(host/server mode) Manually speciflying external IP?

Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:49 pm

Hi.
I have a game server running at home on a WinXP box with IL-2 dedicated server. I can run the server and people can connect to it, I can launch the server through HL by renaming il2server.exe to il2fb.exe and have HL launch it.
However, the server shows up on HL but clients can't connect to it (time out)

Probable cause of the problem:
HL detecting the wrong IP?

Explanation:
My ISP blocks inbound connections with a NAT and makes you pay extra for a crappy dynamic IP. After 20 hours a month that are pre-paid, the ability to listen for inbound connections costs 4 euros a day. As you can easily imagine, that is not an option.

To make my server accessible from the internet, I set up a cheap VPS (about 10 euros a month) at vps4less.de and used Hamachi to forward ports
<vps IP> => <vps Hamachi> => <home server Hamachi> =>Windows box
(which of course makes my server's IP = <vps IP>:21000)

This configuration is tested and working.
I had to manually configure localHost=<vps IP> in confc.ini and set Hamachi on top of the connections' list in Control Panel => Network Connection => Advanced. At that point clients could connect typing the IP into IL2's 'multiplay' page.

The problem is that clients can't connect via HL. They keep timing out.
My guess is that the solution would be to manually specify the external IP where the game runs, instead of autodetecting it.
I tried to play a little with hyperlobby.def but I couldnt find any line where I could manually set the external IP.

Can that be done, in the first place? Can I manually configure what IP to direct clients to? How is that done? And if that can't be done, is there another solution?

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 4:26 pm

HL server determining ip from hl connection, so is imposible delegate other ip that hl clent using.

Your problem may be solved by this routing trick (in theory):
1./ Enable NAT and routing from hamachi to internet at your VPS
2./ Add static route in your computer to route subnet 213.215.67.180/32 vias hamachi network

Then HL will connect via hamachi and your vps to the HL server with IP origin from the vps.

Other solution will be to use a VPN to the vps and skip hamachi part (i have no experience with hamachi service). Plain SSH port forwarding will work great in this case since HL using TCP port (1968). By using ssh port forwarding you must change hl server ip in hyperlobby.ini to localhost.

In case you like to run standalone server registered permanently to HL you will need install HL at your vps and register the server from there. HL support -a commandline option to autostart il2 server and register it to the HL server automatically. Then you will be abble connect to the created server via your computer directly without using any tunelling stuff.

Hope it help.

Jiri

Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:30 pm

I'm keeping and interested eye on this.

In my experience there's always been a problem with hosting IL2 and Hamachi.

Same problem you are having, clients cannot connect unless Hamachi service has been stopped is the usual fix.

Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:33 am

I guess I'll try this first because it seems to be the easiest.
Before I do anything I need to understand exactly what im trying to do. As I understood it so far the cmd command would be something like

route add 213.215.67.180 mask 255.255.255.255 <vps-hamachi-IP> if <win-box-hamachi-IP>

Is that correct or did I get it wrong?
And in case im wrong, could you help me forumulate the right command?

PS: should I use metric 2 too, or the default 1 is OK?

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:50 pm

This is a very common problem with Hamachi and IL2 1946

As I said above the best way is to dump Hamachi.

Everything Im dealing with is Linux or Win 7 gave up Xp along time ago so cant help you there as your using Win 2004 server

Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:59 pm

Yes I will dump Hamachi as soon as I figure out how to forward UDP through SSH to a Windows box (BTW it isn't 2003 Server but XP Pro x64... basically Server2003 with an XP interface)

I could google up ssh port forwarding but the only hit that even mentioned UDP assumed Linux on both ends, I don't know how long it'll take for me to figure out how to forward UDP via SSH to an SSH server for Windows.

I tried adding static routes, tried different commands but HL could never connect when the new route was enabled, I guess I must have missed something really obvious (I do that often). I managed to have the command accepted by the system but then HL couldnt connect, and when I tried to specify the net interface manually the system would answer that the interface was wrong. I tried all I could google up (OK, make that "all I could google up in 20 minutes) then I gave up.

The registered server option would be cool.
Having HL running on the VPS and registering the server.

[EDIT]
I googled a bit and I think I have understood that there's no Linux version, I'd need to run Wine on the vps for HL to work. But then again, would it work? The vps is headless linux there's no X server on it. Wine seems to be fairly good at emulating the cmd shell but can HL run with no GUI? And how's that done?

Also, after installing HL on the vps and getting it to run, I'll need instructions for setting it up with the server on a remote box.

Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:37 pm

Yes soz I meant Win 2003

Same networking server features as Xp 64 bit is based on it.

Linux box with Wine is the best way to go for a server.
or
Ubuntu Smile

This might help you.

http://ultrapack.il2war.com/index.php/board,56.0.html

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:40 pm

Sure, that was what I wanted in the first place. I even set up a Linux box for the server... but then the ISP problem showed another weird side.

In Windows (XP, 7, whatever) I can go into Control Panel => Network Connections => Advanced, and from there I see a list of existing connections. Moving those connections up and down, I can tell IL-2 what interface to use: putting Hamachi on top, IL-2 would detect the Hamachi IP.

I couldnt figure out how to do that on Linux. I had to use Firestarter (frontend for IPTables) to set 'shared connection' or hamachi wasnt reachable, then I tried setting ham0 (hamachi) as 'connected to internet' and eth0 as 'local': the internet was still reachable and I could connect to the box through the internet via hamachi, but IL-2 wouldnt accept connections. No matter what i tried, I couldnt make it work.

Eventually, I gave up and installed WinXP. I would choose 1000 times Linux over Windows, especially XP, but it seems that with my ISP and its "pay-per-host" thingy I can't make IL-2 accept connections under Linux/Wine unless I pay the worse-than-mobster price of 4 euros a day (=120 a month + the 50 I already pay) for a dynamic IP that changes once a week even if you stay always up (= more annoyances)

So, right now the solution that I would try is what Jiri suggested, to run HL on the VPS and register my server.
The questions are now
- how do I install HL on a headless Debian (vps)
- hot to set up HL to send clients to the server (just forwarding 21000 would do?)
- and of course terms, conditions, and instructions for regiestering a server

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:07 pm

This is problematic. You may archeive this, but its so complicated for a beginer and out of scope of this website ...

EDIT:
A little direction:
1./ install and setup NX server at your VPS ( http://www.linux-tip.net/cms/content/view/298/26/ )
2./ install and setup NX client at your computer ( http://www.nomachine.com/download.php )
3./ install gnome,kde or xfce or other desktop at your vps (if its not installed already)
4./ Now you will have remote gui to your vps ...
5./ Install wine, hlclient and il2 dedicated server in to wine
6./ Setup HL session hosting preferences etc. Next time you will need run hyperlobby.exe -a to autoamtically connect and start the game ( http://hyperfighter.sk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7778 )

NX solution can be replaced by VNC but NX is fastest linux remote desktop and do not need Xserver.

BUT you may stick with VPN/Remote router idea. The best will be wipe out debian from vps and install there an complette routing/forewaling/vpn solution or use a VPN hosting offering service you need (like this http://www.vpnhosting.org/ )

Windows have VPN client included, so you have only task to install something at your vps. If is posible you may stick with something like monowall or ddwrt ...

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:45 pm

Thanks for the answer Jiri.

So that answers my question: no headless HL.
OK, I'll get Gnome as that's the desktop Environment that I know best.

As for the purpose of this website... OK it's your site, you decide what's in-topics and what's not. Just tell me where it is appropriate to discuss this kind of issues and I'll post there instead.
(I mean for next time, as it's already been answered)

BTW I may not be an expert unix admin but im not a total n00b either, I have a few years' experience with Linux.
Well.
Time to get started. I'll try to follow the instructions and make it work.

If I don't post anything, assume that everything is working fine, and thank you very much for helping.

In case I run into problems (which is more than probable, knowing Murphy and his ways) I'll post again in this thread unless instructed to take it somewhere else.

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2011 7:03 pm

I can't possibly run il2server on the vps.
The vps has only 512MB of memory, and even if that was enough for the il2 server (it is, but there wouldnt be much left for other apps), there are only 5GB of disk storage and the il2 server directory is over 10GB in size *before* installing UP (waiting for the new 4.10-based version). Once installed UP it'll be probably well over 20GB in size, so installing the game server in the vps under wine is not possible.

I have installed Gnome and set up a remote desktop with FreeNX (NXserver would time out every time but FreeNX did the trick right away), also installed Wine, now it remains to install HL, but then again, is it possible to tell HL to redirect clients to the home server? I had understood as if you could do that with a registered server, but maybe I got it wrong?