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Portable mode

Normally njMule keeps its profile in your user folders (see Where njMule keeps its data). Two ways put the whole profile in one folder instead: the portable mode, which keeps it beside the programs, and the --config-dir option, which keeps it wherever you say.

Portable mode​

Use the .zip archive on Windows or a .tar.xz archive on Linux: the portable mode is meant for these archives, which run from any folder.

  1. Extract the archive where you want njMule to live, for example on a USB drive.
  2. Next to the programs (njmule.exe and njmule-gui.exe on Windows, njmule and njmule-gui on Linux), create an empty file named portable.flag.
  3. Start njMule from that folder.
cd E:\njMule
New-Item portable.flag -ItemType File
.\njmule-gui.exe

All the data then lives in a data folder beside the programs:

njMule/
├── njmule-gui.exe
├── njmule.exe
├── …              the libraries and documents of the archive
├── portable.flag
└── data/
    ├── config/      settings, lists, identity
    ├── data/        configuration backups
    ├── temp/        downloads in progress
    ├── cache/
    ├── logs/
    ├── gui/         the desktop app's state
    └── incoming/    completed downloads

The desktop app, the command line and the headless engine started from that folder all use it. An update installed by njMule replaces only the programs: portable.flag and data stay.

Keep it movable

The folders you choose in the options are stored as full paths. To move the whole folder, or to use it from a drive that gets another letter on another computer, keep the default incoming and temporary folders, which follow the data folder wherever it is.

To leave the portable mode, delete portable.flag: njMule uses the usual folders again (the data folder stays where it is; copy its config folder over if you want to keep your settings).

Another profile with --config-dir​

--config-dir <dir> keeps the whole profile below <dir>, with the same folders as above (config, data, temp, cache, logs, gui, incoming). It works with njmule and with njmule-gui, and takes precedence over portable.flag.

njmule-gui --config-dir /home/you/njmule-test
njmule --config-dir /home/you/njmule-test --exit

Use it to try something without touching your profile, to keep two identities apart, or to run a second njMule beside the first one. Two njMule on one computer need their own profiles and their own ports (Options → Connection, and the web interface's port if both have one); a second start of njmule on a profile already in use only hands its links to the running one. Only one desktop window runs at a time, whatever its profile: njmule-gui started again brings that window forward and hands it its links, so run the second njMule with njmule. Every command that acts on a running njMule (--exit, --remote, links) must be given the same --config-dir to find it.

The Windows service, the Docker image and the Synology package use this option to keep their profile in %ProgramData%\njMule, /njmule and /var/packages/njmule/var.