valheim-k8s

Kubernetes deployment for a valheim game-server. Based off the dockerization work by lloesche here.

For advanced configuration options see valheim-server-docker repo's README

Usage

Note: This assumes the node you are running on can use /data/valheim mounted as a host volume for persistence.

helm repo add valheim-k8s https://addyvan.github.io/valheim-k8s/
helm repo update
helm install valheim-server valheim-k8s/valheim-k8s  \
  --set worldName=example-world-name \
  --set serverName=example-server-name \
  --set password=password \
  --set storage.kind=hostvol \
  --set storage.hostvol.path=/data/valheim

Configuration

Parameter	Description	Default
worldName	Prefix of the world files to use (will make new if missing)	example-world-name
serverName	Server name displayed in the server browser(s)	example-server-name
password	Server password	password
passwordSecret	Name of Kubernetes secret to pull secret from. Secret should contain a single field labeled password	None
storage.kind	Storage strategy/soln used to provide the game-server with persistence	hostvol
storage.hostvol.path	The folder to be mounted into /config in the game-server pod	/data/valheim
storage.pvc.storageClassName	The storageClass used to create the persistentVolumeClaim	default
storage.pvc.size	The size of the persistent volume to be created	1Gi
storage.pvc.existingClaim	The existing persistentVolumeClaim to use if set	None
serverStorage.kind	Storage strategy/soln used to save the server installation files	hostvol
serverStorage.hostvol.path	The folder to be mounted into /opt/valheim in the game-server pod	/data/valheim-server
serverStorage.pvc.storageClassName	The storageClass used to create the persistentVolumeClaim	default
serverStorage.pvc.size	The size of the persistent volume to be created	5Gi
serverStorage.pvc.existingClaim	The existing persistentVolumeClaim to use if set	None
useHostNetworking	If true, set pod.spec.hostNetwork = true and don't create a service	false
networking.serviceType	The type of service e.g NodePort, LoadBalancer or ClusterIP	LoadBalancer
networking.loadBalancerIP	A user supplied IP for service type LoadBalancer	None
networking.gamePort	The UDP start port the server will listen on	2456
networking.nodePort	When service type is NodePort, assign a fixed UDP port to the server	""
networking.publishQueryPort	Expose the Steam query port (gamePort + 1)	true
nodeSelector		{}
tolerations		[]
image.repository	Specifies container image repository	lloesche/valheim-server
image.tag	Specifies container image tag	latest
priorityClassName	Specifies the priority class name for the deployment	None

Persistence

Currently persistence is supported through mounting a hostvol or via a persistentVolumeClaim. Please create an issue if you would like support for specific cloud storage solutions via PVCs / storageclasses. They vary by provider so PRs / testers welcome for this.

You can enable persistence for both the server data (your worlds, mounted at /config and configured with the storage parameter) and the server installation (to skip downloading it every time a pod is created, mounted at /opt/valheim, configured with the serverStorage parameter).

Using a Host Volume

Note: If you are deploying to a cloud provider it is highly recommended that you use a PVC powered by a cloud-specific storageClass. Otherwise you risk losing your world.

On the node you wish to use make sure the folder you are mounting exists (ideally empty if you are starting a new world). Once you spin up the game pod you should see the following files created:

$ ls /data/valheim
adminlist.txt  backups  bannedlist.txt  permittedlist.txt  prefs  worlds

Using a persistentVolumeClaim

To use a persistentVolumeClaim for storage, you will need to first set up your CSI and StorageClass for your K8s cluster. Information regarding that differs by cloud provider and there are several guides available for configuring each of them.

Once you have your StorageClass set up, set storage.kind to persistentVolumeClaim, optionally set storage.pvc.storageClassName to the name of your previously configured StorageClass (or it will use the default StorageClass), and set storage.pvc.size to the size of the volume to create (default 1Gi).

If you already have a persistentVolumeClaim and persistentVolume, perhaps set up manually or restored from a backup, you can set storage.pvc.existingClaim to the name of your persistentVolumeClaim.

Using an existing world

To use an existing world simply set the worldName parameter to the name of your world then save the .db and .fwl files to the directory mounted into the pod. For example, if your world is named myworld then set worldName: myworld in your values file (or --set worldName=myworld) and assuming you are mounting at /data/valheim then your directory should look like:

$ ls /data/valheim/worlds/
myworld.db  myworld.fwl

Connecting to your world

Assuming you have taken care of the networking (port-forwarding if needed, LoadBalancer IP is created, ...):

• In the steam UI (NOT IN GAME) go to view->servers->add favorite
  • set the port to 2457 (reason for that here)
• To connect double click the server in the steam servers explorer
  • You will be asked for the password in the steam ui and in game

More visual set of instructions here

Potential future updates

If there is interest I can hash out the following:

• Cronjob to save backups to s3, blob storage, or minio
  • Then clear up the space in the hostvol/pvc
• More persistence options, namely for those looking to run this on the cloud
  • I'm familiar with Azure and AWS but I'm sure GCP and others will be fairly simple to figure out if we have testers