How to install and configure an ARK: Survival Evolved server on Linux

LinuxGSM is an automated game server management script for Linux operating systems that makes it easy to install, configure, and manage a wide variety of dedicated game servers. This script is designed for anyone with basic Linux knowledge, as it automatically installs all the packages and dependencies needed for the game server you want to install.

LinuxGSM supports a wide variety of popular games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Minecraft, Team Fortress 2, ARK: Survival Evolved, Rust, among others. In addition, the script also has a number of useful features, such as the ability to automatically update the game server, back up and restore data, and send email or text message alerts if a problem occurs on the server.

In short, LinuxGSM is a useful and efficient tool for those who want to configure and manage dedicated game servers on Linux systems. It automates much of the process and makes it easier to use for those without advanced technical experience.

Requirements and preliminary steps

The minimum requirements suggested by the official LinuxGSM website for an ARK server:

• Operating system: 64-bit Linux (Debian/Ubuntu or CentOS)
• Processor: 2 vCore or more
• RAM: 8 GB or more
• Hard disk space: 25 GB or more

Keep in mind that these are only the minimum requirements, and using more resources is recommended for better performance and a smoother gaming experience. Also, if you plan to host many players and add mods to the server, higher resource specifications may be required.

Installing dependencies

First, access the server through an SSH connection as the root user to install the dependencies.

# dpkg --add-architecture i386; apt update; apt install curl wget file \
tar bzip2 gzip unzip bsdmainutils python3 util-linux ca-certificates \
binutils bc jq tmux netcat lib32gcc-s1 lib32stdc++6 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386

# dpkg --add-architecture i386; apt update; apt install \
curl wget file tar bzip2 gzip unzip bsdmainutils python3 util-linux ca-certificates \
binutils bc jq tmux netcat lib32gcc1 lib32stdc++6 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386

# yum install epel-release && yum install curl wget tar bzip2 gzip \
unzip python3 binutils bc jq tmux glibc.i686 libstdc++ libstdc++.i686

# dpkg --add-architecture i386; apt update; apt install curl wget file \
tar bzip2 gzip unzip bsdmainutils python3 util-linux ca-certificates \
binutils bc jq tmux netcat lib32gcc1 lib32stdc++6 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386

Installing LinuxGSM

Create a dedicated user for the ARK server and make sure you are logged in with that account. You can do this with the following command*:

# adduser arkserver

*For security reasons, make sure to set a strong password.

Then log in to the system with the user you created. You can run the following to do so:

# su - arkserver

While logged in as that user, download the LinuxGSM installation script from the command line using the wget command and run the LinuxGSM installation script with the following commands:

# wget -O linuxgsm.sh https://linuxgsm.sh && chmod +x linuxgsm.sh && bash linuxgsm.sh arkserver

Once this is done, install the ARK server:

# ./arkserver auto-install

When installation is complete, you can start the ARK server by running the following command:

# ./arkserver start

The ARK server is now running on the server using LinuxGSM. You can use LinuxGSM commands to manage and configure the server to suit your needs (remember to open the default ports in the Firewall in the panel).

Configuring a service for the ARK server

The best option for keeping the ARK server running is to run it as a system service. This way, the server will start automatically when the system starts and restart automatically if an error occurs or the server stops for any reason.

To do this, you will need to create a system service file containing the configuration needed to start and stop the ARK server. The steps for creating and configuring the system service file are explained below.

First, create a service file in the /etc/systemd/system/ directory using the following command:

# nano /etc/systemd/system/arkserver.service

Paste the following text into the service file:

  [Unit]
  Description=ARK Survival Evolved
  After=network.target

  [Service]
  User=arkserver
  Group=arkserver
  Restart=always
  KillMode=process
  WorkingDirectory=/home/arkserver/
  ExecStart=/home/arkserver/arkserver start
  RemainAfterExit=yes
  ExecStop=/home/arkserver/arkserver stop
  TimeoutSec=300

  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload the systemd configuration with the following command:

# systemctl daemon-reload

Enable the service to start automatically at system startup with the following command:

# systemctl enable arkserver.service

Start the service with the following command:

# systemctl start arkserver.service

The ARK server will now start automatically every time the system starts, and restart automatically if it stops for any reason. You can stop or restart the service at any time using systemd commands, such as systemctl stop arkserver.service or systemctl restart arkserver.service.

We hope this article has been helpful. If you have questions about this or any other issue related to your servers on Clouding, feel free to contact soporte@clouding.io. We're here to help!