LAN Cluster Help! {SOLVED!}

[killashandrasings]

OMG, I don't even know where to begin. I'm so frustrated, and I literally spent THOUSANDS to buy a machine that will host a cluster. Note: This is a SEPARATE machine on the same LAN.

I donwloaded ASM and managed to get The Island up quite easily. It was difficult to get to the map, but my friends seemed to manage just fine and I could get in through the LAN. I can get to The Island. I then tried to set up Scorched, but ran into problems clustering. I have set up several profiles, but deleted them (I think!) to start again. Now, after deleting and resetting up several new Scorched profiles, the command line won't even start. The status says "initalizing" I see the black window flash up, it goes away, and then the status says "stopped". Did I create too many profiles? Is there data that's blocking the start up somewhere? MY brain is about to explode trying to set this up.

I went and got a VPN, and The Island should show up when I input that into "find games at this address", but it doesn't. It says "Server Not Responding". I have done so much stuff that now I'm super confused and I literally have a headache.

I has been my DREAM to have my OWN cluster in my OWN house where I wouldn't have to lose my beloved game to the whim of someone who doesn't want to do it anymore.

Can anyone help?

I have an Arris Router, I got a VPN, and the Island is running just fine.

I think my next step is to completely uninstall and start again with the VPN in place. But I don't know how to completely uninstall. How do I take the dead servers off of Battlemetrics and steam? I think they are part of the problem.

Thanks in advance if anyone helps. :)

[Lori37]

well... for starters: not spamming the forum would help....

[killashandrasings]

Thank you that helps (No, it doesn't, and how did I spam the forum?) Are you completely heartless? I'm literally crying here. You did that. Thanks a lot.

[Zem]

I don't use ASM, so I have *no* clue as to what went wrong with that, but we (bf and I) do run our own tiny server from his house. Have you assigned each server its own ports/save directory in your command line? Each map needs its own port.

I have no idea if I can help you, but I understand the frustration of getting a server to work, so if I can be of any help I will.

[killashandrasings]

Thanks so much, and thank you for not getting snarky like that other person, adding to the already high stress level (what kind of horrible person DOES that?? /smh).

Anyway, that's what Ark server manager does, it assigns each map it's own port, and assigns a unique cluster name to the entire mess.

I'm pretty sure my problem is in my modem's NAT loopback. All the literature I read said using a VPN will take care of that, but I did that, and it didn't work, as far as I can tell.

But THEN (new problem, lol), I had made and deleted several Ark Server Manager profiles for the second map. At first the map worked, but after several new profiles, the map won't even start. Oy, I have such a headache from this, lol!

Question: - do you guys run a cluster, and can you transfer normally on your LAN? This is the part that frustrated me, that, had I set the maps up right, my friends would have been able to transfer maps normally - but I can't.

This is ... literally .. a cluster fook! ... BaDUMpum! :D (Gotta have a sense of humor about this or I'm going to blow my brains out, lol). Thanks again for responding. Stay Healthy! XOXO

[Cipher]

Originally posted by killashandrasings:

Thanks so much, and thank you for not getting snarky like that other person, adding to the already high stress level (what kind of horrible person DOES that?? /smh).

Anyway, that's what Ark server manager does, it assigns each map it's own port, and assigns a unique cluster name to the entire mess.

I'm pretty sure my problem is in my modem's NAT loopback. All the literature I read said using a VPN will take care of that, but I did that, and it didn't work, as far as I can tell.

But THEN (new problem, lol), I had made and deleted several Ark Server Manager profiles for the second map. At first the map worked, but after several new profiles, the map won't even start. Oy, I have such a headache from this, lol!

Question: - do you guys run a cluster, and can you transfer normally on your LAN? This is the part that frustrated me, that, had I set the maps up right, my friends would have been able to transfer maps normally - but I can't.

This is ... literally .. a cluster fook! ... BaDUMpum! :D (Gotta have a sense of humor about this or I'm going to blow my brains out, lol). Thanks again for responding. Stay Healthy! XOXO

Download SoftetherVpn it's free and easy to setup. Run the install client on the machine you play on. Then simply connect virtual adapter to a VPN with low ping. Add your servers LAN IP's under steam favs. Note you can be on your LAN net and the VPN at the same time. The VPN lets you cross servers. After transfer simply quit to main menu join back under favs so your back on LAN ping, enjoy transfering!. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Most people are A$$Holes

[killashandrasings]

"Download SoftetherVpn it's free and easy to setup. Run the install client on the machine you play on. Then simply connect virtual adapter to a VPN with low ping. Add your servers LAN IP's under steam favs. Note you can be on your LAN net and the VPN at the same time. The VPN lets you cross servers. After transfer simply quit to main menu join back under favs so your back on LAN ping, enjoy transfering!. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Most people are A$$Holes [/quote]"

HAHAHAHAHA!!

I've actually already done this. I got Avast VPN, because I already had that virus protection, although I see Softether would be better because it's free! lol. It didn't seem to work, although I actually can't tell. When I go to add the server to Steam favorites, shouldn't I be able to see the VPN IP? It seemed like it didn't, because I'm still seeing the LAN IP. Maybe I should try a 3rd server, since I can't even get into that second one, and try that way. And reboot EVERYTHING?

And thanks for being so nice. When someone actually tries to help, even if it doesn't work, it lowers my blood pressure considerably anyway, and gives me hope that I can do this, even though I'm not that great at coding. You're good peeps. XOXO

[Liralen]

You don't need a VPN. It serves a different purpose.

Basically, you do need to specify different ports in your router than the first server, copy the ASM profile you made for your first server into a new profile, change the parameters you wish to be different than the first server, add a cluster ID (Total Conversion ID) that is the same for both servers.

https://arkservermanager.freeforums.net/thread/8247/create-cluster-asm

If you give us an idea where you are stumped at, that would help us help you.

[Boomer]

I am not using a rig on my lan but i noticed that ASM did not set a different port for other maps by default. Once i gave them a different port they launched

[Zem]

Originally posted by Cipher:

Originally posted by killashandrasings:

Thanks so much, and thank you for not getting snarky like that other person, adding to the already high stress level (what kind of horrible person DOES that?? /smh).

Anyway, that's what Ark server manager does, it assigns each map it's own port, and assigns a unique cluster name to the entire mess.

I'm pretty sure my problem is in my modem's NAT loopback. All the literature I read said using a VPN will take care of that, but I did that, and it didn't work, as far as I can tell.

But THEN (new problem, lol), I had made and deleted several Ark Server Manager profiles for the second map. At first the map worked, but after several new profiles, the map won't even start. Oy, I have such a headache from this, lol!

Question: - do you guys run a cluster, and can you transfer normally on your LAN? This is the part that frustrated me, that, had I set the maps up right, my friends would have been able to transfer maps normally - but I can't.

This is ... literally .. a cluster fook! ... BaDUMpum! :D (Gotta have a sense of humor about this or I'm going to blow my brains out, lol). Thanks again for responding. Stay Healthy! XOXO

Download SoftetherVpn it's free and easy to setup. Run the install client on the machine you play on. Then simply connect virtual adapter to a VPN with low ping. Add your servers LAN IP's under steam favs. Note you can be on your LAN net and the VPN at the same time. The VPN lets you cross servers. After transfer simply quit to main menu join back under favs so your back on LAN ping, enjoy transfering!. Hope this helps.

EDIT: Most people are A$$Holes

We had a cluster before, right now it's turned off because of a friend wanting to transfer over from another server. Both worked. I have *no* idea about VPNs tying into this, so I cannot help you there :(

[killashandrasings]

Okay, I just wanted to update how it all turned out, in case another LAN owner wants to set up a cluster. This was just about the single, most frustrating thing in gaming that I have ever done (poking the bear was NOT a good idea)! The most important thing that happened was that I neglected to set up exceptions in my IP profile, (ie: Frontier Communications). You must navigate to your settings page at your local provider, and set up exceptions in your port forwarding which should look something like what follows: (For Service, I just put names there that reminded me what the port is for - Ark Query Ports, the Remote Console, and the Ark Server ports).

Device/ Public IP address / Service / Ports
_____________________________________________________
your server 12.345.6.789 Ark Query TCP/UDP: 27015-37015
your server 12.345.6.789 Ark Rcon TCP/UDP: 32330-33330
your server 12.345.6.789 Ark Server TCP/UDP: 7777-9999

For Ark, you need to set up RANGES of exceptions, especially if you plan on running a lot of maps. However, some providers (like Spectrum) don't let you do this. I don't know what to tell you in that case - definitely give them a call if you have to do it and have that provider set up your exceptions. By the way, if you have a separate router and modem, you need to set up the exceptions in BOTH devices.

This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING. If you don't know how to do this on your personal account (because, of course, it would be different from mine), you should contact your internet provider.

Today, using Ark Server Manager, I was able to set up two maps and transfer normally, without having to upload my items or dinos into the obelisk. Now, setting up the rest of the maps is just a matter of copying and pasting, and making sure the cluster ID and the ports are properly numbered.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help - you guys are AWESOME. @Liralen, you were right, I did not need to set up a VPN, you basically told me what to do, and a friend in my cluster helped clarify it by doing a screen session with me and showing me specifically. So, thanks especially for your help here. XOXO

[Liralen]

Glad to hear that you got your dedicated servers running! Having control over your own servers definitely make Ark more fun, even if only being able to cure client/server mismatches immediately.

It is funny though that we do have Spectrum, but bought our own modem and routers (back when we first started running servers about 15 years ago, it was hard to find routers with more than 4 ports, but now we have a router with 8 ports).

What we do is specify the ports individually using the router admin instead of specifying a range. It wasn't necessary to specify both 27015 and 27016 for the first server's query port, i.e., in the router we'd specify 27015 for the first Ark server, then 27017 for the second Ark server, etc. Whether that's still necessary today, I dunno. It's just the way I've always done it :)

[zerassar]

@OP a slight side note, though glad you got it sorted.
But you should only ever forward ports that you actually plan to actively use. All open ports like this introduce a security risk to your network. I see in your above post that you forwarded 10,000 query ports. Also 2,222 game ports were forwarded... I assume you're not hosting 1111 servers? Both are well overboard.

You should only be forwarding exactly the ports that you need and all other rules should be disabled/removed when not in use.

The ports that Ark needs per server.
1 query port
2 game ports (whatever you set as your game port, and then <gamePort> +1)
Optional 1 rcon port.
https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Dedicated_server_setup#Port_Forwarding_and_Firewall



rcon in ark does not have brute force protection. So opening rcon across the internet will allow trolls to simply keep trying random passwords until they get the right one. My suggestion to you would be to close rcon from across the internet, remove that rule. Also, you forwarded 1000 ports for rcon... You're surely not hosting that many servers?

If you need ongoing remote access to the server across the internet... then my recommendation would be to setup a VPN on your home network. Many routers have this functionality built in. Like say Asus uses OpenVPN. You can then VPN dial back home when you are remote and access rcon as though you were on your local network. If your router does not include that functionality then you can install a VPN server on say your ark server device that would allow you to.

[Liralen]

I second zerassar's advice. I've never enabled rcon in Ark.

I transferred our Ark files to another player, a friend of my son, whom I've known for over 35 years and so also consider him a son, when most of my other family stopped playing Ark (although I'm sure they would help their wife, mom, or grandma in boss fights if I asked them to), except for he and I.

After awhile, he got tired of me sending e-mails about servers needing up-dating and set up a VPN so that I could control the servers when needed. His real life job is a system admin for a corporation, so I'm sure he knows what he's doing.

We also use both a whitelist (Steam ID's) AND a password to even play on our servers. Adding the password seemed to stop people from trying to join our servers who weren't on the whitelist.

[zerassar]

Like I dont mind that rcon is turned on, I have it turned on and use it with various automated scripts running various commands and sending messages to users on a schedule... My main issue is with opening that access to the Public Internet.