Guys, help me please.
All the necessary ports on the router (DD-WRT) are open, .exes allowed on the Win7 firewall...

The weird thing is that I used to host servers just fine some time ago.
Had some problems to host other games, opened up the correct ports on the router and they all worked but for LFS something must be missing, I just don't see what!

To Recap things: static IP set on the .cfg file (/ip=mystaticlanip).
Ports 63392 and 29339 open both on UDP and TCP protocols...
Server set to show on master list (/usemaster=yes)
.exes allowed to access the internet on the Win7 Firewall

What else could I be missing?

The server does not show on the master list and I can't access it even from the same machine on which the server is hosted...

When I or anyone try to login the Dcon.exe shows "Guest wants to join" and after a while the client sees "Connect timed out".

If I try to connect it on the same machine via local network using the static LAN ip I get the "ClientConnect: connect failed".

Used a program called "PFPortChecker" to check if the ports are open and both ports are, on both protocols...

This is bugging me a lot.

Don't really know what to do. Any help would be pretty welcome.
Thanks.

Heya,

I've port forwarded correctly, allowed D_CONS2 through Windows Firewall, but still, no luck. :/ Any Ideas?

Have you tried port forwarding your router?

This is getting maddening...
I can't even connect to my own local server.

Formatted windows (Win 7 64bits), fresh copy...
All ports forwared on the router and I jus't cant connect to my own server, hosted on my own machine...

All set on Windows Firewall as well.
Still, I get the timed out message.

What now?

Quote from Meanie :

This is getting maddening...
I can't even connect to my own local server.

Formatted windows (Win 7 64bits), fresh copy...
All ports forwared on the router and I jus't cant connect to my own server, hosted on my own machine...

All set on Windows Firewall as well.
Still, I get the timed out message.

What now?

I had the same problem and asked my brother to look into it (he is the admin of the linux server we have at home).
After some research, he noticed that traffic goes out from your client to the internet, goes through the master server and then back into your home to try and reach the dedicated server.
In the end he made a special route to get it to work (which wasn't straight forward), but I can't tell you the details, because I don't know them.
If you want to host and play at the same time, it's easier to host a server from within the normal client, instead of a dedicated host.

Quote from Yisc[NL] :

I had the same problem and asked my brother to look into it (he is the admin of the linux server we have at home).
After some research, he noticed that traffic goes out from your client to the internet, goes through the master server and then back into your home to try and reach the dedicated server.
In the end he made a special route to get it to work (which wasn't straight forward), but I can't tell you the details, because I don't know them.
If you want to host and play at the same time, it's easier to host a server from within the normal client, instead of a dedicated host.

Well thanks... but I just made a test and hosted from the game itself (not the DEDI .exe), asked for a friend to login into the server and he gets the same error I do: "Connect timed out".

Quote from Meanie :

Well thanks... but I just made a test and hosted from the game itself (not the DEDI .exe), asked for a friend to login into the server and he gets the same error I do: "Connect timed out".

It's a while since I last ran my own host, but you aren't exactly inundated with answers so here goes with a couple of suggestions

I suspect (rather than know) that the symptoms you mention in your post a few up the thread are telling us that one of the two protocols is working (e.g. TCP?) and the other isn't. (Or it could be that one or more of the four combinations of protocol/direction is bust, e.g. UDP/outbound.) If I were debugging it myself I'd try two things - firstly install Wireshark and catch the relevant packets & conversations, and secondly to try to connect from a second PC on the same router in case that makes the symptoms any easier to understand/debug.
Good luck!

Quote from Neilser :

It's a while since I last ran my own host, but you aren't exactly inundated with answers so here goes with a couple of suggestions

I suspect (rather than know) that the symptoms you mention in your post a few up the thread are telling us that one of the two protocols is working (e.g. TCP?) and the other isn't. (Or it could be that one or more of the four combinations of protocol/direction is bust, e.g. UDP/outbound.) If I were debugging it myself I'd try two things - firstly install Wireshark and catch the relevant packets & conversations, and secondly to try to connect from a second PC on the same router in case that makes the symptoms any easier to understand/debug.
Good luck!

Thanks dude, I've installed Wireshark and am trying to understand how it works/I can interpret what it's logging...

I just can't wrap my head around this. I used to be able to host servers without an issue in the past.

I've contacted my ISP and made sure that the LFS ports are not blocked in any way as well. No dice yet anyhow...

I think I"ll offer a 10 dollar reward for whoever gets to the bottom of this and allow me to host servers again, maybe I"ll get lucky, I don't know.

Hi guys I have a problem I have a server on lfs.net I was installing insim but it gave me a problem and I never leave the server anymore do you know how to restart from 0 the server I have how to solve?

Quote from TheGianfry909 :

I was installing insim but it gave me a problem

I didn't understand much of what you were trying to say, but either way. You might wanna contact LFS Support for this. Also, once you're there. Ask them if insims are compitable with their service, I can remember someone on here saying it wasn't possible. I could be wrong.

Hi. this is my first post on this forum.
I'm testing running the game on wine, on linux. it's the demo version.
And I also have a local vps , linux, running DCon.exe in wine, the OEM cfg file.

I'm using the Demo version.
the host password line is "commented"
when I want to enter, it says : Game password does not match.

Does unlocking the S1 license solve this problem?

here's the game server output:

user1@mini:~/dcon-normal$ wine DCon.exe /cfg=setup.cfg
Track loaded (BL1)
Host Name : BL1 race 5 laps (0)
Jun 29 19:50:10 2019
Handicaps :
Accept : 10.0.2.2
Received 53 : 10.0.2.2
Host Auth : 10.0.2.2
Can't add guest - GAME password does not match

It has nothing to do with license or no license, you need to set your GAME password here; https://www.lfs.net/account/details

You probably try to join with your FORUM password or an invalid password. Demo accounts are also passworded.

Hi. Thanks for your help. There's a web-pass, game-pass and there's also a server (host) pass.
I reached the next step. I set the game pass, and ran the DCon.exe as mentioned.
I got this error on game screen:
Error is : "Could not send UDP packet."

Here's my setup:
DCon.exe runs on a CLI ubuntu installed on Virtualbox, equipped with Wine.
The "v-box" network setup is: NAT, port forwarding. The same port number 63392 host and guest.
The connection type was "TCP" and I got the error.
Then I changed it to "UDP" and "ClientConnect : connect failed"

May be this is a virtualbox problem. I will try to run the server on LAN and see if there are any errors. The vbox useful for testing.

btw: There is an LFS linux version, available as a "snap package" on ubuntu. Which does not install properly at the moment.

I used this manual. Getting WINE to work is easy. I used the server instructions.
https://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/Running_LFS_on_Linux

You try to join from same computer?


seen this also in the .cfg file? Try to configure internal IP address (and don't forget to remove one slash).

yes. Local. but I was only testing. I know how to change to file. // comment. / active

update : I'm not sure what IP assign to that line.

Quote from pedro.de.marco :

btw: There is an LFS linux version, available as a "snap package" on ubuntu. Which does not install properly at the moment.

We're aware.

So it's broken, huh? Would you please reach out to the maintainer (mmtrt) and create and issue describing the problem you encounter installing the snap? Having a broken LFS installer in the Ubuntu Snap Store doesn't benefit anyone. I suppose creating an issue in his GitHub repo is the way to do it.

Edit: As for this configuration:

I haven't managed an LFS host in years, but I'm guessing /ip= is the equivalent of "listen on" or "bind to" configuration options seen in most server software. Meaning that you should specify the IP address of the interface that you wish to accepting incoming connections on.

For example, consider the following:

In this case, em0 is my external IP. If I was to configure an LFS host to accept connections from the Interhet, I would specify that IP. em1, on the other hand (obviously) is the IP address on the LAN, so if I was to accept only connections from the LAN, I would specify that IP.

I'm guessing that since this configuration is optional, leaving it commented out would bind the host to 0.0.0.0, meaning that connections would be accepted from either interface. So I'm not really sure if it's necessary for you to worry about that setting at all.

Edit 2: Alright so I was right about the /ip= setting. the host does bind to the IP address that you specify, eg:


So, either leave it commented out or specify the IP address of the interface connected to the Internet. You can find out with the "ip addr" and "ip r" commands if you need to check.

Quote from pedro.de.marco :

"v-box" network setup is: NAT, port forwarding. The same port number 63392 host and guest.
The connection type was "TCP" and I got the error.
Then I changed it to "UDP" and "ClientConnect : connect failed"

You need to forward TCP as well as UDP traffic. Or switch to "bridged" rather than "NAT" in the guest settings, then you won't have to worry about port forwarding in VirtualBox.

Notes:
1-The purpose of this test is to understand how the server works in Virtual Environment, to be able to run local or on internet.

2- When i say host-OS, the OS that vbox is installed on. Guest-OS, the one that runs DCon.
The host (server) runs on Guest-OS, the game running on Host-OS is the guest-player. I hope that the reader does not confuse that!

Hi. Checking things again. I created a copy of the setup.cfg , setup-1.cfg
I changed the following settings:
/hostname = LFS
/ip=127.0.0.1

The local vps (linux in vbox) is a commandline only and it boots fast, which means I can change settings fast.

I ran the command " wine DCon.exe /cfg=setup-1.cfg
wine DCon.exe /cfg=setup-1.cfg
Track loaded (BL1)
LFS-01 : BL1 race 5 laps (0)
Jul 11 11:07:57 2019
Handicaps :
Accept : 10.0.2.2
Received 53 : 10.0.2.2
Host Auth : 10.0.2.2
Authorised : 10.0.2.2 (pedro.de.marco)
Received 21 : 10.0.2.2
Connect : 10.0.2.2
Sent OK to new guest
_____________________
felplacerad:
this is on Guest-OS:

user1@mini:~$ ifconfig
enp0s3: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 10.0.2.15 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 10.0.2.255


the same interface name on Host-OS returns the local 192.168.x.y
And I don't have that em0 interface.

Ok. I guess that I have that 10.0.2.15 and I need to use it.
I add it to the cfg file. I guess that I will need to use the bridged mode which I don't know how.
_______________________

update : I also port forwarded UDP as well as TCP. the cfg is now setup-1.cfg as mentioned above. The game runs well. The local VPS is smooth using the least resource.

Quote from pedro.de.marco :

/ip=127.0.0.1

127.0.0.1 (the loopback address) definitely won't as intended. With that configuration only the host itself (e.g. the guest vm) will be able to connect.

I'm off to work now but I'll try to walk you through this tonight.

I ran it. next step is to set it local. I will also try to run DCon.exe on docker image and try to communicate with that! The bad thing about docker is that, it's only an image. You should reinstall ALL after turning it off.

Quote from pedro.de.marco :

I will also try to run DCon.exe on docker image and try to communicate with that! The bad thing about docker is that, it's only an image. You should reinstall ALL after turning it off.

I'd suggest holding off doing an implementation in Docker until you you've got it running in- and feel comfortable with the ins and outs of VirtualBox.

One step at a time, you know.

Keep watching!
sudo docker run -it -p 63392:63392 ubuntu

I followed the usual instructions. Since linux docker images are minimal, you should have basic knowledge of linux.
I used 64bit as base image and had to add-architecture (it's in the instructions wiki)
so it's better to use the i386 base image.

root@6e3d36921436:/home# wine DCon.exe /cfg=setup-1.cfg
Track loaded (BL1)
LFS-docker : BL1 race 5 laps (0)
Jul 11 10:22:03 2019
Handicaps :
> HOST : TIMER BOUNDED
Listen : Lost connection to master server
Auto reconnection to master
Handicaps :
Accept : 172.17.0.1
Received 53 : 172.17.0.1
Host Auth : 172.17.0.1
Authorised : 172.17.0.1 (pedro.de.marco)
Received 34 : 172.17.0.1
Alive : 172.17.0.1
Connecting guest still alive
Send Track : 172.17.0.1
Received 21 : 172.17.0.1
Connect : 172.17.0.1
Sent OK to new guest

ERROR IN THE GAME RUNNING ON DESKTOP:
could not send udp packet.

So I will add porting to UDP later.

-p 8080:80/tcp -p 8080:80/udp Map TCP port 80 in the container to TCP port 8080 on the Docker host, and map UDP port 80 in the container to UDP port 8080 on the Docker host.

https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/container-networking/

Quote from pedro.de.marco :

I used 64bit as base image and had to add-architecture (it's in the instructions wiki)

Yes, I am familiar with the wiki instructions. I wrote the articles for running LFS on Linux and macOS.

It's good that you're making progress. I'll leave you to it, then.

First I need to correct:
the:
//ip= [x]
for local, it needs to be // - comment -inactive

the docker runs perfectly. I saved the docker locally.
root@f08b4d974d3d:/home# wine DCon.exe /cfg=setup-1.cfg
Track loaded (BL1)
LFS-docker : BL1 race 5 laps (0)
Jul 11 11:08:15 2019
Handicaps :
Accept : 172.17.0.1
Received 53 : 172.17.0.1
Host Auth : 172.17.0.1
Authorised : 172.17.0.1 (pedro.de.marco)
Received 21 : 172.17.0.1
Send Track : 172.17.0.1
Received 21 : 172.17.0.1
Connect : 172.17.0.1
Sent OK to new guest
Sent scrutineering packet
Received 17 : 172.17.0.1
Scrutineer : 172.17.0.1
Sent host info to new guest
Sent new user packet
pedro^L connected (pedro.de.marco)
LFS-docker : BL1 race 5 laps (1)
pedro.de.marco
Jul 11 11:08:28 2019
Found guest for packet with unknown ephemeral port
SKIN : Could not connect - HEL_Scavier_PRO
LFSW - new XRG PB by pedro.de.marco: 1:59.93 (-0:06.19)
pedro^L voted to RESTART
Repaired Mesh
Found guest for packet with unknown ephemeral port
Found guest for packet with unknown ephemeral port
LFSW - new XRG PB by pedro.de.marco: 1:52.96 (-0:06.97)
Leave @ 33519 : pedro
pedro^L disconnected (pedro.de.marco)
LFS-docker : BL1 race 5 laps (0)
Jul 11 11:13:50 2019

_____________________
the next step is running it on a VPS. I will use [vps IP] : 63392 to connect. I'll return if I get problems.

Greetings.
I require more assistance on running a server. I will rent a very basic VPS.
European VPS. I would like volunteers to join. the server will be very basic settings, demo version. I would like to see if 10 players connect, may be 20 players, i want to see how much it will take.
Volunteers needed. Time will be on weekend. I want to perform such a test in 2 weeks.

Update : I've rented the VPS and I'm running the DCon.exe the way I discussed.
Now, how to connect to it from my PC?

from this manual:
https://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/Hosting#Linux_with_WINE
I don't understand what those "iptables" command do.

Firewalls
There are a lot of firewalls out there, but I'll try and cover the ones I've got experience with: ISA, iptables and the windows firewall. If anyone has any requests, I'll add it to the thread / guide, if I can.
IPTables
The following rules should be enough to help you. Note: I assume that the machine running iptables is the same as the machine running the server. If not replace INPUT and OUTPUT with FORWARD.
Inbound:
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 63392 -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 63392 -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPT
Outbound:
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 29339 -m state --state NEW -j ACCEPT
____
by this time i tried the iptable commands. VPS ip as hostname. Error: host not found on master server.