How to migrate local save data to dedicated server (3rd party hosted)

Scope:
Simple guide on how to migrate your local player data to 3rd party hosted dedicated server. End goal is to be able to pull up previous prospects in your dedicated server and not start entirely from scratch.

Requirements:
Dedicated server hosted by official partner orgs (i.e. gportal etc.)
FTP client (Filezilla Client version in this example)
Save data saved locally in Appdata from previous playthroughs

Pre-reqs

Obtain a dedicated server from one of the current official partners
download an FTP client - https://filezilla-project.org/ (don't have to use this one if you have another preferred client)
Verify that you have local profile data by browsing to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Icarus\saved


https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5113306031399959708/D55349920FEF87D7DDC41A62176B4A72461967E8/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

^^should have a directory that looks like this

Start a preliminary prospect on dedicated server

You will notice after you get your dedicated server online that it will want you to start a new prospect and have no prior knowledge of anything you've done previously in the game locally.
I am not entirely sure if this step is 100% required, but this is what I did to continue with the process.
- Go ahead and start a new prospect on your dedicated server with one of your characters.
- If you're already connected via FTP client, you will notice that a new directory will show up after you exit your new prospect and refresh the FTP connection.
- The new directory on the dedicated server will be nested under icarus\config\saved\playerdata\dedicatedserver

You should now have directories within there for prospects etc. This is where we will be migrating data.

Connect to server via FTP/Transfer data

I'm not going to go into exact detail on how to establish a connection with your dedicated server via FTP.

In a nutshell - your dedicated server host will have a specified IP/TCP port for FTP communication along with a set username and password (username/password can typically be changed to whatever you want)
Use your preferred FTP client application and connect to your server using the provided creds (typically found on dashboard for dedicated server)

Within your FTP client navigate to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Icarus\Saved for the local side of the connection. On the remote side navigate to icarus\config\saved\.

Select all files/folders listed within your local files in the saved folder listed above. Select upload or transfer in your FTP client to the remote destination listed above.

Lastly, open in your FTP client open the local appdata folder under the same directory that is titled "PlayerData", then open the folder inside of it that has your SteamID as the name. Select the entire contents of this folder and then transfer/upload it to the "DedicatedServer" folder that is on the remote side of the FTP connection. This should get your prospects etc. into the Dedicated Server.

Ultimately you want your dedicated server file structure to look something like this below.


https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5113306031400049172/F5DE387F9A26C43F85CA3ABF2FD5F9720DAE05A2/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5113306031400057980/98DA01FBAF6DC1FEE6C09C20BC0C7F7F03A7F59C/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Restart and Connect to Dedicated server

Now that we have uploaded our data via FTP to the Dedicated Server we just need to restart it from the partner site that your choosing to host the server at.

Once it is restarted, wait for it to come back up and connect to it from within Icarus like you did previously. It may take a second, but it should now have knowledge of your past prospects/current open world prospects and also all current inventory etc that you were playing with.

Wanted to add one more little extra bit of info for server hosting also -
To get the server to keep the session persistent and not go to the server lobby every time you start up - check your configuration file on your hosted server on their dashboard and look at the lines you can edit in there. there is one or two that tie to persistence and which prospect it loads by default -

"ShutdownifNotJoinedFor="
"ShutdownIfEmptyFor="
"LoadProspect="nameofprospect""

Issues I ran into during this process:
I noticed the first time I attempted to reconnect to the server and resume my previous open world prospect that it errored out with connection error 65 IIRC. Do not be deterred by this as it may just be part of the current process with this. Go ahead and attempt connection again and this time it should prepare geometry and establish a session.

Enjoy!!

From the LearnedCrane guide development team.

Special thanks to Limagyn for contributing!

[XereX]

I did a dedicated server on an Unraid inside Docker with everything default.
- Booted the server up
- Joined the server with the name "Icarus Docker" and the password.
- Created a new prospect with an identical name as the savegame I have on my local pc. (I think the Prospect name is important to get right, as it would not otherwise show up in my case)
- Joined into the game, then quit the game.
- Then shutdown the Icarus docker server.

Next, copy files.

- Copy all content from your own PC (local harddisk) from the following location:
** Replace the USERNAME text, with the name of your windows login here**

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Icarus\Saved\PlayerData\76561198016304643
And copied this to the following dedicated server folder:
\appdata\icarus\Icarus\Saved\PlayerData\DedicatedServer

- Then booting up the dedicated server again until it said : No players connected.

DONE!...

Maybe this procedure could help others...

[dh2k]

Thank You for sharing - super helpful. Worked like charm.

[Marshalleq]

In the very unclear Image, I think there is meant to be (or I create) a folder called DedicatedServer under the PlayerData folder in Saved. I think that's whats being said.

[Marshalleq]

Only one question, in the last step, what is the dedicated server folder? This seems a bit unclear.

[Debess]

Great guide, never rent a server before so i followed your instructions.

And it works well except that i had a problem while restart the server cause Adblock (ad blocker)
prevented the process from finishing.

Another tip, i did not start a preliminary prospect on my dedicated server.

Thanks a lot.

[McRay2K]

You made my day. Everything works perfectly. Glad to see people like you helping others.
Thanks a lot and take care!

[DragonEnergy]

send me a PM with your file structure in filezilla or something i can take a look

[Lucifer WPF]

This is a great guide, however, I still cannot load the map onto my GPortal server.
I've moved over all the files (I've tried moving them only from filezilla). I've updated the server settings to...
```
"[/script/icarus.dedicatedserversettings]
MaxPlayers=4
ShutdownifNotJoinedFor=
ShutdownIfEmptyFor=
LoadProspect=Ariamus
JoinPassword=*******
AdminPassword=*******
ResumeProspect=True
AllowNonAdminsToLaunchProspects=True
AllowNonAdminsToDeleteProspects=False
```

And still I cannot join the world.

Would you be willing to assist me further?

[Goregor]

So glad you have this guide here, very helpful !
When I got my dedicated server and found out I couldn't use existing characters I was pissed lol. Luckily your guide saved my anguish.
I had a few hiccups with the FTP software but eventually got it.
TY TY