PowerShell script to create symbolically linked (mklink) copies of WoW

[Chorizotarian]

There have been a couple of threads about creating copies of WoW using NTFS smybolic links (Vista mklink command). This approach has advantages over creating separate physical copies:

• Reduced disk activity since the OS only loads the physical files once
• Easier patching since only one physical copy of WoW needs to be patched
• Easier add-on maintenance since all clones share the parent add-on directory
• Why waste disk space if you don't have to?

I found it kind of a pain and very error-prone (at least for me) to manually type the commands for 5x copies of WoW when I was setting up, so I wrote a PowerShell script to do it automatically. It creates links for all of the WoW binaries and all of the read-only data directories. It does not link the WTF directory (video settings, saved variables, macros, etc.) to avoid collisions between settings on different accounts. I tried linking invidiaul files within this directory, but I found it to be more trouble than it was worth.

http://code.google.com/p/wow5box/sou...ts/New-Wow.ps1

The file below should be saved locally as "New-Wow.ps1". Instructions are in the script header.

If you get an error about the source directory not existing try using the -sourcePath parameter to specify your WoW directory.

If you get an error "The term 'cmd' is not recognized as a cmdlet, function, operable program or a script file..." make sure that c:\windows\system32 is in your path. (Environment variable PATH in Control Panel->System and Maintenance->System->Advanced System Settings->Environment Variables.)

One word of caution: Be careful if you *delete* a folder containing a symlinked sub-directory through Windows Explorer. On one occasion I somehow managed to delete the contents of the linked directories (all of my addons, etc.) by deleting a clone root directory. That's obviously a bug -- the links should be deleted, not the directories they point to -- and I haven't been able to reproduce it since. Still I have taken to deleting the linked directories individually (c:\wow1\Cache, c:\wow1\Data, etc.) rather than the root (c:\wow1) just to be safe.

[4/4/08 - Updated version w/ minor fixes]
[2/25/09 - Updated post w/ issues from thread below]
[2/11/10 - Link to latest version on google code site]

[zanthor]

Nice work for those who aren't as adept at cmd line tools .

I've got all my folders linked, not the WTF so I retain settings but once you dig into WTF I linked the account\[accountname]\SavedVariables and the [Servername} folders at that same location... this gives me the ability to have shared settings between all mods that support it.

[Chorizotarian]

Thanks, hopefully someone will find it helpful

WTF sharing didn't work for me primarily because of addons like Bongos that store their settings per-account. Changes from one WoW copy were constantly stomping on changes from another, so I gave up on it. Also there doesn't seem to be any good way to force clones to update their macros from offline changes without having to quit out of WoW.

If anyone wants to use this script with WFT sharing they just need to change the following:

    # Other linkable dirs -- ADD WTF HERE
@( 'Cache', 'Data', 'Interface', 'WTF' ) | foreach { New-WowLink $_ }
    
...
    
# Copy the WTF directory (settings) -- COMMENT THESE LINES OUT
#$wtf = (join-path $sourcePath WTF)
#copy-item $wtf WTF -recurse

[Djarid]

For those of us on XP who want to run do the same, you can use junction.exe from here http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys.../Junction.mspx

change line 83 from

    cmd /c "mklink $d `"$link`" `"$target`"" > $null

to

    cmd /c "junction $d `"$link`" `"$target`"" > $null

you must also remove line 124-126 as NTFS 5 does not seem to support reparsed files

[Sarduci]

Thanks for the script. I was just about to start running performance counters and was still working out the details of how to link it.

[Xar]

This is all fascinating to me because I would not think linking to the files would give you any change in performance while loading because the exact same files are being hammered unless by linking it's causing it to be cached in memory differently?

Also, the WTF are separated by accounts and I just browsed my WTF and I see no config files outside of each account folder so since you can only run 1 toon per account I would think that there should be no conflicts having all WTF in one place and bongos2, possessions should all work properly. Once I get a new system put together I'm going to link all account folders into one location but have the main Config.wtf separate since it contains resolution info and I'll have different sized windows running.

[Chorizotarian]

This is all fascinating to me because I would not think linking to the files would give you any change in performance while loading because the exact same files are being hammered unless by linking it's causing it to be cached in memory differently?.

I assume that the OS resolves the links before deciding if it needs to reload the file or not. Empirically I can tell you that running 5x physical copies off 1 HD was much heavier disk usage than running them linked. Try it for yourself and see!

Also, the WTF are separated by accounts and I just browsed my WTF and I see no config files outside of each account folder so since you can only run 1 toon per account I would think that there should be no conflicts having all WTF in one place and bongos2, possessions should all work properly. Once I get a new system put together I'm going to link all account folders into one location but have the main Config.wtf separate since it contains resolution info and I'll have different sized windows running.

Yeah, you can definitely do this, and the only thing you will have shard is the video settings. I was trying to share all 4 account WTFs to a single settings directory: WTF\account1 -> [clones], WTF\account2 -> [clones], etc. That let me share macros between my clones, but it also meant that the macros and the "account-wide" settings were stomping each other.

[Verminaard]

Hi Guys -
Thanks for the script Chorizotarian ! You just saved me about 40g of disc space and probably allowed me to play 5 copies off my single 7200 rpm disc :thumbsup: One thing to add: It probably depends on your user settings etc but i got and access denied error when i tried to run it. Running powershell as an admin got it working (right click the powershell icon and select "run as administrator" for anyone who doesnt know).

Powershell is also kind of helpful in that it doesnt really tell you when its done anything :huh: If you're wondering (as i was) if it doesnt throw you a big red error, its done it ok

Cheers again dude :thumbup:

[Chorizotarian]

I'm a moron. I can't believe I didn't say to run as admin. Sorry! You need admin priviliges to create the symbolic link at least, possibly for other stuff as well.

[zanthor]

Finally got around to needing this, amazing work. Very clean and even though I'm adept at the manual creation a great time saver!