Quartermaster

Quartermaster keeps everything the Battle.net client needs on Linux supplied and up to date, then launches it.

On every start it:

1. Updates itself from the latest GitHub release, if enabled with --self-update.
2. Installs or updates to the latest GE-Proton, which ships its own Wine build — nothing is required from your distribution.
3. Installs or updates the Steam Linux Runtime.
4. Installs the Battle.net client if it is missing, otherwise starts it.

Everything is self-contained: GE-Proton, the Steam Linux Runtime and the Battle.net prefix live inside the Quartermaster install directory and are run from there. Steam, system Wine and other Proton installations are never used or touched.

All binaries are downloaded from their upstream origin only — no third-party mirrors or repackaged builds:

Component	Source
Quartermaster	GitHub releases
GE-Proton	GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom releases
Steam Linux Runtime	Valve's runtime images
Battle.net	Official installer from Blizzard

Installation

Quartermaster is installed for the current user only, and does not need root.

The install script is attached to every release, so there is no need to download the source: install.sh

curl -fsSL https://github.com/SirBisgaard/Quartermaster/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh

Or download it and run it with options:

sh install.sh [options]

Option	Description	Default
--install-dir <path>	Where Quartermaster is installed	~/.local/share/quartermaster
--no-desktop	Do not create a desktop shortcut	Shortcut is created
--game <code>	Select this game in Battle.net when started from the desktop shortcut, see game codes	No game is selected
--self-update	Let Quartermaster update itself from new releases	Disabled
--uninstall	Remove Quartermaster and everything it installed

The desktop shortcut is a standard .desktop entry, which GNOME, KDE Plasma and other freedesktop-compliant desktops pick up in their application menu. It is placed in ~/.local/share/applications.

To turn self-update on or off later, run the install script again with or without --self-update. GE-Proton, the Steam Linux Runtime and Battle.net are kept.

Usage

Start Quartermaster from the desktop shortcut, or run:

quartermaster

It checks for updates, brings everything up to date and then installs or starts Battle.net.

Any arguments are passed on to Battle.net, for example to select a game in the client:

quartermaster --exec="launch WoWF"

If Battle.net is not running yet, the game is selected when the client opens. If Battle.net is already running, the game is selected and started.

Game codes

Game	Code
World of Warcraft	WoW
World of Warcraft Classic	WoWC
World of Warcraft: Forever	WoWF
Diablo III	D3
Diablo II: Resurrected	OSI
Diablo IV	Fen
Diablo Immortal	ANBS
StarCraft: Remastered	S1
StarCraft II	S2
Warcraft III: Reforged	W3
Warcraft Rumble	GRY
Hearthstone	WTCG
Heroes of the Storm	Hero
Overwatch 2	Pro
Blizzard Arcade Collection	RTRO

Battle.net does not publish these codes. They are collected from the Playnite Battle.net library, which also lists codes for Call of Duty and other titles, and from Lutris for the World of Warcraft versions.

GNOME users: GNOME has no system tray by default. Install the AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support extension to show the Battle.net tray icon in the top bar.

Uninstall

Uninstalling removes everything Quartermaster has installed: the install directory with GE-Proton, the Battle.net prefix and all games installed through it, and the desktop shortcut.

Warning: Games installed through Battle.net are deleted as well. Back up anything you want to keep before uninstalling.

Battle.net or games installed to a location outside the install directory, such as another disk, are not removed.

Run the install script with the same options used when installing, plus --uninstall:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/SirBisgaard/Quartermaster/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

If you installed to a custom directory, add --install-dir <path>.

Requirements

Tool	Used for	Package
sh	Running Quartermaster	Any POSIX shell
curl	Downloading releases	curl
tar, gzip, xz	Unpacking GE-Proton and the Steam Linux Runtime	tar, gzip, xz-utils (xz on Fedora and Arch)
sha256sum, sha512sum	Verifying downloads	coreutils
flock	Preventing two starts from running at once	util-linux
pgrep	Detecting an already running Battle.net	procps (procps-ng on Fedora and Arch)

A GPU driver with Vulkan support, including 32-bit libraries, is also required.

The Steam Linux Runtime needs unprivileged user namespaces, which are enabled by default on most distributions.

Why

I wanted to play World of Warcraft: Forever on my Debian machine, without having to launch Battle.net through something like Steam.

Disclaimer

Quartermaster is not associated with Blizzard Entertainment in any way, and is not endorsed or supported by them. It exists only to make it simple to enjoy Blizzard's games on Linux.

Quartermaster will be maintained until Blizzard releases a native Linux client.

Battle.net is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Use of LLMs (AI)

LLMs were used to write parts of this code. I review it, I test it, I'm responsible for it.