Realmctl

Realmctl is a small Rust-based command-line tool that makes it easy to launch different World of Warcraft clients, switch between local and remote realms, and manage multiple installs without wasting disk space.

Why I Built It

Originally, this started as a couple of shell aliases:

• WOWL to point a 3.3.5a client at a local private server
• WOWC to point the same client at a live realm

Doing this manually meant constantly editing realmlist.wtf by hand, which was tedious and error-prone. The first version was just a Bash script, but I wanted:

• A single binary I could drop on any machine (including Windows)
• A typed config file (config.toml) instead of ad-hoc shell parsing
• A nicer way to evolve features over time (aliases, launch commands, workspaces)

Rewriting it in Rust turned a throwaway script into a small but solid tool I can version, package, and reuse.

What It Does

• Launch WoW clients via aliases (e.g. WOWC, WOWL) using a simple config.toml
• Set and switch realmlist.wtf automatically before launch
• Print account credentials and optionally copy the password to the clipboard
• Customize launch commands (e.g. lutris, Wine, or native executables)
• Support multiple client layouts by configuring paths in config.toml
• Manage workspaces (newer feature) so you can:
  • Create multiple logical WoW installs from a single large base client
  • Share base data while keeping separate addons / WTF configs
  • Clean caches and logs per workspace to keep things tidy

Under the hood, Realmctl knows where your client lives, where realmlist.wtf is, and how to launch the game, so your shell aliases stay simple.

Workspaces: Saving Disk Space

A later evolution of the tool was adding workspace support:

• Initialize a base 17GB WoW client once
• Create multiple lightweight workspaces for different realms or patch sets
• Share large, immutable data files via hard links
• Keep per-workspace configs, addons, and ephemeral data separate

This makes it realistic to manage several AzerothCore/Chromiecraft-style setups without multiplying your disk usage.

Tech Stack

• Rust binary built with Cargo
• TOML configuration for launch targets and realms
• Simple Unix-style aliases (WOWC, WOWL, etc.) for everyday use

The project is intentionally kept small and focused: fast compile times, minimal dependencies, and a clear separation between configuration (config.toml) and runtime behavior.

Links

• Source code and releases: https://github.com/sogladev/rs-realmctl
• Full README with commands, workspace examples, and alias setup: see the repository