5. Install mods
The Install page: repository header, overall bar, one row per mod and the log.
The repository marks mods as required or optional; optional rows carry a · optional note. Everything the repository enables is ticked when the page loads; All and None change the selection. Install installs exactly what is ticked — required mods as one list, optional mods as another, and if you tick no required mod Nimby is told not to add them behind your back.
Each row has a bar, a file counter (42% · 120/300 files) and a status text:
| Status text | Meaning |
|---|---|
queued | Selected, waiting for a worker. |
fetching <file> | A part of that file is arriving. |
<file> · 12.4 MB/s | Transfer in progress, with the live rate. |
downloaded <file> | The file came over the network. |
linked from Workshop <file> | Hardlinked or junctioned from the Steam cache; no bandwidth. |
linked from shared store <file> | Hardlinked from the shared store. |
copied <file> | Copied because the link mode is copy. |
reuse <file> | Kept from an interrupted run after verification. |
kept N file(s) from the previous run | Resume found work it could trust. |
retrying 2/3 | Transient failure; Nimby backs off and tries again. |
dir-link · saved 320 MB | Finished, plus what was linked instead of written. |
needs your decision, skipped, cancelled, failed: … | See below. |
The overall bar shows Installing 2/5 · @ace, a percentage, the current file, and a line like 1.2 GB / 3.4 GB · 120/300 files · 4 in parallel · 12.4 MB/s · ~1m 5s left. The rate counts bytes that actually cross the network, so linking a Workshop mod does not inflate it; the estimate appears once there is a rate to base it on. Saved means bytes that already existed elsewhere and were linked instead of downloaded or copied — not a download counter.
Cancelling and resuming
Cancel appears only while an install runs. Cancelling is cooperative: the file being written finishes its current chunk, everything already verified stays on disk, and the command exits with code 3 (Cancelled. Install again to resume — finished files are kept.). Press Install again: Nimby verifies what is left behind, keeps the files that match, logs kept N file(s) from the previous run (x MB) and downloads only the rest.
When something cannot be installed
Transient problems (timeouts, dropped connections, interrupted transfers) retry automatically with a growing delay; the row shows retrying 1/3.
A problem that will not go away stops that mod and shows the decision panel: yellow border, @mod needs a decision, the reason (repository unreachable, corrupt download, refused disk write, a file the repository does not offer, or the raw message) and three buttons:
- Retry — try this mod again.
- Skip mod — leave it and continue. The run ends with exit code 4 and the log lists what was skipped.
- Stop — stop the whole run.
While the panel waits the taskbar button flashes, so you notice it even behind Arma. Nothing is lost either way: finished files are kept and a later run resumes. The log panel at the bottom keeps the last 300 lines of CLI output.