ARK: Survival Evolved Linux Server Tools

This tool allows you to manage any ARK: Survival Evolved linux server without having to remember long commands. It provides a lot of features, to get the full list check the Usage section.

Installation

Prerequisites

To install ARK Server Tools you must have already installed SteamCMD following this guide:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#Linux

We assume you have created the steam user to store steamcmd and your ARK server.

Requirements

To allow your ARK server to communicate with the outside you have to open some ports in your firewall:

iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 27016 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 27016 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 7778 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 7778 -j ACCEPT
iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 32330 -j ACCEPT

NB: Change the ports according to the ones set in your arkmanager.cfg file.

Install ARK Server Tools

To install ARK Server Tools run this command:

curl -sL http://git.io/vtf5N | sudo bash -s steam

NB: You may want to change the bash -s parameter to fit your steam user if different from steam.

This will copy the arkmanager script and its daemon to the proper directories and will create an empty log directory in /var/log for ARK Server Tools.

To instead perform a user-install of ARK Server Tools as an unprivileged user, run this command:

curl -sL http://git.io/vtf5N | bash -s -- --me

Configuration

Stored in /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg and /etc/arkmanager/instances/<instancename>.cfg you can find the variables needed to start the server, like the port numbers, the system environment variables and so on.

Also, in this file, you can specify any parameter you want to add to the startup command of ARK server. These parameters must be prefixed by the ark_ string, some example could be:

ark_SessionName="My ARK server"
ark_MaxPlayers=50
ark_ServerPVE=False
ark_DifficultyOffset=1

Your session name may not contain special characters (eg. !![EU]!! Aw&some ARK) as it could break the startup command. In this case you may want to comment out the ark_SessionName variable and define it inside your GameUserSettings.ini file instead.

To specify an option without an argument (e.g. bRawSockets), specify an empty argument (e.g. ark_bRawSockets="").

To specify a dash-option without an argument (e.g. -log), add the option="" prefixed with arkflag_ (e.g. arkflag_log="").

To specify a dash-option with an argument (e.g. -StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures), add the option=value prefixed with arkopt_ (e.g. arkopt_StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures).

You can override or add variables for a specific system user creating a file called .arkmanager.cfg in the home directory of the system user.

See Configuration files for more options.

Install ARK Server

To install ARK Server just run this command as normal user:

arkmanager install

Usage

arkmanager [Global Options] <command> [Command Options] [Command Args] [Instances]

Global Options

--help	Prints some help on using the command
--version	Prints the arkmanager version

Common Options

--verbose	Exposes the output of SteamCMD
--dots	Prints dots for progress
--spinner	Uses a spinner for progress

Instanceless commands

upgrade-tools	Upgrades the ARK server tools to the latest version
uninstall-tools	Uninstalls the ARK server tools
list-instances	Lists the available instances --brief prints a single line with just the instance names
useconfig	Legacy command for specifying an instance for the following command(s)

Commands acting on instances

All of the following commands take @instancename arguments to specify one or more instances, with the special @all instance selecting all instances.

run	Runs the server without putting it into the background
start	Runs the server and puts it into the background --noautoupdate Disables automatic updating on startup if it is enabled
stop	Stops the server if it is running --warn Warns any connected players that the server is going down --saveworld Saves the world using saveworld - usually not necessary, as server usually saves the world on a graceful shutdown
restart	Runs the stop command followed by the restart command. Accepts and passes the options for those commands
install	Downloads and installs (or validates an existing install) of the ARK server
update	Updates an install of the ARK server (or installs it if it’s not already installed) --force Bypasses the check for if an update is available --safe Only shuts down the server when the server has saved in the past minute --warn Warns any connected players that the server is going down for an update --ifempty Only updates the server when nobody is connected --validate Re-validates the ARK server install --saveworld Saves the world using saveworld - usually not necessary, as server usually saves the world on a graceful shutdown --update-mods Updates any installed mods --backup Backs up the saved world and game config before updating --stagingdir=<dir> Sets the staging directory in order to download the update before shutting down the server --downloadonly Downloads the update but does not apply it. Only has effect if a staging directory is set.
checkupdate	Checks if an ARK server update is available
installmod <modnum>	Installs the specified mod into the ShooterGame/Content/Mods directory
uninstallmod <modnum>	Deletes the specified mod from the ShooterGame/Content/Mods directory
reinstallmod <modnum>	Runs the uninstallmod command followed by the installmod command
backup	Backs up the saved world and game config files to a compressed tar file in the backups directory specified in the config
broadcast "message"	Broadcasts a message to players connected to the server using the RCON broadcast command
saveworld	Saves the world using the RCON saveworld command
rconcmd "command"	Sends the specified RCON command to the server and prints its response
status	Prints the status of the ARK server

Configuration files

Global configuration

Global configuration is stored in /etc/arkmanager/arkmanager.cfg and/or ~/.arkmanager.cfg.

The following options cannot be overridden in the instance config files:

arkstChannel	Specifies the release channel (git branch) to use when upgrading the ARK server tools
install_bindir install_libexecdir install_datadir	Set by the installer to specify where to install the executable and data files
configfile_<name>	Paths to the specified instance config files
defaultinstance	The default instance to use if no instance is specified
steamcmd_user	The user under which the tools should be run. Set to --me in ~/.arkmanager.cfg in the case of a user-install

The following options can be overridden on a per-instance basis:

steamcmdroot	The directory in which SteamCMD is installed
steamcmdexec	The steamcmd.sh executable
steamcmd_appinfocache	The appinfo cache directory used by SteamCMD
arkserverexec	The relative path within an ARK server install where the ARK server executable can be found.
arkbackupdir	The directory in which to store backups. Can be overridden in the instance config.
arkwarnminutes	The number of minutes over which the shutdown and update warnings should be run
arkautorestartfile	The relative path within an ARK server install to place the autorestart lock file
arkAutoUpdateOnStart	Set to true to enable updating before server startup
arkBackupPreUpdate	Set to true to enable automatic backups before updating
arkStagingDir	Sets the staging directory in order to download updates before shutting down the server
arkMaxBackupSizeMB	Limits the size of the stored backups
msgWarnUpdateMinutes msgWarnUpdateSeconds msgWarnRestartMinutes msgWarnRestartSeconds msgWarnShutdownMinutes msgWarnShutdownSeconds	Templated messages for warnings, where %d is replaced with the number of minutes / seconds before the update / restart / shutdown
logdir	Specifies where to store log files
appid	The Steam AppID of the ARK server
mod_appid	The Steam AppID of the ARK client (used for downloading mods)
mod_branch	The Mod branch (Windows or Linux) to use. Virtually all mods use the Windows branch for the ARK server, and the Linux branch almost always crashes the server

ARK server options:

serverMap	The map the server should use
serverMapModId	Uses the -MapModID=<modid>?…​ option to specify the server map mod ID
ark_<optname>="<optval>"	Specifies the options to use in the Map?Option=Val?…​ option string passed to the server
ark_<optname>=""	Specifies an option without a value - Map?Option?…​
arkflag_<optname>=<anything>	Specifies a dash-option without a value (i.e. flag) - e.g. arkflag_DisableDeathSpectator=true adds the -DisableDeathSpectator flag
arkopt_<optname>="<optval>"	Specifies a dash-option with a value - e.g. arkopt_StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures adds the -StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures option.

Instance config files

Instance config files are stored under /etc/arkmanager/instances/<instancename>.cfg, ~/.local/config/arkmanager/instances/<instancename>.cfg or as specified in the configfile_<instancename> options in the global config.

arkserverroot	The directory under which the ARK server is installed
serverMap	The map the server should use
serverMapModId	Uses the -MapModID=<modid>?…​ option to specify the server map mod ID
ark_<optname>="<optval>"	Specifies the options to use in the Map?Option=Val?…​ option string passed to the server
ark_<optname>=""	Specifies an option without a value - Map?Option?…​
arkflag_<optname>=<anything>	Specifies a dash-option without a value (i.e. flag) - e.g. arkflag_DisableDeathSpectator=true adds the -DisableDeathSpectator flag
arkopt_<optname>="<optval>"	Specifies a dash-option with a value - e.g. arkopt_StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures adds the -StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures option.

Common ARK options

ark_TotalConversionId=<modid>	Specifies the Total Conversion to use
ark_GameModIds=<modid>,<modid>,…​	Specifies the Mod IDs to use
ark_SessionName="<sessionname>"	The name under which the server should announce itself
ark_RCONEnabled="True"	Enabled RCON
ark_RCONPort=<portnum>	The port on which the server listens for RCON commands
ark_Port=<portnum>	The port on which the server listens for client connections
ark_QueryPort=<portnum>	The port on which the server listens for queries
ark_ServerPassword="<password>"	Specifies the password needed to connect to the server
ark_ServerAdminPassword="<password>"	Specifies the server admin password, which is also the RCON password
ark_MaxPlayers=<numplayers>	The maximum number of players allowed to connect to the server
ark_AltSaveDirectoryName="<dirname>"	Alternative directory under ShooterGame/Saved under which to save the world files
arkflag_UseBattlEye=true	Enables BattlEye