid codenames include: GE-Proton

WINEPREFIX

Optional. Path to a WINE prefix directory. Otherwise, defaults to $HOME/Games/umu/$GAMEID. If no GAMEID is set, defaults to $HOME/Games/umu/umu-default.

UMU_LOG

Optional. Enables debug logs for the launcher.

Set 1 to enable all logs.

STORE

Optional. Can be an arbitrary value or a valid store id in the umu-database.

PROTON_VERB

Optional. Must be a valid Proton verb. Otherwise, defaults to waitforexitandrun.

UMU_RUNTIME_UPDATE

Optional. Disables automatic updates to the Steam Linux Runtime[5].

Set 0 to disable updates.

UMU_NO_PROTON

Optional. Runs the executable natively within the Steam Linux Runtime. Intended for native Linux games.

Set 1 to run the executable natively within the SLR.

UMU_HTTP_TIMEOUT

Optional. Sets the timeout, in seconds, for each HTTP request. Otherwise, defaults to 5.

Set 0 to disable timeouts for HTTP requests. Set a positive integer to override the default.

UMU_HTTP_RETRIES

Optional. Number of times to retry possibly spurious network errors. Otherwise, defaults to 3.

Set 0 to disable retries for HTTP requests. Set a positive integer to override the default.

umu(5), winetricks(1)

1.
https://github.com/Winetricks/winetricks
2.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton
3.
https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-protonfixes
4.
https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-database
5.
https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/steam-runtime-tools/-/blob/main/docs/container-runtime.md

Maintained by Open Wine Components members, and assisted by other open source contributors. For more information about umu development, see https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher.

2026-07-25