[eC] EnEsCe Corp

New versions of the beta dedicated server and client are now available for testing: 1.5.1c (build 10)

The dedicated server now features an Auto Updater for both Linux and Windows, and it will require extensive testing by server owners. Due to the nature of Linux systems, it may not work under certain circumstances (I am referring to folder and file permissions).

Read the full article for the download links and more details.

The client itself seems to be pretty close to reaching a release candidate state, so if you think I am wrong PLEASE report any major issues on the bug tracker! I am looking for things that definitely can not be in the first release version – minor things can be patched after release using the client updater.

The major features of the Portal are still yet to come. I have been trying to think of a way to implement some kind of “Gather” into the Portal, but haven’t thought of a great way. If anyone has a concept idea, feel free to contact me. Or any kind of useful Portal idea.

Why has the version number changed to 1.5.1 ‘c’ ?
It is because there are vital packet structure changes that were required to fix certain bugs.

Client 1.5.1b -> 1.5.1c Changelog:

- Fixed "Crouch Float" bug
- Fixed InterfaceText/Image custom resolution scaling
- Fixed Flamer weapon stats having invalid icon
- Fixed Spas12 weapon stats being added to Ruger
- Fixed weapon stats 'hits' increasing by bots
- Fixed invalid tooltips on login panel
- Fixed M72 LAW Hits not counting
- Fixed IP field being selected after exiting a game in fullscreen
- Fixed Survival/Realistic game freezes
- Modified pressing escape while typing will now clear chat buffer
- Fixed Registered/Bot icons not working correctly when joining
- Fixed 24 character player names being unable to authenticate

Server 2.7.0b -> 2.7.0c Changelog:

- Added Server Auto Updater for Windows and Linux (BETA)
- Fixed Registered/Bot icons not working correctly when joining a server
- Fixed 24 character player names being unable to authenticate
- Fixed M72 LAW Hits not counting on weapon stats
- Fixed ReadFile script function not working
- Added TagID to RefreshX (Array[1..32] placed after player name, 10 byte string)

Okay, so the server auto updater. You will notice there are 2 new executable files in the server zip, ‘svrupgrader’ (Linux) and ‘svrupgrader.exe’ (Windows). This is where most of the update magical goodness happens. On windows, the auto update should function out-of-the-box, however Linux admins may have to perform some changes to their folder permissions.

In order for updating to work, your entire soldatserver folder have full write access to the user running the server. The update binary (svrupgrader) must have execute permissions. The soldatserver binary won’t need write permissions, since it is deleted and replaced with the new binary.  I recommend recursively setting the permissions to 0666, so things like map .PMS files can be updated too. If you have shell access, you can use this command to set the permissions:

chmod -R 666 /path/to/soldatserver

Here is a rundown of how the update process works.
1) soldatserver checks if update available
2) soldatserver downloads list of updated files and saves to temp text file
3) soldatserver chmod’s svrupgrader to 555
4) svrupgrader is launched in background, server remains running
5) svrupgrader downloads the new files with a temp name, waits until all downloaded then:
6) svrupgrader shuts down the soldatserver process (so it may be written to)
7) svrupgrader moves the downloaded files to their proper destination
8) svrupgrader will chmod all new/updated files to 666, but 555 to soldatserver binary.
9) svrupgrader executes the new soldatserver, update complete.

Before you ask, the startup parameters you originally used to start soldatserver WILL be also be applied to the re-executed soldatserver; and the update will work with non-default server binaries (ex: sldsvr270 instead of soldatserver)

Questions? Comments? Whine about the update method used? Leave a comment or contact me.