Dedicated Server Installation

[TX-Zen]

Overview:
There are two ways the dedicated server can run. One is the default version that has a console window open when running and the other is a modified version where the game runs, but you do not see the console window. This second variation is the one that works with FBDaemon and must be manually created by editing some parts of the DS installation.
(from here on out, I'm going to abbreviate the dedicated server as DS to save some typing)

TIP:
If hosting on windows 2K or XP, the DS uses a process called il2server.exe which you can see in the task manager under the Processes tab. If for some reason you are not sure if the game is running, check the task manager for this process to verify. The other process which you
may see is called il2console.exe. More on this later.



Installation:
The DS file can be found at 3dgamers.com at:
http://www.3dgamers.com/dl/games/il...er1.11.exe.html


For starters, once you have the dedicated server downloaded, it extracts by default to:

C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB Dedicated Server

If you want to run multiple game sessions of the default DS, when you extract the files, add

a number or change the file path to something different each time:

C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB Dedicated Server2

C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB Dedicated Server3

C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB Dedicated Server4

DS runs missions/maps from the default location of C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB

Dedicated Server\Missions\Net\dogfight\ 3/1_Islands.mis

There is a file called server.cmd which is what executes the start up mission. To change what mission you want to load for starting, you must first copy the .mis and the .properties file into the \missions\net\dogfight folder, then edit the server.cmd with the path to the new mission (to edit the server.cmd, right click on it and select EDIT).

For example, we deleted all the included missions from the dogfight folder, created a new folder called 2 and copied over our startup mission of winterstalingrad45, then edited the server.cmd to look like this:

mission LOAD net/dogfight/2/01winterstalingrad45.mis BEGIN
f settings.cmd
f gc.cmd


Once the game is launched, server.cmd executes the mission to be loaded. (It also can do a heck of a lot of other things, more on that later as well)


Hosting single or multiple games on the same computer:

To host a single default session or multiple default sessions, create a shortcut to the exe:

GS_il2ServerLauncher.exe

This is the exe that launches the console version and after logon, you will see the DOS window scrolling by events from the game itself. This file is found in the IL2 FB Dedicated
Server folder itself.

In this case TX Squadron created 4 seperate server folders intended to run 4 game sessions.
We used the naming scheme above and created a shortcut to each folder called FB Server 1, 2, 3 and 4. We also created 4 shortcuts to the GS_il2ServerLauncher.exe and named them FBexe 1, 2, 3 and 4. For simplicities sake, I also put the shortcuts together so that it's easy to decide what goes with what. By doing this, as soon as anyone logs into the server, they see all 4 sessions ready to go and can just doubleclick, logon and then move to the next session, all right there on the desktop in plain view. (I'm a big believer in simplicity)

Server.cmd usage
As mentioned, the server.cmd is used to execute game parameters on startup. If done correctly, you can customize the available commands in the game to run when server.cmd is exectuted and in theory have an amazing amount of control over your session. Time being rather limited, I'm not going to go into great detail right now, but if you extrapolate on the commands I'm sure that you can come up with some pretty imaginative combinations.


Other issues
As you can see this post does not cover every possibility, it only touches on the basics of installation and slight modifications of the default settings. What I would like to see is for all of us to work together to make this as hands-on and complete as possible in the interest of getting as much as can be from the dedicated server. Hopefully this section will be expanded on as time goes by and new ideas are discovered.




TX-Zen
Black 6

[TX-Zen]

Launching the game itselfOnce you click on the GS_il2ServerLauncher.exe a window pops up called IL2 Server Launcher.By default the first time you see it, it's empty but definately needs information before it will run a game. Where it says IP Address and Port, you can click the download info button and it will populate the UBI router info (gsrouter-mtl1.ubisoft.com and port 40005). Username and Password are your regular UBI game lobby credentials you use to fly in UBI. If you don't have an UBI account, you will need to create one. Using your logon here does not prevent you from joining as a player in the regular UBI game service and you can use the same account to host multiple DS sessions and play online at the same time as well.TIP:Use your UBI forum account, it's the same thing. For example, I used TX-Zen 4 times for 4 sessions, then logged into UBI and flew on them as TX-Zen.Once logged in, you will see two pop ups that say Login Successful and Request Finished. In the area called Groups, you will now see a group name called IL2:FB Dogfight. This is the UBI lobby area for FB that we all normally host on. Before you hit Launch, give your session a unique name, assign the max players, session password if desired and the port number of the session. (32 is possible, if you use the RTS.dll from the regular game btw just copy and paste over top of the DS included RTS.dll...thanks to whomever posted that earlier, I apologize but I've lost the thread and the name of the poster)This port number is important because if you do host multiple sessions on the same computer, each instance will need it's own port number in order to work properly. These settings are persistent, so once entered, they will remain until the next time you launch the game. TIP:The configuration information is stored in a file called Launcher.ini in the root of the installation folder, same place that you found GS_il2serverlauncher.exe.Assuming that we are only running the default session of the DS here, you will see a DOS window appear and can watch events happening in the game. Closing this window kills the session btw, so minimize rather than exit if you need to get it out of the way. Working with FBDaemonThis definately more Sammie and BadBernie's area of expertise than mine, but I have gotten it to work (or at least it seemed to). If anything is not correct, it is due to a failing in my inteligence, powers of perception, upbringing, political views or something completely different than all of that and I apologize in advance. FBD does not run well while the console is up, so a little editing must be done in order to make it work. The editing has two parts also...eliminating the console from appearing in Windows when the game runs and pointing the FBD exe to the location of the DS exe. Step 1: Eliminating the consoleIn the root folder, there is a file called CONFS.INI. Look for this area:[Console];IP=20000IPS=Remove the ; from the line called IP=2000 and add your own IP in IPS=. This prevents the console from automatically starting as well as allowing you to send console commands if needed. In theory you could add a remote machine's IP here and be able to admin the server from another computer entirely, assuming the IP can be reached and also assuming that you have the DS installed on the second machine. I have not tested the remote admin issue yet. To send console commands, run the il2console.exe. A DOS window opens and you can send commands to the server through it, though you won't see any events from the game scrolling by. This process is called il2console.exe in the taskmanager but you will not see it unless you manually run the exe. As far as I can see, you can safely close this window without ending the game session (which is using il2server.exe as mentioned above).Step 2: Configuring FBDBy default FBD is installed into C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL-2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles\fbdaemonIn the file called fbdaemon.ini, you must rename the existing path of the IL2FB.exe and change it to the location of the il2server.exe.For example, we edited our FBD ini file to look like this:[FB info]path=C:\Program Files\Ubi Soft\IL2 FB Dedicated Server\il2server.exeTIP:Remember that if you are hosting multiple sessions you must point FBD to the path where each session is launched from. I have not tested this yet, but it seems logical that if you install multiple instances of FBD in their own individual locations, you could theoretically run multiple games with multiple FBD sessions as well. TIP:To run FBD on a different machine than the server running the DS session, do the following:(This method only works for the DS session btw, if using the original FB game then FBD must be installed on the same machine that FB is running on)1: Create a normal windows share of the folder where il2server.exe is at.2. From the admin PC, map a drive TO the dedicated server share created above. 3. In FBD.ini on the admin PC, make it point to the mapped drive/il2server.exe.A windows share allows the shared folder to be visible across the network or internet. While I am not going to set down the exact steps, I do advise to use caution when creating this share and assigning permissions. If not done properly, you create a gap in the operating system security where someone could gain access to the machine and run amok. (Disclaimer: Neither myself, Sammie, BadBernie, TX Squadron or Microsoft  is held responsible for improper security on a network share that you create. Educate yourself prior to creating it and be sure that you are comfortable with what you are doing)Edit: Sammie gave this a look over and feels it's a good start. As time permits hopefully this section can be deepened if need be by the FBD team.(Thanks for the thumbsup Sammie -S-)Difficulty SettingsNo testing or documentation at this time. Any comments or solutions welcome however. Console Commands and how to use themTX Squadron and others are in the process of working on this, but there are far too many commands with ambiguous syntax to have a formal list here. To find a list of commands, type ? in the console window. For more detail, type ? and the name of the command you want to know more about :? KICK? mp_dotrange (etc etc)A partial list of commands that do work:chat message goes here ALL(Sends a message to all teams in the game, you will see the response if you have the console window up)user(displays the number of all players in the game)user 10 KICK(Kicks player 10, whoever that may be. Change the number to match who needs to be kicked and there you have it) mp_dotrange FOE DOT 3 COLOR 2 TYPE 2 NAME 2 ID 2 RANGE 3mp_dotrange FRIENDLY DOT 20 COLOR 10 TYPE 10 NAME 10 ID 10 RANGE 15(changes the icon distance depending on input, this is how you get limited icons in more realistic servers)mission LOAD net\dogfight\2\01winterstalingrad45.mis BEGIN(Loads mission if found in the path specified, used to manually rotate missions if FBD is not being used)file kick.il2script(used to manually execute whatever file is designated. Can be used for a kick list, map rotation or whatever is contained in the file.)TX-ZenBlack 6

[TX-Zen]

Here is a complete list of the difficulty settingsdifficulty SeparateEStart 0/1difficulty ComplexEManagement 0/1difficulty NoMapIcons 0/1difficulty NoMinimapPath 0/1difficulty NoInstantSuccess 0/1difficulty TakeoffLanding 0/1difficulty WindTurulence 0/1difficulty FlutterEffect 0/1difficutly StallsSpins 0/1difficulty BlackoutsRedouts 0/1difficulty EngineOverheat 0/1difficulty TorqueGyroEffects 0/1difficulty RealisticLandings 0/1difficulty CockpitAlwaysOn 0/1difficulty NoOutsideViews 0/1difficutly Headshake 0/1difficulty NoIcons 0/1difficulty RealisticGunnery 0/1difficulty LimitedAmmo 0/1difficulty LimitedFuel 0/1difficulty Vunerablity 0/1difficulty NoPadlock 0/1difficulty Clouds 0/1These can only be changed when there is no mission running. So you either have to set them before you start your mission, or you need to stop your mission, change settings, then restart mission. I choose the first one and i do it thru my server.cmd file. Here is what my server.cmd file looks like-----------------------------------------------------------difficulty SeparateEStart 0difficulty ComplexEManagement 1difficulty NoMapIcons 1difficulty NoMinimapPath 0difficulty NoInstantSuccess 1difficulty TakeoffLanding 1difficulty WindTurulence 1difficulty FlutterEffect 1difficutly StallsSpins 1difficulty BlackoutsRedouts 1difficulty EngineOverheat 1difficulty TorqueGyroEffects 1difficulty RealisticLandings 1difficulty CockpitAlwaysOn 1difficulty NoOutsideViews 0difficutly Headshake 1difficulty NoIcons 0difficulty RealisticGunnery 1difficulty LimitedAmmo 1difficulty LimitedFuel 1difficulty Vunerablity 1difficulty NoPadlock 0difficulty Clouds 1mp_dotrange DOT 15 TYPE 4 COLOR 2.5 RANGE 0.8 NAME 0.5 ID 0.3mission LOAD net/server/berlin.mis BEGINf gc.cmd--------------------------------------------------------You can put any console commands in this file that you want the server to execute when the server starts. For a list of all ther console commands, type help in the console for the dedicated server.TX-ZenBlack 6

[TX-Zen]

Working with Hyperlobby:http://wildhoney.nightmail.ru/il2fb/Great link with excellent information, used without permission but in good faith. (TX Squadron did not write the information on this link)FBD:http://www.greatergreen.com/il2/bbz/TX-ZenBlack 6