Linux Server Support

[xinthral]

Greetings,

I just wanted to start a thread because I've seen some interest thus far, about Linux support. For those out there that are trying to run a FTB server on a Linux machine here is your place to post your issues, concerns, find tricks and tips on how to improve performance, even go over the upgrade process and restoring options for you systems. Feel free to post, but if you could include the following details in relations to your system as you could it would ensure you get more accurate assistance:

Kernel:
Distro:
Java Version:
FTB Version:
Recent Patches/Updates:
# of CPU's:
Amount of RAM:
# of Users:

I am not a member of the Feed-The-Beast team, but simply an avid fan and Linux systems admin who wants to try and give back to this community and their non-profit efforts! Please follow ALL Forum rules and policies while posting/responding.

 

[damaged]

uname -ar is your friend.

If you have shell access, cd to the directory it's in, and do, rm -f install.php (or, if you think you will need his file again, move it (mv) somewhere out of the web root), if you do not have shell access, you will likely be using a control panel frontend, you would use their filemanager, note that you may need to change permissions on that file before being able to delete or move it...it depends on your provider.

For the casual linux user, rebooting the server is usually the only way to be rid of zombies (there are other options if you know what to do: http://www.linuxsa.org.au/tips/zombies.html) be aware zombies do not use up any significant resources.

 

[xinthral]

If you think that the port is being used you can utilize the following:

netstat -nalp | grep :####

Where the #'s are, just put that port number. It should give you the service that's listening on that port and the you can run:

ps faux | grep -i $service

The dollar sign is just part of the variable so don't actually put it in the command. That command will give you the process Id number and then you can run:

kill -9 $pid

Once again the $ sign is part of the variable and should not be entered in your command.

[Note| this is all ran from the command line via ssh]

If you need further assistance feel free to PM me directly and I'll try and provide more guidance when I get into work.

~xinthral

 

[madspanyard]

CentOs vps
openjdk-6
mindcrack
vps 2g ram 8 cores, 2-5 people on at a time

My problem is that I cannot seem to send commands to the java server. I am using a screen session to keep the mindcrack server up while not ssh 'ed into the vps. When I type

screen -r

I am able to see the mindcrack server. I am unable to send commands to it, like save-all. The text shows up but there is no response. I would like to save the server, or OP myself. using Putty

I do not think that resources are the problem as it looks like they never get above 60% and that is rare.

 

[Yumyumbublegum]

CentOs vps
openjdk-6
mindcrack
vps 2g ram 8 cores, 2-5 people on at a time

My problem is that I cannot seem to send commands to the java server. I am using a screen session to keep the mindcrack server up while not ssh 'ed into the vps. When I type

screen -r

I am able to see the mindcrack server. I am unable to send commands to it, like save-all. The text shows up but there is no response. I would like to save the server, or OP myself. using Putty

I do not think that resources are the problem as it looks like they never get above 60% and that is rare.

I'm fairly certain this isn't a problem specific to FTB. When I host a vanilla minecraft server after a seeming random amount of time the server stops accepting commands. Can you send commands to the server if you start it while the screen is attached?

 

[Baron]

I would like to know the tricks and tips on improving server performance.

Ubuntu
Java 7
Mindcrack

 

[madspanyard]

I'm fairly certain this isn't a problem specific to FTB. When I host a vanilla minecraft server after a seeming random amount of time the server stops accepting commands. Can you send commands to the server if you start it while the screen is attached?

You are right, it isn't specific to FTB. In fact, it was a pretty silly problem. I was unaware of how screen worked. I have sinced resolved the issue after looking at man screen. I had several of the same server running on different screens. Thank you. /fail

 

[xinthral]

CentOs vps
openjdk-6
mindcrack
vps 2g ram 8 cores, 2-5 people on at a time

My problem is that I cannot seem to send commands to the java server. I am using a screen session to keep the mindcrack server up while not ssh 'ed into the vps. When I type

screen -r

I am able to see the mindcrack server. I am unable to send commands to it, like save-all. The text shows up but there is no response. I would like to save the server, or OP myself. using Putty

I do not think that resources are the problem as it looks like they never get above 60% and that is rare.

Sorry for the late response, you could try the following:

screen -ls

This would give you the list of screen sessions, then you can connect to it with the r flag (reattach) or x flag to force-attach:

[root@vps ~]# screen -ls
There are screens on:
    20592.ts3    (Detached)
    6155.ftb    (Detached)
2 Sockets in /var/run/screen/S-root.

[root@vps ~]# screen -r ftb

There you would just use the normal minecraft server commands:

/save-all

 

[xinthral]

I would like to know the tricks and tips on improving server performance.

Ubuntu
Java 7
Mindcrack

Server performance is based around a few different qualities, and settings. With the hardware, you have to think in terms of CPU clock cycles, RAM utilization, and Disk I/O. Ways to improve this is proper settings and configurations, plus not over-loading the box it's being hosted on. By going through the FTB pack server settings you can find things that will dramaticlly change the functions of the game by not allowing chunks to stay loaded more than a certain amount of time, limiting the number of mobs/items that can spawn in a given area, setting limitations on number of dimensions and teleport times. These are all things that will eat up a servers resources.

For example, if there is no wait time between teleports, then what is happening....Everytime that option is used, it needs to load that new chunk into the servers virtual memory (RAM) and then render it client side (your machine) and if you have 10 guys on your server all doing this simultaneously without limitation then what will happen is you have 10 guys, loading 2 chunks each time that command is run {/tp or any other teleport mod} and it stays loaded for the time it takes for it to "despawn" which is yet another setting, so by together adjusting these values down you've improved one portion of the performance of your server and in the end creating a better user experience.

To the other side of this spectrum, locking a server down super tight may be the most efficient, it can detract from the game-play and force your users to retire from your server as it will stop being fun; so made them with caution and remember if you aren't mining or building, you're just waisting daylight.

 

[Cira]

I am trying to re-purpose an old Acer that I have into a Minecraft server (and possibly file share server)
Relevant portions of the DXDIAG for the machine in its current iteration:

Operating System: Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130104-1431)
System Manufacturer: Acer System
Model: AcerPower FH
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3326MB
RAM Page File: 783MB used, 5867MB available
Display Devices Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Display Memory: 1904 MB

I cannot decide on which distro of Linux to use. I have been told to run Xubuntu 12, or Debian 6, or Ubuntu Unity, or Mint Mate

Any ideas/ suggestions?
We are playing Mindcrack, and I would like to transfer the world I have currently to the new machine, just not sure how or if its even a good idea.

 

[xinthral]

I am trying to re-purpose an old Acer that I have into a Minecraft server (and possibly file share server)
I cannot decide on which distro of Linux to use. I have been told to run Xubuntu 12, or Debian 6, or Ubuntu Unity, or Mint Mate

Any ideas/ suggestions?
We are playing Mindcrack, and I would like to transfer the world I have currently to the new machine, just not sure how or if its even a good idea.

Well if you're going to run this as a server or an desktop I would recommend either Ubuntu or CentOS. If you haven't ran linux before there is a desktop distrobution as well as a server version, make sure you pick the appropriate one. I am a big fan of CentOS 5.9 as a server, or cent 6.3+. they tend to be a steady distrobution, not cutting edge (so less likely to get bad packages that break things for no reason) but usually stable. Debian / ArchLinux / Fedora / CrunchBang are all viable options as well.

Hope this helps, I run a CentOS 6.3 server with cPanel and find it easy to manage / use.

~Xinthral

 

[Cira]

Contrary to the advice, I ended up going with Mint.

I did this because I really do need a GUI to figure out what I am doing. Its a failing on my part, but I am just not good enough with BASH commands yet

The server is up and running though, and is doing really well so far, but I still need to tweak the memory settings.

also I need to figure out how t setup an auto backup.

 

[xinthral]

Well the windows manager (aka GUI) can be installed on any OS, some of the popular ones are KDE, Gnome2, Gnome3, and Cinnamon. Without previous linux experience it can be a bit overwhelming at times. Just let me know if you need any help.

 

[Microjet]

Hi xinthral

I am trying to setup a server using TinyCore, basically trying to get as minimum OS footprint as possible to support maximum performance from resources I can throw at it.

TinyCore already has a basic GUI (eventually I will rebuild it without a GUI) but has this annoying backup feature.. It is supposed to be used as a live disk, and I have 'installed' it already but it is still backing up sessions and restoring them during boot, The reason this is a problem is that I have installed Java but the mods I made to the system files to make Java part of the path are being reversed during this backup period.

What do ya think? Was thinking maybe I should just build it with debian first and maybe I can remove whatever X server I install to get it setup later.?

Regards,
Microjet

 

[DZCreeper]

If you really want the most lightweight OS possible, your doing it wrong. Try MineOS instead. http://minecraft.codeemo.com/ I run a LAN server using it with zero problems what so ever.

 

[Microjet]

I have tried MineOS a few years ago and it worked great for vanilla minecraft but had issues with modded types. Also I'm not sure but I thought MineOS only ran 32-bit Java therefore having a Java memory ceiling of 2GB or whatever it is.

Edit: Nice, MineOS does now support 64-bit or maybe I missed it last time

 

[DZCreeper]

Yes it does have 64 bit support. I don't know when that got changed, but I have been using it since mid 2012 with no issues and 8 gigs of memory.