Running a server
This article is intended to explain and document the experience on how to install the R5 version of the MS Allegiance Game Server as a service.
Note The article is not intended to explain how to setup a LAN server or a non-service installation of the MS Allegiance Game Server. Please view this article if you wish to setup a LAN server.
This article assumes you can confidently edit the registry and manage running services on a server platform. It also assumes you already have received clearance for connection to the Public Lobby from the admins.
Updated to include Steam server requirements, November 2017, by LANS
Steam Server Guide
Download SteamCMD from https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#Downloading_SteamCMD.
Unzip to C:\Steam
run c:\Steam\SteamCMD
Then from inside SteamCMD, run the following commands:
login anonymous force_install_dir c:\Allegiance\Server app_update 730810
Then go to C:\Allegiance\Server
Read the README_SERVER text file.
The batch files must be run as administrator. Open a new command line window as administrator, and execute the following: (Start menu -> cmd -> right click, run as administrator)
cd C:\allegiance\server server_dplay_install.bat server_install.bat
Step by step procedure
This procedure is known working on Windows 2003 Server and is credited to Zapper.
Note Please follow each step carefully. Errors can be difficult to trace down once configuration is completed.
Warning! If you are running a 64bit operative system, the services will run/install as a 32bit application/services on native 64bit OS systems.
| 1 | Download the required software |
You will need:
- The Alleg FAZ3 Server Installer, containing the required artwork,
- The Alleg FAZ4 Server Installer, and
- stats collecting software TAG version 2014.
Of course, administrator privileges on the OS are required.
| 2 | Install and unpack everything. |
| 2.1 | R3 Server |
Begin with the R3 Server. The procedure is fully automated; you will need to make sure you install it as a service.
This guide will assume you chose the default install folder: %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server
| 2.2 | TAG |
Next up is TAG. Unzip the contents of the TAG zip in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\TAG\ (create the folder if it does not exist.)
Next up, fire a command prompt:
C:\>
Type in the following commands. (rem lines are actually comments.)
rem Change to the TAG folder. cd "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\TAG" rem Start (Install) the TAG service tag -service rem Configure the Alleg Server and TAG to run manually sc stop AllSrv sc config AllSrv start= demand sc stop tagservice sc config tagservice start= demand rem Unregister agc.dll cd .. regsvr32 /u agc.dll
| 2.2.1 | Reboot |
You will now need to reboot your system.
| 2.3 | R4 Server |
Unzip the R4 server zip and copy the content to the main server folder.
Fire up another command prompt and type in the following commands:
rem Change to the Server folder. cd "%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server" rem Register the new copy of agc.dll regsvr32 agc.dll rem We are now ready to start the services. sc config AllSrv start= auto sc config tagservice start= auto
| 3 | Set up configuration files |
| 3.1 | allegianceserver.cfg |
Make sure this file exists:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\allegianceserver.cfg
If it is not present make one. Contents follow:
[Allegiance] PublicLobby=204.16.202.184 ; THIS IS A VALID CONFIG FILE
| 3.2 | ranks.txt |
Make sure this file exists:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\Artwork\ranks.txt
If it is not present, make one. Contents follow:
31 0,Newbie 1,Novice 1 2,Novice 2 3,Novice 3 4,Novice 4 5,Novice 5 6,Novice 6 7,Novice 7 8,Inter. 1 9,Inter. 2 10,Inter. 3 11,Inter. 4 12,Inter. 5 13,Inter. 6 14,Inter. 7 15,Veteran 1 16,Veteran 2 17,Veteran 3 18,Veteran 4 19,Veteran 5 20,Veteran 6 21,Veteran 7 22,Expert 1 23,Expert 2 24,Expert 3 25,Expert 4 26,Expert 5 27,Expert 6 28,Expert 7 29,Expert 8 30,Expert 9 31,Expert 9
Please do not attempt to 'personalise' this text file. Doing this will result in a reconsideration of your clearance to host public games.
| 3.3 | cores.txt |
Make sure this file exists:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\Artwork\cores.txt
If it is not present, make one. Here is a sample cores.txt file:
7 cc_03 GoDII_05 plus15b7 RTc006a rps55 PC2_019 sw_a102
The first line of this file contains the number of cores the server should load. An incorrect figure will crash the server. The following lines are case sensitive. Each line should be the filename of each core without the ".igc" suffix.
| 3.4 | maps.txt (optional) |
Check whether this file exists:
%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\Artwork\maps.txt
If it is not present and you wish to host custom maps, make one. Otherwise, skip this section.
Here is a sample maps.txt file:
28 2,Limited,m2xiblimited 2,Polished,m2xibpolishe 2,Blender,m2xibblender 2,Bowtie,m2xibbowtie 2,Emerald,m2xibemerald 2,Sapphire,m2xibsapphir 2,Splitmix,m2xibsplitmi 2,Starflake,m2xibstarfl 2,Chaos,m2xibchaos 2,Octagon,m2xiboctagon 2,Topaz,m2xibtopaz 2,Pentagram,m2xibpentag 2,Dual,m2xibdual 2,Ruby,m2xibruby 2,Sliver,m2xibsliver 2,Obsidian,m2xibobsidia 2,Escher,m2xibescher 2,Amethyst,m2xibamethy 2,Crush,m2xibcrush 2,Kill,m2xibkill 2,Destroy,m2xibdestroy 2,Gold,m2xibgold 2,Nova,m2xibnova 2,Jade,m2xibjade 2,Quartz,m2xibquartz 2,Rhodium,m2xibrhodium 2,Platinum,m2xibplatinu 2,Palladium,m2xibpallad
The first line of this file contains the number of map files the server should load. An incorrect figure will crash the server. The following lines list the map files to load with the following syntax:
- MaxNumberOfTeams,MapDisplayName,MapFilename
In the example above, the server will load the m2xiblimited.igc file as the 'Limited' map. This map is only available for 2 teams.
Catches:
- The map display name may not be longer than 25 characters.
- The file name must may not be longer than 13 characters. This field is case sensitive. Strip off the .igc suffix.
| 3.5 | Set up the registry |
Warning! The following section or part of it requires you to change the Windows Registry. This operation is potentially destructive and needs to be carried out with great care. If you are not very confident with Windows, you may want to consider alternative methods, if available.
- If you are using Windows XP or older, select "Run" in your Start menu, typing regedit, and hitting Enter.
- If you are using Vista or newer, press the Windows button, type regedit and hit Enter.
Fire up regedit and switch to the following key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\1.0\Server]
We will need to set a few vital values.
Warning! If %programfiles% does not resolve to C:\Program Files\ on your system -- which will be the case on non English versions of Windows previous to Vista or Server 2007 -- please edit the folowing lines accordingly.
- Set CfgFile to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Allegiance\Server\allegianceserver.cfg
- Set ASGS_ON to the dword 00000001 (make sure you are entering hexadecimal data.)
- Set ASGS_RANKS_ON to the dword 00000001 (make sure you are entering hexadecimal data.)
- Set LocalAddress to the name your server will appear as in the lobby.
- Set Location to the geographic location your server is located in.
- Set MaxGames to the maximum amount of games users can create with the 'Create Game' button.
Do not touch the following:
"Version"="1" "Launched"="1" "InstalledGroup"="1" "FIRSTRUN"=dword:00000001 "MaxPlayersPerGame"=dword:000000c8 "HasTrained"=dword:00000001 "LangID"=dword:00000009 "nUpdatesPerSecond"=dword:00000014
Do make sure "ArtPath" and "Exe Path" point to the correct folders.
Finally, reboot your computer.
| Finish! |
Pheew! If everything worked, you should have a working copy of the Allegiance R4 server up! Congratulations and thank you!
Further reading
Maintaining the Server's Settings
Occasionally you will want to make changes you your server's configuration files. Be it adding a new core or map, for instance. That is as simple a task as editing the appropriate configuration file. These changes do NOT take effect immediately. They are only read by AllSrv when it first starts up. If you want them to take effect right away, you will have to restart the server. Bear in mind that if you do restart Allsrv, any games currently running will end and you might have an angry mob on your hands. It's best to give ample warning and to time the restart when game interruption will be minimised.
Further fine tuning is available. For example, you may want to set up proper actions to react to failures in the AllSrv and TAG services, like this:
sc failure AllSrv restart/500/restart500/restart500 sc failure TAG restart/500/restart500/restart500
You might also want to tweak TAG to your needs. You also may want to set up 'zone games,' the special games marked in blue that are not destroyed when empty.
- Server configuration
- Zapper's Server Setup Crash Course. - This thread contains a large amount of information, some of which is not covered here.
- This post by YourPersona explains the different Event IDs used by the server. These entries show up on the "Application Event Log" under "Administrative Tools". This information is valuable when troubleshooting server problems.
