steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer

What is this?

This is a simple BASH script that changes the update behavior for all games installed in a single steamapps directory.

Easily switch the auto-update behavior of all games in a steamapps directory to Always keep this game updated (Steam's default), Only update this game when I launch it, or High Priority - Always auto-update this game before others in one go. Takes only seconds, makes backups before changing anything, and double checks its own results.

NOTE: It's safe to run this script on the same steamapps directory multiple times.

How to install:

1. Save the file steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer to whatever directory you keep your personal scripts. (Example: $HOME/bin or ~/Scripts)
2. Give the file execution permissions. (Example: chmod +x ~/bin/steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer)
3. Done.

Usage:

1. Open a terminal.
2. Type /path/to/the/script /path/to/your/steamapps/
3. Read the instructions on screen.

Example:

Input:

$ ../path/to/steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer /media/hard_drive_1/steamapps/

Output:

What behavior?
0 for 'Always keep this game updated'. (Steam's default)
1 for 'Only update this game when I launch it'.
2 for 'High Priority - Always auto-update this game before others'.

Type 1 and press enter:

Processing Terraria (105600)
Processing Red Faction: Guerrilla Steam Edition (20500)
Processing Saints Row IV (206420)
Processing The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (215530)
Processing POSTAL 2 (223470)
Processing Fallout: New Vegas (22380)
Processing Sacred 2 Gold (225640)
Processing Cities: Skylines (255710)
Processing Wasteland 2: Director's Cut (404730)
Processing Surviving Mars (464920)
Processing Spacewar (480)
Processing Aven Colony (484900)
Processing ATOM RPG (552620)
Processing Graveyard Keeper (599140)
Processing Wasteland 3 (719040)
Processing Destroy All Humans! (803330)
Done!
16 out of 16 entries successfully changed.
Steam must be restarted before any changes will be applied.

Then simply restart Steam.

To do multiple steamapps directories at once:

If you love one line commands, you can also pass the behavior argument to this script, to more easily change multiple steamapps directories:

$ ../path/to/steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer /media/hard_drive_1/steamapps/ 1 && ../path/to/steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer /media/hard_drive_2/steamapps/ 0 && ../path/to/steam-bulk-update-behavior-changer /media/hard_drive_3/steamapps/ 1

Filtering:

You can add your own filters for any games you want ignored to the variable filter at the top of the script.

The proper syntax is: filter=("game 1 name here" "game 2 name here" "gameid here" "99999" "etc")

There are no commas, names should be in double quotes, and they are separated by only a space. And ensure they are exactly the name of the game you want ignored.

Example 1: The filter "Fallout" will not filter out the game Fallout: New Vegas.

Example 2: The filter "Fallout New Vegas" will not filter out any Fallout. Nor will it filter out the game it was intended to filter either, because the game is named "Fallout: New Vegas" and not "Fallout New Vegas".

NOTE: This script won't change autoupdate behavior for any Proton version, Steam Linux Runtimes, Steamworks Common Redistributables, or SteamVR. If you have these installed, then presumably you want them to stay updated.