ARK Linux Server Setup

[Taien]

Trying to set up a Linux server and I followed all the directions on https://ark.gamepedia.com/Dedicated_Server_Setup exactly but the server refuses to start. Help?

Here's a picture of the error I'm getting when I try to launch it:

https://imgur.com/a/89OK6

Not really sure what the issue is as I've followed all the instructions. This is yet another of those times I wish Linux was a little more user-friendly...

[Harl Blabberhoof]

Please get a blackboard and a chalk and write 100 times "I will not run game servers as root".

As for running the server itself: You can take alot of hassle of installing, running and updating the server if you look for already well thought out helpers.
I ran a server with my own scripts, I ran servers with ark-server-tools ( https://github.com/FezVrasta/ark-server-tools ) and currently I'm running two clusters of servers using LGSM https://gameservermanagers.com/lgsm/arkserver/

Especially the latter is really easy and straightforward to setup and run, you can always add your own maintenance scripts to it (got one for backups, one for checking the currently population on the servers, etc.).

[Chriz]

use https://github.com/FezVrasta/ark-server-tools its easier than lgsm, when it comes to config stuff and autoupdates/backups

And yes Harl is totally right never ever run stuff on root if its not necessary

[Taien]

Why would you not run stuff as root? Just curious. Aren't you avoiding a bunch of unneccessary security restrictions by doing it this way? Wouldn't the user have limited access to certain files on the system, potentially causing more problems?

I also didn't see anything in the tutorial about running it from another user, so maybe they should add that into the tutorial.

I'd prefer not to install extra software just to run a server for me, though. I'd really just like to know what exactly is wrong with my command line that's causing this error. From the tutorials I read, it SHOULD be correct. I just wish the error was more verbose and gave me some indication of what's wrong.

[Taien]

I tried setting up the LGSM program you gave a link for above, and I ran the 64bit line for Ubuntu to download the dependencies, which errored out with:
Segmentation faultsts.....11%

[Taien]

The line I'm talking about that errors out is "sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386; sudo apt-get update;sudo apt-get install mailutils postfix curl wget file bzip2 gzip unzip bsdmainutils python util-linux ca-certificates binutils bc tmux lib32gcc1 libstdc++6 libstdc++6:i386"

[Taien]

Ok so LGSM isn't an option either, it's having the same problem...not really sure what's up with this, it's a fresh installation of Ubuntu and I followed the wiki to the letter.

[AussieTerror]

Are you running a Cluster? The command line in the screenshot indicates an incomplete cluster config.. can you share your command line (remove your passwords)? also how much RAM does your ubuntu server have?

[Harl Blabberhoof]

As for "why not run as root": I just quote the tutorial page you linked:

Finally, adjust the User and Group settings for your host. Without these two options in ark-dedicated.service, the dedicated server will be run as the root user. This is unsafe, as any vulnerability in the dedicated server could result in an attacker gaining remote superuser access on the host.

Additionally you surely read the install page about SteamCMD, which also clearly states:

Create a user account named steam to run SteamCMD safely, isolating it from the rest of the operating system. Do not run steamcmd while operating as the root user - to do so is a security risk.

Since Ark doesn't need any "special" access, it really runs quite smoothly as a service with only an unprivileged user.

As for your screenshot error: I think it results in the mixed access rights. You want to run "ShooterGame", but it needs a working SteamCMD environment, which you installed most likely as the user "steam" (as per the tutorial). But user "root" doesn't have the environment set up, so ShooterGame looks for info, looks for info, looks for ino, shrugs its shoulders and gives up.

As for the LGSM stuff: It's just a bunch of (shell) script files which help to install and run the servers (mostly) hassle-free.

The Segfault error is strange, but I'd do the following (if you're not logged in as root, add "sudo" in front of the commands):
a) Update the information from the repositories: apt-get update
b) Clean up the cache: apt-get autoclean
c) Update your system to the latest patches: apt-get upgrade
d) You can break down the commands from LGSM for the Ubuntu prerequisites at the semicolons. So this one long line is in truth 3 commands just mixed up in one line. Break them down into their components and run them (if you are root already, you don't need the sudo). So you can see at which part an error (if it's not cleaned up a-c already) occurs.
If it occurs, a complete error message would be appreciated (if you want, add me on steam and I can help you directly without posting everything on the forums).

[Taien]

Originally posted by TerrorAU:

Are you running a Cluster? The command line in the screenshot indicates an incomplete cluster config.. can you share your command line (remove your passwords)? also how much RAM does your ubuntu server have?

Server has 32GB RAM.

The command line in the screen is the exact command line (with passwords blanked out). What am I missing for the cluster config? Yes, I'm trying to start a cluster. Once I get this first server working I'll add the others.

Harl, thanks for the info, I'll let you know how that goes, going to be messing with it again now.

[Taien]

Originally posted by Harl Blabberhoof:

Additionally you surely read the install page about SteamCMD, which also clearly states:

Create a user account named steam to run SteamCMD safely, isolating it from the rest of the operating system. Do not run steamcmd while operating as the root user - to do so is a security risk.

I actually never saw the install page for SteamCMD because I was only following the ARK Dedicated server setup tutorial, which provided the command and process for installing it (which apparently wasn't correct). I'm pretty sure I never set up another account for steam and installed it under root. I'll probably just wipe the entire system again to get it clean since I have nothing installed on the server atm, and try again.

Will give your suggestions a try, thanks

[Taien]

Ok so I'm still having the same problem after wiping the system. I had to install steamcmd as root because it wouldn't allow me to do it while using the steam user, but I am running it as the steam user here and still having the problem:

https://i.imgur.com/czEgvEN.jpg

[Taien]

Can anyone please help? I'm completely stumped. I followed the Linux install directions to the letter and I'm getting segmentation faults when trying to start the server.

I have tried:
1. ...to install steamcmd as a non-root user, which caused even worse segmentation faults when I tried to run steamcmd (it wouldn't even let me get to the steam command line).
2. ...to install steamcmd as a root user, then switched to non-root and ran it, seems to work ok this way until I try to run the server, then I get segmentation faults and it fails to start.
3. I've used ulimit to increase open files to 2048 as suggested in the steamcmd wiki

No matter what I do, I can't get the server to start.

Here is my file structure:

/home/steam/arkserver/ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer

Here is my shell script to launch it.

#! /bin/bash
./arkserver/ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer "TheCenter?listen?SessionName=Verdis Center?ServerPassword=stuff?ServerAdminPassword=morestuff?QueryPort=27015?Port=7777" -server -log -NoTransferFromFiltering -clusterid=verdis_cluster -ClusterDirOverride=/home/steam/verdis_cluster

What am I doing wrong? I've looked at practically every tutorial on the net and done extensive google searches about ark installation segmentation faults and come up with nothing...

[Paradigm]

This might sound completely unrelated, but just to verify. You are running your server on an 64-bit architecture correct?

The only thing that comes to mind is that it requires a certain 32-bit library to function properly on a 64-bit system. I am not 100% certain which one it was again, I will check in my documentation what I needed to do to fix that issue.

Another side note, ARK opens up so many files that you need to increase the open file handles per process on Linux otherwise the kernel will kill it.

[Taien]

Yep, it's a 64-bit Ubuntu 17 server. And when you say increase the open file handles per process, what do you mean? I tried the setup steps in the ark dedicated server tutorial, such as fs.file_max and such. Also set the ulimit higher. Any other ideas?

[Paradigm]

My own server cluster is running on a 64-bit Ubuntu 16.04 LTS host. I had the exact same issue at first as well, but I cannot entirely recall how I fixed it.

The only difference so far is, I do not run it as root, but as an unprivileged user. And I start it using systemd.

Do you have any server specs for me?
- Total RAM? (use the command: free -m)
- Free disk space? (use the command: df -h)

Just to rule out some other issues.