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OpenTTD

openttd-terraform-upcloud

Motivation: why configure local firewalls and NAT tables to host a quick game if you can just spin up a dedicated server at the push of a button?

Terraform configuration to deploy an OpenTTD game server on UpCloud. The server will be running Debian 10, with openttd 1.10.1 compiled from source.

Prerequisites

brew install go
go get github.com/UpCloudLtd/terraform-provider-upcloud
go install github.com/UpCloudLtd/terraform-provider-upcloud
mkdir -p ~/.terraform.d/plugins/
ln -s ~/go/bin/terraform-provider-upcloud ~/.terraform.d/plugins/
  • SSH key without a passphrase
    • If you don't have one at hand, try something like ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -f ~/.ssh/id_upcloud on a *NIX system. Leave passphrase empty so Terraform knows how to use it.

Deployment

To play on a dedicated openttd server, clone the repo and:

  1. Modify openttd.cfg with your preferred game settings. Custom NewGRF downloads need to be added to download-newgrf.sh.
  2. Run terraform init in the repo root directory to prepare Terraform.
  3. Run terraform apply. You're first prompted for missing config variables and then you'll get a preview of the cloud resources about to be created. Accept the execution plan by typing yes.
  4. Wait a few minutes while Terraform creates and configures the server.
  5. Copy the server IP that Terraform prints on exit (openttd_server_ip in module outputs)
  6. Connect OpenTTD clients by entering this IP in Main menu → Multiplayer → Add server.

UpCloud will bill your credit card monthly until you delete the server with terraform destroy.

Control server with rcon

Many server administration tasks can be done using rcon in OpenTTD in-game console. To enable it, you have to set a rcon_password in openttd.cfg.

For example, to initialize server with a saved game:

  1. Transfer filename.sav to /home/openttd/.openttd/ (eg. using SFTP)
  2. Connect a client to the server and open the in-game console
  3. Type rcon <your-password-here> "load filename"

General server administration

You can ssh to the server as root with the SSH key you set during provisioning. Common tasks:

  • Browse openttd logs with journalctl, eg. journalctl -o short-iso -n 500 --no-hostname --utc -u openttd
  • To edit configuration live:
    • Stop openttd – otherwise it will overwrite config on exit: systemctl stop openttd
    • Make desired changes to /home/openttd/.openttd/openttd.cfg
    • Start openttd systemctl start openttd

Configuration variables

Variable Description
ssh_public_key_path Path to a SSH public key that you want to use for managing the server
ssh_private_key_path Path to a SSH private key that you want to use for managing the server
upcloud_zone UpCloud zone to use – default is Helsinki, Finland
hostname Server hostname