Dedicated Server Tool / SteamCMD

The main release version of Automobilista has an accompanying dedicated server distribution which can be installed without the need for the machine running the server to have an account with a license for the full game. The dedicated server distribution includes only the content and binaries required to host a server and thus is much smaller than the main release. (~19Gb vs 30Gb+ at the time of writing)

If you only need/want a single installation of the dedicated server and wish to install via the standard Steam desktop client open the link below on the machine you wish to install on in your browser or 'Start > Run'.

steam://install/447760

If you do not wish to be tied to the desktop client or would like to maintain multiple installations, for example one modded and another clean, continue on to the SteamCMD information below.

SteamCMD​

Valve provides the SteamCMD tool to users as a means to perform the installation, update, and validation, of games from the command line without the need for the standard Steam desktop client, making it ideal for use in server installations. It has many benefits including being scriptable, allowing automation of the process, and not being limited to a single installation of each appid as the main desktop client is.

SteamCMD direct download: https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd.zip​

The complete documentation for SteamCMD is location on Valve's wiki: SteamCMD - Valve Developer Community​

Quickstart​

The AutomobilistaDedicatedTemplate.zip attached to this post contains everything you need to get started with SteamCMD installs of Automobilista dedicated server. It contains the steamcmd.exe binary and two batch files to perform the install.



Simply extract the contents on the machine you wish to run the server and run Server1_update.bat. This will update the included SteamCMD installation before downloading and installing the Automobilista dedicated distribution to the newly created server1 directory.

Updating/Validating The Installation
​

To update the installation run Server1_update.bat again. SteamCMD will once again update itself if required before acquiring any new files for the game installation if there are updates available. It is safe to run even when no updates are available.

Running Server1_validate.bat will perform validation on the installations files. It will re-download and replace any files which have become change or corrupted. It will also download any new game updates if they are available. On our servers we typically always use the validate script to perform updates. It takes a little longer if there are no updates due to the file checking but also ensures that there are no corrupt/missing files which may cause users mismatching issues.

Multiple Installations​

SteamCMD can be used to allow multiple installations to co-exist on the same machine. This can be useful for operational reasons or when running content that extends/modifies default content in order to not pollute your main installation. Note however that multiple installations are not required to host multiple server instances. (see Hosting Multiple Servers below)

Whatever the reason, creating multiple installs form the template is as easy as duplicating the .bat files and changing the install path. For example to create an update file for Server2:

1) Copy Server1_update.bat to Server2_update.bat​

2) Open Server2_update.bat and change the steamcmd line from

Code:

steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir ../Server1 +app_update 447760 +quit

to

Code:

steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir ../Server2 +app_update 447760 +quit

3) Repeat for Server2_validate.bat

4) Run Server2_update.bat to download the latest files
​

Hosting Multiple Servers
​

Multiple installations are not required in order to host multiple server instances. it is however vital that each instance has it's own user profile to avoid port clashes. Each profile has it's own Multiplayer.ini which needs to have ports assigned that are different from each other running instance of the dedicated server application.

The dedicated server uses the same profiles as the main game (typically in 'My Documents\Automobilista\userdata'). To create a new profile without launching the game copy an existing profile directory with a new name for the profile.

If this is a brand new install of only the server and there are no existing profiles, launch AMS Dedicated.exe and exit at the mod select screen. A profile named 'DedicatedServer' will have been created which you can use as the base for any additional profiles required.

More information on ports and firewall rules is available in the Automobilista Manual.

 

reserved

 

reserved

 

Cheers for the heads up. It will work if pasted into a browser or into 'Start > Run'. I've removed the link and amended the text to reflect that.

 

We don't currently maintain old versions in the dedi tool. We provide them in the main game release to ensure that people who receive automatic updates from steam can still connect to servers that may not have been updated yet shortly after release.

You can still launch a dedi from a version in the release betas channel but you will need to install the full release build. That requires authentication so you will need to replace

Code:

+login anonymous

with

Code:

+login <yoursteamname>

and enter your password/steamguard details when prompted.

You will also need to replace the dedi appid

Code:

447760

with the release game appid

Code:

431600

Documentation for steamcmd login is available here

 

the currently available beta channels are listed in the steam client. The names for using in steam command are the same as they appear there. Right click ams in the library and choose properties. On the betas tab there is a dropdown with the list.

Note that in your original example above you had v1.5.10 but that is the current release version so doesn't not need to be specified as a beta channel. You can use the standard dedi install instructions for that. You also don't need the quotes if I recall correctly.

 

@Dave-NRTServers

Hi Dave. Authenticator Port and Master Server Updater need to be unique for each server. These are both steam ports and need to be unique to the instance.

Master Server Updater is the port which will be registered to the steam lobby for receiving server queries and is then used by the steam master server, steam clients, virtualxperience etc to query the server for it's status, player lists and join port using valve's libraries and protocols.

 

Could you remove '+quit' from the end of the line in the bat file so the window does not close and run it again, posting screenshots of any errors. Thanks.

 

@Emerico the only time I've seen that previously is when steamcmd could not write to the directory. In my case it was because I had mistakenly run the update as administrator once and then could not run it as a normal user due to file permission issues.

If you haven't already I'd suggest completely removing the install directory (or changing the target directory in the bat file) and trying again. Failing that the tool is from Valve so you may have some joy finding out about the specific error on their forums.