Hi I would like to know if it is possible to host 2 servers off the same server machine. I am currently running my host on a windows 2003 server machine. I was wondering if it were possible to then host another but changing the game ports. I tried that though and it appears on the master server however it just sits there doing nothing when I try to connect.

Why I wanted to do this was so me and my team can have a private server to train in etc...

Any help would be apprieciated,
Many thanks,
Dale.

Not sure if this would work but perhaps running a virtual machine on the 2003 box. ( google parallels )

This would give u 2 examples of windows or run a linux virtual for less systems overhead and run your extra servers on these.

You'd need to sort out ports but virtual machines manage this for networking ok so it should be do-able.

AFAIK, Parallels is a way to run XP inside of Mac OSX, What I believe you mean to say is VMware.

EDIT: Never mind, Parallels do make PC VM software, but I'd much rather suggest VMware, due to if you get the VM's set up in the 30 day trial of Workstation, you can use them forever in VMware Player

Thanks for the replies, I'll have to give this a go after work

Thanks for the help!

You can run as many server's you'd like on a single system, if each LFS server required it's very own copy of Windows to run, i'd say it was the worst game server program ever written.

Just change ports and make sure all ports are allowed in any firewalls.

Thats what I had done originally and my second server was appearing on the master server, I could select to join it in game however doing it this way I was unable to join the server since it would just sit there when i hit connect. And in the server window that would give a warning something about two instances of lfs being open.

yep, its possible! i did it too once

Quote from ShibbyMan666 :

And in the server window that would give a warning something about two instances of lfs being open.

This always happens, even when you're running a single dedicated server and LFS itself on the same machine. More like a notice then a warning i guess.

Ahh I see, well if that should work on one machine using different ports any idea why it won't connect to the game? Could it be both servers using the same port to connect to the master server? And any ideas if it is possible to change that?

If you can see the server on the master server list (i.e. in LFSWorld) then its talking to it properly. Also it shouldn't matter, because of how sockets work.

How are you invoking the 2 servers? Are you specifying a different cfg file for each one?
Are you running the same binary twice, or using 2 different ones (there is / was an issue with running the same binary, to do with ban files - although this is something else)?
Are you sure you're telling them to use different ports?
Are both ports open in your firewall / router?

I have made 2 seperate directories on the server machine, both using unique files and setups, all the ports have been forwarded correctly, like i did with the first server.
I don't know about the binaries though as I am new to all this lol and don't really understand that one.

with the first server i am using default ports
63392 and insim: 29999 which all works perfect

with the second i changed them by one number so its
63393 and insim: 29998

Oh and yes I have told them to use different ports within the setup.cfg

Quote from ShibbyMan666 :

post

Since you're using separate directories, you're using separate binaries (different copy of the .exe-file).

Can't see anything wrong in the setup you've described, it should be working. If you had somehow failed to set separate ports, you should get the "SetupServerSocket: Bind failed"- message.

I know what I did now, I had forgotten to open the game port both ways lol only had tcp open i think im such a n00b lol

Anyways guys thanks for all your help! It was very kind of you to take your time to reply.

Just one last problem then i'll go away lol I have got the private server running fine on the same machine now, however every now and then the second server will disappear and wont be found by the master server, resulting in not being able to connect. Could this be a problem due to it showing the same IP address?

If anyone knows anything on this that would be great,
Many thanks,
Dale

Shouldnt cause a problem tbh.

How are you checking the master server? via the LFS client or LFSWorld?

through both I have tried connecting via lfs world and the game itself, looked at the host details on lfs world and in game it appears for a little while then vanishes, i look in the dedi server box it hasnt come up with any error messages so I am completely lost on this one lol

What sort of supporting infrastructure have you got around your Windows 2003 server? ISA 2004 / Windows firewall / RRAS acting as firewall / IPsec policies as a firewall / something else?

Lol I will have to find all that out for ya. I don't really know since the server is my work server I only have a remote connection to it so I can host games etc.. I will ask the guy who owns it when he comes online and will get back on that one asap I wish I knew but im new to all this.

Oh actually I do know it is using AVG free edition thats all lol

Quote from ShibbyMan666 :

Oh actually I do know it is using AVG free edition thats all lol

[shudders]

You can run multiple LFS servers on one LFS executable, or you can set them up separately as you have. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The ban file problem is totally cured since (IIRC) patch T.

I wasn't aware of AVG being server-standard, but then I thought it was an antivirus rather than a firewall, so what do I know?

Check that the name of each server is different. You can't have two servers online with the same name. That's the config line "/host=Your Server Name"

Other than that, unless there's some additional security in place between your work box and the outside world, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work quite nicely.

The host names are different lol, and I know that was quite stupid of me saying about avg forgive me lol its boiling hot and ive been working all day I'll have to check about the security but I have now had one server running fast and problem free for days, the second server works for a little while then stops lol I have done all the same as my original except change port numbers and the config (as mentioned in previous posts) So if it was a security issue wouldn't it have effected the original server too which is running smooth? This stuff is so confusing lol

Try setting the port for the second server to 63394 instead of 63393.
For some reason I found that one server will be intermittent if the ports for the two servers are too close together.
I know it seems odd but I did it with GTR dedi servers and seperating them by a slightly larger margin cured the problem.

Thanks for the info, i'll be sure to try that after work.

also just to check try closing the server that always runs fine and just running the second server.. that way you can be sure wether it is just a config somewhere or a problem with that set of dedi files. (just a thought...)

Ah yeah I tried that and it works, all thats different in the two config files is the server name, password and the tracks avaliable lol. I think what i'll have to do is if i need the private server (for team events etc...) i'll just close off our public server for the duration of the event. It's probably the best and most stress free way lol thanks for all your help guys much apprieciated!

in dedicated server cfg can add some scripts ? and when can then how.

sorry about english