The Package Manager maintains a global cache for compressed package contents and registry metadata.
The global cache is separate from the cache that the Package Manager maintains for asset packages. For information about the asset packageA collection of files and data from Unity projects, or elements of projects, which are compressed and stored in one file, similar to Zip files, with the .unitypackage
extension. Asset packages are a handy way of sharing and re-using Unity projects and collections of assets. More info
See in Glossary cache, refer to Customize the asset package cache location.
By default, the Package Manager’s global cache root has the following subdirectories, with each subsidiary cache serving a different purpose:
db
subdirectory stores registry data (package metadata and tarballs).git-lfs
subdirectory stores downloaded Git Large File Storage (LFS) files.
Note: If you’ve created projects with Unity Editor 2023.2, your global cache might also have a packages
subdirectory. Starting with Unity 6 Beta, the Package Manager doesn’t use this subdirectory. If you no longer maintain projects created with older versions of the Editor, you can delete this subdirectory.
The Package Manager stores the global cache in a default location, which you can override. For information on the default location of the global cache root, refer to global cache.
You might want to override the global cache location for several reasons:
Starting with 2023.2.0f1, the maximum size of the db
subdirectory defaults to 10 gigabytes (GB), which you can override. You might want to override the maximum size of the db
subdirectory for several reasons:
The following table illustrates the different methods you can use to override the default properties:
Method | Global cache location | db subdirectory max size |
Additional notes |
---|---|---|---|
Preferences window | Yes | No | This is the recommended method because of its ease and permanence. When you change the package cache location using this method, Unity stores the preference for the current and future Unity Editor sessions. |
User configuration file | Yes | Yes | Package cache property overrides in a user configuration file persist beyond the current Unity Editor session. |
Environment variables | Yes | Yes | By default, this method sets the configuration for the current command prompt (or terminal) session, but you can make it permanent in your operating system settings. Advanced users might prefer session-based variables in specific use cases. |
Note: Using the Preferences window to set the global cache location also sets the cacheRoot
property in a user configuration file. If you want to set the user configuration file manually, refer to Using the user configuration file.
db
subdirectory and the new size is less than the current size of that subdirectory, the Package Manager will evict content from the cache until the new limit is reached. The Package Manager evicts the least recently used content first (based on the installation date into a project).UPM_NPM_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.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.To use the Preferences window to override the default location of the global cache, follow these steps.
Use one of the following methods to open the Preferences window:
Select the Package Manager category.
Under Packages, open the menu beside Cache Location .
Choose Change Location.
Choose a new location for the global cache.
You can manually edit the user configuration file to override the location of the global cache root, or the maximum size of the db
subdirectory, or both.
Follow these steps to edit the user configuration file:
Locate the .upmconfig.toml
user configuration file. To find the file location, refer to Configuration files. If the file doesn’t exist, create an empty text file.
To override the location of the global cache root, add the cacheRoot
key and set its value as an absolute path to a custom location. Important: When setting Windows paths in TOML files, use forward slashes (/
) or double backslashes (\\
). Don’t use single backslashes (\
) because they’re special characters which mark escape sequences and can cause TOML parsing errors.
To override the maximum size of the db
subdirectory, add the maxCacheSize
key and set its value to a positive integer representing the number of bytes. For example, to set the size to 5 GB, assign a value of 5000000000
.
You don’t need to restart the Unity Editor or the Hub after setting either property for the change to take effect.
Windows example
cacheRoot = "E:\\Unity\\cache"
maxCacheSize = 5000000000
macOS and Linux example
cacheRoot = "/dev/external/shared/Unity/cache"
maxCacheSize = 5000000000
In scenarios that involve automation or continuous integration, it’s less practical and more error prone to configure settings in the user configuration file or the Preferences window. In such scenarios, you might consider using environment variables to configure settings for the global cache and its subsidiary caches. The following environment variables are available:
Environment variable | Description |
---|---|
UPM_CACHE_ROOT |
Specify the location of the global cache (the root folder containing the registry data and uncompressed packages caches). |
UPM_NPM_CACHE_PATH |
Specify the absolute path to the location you want the Package Manager to use for its registry data cache. By default, this is the db subdirectory under the global cache root. |
UPM_ENABLE_GIT_LFS_CACHE |
Specify any value except empty ("") to enable the Git LFS cache. By default, Package Manager uses the git-lfs subdirectory under the global cache root, unless you specify a different path using the UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH environment variable. |
UPM_GIT_LFS_CACHE_PATH |
Specify the absolute path to the location where you want Package Manager to store the Git LFS cache. By setting this path, you automatically enable the Git LFS cache. |
UPM_MAX_CACHE_SIZE |
Specify the maximum size of the registry data cache (the db subdirectory) as a positive integer, in bytes. For example, to set the size to 5 GB, assign a value of 5000000000 . |
Important: Follow these guidelines when you use this method:
For information on setting environment variables, refer to the documentation for your operating system. For an introduction to environment variables, refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable.