PortableSkyrim

Goal

The goal of this document is to create a guide for a modded Skyrim installation running on Linux that can easily be copied or moved to another PC.
Tested on Arch Linux for the latest version of Skyrim (as of 2025-07-04).

Assumptions

1. You are running on Arch Linux, or Arch-based distro.
2. You want to use Mod Organizer 2.

Prerequisites

1. Wine: Install Wine and related tools.

   sudo pacman -S wine winetricks
   

2. Skyrim: Owning Skyrim through GOG. Can be brought from GOG
3. Vulkan Support: You have Vulkan support if the command below gives back a version.

    vulkaninfo | grep "Vulkan Instance Version"
   

1. Create a Portable Directory Structure

To keep everything portable and organized, create a single folder for your Skyrim setup:

    mkdir -p ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/{WinePrefix,MO2}

• WinePrefix: Will hold the virtual C: drive. This guide will install Skyrim in here at C:\GOGO Games\Skyrim Anniversary Edition\, not a hard requirement but you'll have to adapt commands from the guide to match your selected location.
• MO2: Will hold Mod Organizer 2.

2. Set Up a Separate Wine Prefix

A Wine prefix is like a sandboxed Windows environment. We’ll create one specifically for Skyrim and MO2:

1. Run the following command to create and configure a new Wine prefix:

   WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix winecfg

   • This opens a Wine configuration window. Ignore not finding wire-mono warning, Cancel.
   • Set the Windows version to Windows 10 (click the dropdown, select “Windows 10,” then click “Apply” and “OK”).
   • This creates a virtual C: drive at ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix/drive_c/.
2. Install Dependencies with Winetricks into the prefix (Can download wine-mono through pacman instead, but it will be less portable, sudo pacman -S wine-mono).

   WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix winetricks -q dotnet48 corefonts

   • This installs .NET Framework 4.8 and core fonts
   • This will take a while.

3. Installing Skyrim

Installing Skyrim from GOG makes it more portable as it's not reliant on Steam DRM to run, and the game won't accidentally be updated if Bethesda releases another "update" to the game.
NOTE: Copying the game from a previous installation without running the installer in the intended Wine prefix will result in menus like "Options" from "SkyrimSELauncher.exe", or sub-menus in mods once ingame from being displayed or interactable. Run the installers instead and save yourself a headache, I learnt the hard way.

1. On GOG's webpage, go to Games, and locate Skyrim.
2. Download all parts of the installer under Download Offline Backup Game Installers.
   • Do not use the Download And Install Now button, it uses the GOG Galaxy app which we don't want for a portable installation.
   • Save all parts under ~/Downloads, or adapt the following instructions based on your choosen location.
3. Run the 3 exe-files in the following order (note that version number in name might differ) and let them install to default location(C:\GOGO Games\Skyrim Anniversary Edition\);
   • setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_special_edition (Base game), WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Downloads/setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_special_edition_0.1.3905696_(64bit)_(70738).exe"
   • patch_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_special_edition (Game patches), WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Downloads/patch_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_special_edition_0.0.3895161_(70492)_to_0.1.3905696_(70738).exe"
     • If the installer says "Update already applied", skip to next step.
   • setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_anniversary_upgrade (Anniversary content), WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Downloads/setup_the_elder_scrolls_v_skyrim_anniversary_upgrade_0.1.3905696_(64bit)_(70738).exe"
4. Verify installation, run WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix/drive_c/GOG Games/Skyrim Anniversary Edition/SkyrimSELauncher.exe"
   • The command should launch Skyrim launcher, displaying; "PLAY", "OPTIONS", "SUPPORT" & "EXIT". Verify that all 4 of them are there.
   • If any of them are missing, like "OPTIONS", you've most likely not installed the game into the prefix or are running in a different prefix (should not happen if copying commands).
   • "EXIT" once, you've verified that they are all there.

4. Install SKSE64

SKSE64, or Skyrim Script Extender 64(bit), is used by many mods.

1. Download SKSE64 from skse.silverlock.org
   • Make sure to download "GOG Anniversary Edition build"
2. Extract the archive to a temporary folder.
3. Copy all files except the src folder, and the two txt documents to your Skyrim directory
   • Skyrim at ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix/drive_c/GOG Games/Skyrim Anniversary Edition/
4. Cleanup, delete the archive and temporary folder.

5. Install Mod Organizer 2

1. Download the latest stable version of Mod Organizer 2 from GitHub or Nexus Mods
   • I picked Mod.Organizer-2.5.2.7z from GitHub to not have to run more exe-files than neccessary.
2. If you downloaded the archive, Extract the files directly into ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/, so ModOrganizer.exe is directly in that folder.
   • If you went with the exe instead, install it to ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/.
3. Launch MO2 using the custom Wine prefix:

   WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe

4. MO2 will prompt you to configure it:
   • Choose Portable mode.
   • Set the Game Path to C:\GOGO Games\Skyrim Anniversary Edition\ if MO2 didn't locate it on its own.
   • Select Game Edition, pick GOG
   • Set were the Data should be stored, ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2.
   • MO2 will prompt you to login to your Nexus account.
     • Easiest way is to press the buttom to open a browser window.
     • Alternatively, you can get an Nexus API key for your account from Nexus Mods API-keys.

6. Configure MO2 to Use SKSE64

1. In MO2, click the Executables dropdown (top-left, looks like a gear or puzzle piece).
   • If you need to start it again, run WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe
   • If SKSE is already in the dropdown, you can skip the remainng steps for SKSE64.
2. Click Add or the plus icon to add a new executable.
3. Set:
   • Title: “SKSE”
   • Binary: C:\GOG Games\Skyrim Anniversary Edition\skse64_loader.exe
   • Start in: C:\GOG Games\Skyrim Anniversary Edition
4. Click OK and set SKSE as the default in the dropdown.
5. Start the game through SKSE in MO2, if the game starts, exit, and close MO2.

7. Set Up Launch Script

Set up a launch script for MO2 so you don't need to type the command manually each time.

1. Create a new script at ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/ with name Run_Skyrim.sh.
2. Set its content to;

#!/bin/bash

# Set Wine prefix and run Mod Organizer 2 for Skyrim
WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe"

3. Verify that MO2 launches from the script.
4. Verify that Skyrim launches through MO2.

• Verify that the console opens (~ key default). This is a potential issue users using non us keyboard layout.

Non US Keyboard Layout Script (Optional)

A variant of the script to switch to us layout before launching MO2, and once you close Skyrim and MO2, it will switch back.

#!/bin/bash

# Store the current keyboard layout
CURRENT_LAYOUT=$(setxkbmap -query | grep layout | awk '{print $2}')

# Switch to US keyboard layout
setxkbmap us

# Set Wine prefix and run Mod Organizer 2 for Skyrim
WINEPREFIX="$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix" wine "$HOME/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe"

# Restore the original keyboard layout
setxkbmap "$CURRENT_LAYOUT"

8. Install DXVK In Your Wine Prefix

Have MO2 closed (not running) before contuing.

1. DXVK: Install DXVK to translate DirectX calls to Vulkan.

   yay -S dxvk-bin

   Alternatively, you can download the latest DXVK release from GitHub and extract it manually.
2. Install DXVK in Your Wine Prefix
   • Run the following command to install DXVK into your custom Wine prefix:

     WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix winetricks dxvk

     • This installs the necessary DXVK DLLs (d3d9.dll, d3d10core.dll, d3d11.dll) into your Wine prefix and configures the registry to use them.
     • If you manually downloaded DXVK, copy the DLLs (d3d9.dll, d3d10core.dll, d3d11.dll) to ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix/drive_c/windows/system32/ and run:

       WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine regsvr32 d3d9.dll
       WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine regsvr32 d3d10core.dll
       WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine regsvr32 d3d11.dll

3. Verify DXVK Installation
   • Launch Skyrim via MO2 (using SKSE64) to ensure DXVK is active:

     WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe

   • Check for a DXVK HUD or logs to confirm Vulkan is in use:
     • Enable the DXVK HUD by setting an environment variable before launching MO2:

       WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix DXVK_HUD=1 wine ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/ModOrganizer.exe

       This displays FPS and Vulkan info in-game (launch Skyrim through SKSE).
     • Alternatively, check ~/.cache/dxvk or ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix for DXVK logs (e.g., dxvk.log).

9. Install Mods

1. Download mods from Nexus Mods or other sources as .zip or .7z files.
2. In MO2, click the Install a new mod from an archive button (folder icon with an arrow).
3. Select your mod file and follow the installer prompts (if any).
4. Enable the mod by checking its box in MO2’s left pane.
5. (Optional) Install LOOT via MO2 to sort your mod load order:
   • Download LOOT, extract it to ~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/MO2/tools/LOOT.
   • Add LOOT.exe as an executable in MO2 and run it to sort mods.

Installing Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus (Optional)

Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus requires .NET runtime version 9.0.6 (version can change), and that is lower than what we've installed already, or currently not included in wine-mono. We'll have to install it on our own for it to work.

1. Download Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus from Nexus Mods or GitHub
2. Install and enable it like any mod.
3. On the right pane in MO2, click Data
   • Locate Pandora Behaviour Engine+.exe
   • Right-click, Add as Executable
   • Pandora Behaviour Engine+ should now be available from the same dropdown as SKSE.
4. Try running Pandora Behaviour Engine+, and you'll be meet with an error message, telling you that you must install .NET Destop Runtime to run this application.
   • Click Yes to download the installer, windowsdesktop-runtime-9.0.6-win-x64.exe
     • Name/number might be different at the time of your installation.
   • Close MO2.
5. Close MO2 if you haven't already.
6. Run WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix wine ~/Downloads/windowsdesktop-runtime-9.0.6-win-x64.exe
   • Installer pops up, install.
7. Once installation of windowsdesktop-runtime-9.0.6-win-x64.exe is complete, launch MO2 again.
   • Verify that Pandora Behaviour Engine+ now launches through MO2.
   • Note that Pandora Behaviour Engine+ seem to register the mouse slightly lower than its posision on screen, easy to work around when you know.

Installing Bodyslide and Outfit Studio (Optional)

1. Download and enable Bodyslide and Outfit Studio.
2. In the left panel under Data, find the exe's under CalienteTools/Bodyslide
   • Right-click the x64 version of the exe's, and select Add as Executable

Set Up Separate Mod as Output (Optional)

For Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus

1. Click anywhere in the mod list in the left pane.
   • Select "All Mods" > "Create empty mod above"
   • Name it Pandora Output
   • Make sure Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus comes first, then Pandora Output after all animaltion mods.
     • Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus > animation mods > Pandora Output
2. Select <Edit> (where you see the executables in the dropdown, like SKSE, and Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus)
   • Select Pandora Behaviour Engine Plus.
   • Enable Create file in mod instead of overwrite
   • Select Pandora Output

Community Shaders

To use Community Shaders on Linux, you need to add d3dcompiler_47 to your Wine prefix, should see a bunch of errors on Skyrim main menu without it.

1. Make sure that Skyrim and MO2 are closed.
2. Run WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix winetricks d3dcompiler_47
3. dxvk and vkd3d are needed.
   • dxvk is already installed earlier in this guide.
   • Run WINEPREFIX=~/Games/Skyrim_Portable/WinePrefix winetricks vkd3d