Installing

The setup installs the program, its engine and the modules of your account in one run. This page explains what the setup asks and what it puts on disk. It also answers the two most common questions: what happens to an OBS Studio that you already have, and what happens when the licence key does not work. If you install the program on several computers, see the installation in detail in part 13.

Before you start

Operating system	Windows 10 version 1803 or newer, or Windows 11, 64-bit
Rights	Administrator rights during the setup
Disk	About 1.1 GB
Internet	Required the first time, because the setup downloads about 180 MB
Close first	Any other application that runs on the OBS engine, including OBS Studio

The last point matters, because two applications on the OBS engine that run at the same time overwrite each other’s configuration. The setup checks for this, and if it finds such an application, it stops and explains why.

What the setup does

The setup takes you through seven steps:

1. It asks for a language. You can choose English, Dutch, Norwegian, German or Spanish, and the language of Windows is selected by default. The setup continues in the language you choose, and the program uses it at the first start.
2. It checks the computer. The setup checks whether an application on the OBS engine is running and whether Windows is new enough. If a check fails, it stops before it changes anything.
3. It downloads and installs the program. If the correct version is already present, the setup skips the download, so a second run over an existing installation takes only a few seconds.
4. It switches off the automatic updates of the engine. The program does not update itself. To get a new version, use Check for updates… or run a new setup.
5. It asks for your licence key. See below.
6. It asks which modules to install, and which of them to switch on at once.
7. It creates the launcher and the shortcuts, and makes the configuration folder writable.

The licence key

On this page you enter the key from your account page. The setup uses the key to ask the website which modules belong to your account, and then offers exactly those modules.

You can also leave the field empty. You then get only the modules that came with the installer, and nothing else changes.

If the key does not work, the setup shows a message and continues with the modules that came with the installer. This can happen when the key was mistyped, when there is no internet connection, or when the key has been withdrawn. The message is only a warning: the installation itself has not failed.

Choosing modules

The module page lists the modules that are available to you, each with two checkboxes:

[x] Example module                     1 MB
    [x] Activate now

The first checkbox installs the module, and the second switches it on at once. If you install a module without activating it, the module is on disk, and you can switch it on later under Modules → Manage modules… without running the setup again. You cannot activate a module that you do not install, so the second checkbox depends on the first.

What is put on disk

C:Program FilesUltimate Playout
  UltimatePlayout.exe        <- the launcher you start
  Modules                   <- the modules you chose
  engineconfig             <- your settings, scenes and logs

Two things about this layout are worth knowing:

• The folder engineconfig contains your configuration, and every user of the computer can write to it. This suits a control-room computer with changing volunteers, because everyone finds the same setup. It suits a workstation less well, because there each user expects personal settings.
• Your own documents are stored elsewhere. Cue lists and exports go to your Documents folder and not to Program Files. See The first start.

Your existing OBS Studio

The setup does not change an OBS Studio that you installed yourself. It does not rename, reconfigure, upgrade or downgrade it, so your OBS Studio keeps its own settings, scenes and updates, and both programs can stay on the same computer.

There is one rule: do not run them at the same time. Close one program before you start the other.

Unattended installation

The setup can also run without questions, which is useful when you install the program on several computers:

UltimatePlayout_Setup.exe /VERYSILENT /KEY=UP-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

In silent mode, the module page is not shown, and the setup installs and activates every module. If the download archive is already on the computer, you can give the setup its location, so that it skips the download:

UltimatePlayout_Setup.exe /VERYSILENT /OBSZIP="D:deployobs.zip"

Part 13 describes these options, and the language option, in more detail.

Uninstalling

Uninstalling removes the program folder completely. Your cue lists and exports are in your Documents folder, so they stay where they are.