Help Installing Epoch on a dedi box running Ubuntu

[neiljb]

Hi, myself and my friend Steve have an OVH dedi box we use to run minecraft servers from. Its being totally under stretched ATM and we would like to run an Epoch server from it, mainly because we are tired of waiting for dayzpriv to update our server, and also so we can have full control over the running of our server without all the BS restrictions placed upon us by using such a hosting company.

 

Does anyone have any guides for installing a dayz (more specifically Epoch) server on a linux box? I have been doing some research for the last couple of days and most of the guides I have found are old and outdated and for very old versions of vanilla dayz.

 

The box is running Ubuntu and we already have a Mysql server setup. As far as I understand we need wine to run the server but I am unsure whether we need a GUI, ideally we would like to avoid this as they are kinda resource hungry although the box we have is pretty powerful so if we do need one its not that big of a deal.

 

Any help/tips/links from fellow linux server owners would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

Ps. I forgot to mention that I already have a server setup and running correctly from my windows PC so that part is covered, its just getting the environment on the box setup ready to run the server which we could do with a little help with.

[Kind-Sir]

I ran two DayZ Chernarus servers off of a CentOS box for about 3 months.
You do need an x11 server running, unfortunately, but you can set up a bare-bones one that will snag less than 50mb of ram. Set up a vnc, connect to it, and you should be able to run Arma 2 OA from Linux.

The problem I had was getting Battleye to keep connections alive with the rcon. As long as you set up your ports correctly with iptables, you should be fine.

I believe I had directx9 installed along with dotnet40, dotnet30, vcrun2008, and vcrun2010.
You will be able to get these if you install the winetricks package, and run it with the command (on the x server) winetricks --gui to save some command hassle. If not, you should be able to find some package names online or via the winetricks command.


There is a Linux build of the Arma 2 OA server, however, I have had no success in actually running DayZ off of that.

[Radiix]

I dont know how many players you have in minecraft but i suggest you to NOT emulate windows based serverfiles.

 

We had a epoch server running on debian_x64 and it SUCKED at performance when we reached 20+ players online. The CPU usage will spike to 100% once you reach an amount of players because of the emulation wine has to do. I dont know which CPU u have, but we had an i7 2600k.

 

Maybe we did something wrong, i dont know. But i still don't recommend it.

[Kind-Sir]

There IS an arma 2 oa linux beta build (1.62.102451):

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=10926

I was able to get it running, but not with the DayZ mod. Maybe someone else may have more luck.

[neiljb]

The box we have uses a Xeon e3 3.4ghz, 32gb RAM and 2 120gb ssd's. Would it be possible to run an Epoch server within a win XP virtual machine using VMware installed onto Ubuntu?

[Kind-Sir]

The box we have uses a Xeon e3 3.4ghz, 32gb RAM and 2 120gb ssd's. Would it be possible to run an Epoch server within a win XP virtual machine using VMware installed onto Ubuntu?

It would be possible, but performance would drain quickly.

Try to get it to work under Wine.

[happysan]

We ran a mix of linux and windows.  We used the linux machine on solid state to just run MySQL and then had the windows box remote into the linux machine.  it gave a nice balance of performance without the hassle of setting up the arma server on linux, which seems to be a mixed bag.  

[neiljb]

We got it working with wine in the end. 

 

Thanks for the help/tips.

[Keebs]

Neiljb, im rather new here and I have litterally the SAME issue as you.

 

I run an OVH server, ubuntu and our minecraft servers arent enough for us we want some dayz.

 

Is there anything you did to get it to work because NOTHING I try is working at all. Thanks!

[Torndeco]

Runing a server on ubuntu server atm..
What part are u currently stuck on ?

 

i.e

Getting steam to run to download arma oa2 ?

Patching oa2 ? ( I find its easier to patch my machine + just ftp the files to server )

Can't get arma oa2 server to launch ?

Errors after launching oa2 server

 

 

Notes i wouldn't be bothered with bec...

Just do a count timer in a custom debug monitor + restart the server via a cron + a bash script

[neiljb]

Just do a count timer in a custom debug monitor + restart the server via a cron + a bash script

 

 

Care to share your scripts? :D

[Snowmobil]

Runing a server on ubuntu server atm..

What part are u currently stuck on ?

 

i.e

Getting steam to run to download arma oa2 ?

Patching oa2 ? ( I find its easier to patch my machine + just ftp the files to server )

Can't get arma oa2 server to launch ?

Errors after launching oa2 server

 

 

Notes i wouldn't be bothered with bec...

Just do a count timer in a custom debug monitor + restart the server via a cron + a bash script

Any performance issues with 20+ players?

[neiljb]

its not to bad with 40 to 50 players, when you hit 60 it starts to suffer a little though. :D

[Keebs]

I have no idea how to put dayz epoch on the box itself. I have steam installed, and I have wine installed, and mysql database is installed (but doesnt have dayz tables yet)

 

I just need help actually getting a server started on the box

[neiljb]

Don't bother trying to install it through steam, get a working server going on your windows pc, then copy it across to the box using your ftp.

[Torndeco]

Stuff u need to install in wine enviroment

directx9 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 dotnet4

U should be able to use winetricks to install the above..

 

Note last time i installed

I had to use PlayOnLinux at the time due to having issues getting steam to start with ubutnu wine package at the time

I then moved PlayOnLinux enviroment over to wine afterwards

 

 

Ftp uploads can be a pain depending on your upload bandwidth at home.

 

Since u managed to get steam running, i recommend u use it to & install arma2 + arma2oa

Remember once it download + ran once u wont need to use steam again for the server.

 

Use it to download arma2 + arma2oa

U will need launch both games + kill them afterwards

Its just so steam adds registry entries etc.

 

As for beta patchs i always just patched on my local machine + uploaded the files to server.

Just to be safe side + and its a small filesize

 

 

------------

DATABASE SETUP

 

Important since your mysql is running on linux don't forget to change the following /etc/mysql/my.cnf

 

In the [mysqld] section add

event_scheduler=ON
lower_case_table_names=1

Now to restart mysql

service mysql restart

 

 

If u already added the database for epoch, backup the database.

Drop it + change the settings + restart server + restore the backup u made

 

-------------------------

Install Dayz Epoch Tables

mysql -user=root -p
 
create database dayz_epoch;
create user 'dayz'@'localhost' identified by 'CHANGEME';
grant all privileges on dayz_epoch.* to 'dayz'@'localhost';
quit;
 
mysql -user=dayz --pass=yourpassword dayz_epoch < epoch.sql

Then

http://dayzepoch.com/wiki/index.php?title=Server_Installation_Instructions_Extended

 

 

------------

Finish up Server Install

After u have have Arma2 + Arma2OA installed

Make a simple symlink

 

cd /path/to/Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead

symlink -s ../Arma 2/Addons .

 

Download mod files i.e via torrent,

I used rtorrent to download the modfiles

 

---------

Known Issues

Blur Anti-Hack Pro version, disable the callextenstion in code for extra log files..

Will crash wine + its logged in server rpt logs anyways.

 

--------

Example of restart script run via cron i.e crontab -e

#!/bin/bash
pkill IE1.exe
sleep 10
if [ -e /home/torndeco/Games/Server/updates/dayz_server.pbo ]; then
    mv -f /home/torndeco/Games/Server/updates/dayz_server.pbo /home/torndeco/Games/Arma\ 2\ Operation\ Arrowhead/@DayZ_Epoch_Server/addons
        echo "DayZ Server Updated!"
else
        echo "No DayZ Server Update Found!"
fi
sleep 5
if [ -e /home/torndeco/Games/Server/updates/DayZ_Epoch_17.Chernarus.pbo ]; then
    mv -f /home/torndeco/Games/Server/updates/DayZ_Epoch_17.Chernarus.pbo /home/torndeco/Games/Arma\ 2\ Operation\ Arrowhead/MPMissions
        echo "DayZ Mission Updated!"
else
        echo "No DayZ Mission Update Found!"
fi
sleep 10
DISPLAY=:1 WINEDEBUG=-all wine "C:\Games\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead\IE1.exe" "-port=2302" "-config=C:\Games\Server\IE1\config_XXXXXXXX.cfg" "-cfg=C:\Games\Server\IE1\basic.cfg" "-profiles=C:\Games\Server\IE1" "-BEpath=C:\Games\Server\IE1\BattlEye" "-name=epoch" "-mod=@DayZ_Epoch;@DayZ_Epoch_Server;" -noPause -noSound -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=4096 -bandwidthAlg=2 -exThreads=7

Notice i symlinked the expansion/beta/armaoaserver.exe -> IE1.EXE

This is so if u are running multiple servers u can kill by process name, was just easier than keeping track of process id

 

Also if u want to disable GUI Crash Dialog

http://wiki.winehq.org/FAQ#head-c857c433cf9fc1dcd90b8369ef75c325483c91d6

This way if server does crash it will restart @ next scheduled cron job

 

 

-----------

As for perfomance

 

I used to host high pop tavianna server on linux / windows back around jan.

I noticed no performance issues using wine.

Extra hassle with getting installed + getting restarts to work. But saves on paying for a windows server

[Keebs]

Thank you for your amazing post, but I have an issue. I have SteamCMD on the box, it has installed games before but it wont install Arma 2, or OA. Invalid platform. Is there anything I can do to fix this issue?

 

 

I downloaded the Epoch server files and started it on my PC, tried to join and it was a very old version. Is there any way I can get an updated version?

 

 

EDIT - Server version was 1.0.1.1 downloaded from here on the server files download link.

[Torndeco]

I just used normal steam.

If it doesn't launch in wine try PlayOnLinux

 

PlayOnLinux (its basicly a static compiled wine)  @ http://www.playonlinux.com/en/download.html

U will also need to install  directx9 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 dotnet4 again (even if u installed them by winetricks, since POL uses its own wine install / directory)

 

Once its installed + launchs, install the games etc + run them once.

Doesn't matter if game won't launch its just so steam does its thing.

 

 

Then check out playonlinux hidden directory in your users home + move the wine folder that has steam etc & move it over to your ~/.wine.

Now u can use ubuntu wine version to run the server.

 

Its alot easier to use your system version when it comes to bash scripts to start server etc.

 

-------------------------------

 

 

Server Files are @ http://dayzepoch.com/

click on the  installation | Download tab

 

U will also get a torrent link there u can use to download the mods files

[Keebs]

Ive never used wine, when I tried installing the requirements I get this error.

 

 

Application tried to create a window, but no driver could be loaded.

Make sure that your X server is running and that $DISPLAY is set correctly.

vcrun2010 install completed, but installed file /root/.wine/dosdevices/c:/windows/system32/mfc100.dll not found

 

Also dotnet4 isnt installing for some reason.

 

Sorry for so many questions/issues at once, ive been working on this for weeks getting no where because everything I find on this is outdated and im supprized because linux is leading in server hosting, just this isnt working for me.

[Torndeco]

DONT BE USING ROOT !!!!!

 

Create a normal user account for a dayzserver.

 

Also please lie to me and say u setup a firewall, recommend shorewall nice + simple text conf files..

Becareful u don't lock yourself outof server i.e block ssh

 

--------------------------------

--------------------------------

 

 

 

U setup a virtual desktop yet ?

Arma2OA Server still wants a graphics enviroment

i.e u ssh into the server + use a vnc client to connect to the virtual desktop

Do some searchs on Ubuntu VNC Server till u find a setup u like

 

For example

Install the packages required
$ sudo apt-get install xvfb x11vnc blackbox xterm
Start Xvfb to create a 800*600 display on :1
$ Xvfb :1 -screen 0 800x600x16 -ac &
Start blackbox window manager on the display
$ DISPLAY=:1 blackbox &
Create a password file for x11vnc
$ x11vnc -storepasswd
Start x11vnc using display :1
$ x11vnc -display :1 -usepw &

[Keebs]

All the files are installed on the box.

 

I ended up having to move arma 2 and OA onto the box manually but its finished.

 

I have a GUI installed, and all the dependincies but now my question is, How do I start the epoch server with wine? I tried to run the .bat and no luck.

 

Do the server files need to be somewhere else on the box?

 

Do I need to run arma and OA once on the box? (if so, how?)

[Keebs]

Anyone? D: I just need to learn how to actually start the server. The .bat doesnt work with wine, and I dont know how to.

 

Mysql is set up, all the files are moved over, and I have the virtual desktop set up. Just waiting on this last piece.

[Torndeco]

WINEDEBUG=-all wine "C:\Games\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead\IE1.exe" "-port=2302" "-config=C:\Games\Server\IE1\config_XXXXXXXX.cfg" "-cfg=C:\Games\Server\IE1\basic.cfg" "-profiles=C:\Games\Server\IE1" "-BEpath=C:\Games\Server\IE1\BattlEye" "-name=epoch" "-mod=@DayZ_Epoch;@DayZ_Epoch_Server;" -noPause -noSound -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=4096 -bandwidthAlg=2 -exThreads=7

[Keebs]

WINEDEBUG=-all wine "C:\Games\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead\IE1.exe" "-port=2302" "-config=C:\Games\Server\IE1\config_XXXXXXXX.cfg" "-cfg=C:\Games\Server\IE1\basic.cfg" "-profiles=C:\Games\Server\IE1" "-BEpath=C:\Games\Server\IE1\BattlEye" "-name=epoch" "-mod=@DayZ_Epoch;@DayZ_Epoch_Server;" -noPause -noSound -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=4096 -bandwidthAlg=2 -exThreads=7

Thats the thing though. I doing have the C:\ folder layout, and I dont have a server folder with \IE1\BattleEye. I dont understand this line of starting text (I saw it in your other post above in the restart script, but I dont know how to get my files set up like that.

 

My two games are installed as such;

 

/home/steam/arma/Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead

/home/steam/arma/Arma 2

I have added the symlink  from Arma 2 to the OA addons folder.

 

I have all the server files dragged into the OA folder, and I have the client files as well. What am I doing wrong here?

 

EDIT- I have all the files in the right place, I see what you did with IE1 etc, but wheres the C:\ drive for me to run this stuff?

 

EDIT AGAIN - I set them up in Z drive and the command went through, but im left with nothing?

When I entered this long command, its left with nothing. No debug opening, just a small ">         " and nothing else. I press enter and its two lines of ">        ". Also no window opened up for the arma 2 server. Any help please, you have been a major help so far. Thanks!

[Torndeco]

DISPLAY=:1 WINEDEBUG=-all wine "C:\Games\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead\IE1.exe" "-port=2302" "-config=C:\Games\Server\IE1\config_XXXXXXXX.cfg" "-cfg=C:\Games\Server\IE1\basic.cfg" "-profiles=C:\Games\Server\IE1" "-BEpath=C:\Games\Server\IE1\BattlEye" "-name=epoch" "-mod=@DayZ_Epoch;@DayZ_Epoch_Server;" -noPause -noSound -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=4096 -bandwidthAlg=2 -exThreads=7

ls -l ~

 

This will show you your users home directory and hidden files

U wil notice a .wine directory

 

So if u look in

~/.wine/dosdevices/c:/

 

That is your c:\,  u have to remember wine is an emulator so u will need to either symlink Arma into ~/.wine/dosdevices/c:/

Or move the files inside there.

 

-------------------------------

DISPLAY:-1

Is just setting a system variable so when cron launchs the restart server script, a variable is passed to wine to tell it which display to use.

This will depend on your virtual x11  / virtual desktop setup u are using

WINEDEBUG=-all

This is just turning off some of wine's debug to help try & improve server performance.

 

So basicly when u type

wine <everything else afterwards>

<everything else afterwards> = the command u would use on a windows server.

 

Change the directory locations to whereever u have your battleye directorys etc... i just showed u an example.

I used a custom direcotry setup so i had arma located in 1 place.

And all my server configs / logs are located in another directory, and the servers are named internally as IE1 + IE2  short for ireland 1 + ireland 2.

 

This is to make my life easier, u need to edit the script to suit your setup i.e whatever u would use on a windows server.

 

----------------------

Anyway, sounds like u have a typo mistake and left an " open somewhere...  its still waiting for u finish the input before it runs wine.

Wanna test it simplier, think simple just try & launch arma with no options passed to it i.e

DISPLAY=:1 WINEDEBUG=-all wine "C:\Games\Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead\IE1.exe"

[Keebs]

-Snip-

 

I figured out issue, will post back shortly