Running two mods on one Windows 2003 server?

Sorry to bring this up again guys, I can’t find the original…

I want to know how to run two mods on one physical server please, someone said they were doing it and it was easy, but I didn’t get enough understanding of how to make it work on our server.

We have a commercial Windows 2003 server with one e/net card to the ISP, and we run two user accounts on it, one is currently running our normal mod and I use the other for admin purposes at present.

I have tried many many times unsuccessfully, the first mod always starts and works fine, whichever one of the two I start first, but the second starts but is not accessible by players.

I need detailed help please on how to run a second FL mod simultaneously?

Thanks guys.

As a side-issue, what other good multi-player games might I be able to host on the same server if I can’t get the second FL mod running simultaneously?

Thanks guys.

Cannon - many thanks!

I am trying your way to use the same User account for all servers, instead of using separate User accounts for each of the two (will try 3) FLServers. This is because our provider only allows us 2 user accounts without additional charges.

I installed the patch, but with confusion - in your readme.txt you say dasrvcom.ini - realise you mean dacomsrv.ini and added the acctpath_patch.dll after the other dlls (after shading.dll) in the Libraries section.

However the gls workaround patch is in dacom.ini - ??

Then you say:
“Configuration for the patch is stored in acctpath_patch.ini. Edit this specify the location of your data directory.”

I guessed you mean the new path to the Accts folder (not the server’s “Freelancer\DATA” folder) but you don’t say to what level.

My folder structure is:-
D:\FLSERVERS\RRJDS282R3\Freelancer
D:\FLSERVERS\RRJDS282R3\Accts
D:\FLSERVERS\PLAINFLSDK13\Freelancer
D:\FLSERVERS\PLAINFLSDK13\Accts
D:\FLSERVERS\TNG276\Freelancer
D:\FLSERVERS\TNG276\Accts

Anyway whatever I put in the acctpath_patch.ini file as a path, even to the root of the Accts folder (D:\SERVERS\RRJDS282R3) or the full path (D:\SERVERS\RRJDS282R3\Accts\MultiPlayer), or anywhere between, FLServer is still using the old original game location for playerfiles and the old FLServer.cfg file (I didn’t remove them because that’s my live FLServer playerfiles! ), so the server name and server description are the old ones. When I change them it overwrites the old file and my original FLServer reads the same one again!

When I add the dll name to dacomsrv.ini the console output shows:

C:\work\builds\dalibs\dalibs-build\build\Src\DACOM\Dacom.cpp( 618 ) : NOTICE:General: DACOM: AddLibrary: DLL ‘D:\FLSERVERS\PLAINFLSDK13\Freelancer\EXE\shading.dll’ [1.11.173]
C:\work\builds\dalibs\dalibs-build\build\Src\DACOM\Dacom.cpp(612) : ERROR:General: DACOM: AddLibrary: unable to load dll ‘acctpath_patch.dll’, ignoring…

When I add it to dacom.ini after or before the gls_workaround dlls there is no error message but the old original player and FLServer.cfg files are still being used.

So - where should it be, dacomsrv.ini or dacom.ini?

Should the new Accts folder and playerfiles already exist?

If they don’t will they be created in the new folder location as I expect a normal FL setup to do? They aren’t at the moment.

Should the path end with backslash (D:\SERVERS\RRJDS282R3\Accts) or without (D:\SERVERS\RRJDS282R3\Accts)?

Can you please tell me where I’m going wrong guys?

Still trying in the meantime.

By the way - yes I permitted the two new FLServer.exe sessions as exceptions in the firewall programs list, and used port 2302 for the first and 2304 for the second.

Many thanks, great going and will be over the moon when we get it sorted.

EDIT: - hours later it’s 05:05 now - tried every combination of putting it in dacom.ini or dacomsrv.ini and with many combinations of path - always the same, red errors if it is in dacomsrv.dll but no errors if in dacom.ini, but my original player and FLServer.cfg files are always being used. No new “Accts” folder is being created. I have tried all folder name steps with and without end backslash, from only “D:” to the full “D:\FLSERVERS\PLAINFLSDK13\Accts\Multiplayer”.

Wish you were more explicit Cannon old pal, would have saved me these long hours with a few more words and the correct file name to add it to. :-?

Cannon, Adoxa - very many thanks, working like a dream on that part now, the msvcr71 and msvcp71 fixed it.

Thanks again, great work Cannon - I’m setting up the FL Shells and IFSO’s for each and I’ll update you so this topic is completed, and I’ll make a new readme for you too.

Xarian: good thoughts, where can I get a (free!) copy of any of your preferred game to try it out?

I have now set up and run three FL Server sessions simultaneously but not sucessfully online.

Server 1:- Plain FL 1.1 with SK1.3 (PLAINFLSDK13) - Port 2304
Server 2:- RRJDS 2.82 Mod R3 (RRJDS282R3) - Port 2306
Server 3:- TNG 2.76 Mod (TNG276) - Port 2308

Current Problems:
1. None is visible on the Internet despite the gls workaround patches. Both crazy’s fllistserver and the libcurl.dll/gls_workaround.dll are installed on each FLServer, like I did with the original mod I am running which is still fine. I have listed each of them as an exception in the firewall setup.

2. Ioncross FL Server Operator is installed for each and set up, but only the first one (any) starts its FL Server session. The second and third Server Ops do nothing because it seems that they cannot identify that the running FL Server is not their own. And they cannot latch on to the right one if I start the other two manually. Only the first one is fine.

Problem 1 - This must still be a firewall problem as the original is still fine, I will investigate that asap.

On the gls workaround - as I mentioned I am using both, is this correct or overkill? Which one should I use if only one?

Problem 2 - Is there a straightforward solution for this one? Our needs are fairly simple, we need to be able to have monitoring and autorestart if the session crashes, and move characters if necessary, and be able to rename them for tagging or events or to remove offensive names without deleting players.

We don’t do any editing to give special equipment or ships because we don’t like to give advantage, everything in our mods is available to all players.

FLHook is probably too complex for what we need?

How do you guys control yours?

I am wondering if I can hack each Ioncross .exe file separately to change the default name of FLServer.exe to for example PlainFLServer.exe, R282Server.exe, TNGServer.exe and change the FLServer.exe’s to the same name for each session? Then each Server Op may look for its own FLServer filename?

If I am way off track, how do you run your own setups that work well and easily? I will follow your methods so we don’t waste too much time.

Thanks for your help!

Good tip Helloween, works nicely, thanks!

The correct ports are open.

I think that the problem is that the new servers are not listed on the fllstserver so they don’t show.

When I use the direct connect (-sip.ip.ip.ip:port) I can see them in my list (one at a time) and connect and play on the two I tried (I don’t have the TNG mod on my PC to try the 3rd)! Hooray!

EDIT:- Just found how to get the new FLServers registered on the fllistserver and did it.

After that I just need to have a server op that works on all three or can have 3 instances and works?

I looked in Ioncross.exe for the fixed FLServer.exe name but couldn’t find one that looked right to hack, and changing the name of FLServer.exe results in an error and stops it from starting up fully.

What do you use to control yours guys?

Cannon: as promised - the updated zip for you, please double-check before taking it as gospel. I have included the runtime files in the zip and given a fuller explanation of how to install the patch. Many thanks for the patch, it’s great.

OK, now working on finding a Server controller that will work on 3 FLServer sessions…

Sorry, just saw your reply Cannon.

Having some problems at the moment, only 1 session shows in the Server List after I registered all 3 sessions at http://www.flserver.de/add_server.php

Not sure what to do, am contacting Crazy to see if it’s a problem he can fix and I’ll get back to you once we can see all 3 FL Server sessions?

Or do you have an idea what might be wrong?

Good idea about VMWare, it’s free and I’ll take a look - but I don’t know if our provider will allow us to install it on the server though.

Yes I did allocate different ports for each session, and I can direct connect to each of them, but only 1 session appears in the Server List - port 2306, I think it’s the last one I registered.

Whichever session I start on port 2306 shows, the others on ports 2302, 2304, 2308 do not show up.

I think it’s because the server registration php script probably overwrites the previous server IP and port if the IP is the same, instead of adding the new one?

I’ve sent a PM to Crazy here, hope he gets it soon.

EDIT: VMWare Server is free but they ask a whole ream of questions and I don’t want to give all that info.

But Sun’s latest release of VirtualBox 3.2.8 is free and looks great, and is small, and no quizzes! Nice.

Yep, Oracle bought Sun - amazing.

Hi guys.

OK our server is back again.

I removed the gls workaround patch leaving only Cazy’s gun.fllistserver.com patch in each session, as it should be automatic?

Each session’s name is different, starting with " RRJDS" and then the mod name and “- port 230x” in the server session name.

I started all 3 FL Server sessions simultaneously:
FL 1.1 on port 2304,
RRJDS 2.82r3 on port 2306 and
TNG 2.76 on port 2308.

Checked on our server - all ports are passed by the firewall OK (as seen with “netstat -an”).

Ran Freelancer client - only RRJDS 2.82r3 showed up in the server list.

Stopped it and tried each mod in turn on port 2306 - each one showed up alone.

Tried RRJDS 282r3 on each port 2302, 2304, 2306, 2308 - only shows when on port 2306.

Tried Plain FL and TNG on ports 2302, 2304, 2306, 2308 - each one only shows when on port 2306.

Any help please?

I have now also tried to re-register all the ports on http://www.flserver.de/add_server.php

Thanks guys.