Set up a dedicated RS2:Vietnam server on AWS

Step-by-Step: How to host a dedicated RS2:Vietnam Server on AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Why this Guide?

You might be wondering why I've created this guide. The Tripwire RO2 Guide[wiki.tripwireinteractive.com] is missing a lot of details, such as necessary ports. It also has inaccuracies, such as the "Log in as a new server steam account" instruction (this won't work), or the link to the 2012 VC redistributables (this no longer exists on Microsoft's website). Additionally, Microsoft's support and download websites look to be managed by the Swedish Chef....outdated links, no redirects, bad or no answers. I spent a LOT of time trying to get all the information I needed to set up a simple server for RS2.

It was intensely frustrating, and I don't wish that on anyone. You can benefit from my pains.

AWS EC2 Instance Setup

AWS stands for Amazon Web Services. You can create an account at https://aws.amazon.com. Great suite of services once you get past the initial learning curve. For this guide, we'll be setting up an EC2 instance (EC2 is Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud...virtual machines you can create on the fly).

AWS doesn't quote you a fixed price. Instead, its a charge of pennies per hour, depending on the power of the instance. The price of this server, if you keep it running 24/7, should be $50/month (there are ways to save up to 50%--see the section of this guide entitled, AWS Cost Breakdown for an RS2 Vietnam Server). Alternatively, if you turn the EC2 instance off when you don't need it, it will cost substantially less.

Note that once you're logged in to your AWS account, there's a black administrator toolbar at the top of the page. Ensure that the region drop-down is set to wherever you want your RS2 Vietnam server to be physically located. I set mine to as central a location in the US as I could manage: Ohio. Other options include regions in Canada, EU, Asia, South America.

Click the EC2 link in the Services drop-down. Click on "Instances", then the blue button, "Launch Instance".

Step 1 Machine image: "Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Base" (RS2 Vietnam only supports Windows server, so no Linux this time)

Step 2 Instance Type: "t2.medium"

Step 3 Instance Details: Defaults here are fine.

Step 4 Storage: You'll need 30 GB to support the Windows Server OS, plus SteamCMD and the RS2Vietnam server itself. At 30 GB, you should have ~6 GB free after everyting is installed.

Step 5 Tags: Its usually a good idea to add a "Name" tag. This is purely for you, the EC2 instance administrator, to quickly and easily determine which EC2 instance is which, should have you have more than one. I set my tag: "Name": "RS2 Vietnam Server (Windows)".

Step 6 Security Group: This is your firewall. Give your security group a name and description (I named mine "RS2 Vietnam Security Group"). You should set the default RDP rule to permit only "My IP" for its source.

• RDP Rule for port 3389 Source of My IP
  
• Custom UDP Rule for port range 7777-7779 Source of Anywhere
  
• Custom UDP Rule for 27015 Source of Anywhere
  
• Custom UDP Rule for 20560 Source of Anywhere. (If you changed your default port from 7777 to something else, then this "Steam Port" will change. It is equal to 20560 - (game port - 7777))
  
• Custom TCP Rule for 8080 Source of My IP (this is the webadmin page--set it to Anywhere if you intend to allow your friends to control your server). If you want to be extra secure, set it to a different port (you'd need to set that port in your RS2 Vietnam server configuration file, too).

Step 7 Review and Launch. You'll be prompted to create a key pair. I named mine "rs2vietnam_server". Be sure to download it, and keep it safe. Its the key to your server, and you only get the one. Click Launch Instance. This will take a minute or two.

Step 8 Set up an Elastic IP if you wish (optional). Elastic IP is an IP address you create once, associate it with your server, so that the IP address is always the same. If you shut down your EC2 instance when you don't need it (to save money), the IP address can change. An Elastic IP address will ensure that your server always has the same IP address.

Note that if you're keeping your server up 24/7, an elastic IP address is unnecessary. However, it doesn't cost anything to throw it on there.

To create an elastic IP, select Elastic IP from the left menu (under Network & Security). Click the Allocate New Address button. Create it, then associate it with your new EC2 instance.

Step 9 RDP into your server. Select the checkbox for your EC2 Instance from the list, then click "Connect". You'll need to Download the Remote Desktop File, and then click "Get Password". You'll be prompted to provide the key pair file you created in Step 7. Copy the password.

Launch the RDP session via the Remote Desktop File you downloaded. Username is "Administrator". Use the password you just copied. Accept any security warnings and you should now have a view of your server's "Desktop".

Install SteamCMD and RS2 Vietnam Server Files

Step 1 Install SteamCMD: See https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#Windows for official instructions. I installed SteamCMD to C:\SteamCMD\

Note that the developer.valvesoftware.com wiki is down a LOT. If its down when you are trying to get the link to steamCMD, you can try this link: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd.zip

Step 2 Install RS2 Vietnam Dedicated Server: Launch the SteamCMD shell and type in the following commands:

• login anonymous
  
• force_install_dir C:\rs2vietnam\
  
• app_update 418480 validate

You'll note that I direct you to login anonymously. This differs from the guide that tripwire has for RO2 that they recommend you follow for RS2Vietnam setup. If you try to follow their guide, you'll find that you cannot install RS2 Vietnam Dedicated Server because the user account won't have a subscription for RS2 or somesuch. Anonymous is the way to go.

Step 3 Create a batch file to launch your server: Mine is C:\rs2vietnam\rs2v.bat

Inside that .bat file, I have a single command:
start .\Binaries\Win64\VNGame.exe VNSU-SongBe?MaxPlayers=64?EnableWebAdmin=true?WebAdminPort=8080?AdminPassword=yourpasshere -log=ServerLog.log -UNATTENDED

Common mistake here is to create your batch file in your text editor and not realize that the .txt extension was automatically added. Ensure that you can view file extensions in File Explorer, and trim that off.

Step 4 Install missing files, part 1: Try to run your .bat file. You'll be given an error about a missing DirectX audio library file. No idea why that is needed for a server, but whatever! Install https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8109 (extracting to C:\DirectX\ or the folder of your choice). I'm pretty certain that's the one I installed...it was late and I didn't make a note of it at the time. I was getting angry at Microsoft's fairly-useless support & download site. If you follow these steps and find that this is the wrong thing, please let me know and I'll update this guide.

Step 5 Install missing files, part 2: Try to run your .bat file. You'll be given an error about a missing msvcp110.dll file. install https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30670. Now thank me for providing you this link. The link provided in Tripwire's guide is no longer available for download at Microsoft, and this one was not obvious as a suitable replacement. I tried many different redistributables from the Microsoft site before I found this one.

EDIT: This step, I recently discovered the link doesn't work anymore. Instead, try installing the correct Visual C++ Redistributable package from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads For MSVCP110.dll, that's "Visual Studio 2012 (VC++ 11.0)", I believe.

This coincides with the comment from @InAUGraL in the comment section:

Originally posted by InAUGral:

InAUGral Oct 10 @ 8:27pm

For me to get this to work I just went to the Microsoft website and downloaded the latest version of 32 and 64 bit installers and installed those. After this I did not get the infamous missing "msvcp110.dll" error.

Step 6 Turn off the Windows firewall (or open up the ports you opened in the EC2 security group): Now if you run your bat file, the game should launch. If you open up your Internet Explorer inside your RDP session and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8080 (or whatever port you set for this), you'll see the webadmin interface.

Now try to do it OUTSIDE of your RDP session, from your own desktop (you can get the IP address of your server from the EC2 instance details in the upper right corner of the RDP window, or from your EC2 Instance list in aws.amazon.com). You'll find you cannot connect. This is because Windows has its own firewall by default. You can either turn it off or open up the necessary ports.

I simply turned mine off, relying solely upon the EC2 Security Group I set up earlier. But it doesn't hurt to have it on.

To turn it off, open up your server manager, select "Local Server", and click "Windows Firewall". You can disable it from there.

Step 7 Restart your RS2 server: Go to the window where the RS2 log is scrolling by, and hit CTRL+C to shut it down. Close the window, and re-launch your bat file. It will take time for your server to show up in the server list. Not certain how long. When I did this, I went off and played a while on another server, and when I finished, it was in the list. I then added it to my favorites for easy access later.

Step 8 Update your webadmin password: This may be unnecessary--if you specified a password in your bat file, that should be your password. However, I think that password isn't used if you configure multi-admin. Regardless, I recommend you verify that the default password is not being used in your webadmin.

Go to your webadmin page, and log in (default credentials are "Admin" / "Admin", but your password may be the one specified in your .bat file, if you specified one). Access "Administrators" and edit the Administrator user to set a non-default password, if you were able to log in with "Admin" as your password.

Step 9 Report any inconsistencies or problems with this guide to me so that I can update it: Please do this, thanks!

AWS Cost Breakdown for an RS2 Vietnam Server

I checked in on my server's billing today. TL;DR: Keeping it up 24/7 will cost me $53/month.

AWS will charge you for three separate line items: the server itself, the EBS volume that stores your data, and the outgoing data transfer (after the first free 1 GB). It roughly adds up to $50 - $55 / month, depending on how busy it is. A maxxed out server (64 players) for 8 hours / day, every day, puts us at the $55/month mark. But I doubt it will be that busy, hence my guess of $53/month.

• On Demand t2.medium : $0.065 / hour [$1.56 / day, $46.80 / month]
  
• 30GB SSD storage EBS Volume : $.10 / GB / month [$3/month]
  
• Outgoing data transfer after the first 1 GB of data, at $0.09 / GB. If your server is busy maxxed out at 64 players for 8 hours a day and empty otherwise like mine is, you can estimate that at 2 GB / day [$0.18 / day, $5.40 / month]

Note that the server itself, which costs $0.065 / hour is an On Demand instance--suitable if you take your server offline when you don't need it. I, however, am running my On Demand instance 24/7. If I had realized at the time I was going to set it up and leave it running 24/7, I might have made the smarter move of purchasing a reserved instance, rather than an On Demand instance.

The reserved instance costs 20%-to-50% less, but requires a 1-year or 3-year commitment. The length of the committment and whether you pay upfront dictates the amount of savings. If you do the minimum 1-year term with no money upfront, you'll pay $38 / month for the server instead of $47 / month.

RS2 Vietnam Server Maintenance

This is the first dedicated Steam-distributed server I've run, so this section is a work in progress. I will update it as I learn more.

How to Install Updates

• Shut down the RS2Vietnam server (RDP in to your Windows server, locate the window in which your RS2V game server is running, and shut it down with CTRL+C).
  
• Run steamcmd.exe (I had mine installed at C:\steamcmd\).
  
• Repeat the initial steps you took to install the server:
  • login anonymous
    
  • force_install_dir C:\rs2vietnam\
    
  • app_update 418480 validate
• That will install the latest version of RS2:Vietnam
  
• Re-start the game with your rs2v.bat file

How to install custom maps

I don't have the answer to this, yet, as I haven't had a need to do it. But once some of the custom maps out there are to a point where they're considered "finished", I'll add them to my server, and update this instruction.

UPDATE: I stopped playing RS2 Vietnam due to the long server connect times I experience (sometimes up to 15 minutes, while my friends are already connected and halfway through their round), so I never had a chance to try out the installation of custom maps.

However, per nymets1104 (thanks, man!), he has this to say about installing custom maps:

To clarify for your last section. Adding a Custom map is a matter of creating a folder inside Maps in the RS2 directory you created: C:\rs2vietnam\ROGame\BrewedPCServer\Maps
name the folder whatever the map is named without the VNTE or any other prefix then inside of it you will copy the custom map. The only other thing you need is a config file for the map to be visible in web admin. A server restart will also likely be needed to get teh map to appear. I have included a link to a sample map config file. Place yours in the Config folder of the RS2 directory on the server.

Sample ini: https://pastebin.com/PaC5Zf0m
Save this as file with .ini extension not txt

[DourSun]

@JayTuut

I dunno. I never had the opportunity to try. But I imagine it would largely be a similar process, possibly with less steps or altered steps. Install the Steam CMD and then follow the steps to install the RS2 server. You might not have a firewall to open ports for, or if you do, it might be from a different service, or located on your router. You also might not need to install those DLLs, or if you do, it might be done a little differently.

But ultimately, it's likely a similar process start to finish.

[JayTuut (not cat)]

What if you do it on your own pc?

[DourSun]

@Georgestarfox

RE: How to set up a local server?

Unfortunately, I haven't played this game in years. I'm not certain how easy it would be to set up a local-only server. Perhaps if you set up a machine running Windows Server on your LAN and then worked with that as your server. Taking note of your local IP address, and then directing your friends to connect directly to that IP address? But honestly, I'm just listing this off the top of my head. I've done no testing of the suggestions I am offering.

The very easiest thing for you to do might be to set up the server as directed in the instructions in this guide, and then make it private so that only your friends can join. You can always stop the server when you're not using it, to keep your expenses low. That ~$50ish / month rate I note in the guide is if you pay by the hour and keep it running 24/7. If you use it for a handful of hours here and there, it'll cost you far less.

[Stub]

Wish someone would make a server that had ALL helimaps and maybe some good custom maps and wasnt on the other side of the planet

[Georgestarfox]

Could you please make a guide on how to set up and run a local server? The game gives the LAN option (which is great) but it doesn't provide any easy way to create a server within the game...

[Dreph]

Thank you that worked!

[DourSun]

@Dreph

RE: MSVCP140.dll was not found

You may need to install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package, linked to from here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

MSVCP140.dll comes from the installer for "Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019", I'd guess.

[Dreph]

I keep having the following error "The code executions cannot proceed because MSVCP140.dll was not found." No idea what MSVCP140 is. Any help would be appreciated.

[DourSun]

@InAUGral RE: latest directX installers

I edited the guide above to include your comment, in case it helps someone. Thanks for the heads up!

[DourSun]

RE: anti cheat doesn't load

Sorry, man, I haven't the foggiest. I've not messed about with RS2V in a very long time. You might have better luck posting that question over at the official tripwire forums. Perhaps one of their developers might have insight.

See: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php