Skip to content

Hardware Provisioning, Sideloading & DeVILStarter Setup

Audience

IT Administrators responsible for provisioning Meta Quest headsets and deploying the DeVILSona application.

This page covers the complete process for setting up Meta Quest headsets for enterprise use and deploying (sideloading) the DeVILSona APK.

Meta Quest Provisioning

Developer Mode vs. Standard Mode

By default, Meta Quest headsets are locked to only install applications from the Meta Horizon Store. Since DeVILSona is a custom institutional application and not published to the store, it must be installed via sideloading—transferring the APK directly from a computer using ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

Developer Mode must be enabled on each headset to allow sideloading.

Enabling Developer Mode

Prerequisites:

  • A Meta developer account (free at https://developer.oculus.com)
  • The Meta Horizon mobile app installed on your phone
  • The headset paired with your Meta account in the Meta Horizon app

Steps:

  1. Open the Meta Horizon app on your phone
  2. Tap on your headset in the Devices tab
  3. Navigate to Settings → Developer Mode
  4. Toggle Developer Mode: ON
  5. On the headset, you may need to confirm by clicking "Allow Developer Features" in a prompt that appears in the headset

Verify Developer Mode is active: Connect the headset to a PC via USB-C and run: 

adb devices
If Developer Mode is on, the headset will appear in the list (you may need to confirm the fingerprint inside the headset the first time): 
List of devices attached
1WMHXXXXXX    device
If the device shows as unauthorized, put on the headset and accept the "Allow USB Debugging" popup.

MDM and Enterprise Management Considerations

For larger deployments (10+ headsets across an IT department), consider:

Meta Quest for Business (formerly Meta for Business):

  • Provides enterprise management features including over-the-air app deployment, device management dashboards, and kiosk mode
  • Requires purchasing a Meta Quest for Business subscription per device
  • Enables deployment of custom APKs without enabling Developer Mode per device

Alternative MDM Solutions:

  • ArborXR, Manage XR, or Headjack are third-party Mobile Device Management solutions that support Meta Quest
  • These allow remote APK deployment, device monitoring, and usage analytics

For a small-scale FSE100 deployment (typically 4–8 headsets), manual Developer Mode + ADB sideloading per the instructions below is the most practical approach.

Sideloading the DeVILSona APK

Prerequisites

Before sideloading, ensure you have:

Requirement Details
ADB installed Part of Android Platform Tools: https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
USB-C cable (data-capable) Not all USB-C cables support data transfer—use the cable that came with the headset or a quality data cable
DeVILSona APK file Build output from Unreal Engine packaging (see Developer Guide: UE5 Implementation for build instructions)
Developer Mode enabled Per Section 1.2 above
Windows 10/11 PC macOS cannot build Quest APKs; all sideloading should be done from Windows

Installing ADB

Option A: Android Platform Tools (Lightweight)

  1. Download from: https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools
  2. Extract to a permanent location (e.g., C:\platform-tools\)
  3. Add to your system PATH:
  4. Open System Properties → Environment Variables → System Variables → Path
  5. Add C:\platform-tools\
  6. Verify: Open PowerShell and run adb --version

Option B: SideQuest (Recommended for Non-Developers) SideQuest is a free desktop application that simplifies the sideloading process with a graphical interface. It automatically handles ADB under the hood.

  1. Download SideQuest Desktop from https://sidequestvr.com/setup-howto
  2. Install and launch SideQuest
  3. Connect the headset via USB-C

Sideloading via ADB (Command Line)

Step 1: Connect the headset 

# Connect headset to PC via USB-C, then:
adb devices
# Should show: <serial>    device

Step 2: Install the APK 

adb install -r "C:\path\to\DeVILSona-Shipping.apk"

The -r flag allows reinstalling over an existing version. Installation typically takes 30–120 seconds depending on APK size.

Expected output: 

Performing Streamed Install
Success

Step 3: Verify installation 

adb shell pm list packages | findstr "fse100"
You should see the package name listed (e.g., package:com.fse100.devilsona).

Sideloading via SideQuest (GUI Method)

  1. Open SideQuest and confirm the headset shows as Connected (green circle)
  2. Click "Install APK file from folder on computer" (the folder icon in the top toolbar)
  3. Navigate to and select the DeVILSona APK file
  4. SideQuest will install the APK and show a success notification

Which APK File to Select

The Unreal Engine build process for Android generates multiple APK files in the build output directory: 

<Project>/Saved/StagedBuilds/Android_ASTC/

You will see files like:

  • FSE100Capstone-arm64-Shipping.apk (smaller, ~50–100MB)
  • FSE100Capstone-arm64-Shipping_universal.apk or a larger combined file

Always install the LARGEST APK file.

The smaller APK is incomplete and requires a separate OBB (additional data) file to function. The large APK packages all game content inside it, making deployment and management simpler.

Learn More

If you'd like to learn more, you can read our more fine-grained technical documentation on the full Android packaging process, including SDK/NDK version requirements, environment variables, and troubleshooting at UE5 Build Guide (Android APK).

Launching the Installed Application

After installation, the app will appear in the headset's App Library under "Unknown Sources" (a separate tab).

On the Meta Quest:

  1. Navigate to App Library (grid icon at bottom of home screen)
  2. Tap the Unknown Sources tab
  3. Find and launch "FSE100 Capstone" (or whatever label was set in the UE5 project)

Batch Sideloading Multiple Headsets

To sideload to multiple headsets simultaneously using ADB:

# Get list of connected devices
$devices = adb devices | Select-String "device$" | ForEach-Object { ($_ -split "\s+")[0] }

# Install on each device
foreach ($device in $devices) {
    Write-Host "Installing on $device..."
    adb -s $device install -r "C:\path\to\DeVILSona.apk"
}

Note

Note: You can connect multiple headsets to a USB hub, but each headset needs Developer Mode enabled and the USB debugging fingerprint accepted individually.

DeVILStarter Configuration & Installation

What DeVILStarter Requires

Before DeVILStarter can start or stop infrastructure, the host Windows machine needs:

Requirement Details
AWS CLI v2 Download from https://aws.amazon.com/cli/
Terraform Download from https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/install
AWS IAM Credentials Access Key ID + Secret Access Key with sufficient permissions
Internet Access HTTPS outbound to *.amazonaws.com

Configuring AWS Credentials

Run the following in PowerShell to configure credentials: 

aws configure

Provide: 

AWS Access Key ID: <provided by project admin or your AWS IAM user>
AWS Secret Access Key: <provided by project admin>
Default region name: us-east-2
Default output format: json

Credentials are stored in ~\\.aws\\credentials. DeVILStarter reads them automatically from this location.

Required IAM Permissions: The IAM user/role running DeVILStarter needs permissions to manage the following AWS services:

  • apigateway:*
  • lambda:*
  • dynamodb:*
  • iam:* (for creating Lambda execution roles)

The simplest approach for a development/educational deployment is attaching the AdministratorAccess managed policy to the IAM user, accepting that this is not least-privilege. For stricter environments, craft a custom IAM policy limited to the above services in us-east-2.

Installing Terraform

  1. Download the Terraform binary for Windows from https://developer.hashicorp.com/terraform/install
  2. Extract the terraform.exe to a directory (e.g., C:\terraform\)
  3. Add that directory to your system PATH (same process as ADB in Section 2.2)
  4. Verify: terraform --version

Installing and Running DeVILStarter

  1. Obtain the DeVILStarter installer or executable from the DeVILSona project repository
  2. Run the installer (or the executable directly if it's a portable build)
  3. Launch DeVILStarter

On the first launch, DeVILStarter will look for the DeVILSona-infra Terraform configuration directory. Confirm the path is correct in DeVILStarter's settings if prompted.

Verifying DeVILStarter Works

  1. Click "Start Infrastructure"
  2. Watch the log output. You should see Terraform messages like: 
    Terraform has been successfully initialized!
Plan: 8 to add, 0 to change, 0 to destroy.
Apply complete! Resources: 8 added, 0 changed, 0 destroyed.
  3. The status indicator should turn green
  4. To confirm the API is live, use a REST client (like curl or Postman) to test the endpoint: 
    curl -X POST https://<id>.execute-api.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/login `
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" `
  -d '{"StudentID": 999, "SessionID": "test"}'
    You should receive a 200 response with {"ok":true,"exists":false,"sessions":[]}.

Sideloading Checklist

Before each deployment cycle, verify:

  • Developer Mode enabled on all headsets
  • ADB or SideQuest installed on deployment PC
  • Correct (largest) APK file identified in build output
  • All headsets show as device in adb devices
  • APK installed and launchable on each headset
  • App appears under "Unknown Sources" in App Library
  • Wi-Fi configured on each headset (correct SSID + password)
  • AWS credentials configured on DeVILStarter machine
  • Terraform installed and in PATH
  • DeVILStarter tested: infrastructure start → green status → infrastructure stop

➡️ Next: Network Configuration