SystemD Server Guide

2023-04-12T08:53:58Z

95.27.42.27: No need to edit this file manually. Furthermore, it's not safe and error prone.

[[Category:Tutorials]]

== Requirements ==
* A machine that runs any Linux distribution that uses SystemD
* Access to, and basic knowledge of your Linux shell
* <code>sudo</code>-rights
* At least 16GB RAM

== Preparing the server ==
To maximize server security, we will be setting up a dedicated user that only has the privileges to run the dedicated server, and nothing else.

<code>sudo useradd -m -s /sbin/nologin stationeers</code>

== Installing SteamCmd ==
Follow the instructions here to get SteamCmd installed: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#Package_From_Repositories

== Creating the SystemD service==
Now it's time to create the service-file for SystemD so we can use it to control starting and stopping the Stationeers server.

<code>sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/stationeers.service</code>

Paste the following into the editor:
----
<code>[Unit] 
Description=Stationeers Dedicated Server 
Wants=network-online.target 
After=syslog.target network.target nss-lookup.target network-online.target

[Service] 
Environment="LD_LIBRARY_PATH=./linux64" 
ExecStartPre=/usr/games/steamcmd +force_install_dir "/home/stationeers/StationeersDedicatedServer" +login anonymous +app_update 600760 validate +quit 
ExecStart=/home/stationeers/StationeersDedicatedServer/rocketstation_DedicatedServer.x86_64 -loadlatest "NAME_OF_SAVE" PLANET -difficulty DIFFICULTY_SETTING -settings StartLocalHost true ServerVisible true LocalIpAddress IP_ADDRESS ServerName "NAME_IN_SERVER_LIST" ServerPassword "YOUR_SECURE_PASSWORD" ServerMaxPlayers MAX_PLAYERS UPNPEnabled false 
User=stationeers 
Group=stationeers 
StandardOutput=journal 
Restart=on-failure 
WorkingDirectory=/home/stationeers

[Install] 
WantedBy=multi-user.target</code>
----
The stuff under <code>[Unit]</code> and <code>[Install]</code> is just to name the service in Linux, and declare when it's safe to start. It's the stuff under <code>[Service]</code> that is the "business end" of this file.

<code>ExecStartPre</code> runs the <code>steamcmd</code> application to update the dedicated server. You might want to check that <code>steamcmd</code> is actually installed in /usr/games/ by running the following command: <code>find /usr/ -name "steamcmd"</code> 
<code>ExecStart</code> starts the Stationeers dedicated server. Be sure to replace all the UPPERCASE entries with what you want for your server. See here: https://github.com/rocket2guns/StationeersDedicatedServerGuide/blob/main/README.md 
<code>User</code> and <code>Group</code> ensures that the dedicated server runs with the user we set up earlier. 
<code>StandardOutput=journal</code> directs all log-messages to the system journal. If something goes wrong, you don't have to locate any log-files, you just run the command <code>journalctl -fu stationeers</code> to browse the journal for what the user <code>stationeers</code> has output. 
<code>Restart=on-failure</code> ensures that if the server crashes, it will automatically restart. 
<code>WorkingDirectory=/home/stationeers</code> makes sure that everything we do assumes that we're standing in this folder when we do it. It's kind of redundant here, but I keep it in for safety.

== Wrapping it all up ==
Now that we've created the service-file, we have to let SystemD know it's there. Run <code>sudo systemctl daemon-reload</code> to do that. Any time you edit the service-file, you have to run this command to make SystemD aware of the changes you've made.

That's it! All we need to do now is run <code>sudo systemctl start stationeers</code>, and it will download Stationeers Dedicated Server, start it with the parameters we've set, and run until we either reboot the machine, or run <code>sudo systemctl stop stationeers</code>. 
If there's an update to Stationeers, just run <code>sudo systemctl restart stationeers</code>, and the <code>ExecStartPre</code> line in the service-file will ensure that <code>steamcmd</code> downloads the latest version.

Want the dedicated server to start with the machine every time you reboot? Just run <code>sudo systemctl enable stationeers</code> to enable start-on-boot, and <code>sudo systemctl disable stationeers</code> to disable it again.

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SystemD Server Guide