Dirtsand on a VPS

[Surta]

Shorah everyone, first of all, I apologize that my first post is rather lengthy one, I'll try to get to the point straight away. I would like to set up a private Dirtsand server, for the purpose of learning and nostalgia (a buddy and I really started to miss the days of Until Uru recently, and this would be "next best").

I got a throwaway Hetzner VPS and installed Ubuntu 18.04 on it. I am somewhat of a Linux rookie, but know my way around it well enough to be able to use SSH and follow clear instructions.

Thanks to the excellent instructions on the Github site, the information on another site the pointers J'kla provided in his thread, I believe I now have a working server. I got to the point where I get the following message:

dirtsand@Uru:~$ cd dirtsand
dirtsand@Uru:~/dirtsand$ bin/dirtsand dirtsand.ini
ds-918> [Status] Running on 127.0.0.1/8080
[Lobby] Running on 127.0.0.1/14617

Which seems to indicate the server is running without spitting out errors. I added a test account (confirmed it is added to the database). I can share my notes on how I got to this point if that is helpful. I believe the important part is to say I made sure port 14617 is open (in fact I haven't even installed a firewall yet, so as to not complicate things).

However, I can't seem to access my server using the client. What I did so far:

* Copied the Uru Live folder to another location.
* Downloaded the files from http://files.mystler.eu/Client.zip and extracted them to the folder I just copied
* Changed the relevant information in the server.ini file to match my own generated keys and IP address
* Created a shortcut of plClient.exe and added -LocalOnly

However, the client won't even attempt to connect and errors out with "Authentication failed. Please try again. Unable to connect to Myst Online."

Unfortunately, that is where I seem to have hit a solid wall, because I have no idea how to troubleshoot this any further. Help would certainly be appreciated, thanks so much in advance!

[Tsar Hoikas]

Dirtsand is binding to 127.0.0.1, which allows it to only to accept connections coming from your VPS itself and not from the internet at large. I believe the easiest way to fix it would be to change the "Lobby.Addr" to 0.0.0.0 in dirtsand.ini

[Deledrius]

Dirtsand is binding to 127.0.0.1, which allows it to only to accept connections coming from your VPS itself and not from the internet at large. I believe the easiest way to fix it would be to change the "Lobby.Addr" to 0.0.0.0 in dirtsand.ini

This is what I use and it works for me.

[Surta]

Thanks!! I'm still getting an error, but it's a different error so I'll consider that progress

I added the line as you suggested (thanks again), and now when I try to login, I'm getting: Authentication failed. Please try again. Disconnected from Myst Online.

The server now gives these messages:


ds-918> [Status] Running on 127.0.0.1/8080
[Lobby] Running on 0.0.0.0/14617
[Auth] Got invalid message ID 20999 from 123.45.67.89/52155
[Auth] Got invalid message ID 25309 from 123.45.67.89/52158
[Auth] Got invalid message ID 21929 from 123.45.67.89/52164

And yes, I tried 3 times, so at least I know the two are talking to each other.

[Tsar Hoikas]

Yes, that is better! When we DirtSand complaining about invalid messages, we can be pretty sure the encryption keys are not correct somewhere. You might consider rerunning "keygen show" to make sure your keys in the client and server match up.

[Surta]

Well.... something is different, but I'm not yet sure if that's good or bad

I reran the key generator just to be sure and pasted the server part in the dirtsand.ini and the bottom part in the server.ini on Windows 10.

Now, instead of logging in, my client just hangs right after I click "Login". It shows this blue revolving circle, then after a while it tells me that plClient.exe is not responding and if I want to wait or quit the program.

Unfortunately it doesn't show any activity in the lobby, so I'm assuming that the client crashes before it tries to make a connection. I feel we're so close though!

Scratch all that!! I just pasted the code again and this time it's showing the end user agreement. Whooo hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks guys SO MUCH for your help, I'm sure I will have more questions (and problems) but for now I'm going to see if I can get in!

Another edit: so far, so good! I'm a bit rusty (it's been years), but here are a few findings:

I can get into Relto and open the door to the cabin. It will slam closed the first time, then open and it won't remember the state so it's closed again every time I link back.

I can get into the closet and pick an outfit, then back out into Relto again.

When I try to open the pillar in Relto, it will briefly light up, but otherwise nothing happens. That is supposed to show a book that leads into the desert, right?

The book in the cabin will take me to the neighborhood, but all the doors are closed and I can't seem to open any of them (no hotspot). If I remember correctly, going into the room with the linking books is the only way to get a KI. Am I doing it wrong or have I encountered a bug?

Oh and I have no sound whatsoever. And then I crashed altogether

The server is spitting out errors too:

[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor avatarPhysical
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0x14)
[SDL] Received an update for 'Female' using an invalid descriptor!
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor Personal
[SDL] Requested invalid descriptor Personal
[SDL] WARNING: Did not fully parse SDL blob! (@0xe)

Still, I would imagine those are minor issues, the server itself works and that is the main thing for now!

[Deledrius]

Still, I would imagine those are minor issues, the server itself works and that is the main thing for now!

Not exactly a minor issue, as it means the SDL portion of your server is misconfigured in some way (which is kinda crucial for playability -- it's why your doors and such aren't working). But you're very close to having it all ready!

You need to make sure the .sdl files are present, unencrypted, in the path specified by the Sdl.Path option in your dirtsand.ini. Likewise for the .age files in Age.Path's location. You can acquire the necessary files if you haven't already done so from the moul-scripts repository. Just copy the appropriate files as-is into their respective folders.

[Surta]

That was it!!! /happydance

I'm in now, opened the door in the hood and got my KI. wow... even with such low specs the server is so fast and smooth. As I said I'm willing to share my notes on how to set this up on a VPS, now that I know how to.

My next goals are:

- Create a full backup, so I can copy this across to my actual server instead of the throw-away VPS
- Learn how to create a full dataserver
- Learn how to create a status page that shows who is online
- Create a web page that allows for simple user management (mainly update password if either of us forgets it)
- Learn how to add and access existing fan ages
- Learn how to setup the adminKI and modify stuff in the game
- HAVE FUN - oh wait, that is priority #1

I may pick your brain again if I get stuck with any of the above, but for now all I want to say is BIG THANK YOU!

[Deledrius]

Willing to share your notes, eh? You seem to have gotten through the setup pretty well, so we'd welcome any improvements to the current instructions Getting Started with DIRTSAND. I know there are probably a few things out-of-date on there and it would be great if you'd compare your notes against it as a recent user and correct any mistakes or omissions you find!

The dataserver instructions especially are woefully inadequate at this time.

As for administration commands, I plan to add some quick tips on that hopefully soon.

Glad you got it all working! Feel free to ask more questions as you go!

[Surta]

This post had been completely edited, in fact I hadn't seen those instructions yet and wasn't even aware of their existence! I built the server using the notes on the GitHub page.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I'll do exactly as you asked: compare my own notes with the instructions you linked to and just remark on the stuff that might be outdated.

Here goes:

Show Spoiler

Here are the changes and additions I propose to the "Getting started guide" https://www.guildofwriters.org/wiki/DIR ... ng_Started:


Although I realize that most people don't need the amount of hand holding that I do, you might consider adding instructions on how to install the necessary dependencies on Ubuntu/Debian:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

APPLIST="build-essential cmake cmake-gui curl fail2ban gcc-4.7 git libpq-dev libssl-dev libreadline-dev nano openssl postgresql postgresql-contrib postgresql-server-dev-all unzip wget zlib1g-dev"


for i in $APPLIST; do
    echo Installing $i...
    echo
    sudo apt-get -y install $i
    echo; sleep 2
done


Note: these instructions have only been tested on Ubuntu 18.04/Debian 9. Any other distro, you're on your own

The instructions on how to create a user no longer work. I suggest changing that to

Code: Select all

sudo useradd dirtsand -d /opt/dirtsand -m -s /bin/bash -g sudo
sudo passwd dirtsand
su dirtsand
cd ~


Compiling

These are accurate, however I would probably completify (is that a word?) these lines:

git clone git://github.com/H-uru/dirtsand.git dirtsand
cd dirtsand

to

Code: Select all

cd /opt
sudo mkdir -p dirtsand
sudo chown -R dirtsand /opt/dirtsand
cd /opt/dirtsand
git clone https://github.com/zrax/string_theory.git
git clone https://github.com/H-uru/dirtsand.git
mkdir -p ages data authdata SDL string_theory/build dirtsand/build


Same with this code:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/dirtsand ..
make && sudo make install
cd ..

I would change that to

Code: Select all

cd /opt/dirtsand/string_theory/build
cmake ..
sudo make install

cd /opt/dirtsand/dirtsand/build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/opt/dirtsand ..
sudo make install


For completeness' sake.

The database and all further instructions are perfect, no edits necessary.

Let me know what you think so far