How to create a dedicated 7 Days to Die server on Linux

[LHammonds]

Overview

These instructions will show you how to create an unmodded (a.k.a. vanilla) dedicated "7 Days to Die" server with a web-based map. It will also host two instances of the game.

Assumptions

These instructions will make the following assumptions. Your server will (should) vary at least in these specific variables.

• Server IP: 192.168.1.100
• Server Install Path: /opt/sdtd
• User account: sdtd
• User group: sdtd
• Backup location: /bak/sdtd
• Instance #1 Name: nav
• Instance #1 Map: Navezgane
• Instance #1 Base Port: 25000
• Instance #1 Control Panel Port: 8080
• Instance #1 Telnet Port: 8081
• Instance #1 Web Port: 8082 (automatically set to control panel port +2)
• Instance #2 Name: rand
• Instance #2 Map: RandomGen
• Instance #2 Base Port: 25010
• Instance #2 Control Panel Port: 8090
• Instance #2 Telnet Port: 8091
• Instance #2 Web Port: 8092 (automatically set to control panel port +2)

Tools utilized in this process

• Ubuntu Server 16.04.3 LTS, 64-bit
• Portable PuTTY 0.62
• 7 Days to Die Alpha 16.2
• Alloc's Server Management Scripts v109
• Alloc's Server Fixes v16

[LHammonds]

I will assume you built an Ubuntu Server according to these instructions.

You don't need to do all the scripting and automation sections but should at least have the LVM partitions configured so they can grow where needed such as the /opt and /bak volumes.

[LHammonds]

Install software prerequisites

Used to compile start daemon

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apt-get install gcc

Used to manipulate serverconfig.xml

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apt-get install xmlstarlet

32-bit library

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apt-get install lib32stdc++6

Required by SteamCmd (might be included with lib32stdc++6)

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apt-get install lib32gcc1

Create server folder path

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mkdir -p /opt/sdtd/templates

Create group account

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groupadd -r sdtd

Create low-rights user account

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useradd --comment "7 days to Die Server" -d /opt/sdtd -m -r -s /bin/bash -g sdtd sdtd

Set folder ownership

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chown sdtd:sdtd -R /opt/sdtd

[LHammonds]

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mkdir /tmp/t
cd /tmp/t
wget http://illy.bz/fi/7dtd/management_scripts.tar.gz
tar xvzf management_scripts.tar.gz

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vi /tmp/t/etc/7dtd.conf

Line 19: export SDTD_BASE=/opt/sdtd
Line 25: export SDTD_BACKUP_ROOT=/bak/sdtd

Copy files to their final destination

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chown root:root -R /tmp/t/*
chmod 0600 /tmp/t/etc/*
cp -R /tmp/t/etc/* /etc/.
cp -R /tmp/t/usr/* /usr/.
cp /tmp/t/home/sdtd/templates/* /opt/sdtd/templates/.
chown sdtd:sdtd -R /opt/sdtd

Compile the daemon

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cd /usr/local/lib/7dtd/start-stop-daemon
make

Uninstall the compiler

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apt-get remove gcc

Install the game engine

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7dtd.sh updateengine

Install the server fixes

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7dtd.sh updatefixes

Create the Navezgane game instance

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7dtd.sh instances create

Answer the questions however you like but make sure the following are set as follows to avoid conflicts with the other instances:

• Instance name: nav
• Base port 25000
• Control panel port: 8080
• Telnet port: 8081

Create the RandomGen game instance

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7dtd.sh instances create

Answer the questions however you like but make sure the following are set as follows to avoid conflicts with the other instances:

• Instance name: rand
• Base port 25010
• Control panel port: 8090
• Telnet port: 8091

List of all instances before startup

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root@ubuntu:/opt# 7dtd.sh instances list
Instance name        | Running  | Players | Port
---------------------+----------+---------+------
nav                  |       no |    -/ 4 | 25000
rand                 |       no |    -/ 4 | 25010

Start all instances

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7dtd.sh start nav
7dtd.sh start rand

List of all instances after startup

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root@ubuntu:/opt# 7dtd.sh instances list
Instance name        | Running  | Players | Port
---------------------+----------+---------+------
nav                  |      yes |    ?/ 4 | 25000
rand                 |      yes |    ?/ 4 | 25010

[LHammonds]

Make the web map visible

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vi /opt/sdtd/instances/nav/webpermissions.xml

Line 13: <permission module="web.map" permission_level="1000" />

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vi /opt/sdtd/instances/rand/webpermissions.xml

Line 13: <permission module="web.map" permission_level="1000" />

Restart all instances

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7dtd.sh kill nav
7dtd.sh kill rand
7dtd.sh start nav
7dtd.sh start rand

Visit each instances web map

Let's assume your server's IP is 192.168.1.100 for this example. Use a web browser and check each instances web server map:

• Navezgane Map: http://192.168.1.100:8082
• RandomGen Map: http://192.168.1.100:8092

Web map before login

7dtd-webmap1.jpg (28.96 KiB) Viewed 1987 times

Web map after login

7dtd-webmap2.jpg (81.2 KiB) Viewed 1987 times

[LHammonds]

Raise shields! (add firewall rules)

Reset Firewall to factory default

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echo y | ufw reset
ufw default deny incoming
ufw default allow outgoing

Allow SSH from only LAN connections (set as appropriate)

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ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 22 comment 'SSH for LAN'

Add Steam rules

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ufw allow proto udp to any port 27000:27015 comment 'Steam game client'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 27000:27015 comment 'Steam game client'
ufw allow out proto udp to any port 27016:27030 comment 'Steam matchmaking'
ufw allow proto udp to any port 27031:27036 comment 'Steam in-home stream'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 27036:27037 comment 'Steam in-home stream'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 27015 comment 'Steam SRCDS rcon'
ufw allow out proto udp to any port 3478 comment 'Steam P2P Net / Voice'
ufw allow out proto udp to any port 4379 comment 'Steam P2P Net / Voice'
ufw allow out proto udp to any port 4380 comment 'Steam P2P Net / Voice'

Add 7DTD rules

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ufw allow proto tcp to any port 25000 comment '7dtd base nav'
ufw allow proto udp to any port 25000 comment '7dtd base nav'
ufw allow proto udp to any port 25001:25005 comment '7dtd base+5 nav'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 25010 comment '7dtd base rand'
ufw allow proto udp to any port 25010 comment '7dtd base rand'
ufw allow proto udp to any port 25011:25015 comment '7dtd base+5 rand'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 8082  comment '7dtd web map nav'
ufw allow proto tcp to any port 8092  comment '7dtd web map rand'

Enable firewall

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echo y | ufw enable

[LHammonds]

Edit the crontab schedule for the root user

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crontab -e -u root

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########################################
# Name: Crontab Schedule for root user
# Author: LHammonds
############# Update Log ###############
# 2017-08-20 - LTH - Created schedule
########################################

SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

## Crontab SYNTAX:
## minute(0-59) hour(0-23) day-of-month(1-31) month(1-12) day-of-week(0-6) command-to-execute

## Backup 7dtd instances
0 22 * * * /usr/local/bin/7dtd.sh backup > /dev/null 2>&1
## Remove 7dtd backups older than 10 days
0 23 * * * find /bak/sdtd/* -type d -ctime +10 -exec rm -rf {} + > /dev/null 2>&1
## 7dtd: Make sure the expected instances are running after a reboot.
@reboot /usr/local/bin/7dtd.sh start nav
@reboot /usr/local/bin/7dtd.sh start rand