Installing a CSGO game server

Introduction

This article is about installing and configuring a CSGO game server on Linux systems.

Requirements

An x86 / x64 compatible system
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Installed steamcmd
CX21 server or better

Step 1 - Preparations

Creating the CSGO server folder, where the server files will be found:

mkdir /opt/csgo/
chown steamcmd:steamcmd /opt/csgo/

All commands should be executed as steamcmd user.

su --shell /bin/bash steamcmd

Step 2 - Installation

Download the server files via steamcmd:

steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir /opt/csgo/ +app_update 740 +quit

Once the server has been downloaded, the settings can be set.

The CSGO server configuration file is located at /opt/csgo/csgo/cfg/server.cfg. Here you can edit and insert the sample configuration below.

// ************************************************************************** //
//     Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - server.cfg                          //
//     Version 240917                                                         //
// ************************************************************************** //
// .................................. Basic ................................. //

// Hostname - Name of the server.
hostname "SERVERNAME"

// RCON - remote console password.
rcon_password "ADMINPASSWORD"

// Server password - for private servers.
sv_password ""

// Email - Server admin email.
// Example: sv_contact "email@example.com"
sv_contact ""

// LAN mode - If set the server will not show on the internet.
// Default: sv_lan 0
sv_lan 0

// ............................. Server Logging ............................. //

// Enable log - Enables logging to file, console, and udp < on | off >.
// Recommended: log on
log on

// Log bans - Log server bans in the server logs.
// Default: sv_logbans 1
// Recommended: sv_logbans 1
sv_logbans 1

// Log echo - Display log information to the server console.
// Default: sv_logecho 1
// Recommended: sv_logecho 1
sv_logecho 1

// Log file - Log server information in the log file.
// Default: sv_logfile 1
// Recommended: sv_logfile 1
sv_logfile 1

// One file log - Log server information to only one file.
// Default: sv_log_onefile 0
// Recommended: sv_log_onefile 0
sv_log_onefile 0

// Server Hibernation
sv_hibernate_when_empty 1
sv_hibernate_ms 5

// ............................. Server Query ............................. //
// More info at: https://www.gametracker.com/games/csgo/forum.php?thread=91691
host_name_store 1
host_info_show 1
host_players_show 2

// ................................ Ban List ................................ //

// User ban - Server banlist based on user steam ID.
// Recommended: exec banned_user.cfg
exec banned_user.cfg

// IP ban - Server banlist based on user IP.
// Recommended: exec banned_ip.cfg
exec banned_ip.cfg

// Write ID - Writes a list of permanently-banned user IDs to banned_user.cfg.
writeid

// Write IP - Save the ban list to banned_ip.cfg.
writeip

Step 3 - Server administration

To manage (start, stop, update) the server, the following script is needed.

Most settings can be applied unchanged, only the entry GAMETOKEN has to be changed. A valid server Token must be deposited. Server tokens can be requested here: Steam Game Server Account Management

(On low-performance servers, the TICK entry should be reduced to 64.)

#!/bin/bash

################# SET VARs #################

DIR="/opt/csgo"
SCREENNAME="csgo"

GAMETOKEN=""
TICK=128
GAMETYPE=0
GAMEMODE=1
MAPGROUP="mg_bomb"
MAP="de_dust2"
MAXPLAYER=10

################# DO NOT MODIFY #################

DEAMON="srcds_run"
PARAMS="-game csgo -ip 0.0.0.0 -port 27015 +maxplayers $MAXPLAYER +map $MAP -tickrate $TICK +game_type $GAMETYPE +game_mode $GAMEMODE +mapgroup $MAPGROUP +sv_setsteamaccount $GAMETOKEN"

function start_server {
    if [[ `screen -ls | grep $SCREENNAME` ]]; then
        echo "The server is already running $SCREENNAME"
    else
        echo "Starte $SCREENNAME"
        if [ -d $DIR ]; then
           cd $DIR
           screen -d -m -S $SCREENNAME ./$DEAMON $PARAMS
        else
           echo "The server directory was not specified"
        fi
    fi
}

function stop_server {
    if [[ `screen -ls | grep $SCREENNAME` ]]; then
        echo -n "Stoppe $SCREENNAME"
        kill `screen -ls | grep $SCREENNAME | awk -F . '{print $1}'| awk '{print $1}'`
        echo " ... done."
    else
        echo "Could not find the screen $SCREENNAME"
    fi
}

function update_server {
    stop_server
    steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir $DIR +app_update 740 +quit
    start_server
}

case "$1" in
start)
    start_server
;;

stop)
    stop_server
;;

restart)
    stop_server
    start_server
;;

update)
    update_server
;;

  *)
    echo "Usage: $0  (start / stop / update)"
esac

exit 0

For example, the script can be placed at /opt/steamcmd/csgo.sh.

After that, permissions must be granted to run the script:

chmod +x /opt/steamcmd/csgo.sh

Now a systemd service entry is needed. The entry is made at: /etc/systemd/system/csgo.service:

[Unit]
Description=Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Server (SRCDS)
After=local-fs.target network.target

[Service]
User=steamcmd
Group=steamcmd

ExecStart=/opt/steamcmd/csgo.sh start
ExecStop=/opt/steamcmd/csgo.sh stop
Type=forking

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

The entry just created must now be activated with the command systemctl daemon-reload. Now the CSGO server can be started or stopped with systemctl start csgo and systemctl stop csgo.

To set up the automatic server update, the following entry at crontab -e is required:

0 4 * * * systemctl stop csgo && su --shell /bin/bash steamcmd -c "/opt/steamcmd/csgo.sh update" && systemctl start csgo >/dev/null 2>&1

This entry would be executed every day at 4:00 AM.

Troubleshooting

Should there be any problems connecting to the screen, you will see the following error:

Cannot open your terminal '/dev/pts/0' - please check.

To resolve this, execute this command in the current session:

script /dev/null

Afterwards a connection with the screen session is possible again.

Conclusion

If you have followed the tutorial to this point, you have your own CSGO server that automatically updates itself.

Installing a CSGO game server

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