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SnipeZilla Server Manager

TOOL SnipeZilla Server Manager 2.0.0

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SnipeZilla Server Manager 2 - Installs, updates, runs and watches Source, Source 2 and GoldSrc game servers

SnipeZilla Server Manager 2​


SnipeZilla Srcds Manager has been restarting crashed game servers on Windows, quietly and at all hours, for over ten years. This is its upgrade: the same proven manager, no gimmicks, rebuilt for today, and now on Linux too.

It installs, updates, runs and watches Source, Source 2 and GoldSrc servers (CS2, CS:S, CS 1.6, TF2, L4D2, GMod, DoD:S, HL2DM and more), from a web page. It is one file, szm.exe on Windows or...
Click to expand...

Read more about this resource...
 

Installing SnipeZilla Server Manager 2​


  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Coming from SnipeZilla Srcds Manager 1.x
  • Your domain with HTTPS
  • Several machines on one page

Download szm.exe (Windows) or szm (Linux) from snipezilla.com. It is the whole program.

---

Windows​


64-bit Windows 10, 11, or Windows Server 2016 or newer.

Install​


  1. Make a folder for the manager, for example C:\SnipeZilla, and put szm.exe in it. Its settings, users, logs, backups and steamcmd will live next to it.
  2. Unblock it: right-click szm.exe, then Properties. If there is an Unblock box at the bottom, tick it and click OK. (Windows marks files downloaded from the internet; if you skip this, Windows may say "Windows protected your PC": click More info, then Run anyway.)
  3. Open a command prompt as administrator: Start menu, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, Run as administrator. Then:

Code: 
   cd /d C:\SnipeZilla
   szm install

This installs and starts the Windows service SnipeZilla Server Manager. It starts with Windows and comes back by itself if it ever stops.
  1. Open on the server and create the admin account.

From another computer: open http://<server-ip>:8888. Creating the admin from there asks for the setup code, which is in setup-code.txt next to szm.exe. Windows' firewall must let port 8888 in. In the same administrator command prompt:

Code: 
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="SnipeZilla Server Manager" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=8888

The game servers need their own ports open too (27015 and up, UDP and TCP), as with any game server. For example, for the ports 27015 to 27030:

Code: 
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Game servers UDP" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=27015-27030
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Game servers TCP" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=27015-27030

On the internet, the manager speaks plain HTTP. Use it behind your domain with HTTPS (below), or keep it to the server and reach it through Remote Desktop.
Click to expand...

Update the manager​


The game servers keep running while you do this.

Code: 
cd /d C:\SnipeZilla
szm stop

Replace szm.exe with the new one (unblock it as above), then:

Code: 
szm start

The manager finds its running servers again and keeps watching them.

Uninstall​


Code: 
szm uninstall

This removes the service. The game servers keep running; stop them first on the web page if you want them stopped. Then delete the folder.

Locked out?​


In a command prompt as administrator, in the manager's folder (cd /d C:\SnipeZilla):

Code: 
szm password admin            a new password for admin, or your user's name (it asks for it)
szm listen 127.0.0.1:8888     the web address: 127.0.0.1:8888 this machine only, :8888 every address

A new password works at once, even while the manager runs. A user that does not exist is created, as an admin. A new web address is used at the next start of the manager: szm stop, then szm start.

Useful commands​


In a command prompt as administrator, in the manager's folder:

Code: 
szm                        run in this window (or as the service, when Windows starts it)
szm install                install and start the Windows service
szm uninstall              remove the service (the game servers keep running)
szm start | stop           start or stop the service
szm import <file>          import the old manager's config.xml
szm password <user>        set a user's password
szm listen <address>       save the web address (used at the next start)
szm version

Without the service​


Double-click szm.exe: the manager runs in that window until you close it. It is handy to try it out. Crash dumps and the network of each server need it to run as administrator or as the service.

---

Linux​


64-bit Linux with systemd: Ubuntu 20.04 or newer, Debian 11 or newer. Every command below is typed in a terminal on the server (over SSH), as a user that can use sudo.

Install​


  1. A user for the manager. The game servers will run as this user, in /opt/szm:

Code: 
   sudo useradd -r -m -d /opt/szm -s /usr/sbin/nologin szm

  1. The 32-bit libraries steamcmd needs:

Code: 
   sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install -y lib32gcc-s1 lib32stdc++6

  1. Put szm on the server. From your Windows computer, send the downloaded file with WinSCP (drag it into /tmp), or from a Windows command prompt:

Code: 
   scp szm youruser@your-server-ip:/tmp/

Then, on the server:

Code: 
   sudo mv /tmp/szm /opt/szm/szm
   sudo chmod +x /opt/szm/szm
   sudo chown -R szm:szm /opt/szm

  1. Run it as a service, so it starts with the server and comes back if it stops. Create the service file:

Code: 
   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/szm.service

Paste this, then save with Ctrl+O, Enter, and quit with Ctrl+X:

INI: 
   [Unit]
   Description=SnipeZilla Server Manager
   After=network-online.target
   Wants=network-online.target

   [Service]
   User=szm
   Group=szm
   WorkingDirectory=/opt/szm
   ExecStart=/opt/szm/szm -data /opt/szm
   Restart=always
   RestartSec=5
   KillMode=process
   LimitNOFILE=65536
   AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_RAW

   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

KillMode=process keeps the game servers running when the manager stops or restarts. CAP_NET_RAW lets it count each server's network.

  1. Start it:

Code: 
   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable --now szm

  1. The setup code, to create the admin account from your computer:

Code: 
   sudo cat /opt/szm/setup-code.txt

  1. Open the port if the firewall is on (sudo ufw status says "active"):

Code: 
   sudo ufw allow 8888/tcp

and the game servers' ports too, for example sudo ufw allow 27015:27030/udp and sudo ufw allow 27015:27030/tcp.

  1. Open , enter the setup code and create the admin account.

On the internet, the manager speaks plain HTTP. Use it behind your domain with HTTPS (below), or keep it to the server and reach it through an SSH tunnel (ssh -L 8888:127.0.0.1:8888 you@server, then http://localhost:8888 on your computer).
Click to expand...

When you add a server, its folder is a Linux path such as /opt/szm/servers/Counter-Strike 2 - Server 1.

Locked out?​


Code: 
sudo /opt/szm/szm password admin            a new password for admin, or your user's name (it asks for it)
sudo /opt/szm/szm listen 127.0.0.1:8888     the web address: 127.0.0.1:8888 this machine only, :8888 every address

A new password works at once, even while the manager runs. A user that does not exist is created, as an admin. A new web address is used at the next start of the manager: sudo systemctl restart szm (the game servers keep running).

Useful commands​


Code: 
sudo systemctl status szm        is it running?
sudo journalctl -u szm -f        what it prints, live (Ctrl+C to stop watching)
sudo systemctl restart szm       restart the manager (the game servers keep running)
sudo systemctl stop szm          stop it (start: the same with start)
sudo /opt/szm/szm import <file>  import the old manager's config.xml (the manager stopped)
/opt/szm/szm version

Update the manager​


Send the new szm to /tmp as in step 3, then:

Code: 
sudo systemctl stop szm
sudo mv /tmp/szm /opt/szm/szm
sudo chmod +x /opt/szm/szm
sudo chown szm:szm /opt/szm/szm
sudo systemctl start szm

Uninstall​


Code: 
sudo systemctl disable --now szm
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/szm.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

The game servers keep running: stop them on the web page first if you want them stopped. sudo userdel -r szm then removes the user and everything in /opt/szm, servers included.

What differs on Linux​


  • srcds_run and hlds_run get -norestart: the manager restarts a crashed server itself.
  • Steam's library (steamclient.so): before a server starts, the manager links steamcmd's into ~/.steam/sdk32 and ~/.steam/sdk64 of its user (/opt/szm/.steam), where Source servers look for it. Without it a server says "Unable to load Steam support library" and plays on the LAN only. The steam packages of Ubuntu (the Steam client) are not needed.
  • No crash dumps; a crash report has the kernel's line about it instead (segfault, out of memory).
  • No check of which program holds a server's RCON port (a Windows problem), and no IIS: use nginx or Caddy (below).

---

Coming from SnipeZilla Srcds Manager 1.x​


  1. Stop the old manager first. If both run, they fight over the same servers.
  2. In Settings → Import, click Browse and pick the old config.xml. Or, with the new manager stopped: szm import "C:\path\config.xml".

What comes over:

  • Every server: folder, IP, port, map, max players, RCON password, say command and priority.
  • Each server's options, from sz.cmd.cfg when there is one. The Steam token goes into its own field.
  • Update mode: xcopy becomes the shared-copy mode, with the old apps\ folder as the shared copies.
  • Server state: servers the old manager had stopped (sz.stop.txt) stay stopped. Running ones are taken over without a restart.
  • Settings: steamcmd path, priority, restart hour and log days.

---

Your domain with HTTPS​


The manager has its own small web server. A web server you already run can sit in front of it, so the manager is at your domain with your certificate, for example https://manager.snipezilla.com or https://snipezilla.com/szm/.

First, keep the manager off the internet: in Settings, set Web interface address to 127.0.0.1:8888, then restart the manager. Only the web server on the same machine can reach it then.

IIS (Windows)​


  1. Install two free IIS modules from Microsoft: URL Rewrite and Application Request Routing (ARR).
  2. In IIS Manager, select the server, open Application Request Routing Cache, then Server Proxy Settings:
  • tick Enable proxy;
  • set Response buffer threshold (KB) to 0, so the live updates are not held back;
  • set Time-out (seconds) to 3600: its 120 s cut uploads of big files (maps) short.

Or all three at once, in a Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator (these settings are the server's: a web.config can not hold them). It answers Applied configuration changes to section "system.webServer/proxy":

Code: 
   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/proxy /enabled:"True" /responseBufferLimit:"0" /timeout:"01:00:00" /commit:apphost

Click Apply.
  1. Create the site (a subdomain such as manager.snipezilla.com), or use a folder of an existing site (szm). Bind your certificate for HTTPS.
  2. In that site or folder, create a file named web.config with this:

XML: 
   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <configuration>
     <system.webServer>
       <rewrite>
         <rules>
           <!-- example.com/szm -> example.com/szm/ -->
           <rule name="SZM trailing slash" stopProcessing="true">
             <match url="^$" />
             <conditions>
               <add input="{URL}" pattern="[^/]$" />
             </conditions>
             <action type="Redirect" url="{URL}/" redirectType="Permanent" />
           </rule>
           <!-- Optional: always HTTPS. Remove the comment marks once the site has its certificate.
           <rule name="SZM https" stopProcessing="true">
             <match url="(.*)" />
             <conditions>
               <add input="{HTTPS}" pattern="off" />
             </conditions>
             <action type="Redirect" url="https://{HTTP_HOST}{REQUEST_URI}" redirectType="Permanent" />
           </rule>
           -->
           <rule name="SZM proxy" stopProcessing="true">
             <match url="(.*)" />
             <action type="Rewrite" url="http://127.0.0.1:8888/{R:1}" />
           </rule>
         </rules>
       </rewrite>
       <!-- Compression would hold back the live updates -->
       <urlCompression doStaticCompression="false" doDynamicCompression="false" />
       <security>
         <requestFiltering>
           <!-- Uploads up to 4 GB (maps, plugins) instead of 30 MB -->
           <requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="4294967295" />
         </requestFiltering>
       </security>
     </system.webServer>
   </configuration>

Change 8888 if the manager listens on another port.

  1. Only if saving fails with "405 Method Not Allowed": the WebDAV feature of IIS is installed and takes the saves for itself. Check with C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe list modules | findstr /i webdav. The simplest: remove it (Server Manager → Remove Roles and Features → Web Server → Common HTTP Features → untick WebDAV Publishing). Or keep it and, in a Command Prompt or PowerShell as administrator, unlock two sections:

Code: 
   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe unlock config -section:system.webServer/handlers
   C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe unlock config -section:system.webServer/modules

then add to the web.config, inside <system.webServer>:

XML: 
   <modules>
     <remove name="WebDAVModule" />
   </modules>
   <handlers>
     <remove name="WebDAV" />
   </handlers>

(Without the unlock, IIS refuses the file: "This configuration section cannot be used at this path", error 0x80070021.)

nginx (Linux)​


In the server { ... } block of your site, with its certificate:

NGINX: 
location / {
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8888/;
    proxy_http_version 1.1;
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    proxy_buffering off;              # the live updates
    proxy_read_timeout 1h;
    client_max_body_size 4g;          # uploads
}

For a folder instead (/szm/), use location /szm/ { ... } with the same lines.

Caddy (Linux)​


Caddy gets the certificate by itself:

Code: 
manager.example.com {
    reverse_proxy 127.0.0.1:8888 {
        flush_interval -1
    }
}

What the manager does behind a proxy​


  • The setup code is always asked to create the first admin, though every request comes from the proxy on 127.0.0.1.
  • Failed sign-ins are counted per real visitor, not for everyone at once.
  • The session cookie is marked HTTPS-only when the browser uses HTTPS.
  • If the proxy holds back the live updates anyway, the page asks every few seconds instead.

---

Several machines on one page​


One manager, the hub, can show the servers of your other machines: their managers link to it. For example, a Windows server in the US as the hub, and an Ubuntu server in Europe linked to it. What it does is in GUIDE.md.

  1. Install the manager on each machine as above (Windows or Linux): each one runs its own servers.
  2. The hub must be reachable with HTTPS from the other machines: its domain behind IIS, nginx or Caddy (above), for example https://manager.snipezilla.com/. Nothing to open on the other machines: they connect to the hub.
  3. On the hub: Settings → Machines. Give this machine a name (US), then Add a machine: its name (EU), and the hub's address as the other machine reaches it, https://…. The page fills in the one you are using, unless it is localhost (the hub's own page, opened on the hub): the other machine could not reach that. Click Add a machine and copy the code (SZM-…, good once for 30 minutes).
  4. On the other machine's manager: Settings → Machines → Or link this manager to a hub, paste the code, Link. It says "Connected", and its servers show on the hub's page.

Then the other machine's manager can stay off the internet: set its Web interface address to 127.0.0.1:8888 (Settings → General, or szm listen 127.0.0.1:8888) and restart it, then use the hub's page. On Linux, reach it when needed with an SSH tunnel: ssh -L 8888:127.0.0.1:8888 you@server, then open http://localhost:8888.

Behind IIS: nothing more than the steps above (the link uses the same address and the same live updates as the page). If the other machine says "the connection to the hub was lost" over and over, check the Response buffer threshold (KB) of step 2 of IIS is 0.
 

SnipeZilla Server Manager 2: guide​


Everything the manager does, in detail. To install it, see INSTALL.md.

  • Servers: install, watch, update, restart
  • Crash reports
  • The web interface
  • Backups and off-site copies
  • Addons
  • CS2 Workshop maps
  • Discord and XenForo
  • Machines: one page for several machines
  • Users and rights
  • Commands
  • Files next to szm.exe
  • Performance
  • Security

Servers​


  • Install any server from the catalog with steamcmd: CS2, CS:S, CS 1.6, CS:CZ, TF2, L4D, L4D2, GMod, DoD/DoD:S, HL2DM, HLDM, TFC, Insurgency, NMRiH… GoldSrc (app 90) installs reliably: steamcmd is run again until the install is complete. steamcmd itself is downloaded the first time it is needed.
  • Run each server in its own folder as its working directory. This is what CS 1.6 / hlds.exe needs to start.
  • Watch each server two ways: its process, and a Steam query (A2S) every 30 s. If the process ends, or the server stops answering queries, it is restarted after 5 s, 15 s, then 1 min; the third restart first checks its files with steamcmd (validate). One more crash and the manager stops trying and tells you (Settings > Crash watch).
  • Update by itself: the manager asks Steam whether each game's version is current. When an update is out, it warns the players in-game (say, or sm_csay…), stops the server, updates it and starts it again. An empty server is updated at once.
  • Shared copy mode: the update downloads once for all servers of a game while they keep running, and each server is stopped only for the copy. Only changed files are copied, and your server.cfg, mapcycle.txt… are never overwritten. The Shared copies page (Settings > steamcmd > See their files) shows each copy, the servers that update from it, and its files.
  • Metamod for CS2: after each CS2 update the manager puts Metamod back into gameinfo.gi (when addons/metamod exists).
  • Scheduled restarts: daily at a set time (waiting until the server is empty), after 24 h when empty, or never.
  • Takes servers back: stopping or updating the manager does not stop the game servers. When it starts again it finds them running and keeps watching them.
  • Hides your Steam login tokens (GSLT) in logs, the console and every screen.

Crash reports​


When a server crashes, or is stuck and ended, the manager keeps what was known then, and says what most likely caused it. See the server's Crashes tab, or the "Crash report" link on each crash in Activity.

  • The crash dump, read (Windows): szm has Windows save a small dump of each server crash (crashes\dumps; the manager must run as an administrator or as its service, else the Servers page and Settings > Crash watch say so) and reads it: the exception (an access violation reading a null pointer…), the module and offset it crashed in (server.dll+0x1A2B3C, with its version), and the modules found on the crashed thread's stack. The addons among them (a SourceMod extension, a Metamod or CounterStrikeSharp plugin) are named: Most likely: SourceMod extension dhooks. A plugin crashed inside, one running when the game crashed, a module unloaded while still in use, code outside any module (a SourcePawn or .NET plugin) are told apart. Download gives the dump for a plugin's author (WinDbg, Visual Studio).
  • Every logs folder: the end of the logs written during the run (the game's, SourceMod's, AMX Mod X's, CounterStrikeSharp's…), the newest first.
  • What changed in the week before the run: plugins, configs and game files modified, and what the manager did (updates, addons pushed, files saved). A crash series often starts right after one.
  • Patterns across the reports kept: the same crash again (by where it crashed), the plugin running in most of them, the map, while changing map, right after starting, with nobody on.
  • And as before: the last lines of its console (the end of console.log, written as it crashed, included; "Console log" must be on), its exit code in words, Windows' record of the crash in its Application log, the text of an error window it was stuck on, and the map, players, version and use at the time. On Linux, the kernel's segfault or out-of-memory line (szm running as root). The last 30 per server are kept in crashes/; Save as text gives one to paste. Crashed servers show no Windows "has stopped working" box: they end at once, so the manager restarts them without waiting.

The web interface​


  • Dashboard with live status, map, players, CPU and RAM.
  • Each server's Overview adds its network in and out and the size of its folder. The network is what Windows counts for the server's process, as Task Manager shows it (ETW, the Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Network events): szm must run as administrator or as the service; otherwise the Overview shows the server's PID, and its tooltip says why. On Linux, szm reads the headers of the packets (an AF_PACKET socket, as tcpdump does) and gives each one to the server whose processes own its port: it needs root or the right CAP_NET_RAW (the systemd service of INSTALL.md gives it; by hand: sudo setcap cap_net_raw+ep szm, again after each new szm). While it counts, logman query -ets lists the session "SnipeZilla Server Manager network".
  • Live console (-condebug) with RCON. Source RCON uses TCP and GoldSrc RCON uses UDP.
  • File manager: browse, edit configs, upload by drag-and-drop, download, rename, delete. Columns sort both ways; tick several entries to delete them together. Copy (or Cut) files and folders, then Paste them in another folder: of the same server, another server, an addon package or the shared copies (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V work too). What is already there is replaced, kept as "name (2)", or skipped, as you choose; pasted in the same folder, a copy is named "name - copy". A logs folder shows the newest first, and Select older than… ticks its old files.
  • Old logs deleted by themselves (Settings > Logs, off by default): the files older than a number of days in every folder named logs of the servers (csgo/logs, addons/sourcemod/logs, addons/counterstrikesharp/logs…), every 6 hours.
  • Map list with a drag-to-reorder map cycle editor and one-click map change.
  • Per-server settings with a live command-line preview.
  • Create-server wizard. Pick an empty folder and the game is installed there; pick the folder of a server you already have and it is added as it is (its program is found, its server.cfg RCON password kept, and it is taken over if it runs).
  • Each server's Program (Settings tab): the one the manager found (srcds.exe, srcds_win64.exe…), or Pick… another one from its folder.
  • Activity log.
  • Users with rights and a server list per user.
  • Works on a phone.

Backups and off-site copies​


On the Backups page (every server), a server's Backups tab, and Settings > Backups. A backup is a zip of each server's settings and plugins (in its game folder: cfg, addons, *.txt…, without logs, demos, maps or the .NET runtime of CounterStrikeSharp), by hand (the default), daily, weekly or monthly at a time, and before an update, an addons push and a restore. The newest 14 of each server are kept, in backups/ next to szm.exe or a folder of your choice. Restore puts a backup's files back (the server is stopped and started again; what it has then is backed up first; files the backup does not have stay). Files shows what one holds; Download gives the zip. The Backups page lists every server's (and those of servers removed since): Download all, all of one server, or the ones ticked come as one zip, a folder per server; Back up all now backs every server up.

Off-site copies (Settings > Off-site copies): each new backup is also copied elsewhere, and the same number is kept there, a folder per server. To Google Drive, OneDrive (or Dropbox, SFTP, S3… anything rclone reaches): Download rclone (into rclone/ of the data folder), then once, on the server (Remote Desktop), run the command shown, rclone config --config "<data>\rclone\rclone.conf": n, a name (gdrive, onedrive), the storage (drive, onedrive), Enter for the defaults, y to sign in with the browser, q. Back in the settings, click the remote, Test, save. Or to a folder: one the Google Drive or OneDrive app syncs, another disk, a network share. Copies that fail are tried again every hour; the Backups page shows how each destination goes (Copy now copies what is missing).

Addons (Metamod, CounterStrikeSharp, SourceMod, AMX Mod X)​


Plugins live in packages: one folder per brand and version, in addons\ next to szm.exe (Settings → Addons to move it):

Code: 
addons\metamod2\addons\metamod\...                 Metamod:Source 2 (CS2)
addons\counterstrikesharp\addons\counterstrikesharp\...
addons\sourcemod\addons\sourcemod\...  cfg\sourcemod\...
addons\amxmodx\addons\amxmodx\...

Each package mirrors the game folder of a server (game\csgo for CS2, cstrike for CS:S and CS 1.6).

On the Addons page:

  • New package, three ways to start it:
  • from the plugin's release archive;
  • from a server's addons\<folder>;
  • empty.
  • Upload archive brings a new version: .zip or .tar.gz, as downloaded.
  • An archive that wraps everything in a folder is unwrapped, so addons\ lands at the top.
  • Replace swaps the whole package; Add merges into it.
  • Files browses a package: upload, edit or delete single files.
  • Servers that get it: tick the servers. A server's Settings tab has the same choice.
  • Push copies what changed into those servers.
  • A running server stops for the copy and starts again. With players on it, you choose to warn them first or go now.
  • A server's Update addons button pushes all its packages.
  • What the server already has is kept: addons/counterstrikesharp/configs, addons/sourcemod/configs, addons/sourcemod/plugins, cfg/sourcemod, *.db… A listed folder the server has is left exactly as it is, nothing overwritten or added, so a plugin you removed or moved to disabled does not come back. A listed folder the server does not have yet (a first push) is copied. To have pushes bring new plugins, take addons/sourcemod/plugins off the list. The list is in Settings → Addons, and wildcards work.
  • Nothing is ever deleted from a server.
  • CS2 Metamod line: after every game update, every addons push and before every start, szm puts Game csgo/addons/metamod back into gameinfo.gi, right after Game_LowViolence, if it is missing. A server's Metamod setting chooses when:
  • When addons/metamod is there (the default),
  • Always,
  • Never.

CS2 Workshop maps​


On the Maps tab of a CS2 server: paste a map's ID or Workshop address, or a collection's (all its maps are added), and see their names, pictures and sizes (from Steam). Play changes to one now (host_workshop_map), Start on it makes it the map the server starts on (+host_workshop_map, in place of +map), and a collection can be played (+host_workshop_collection, the server downloads it and plays its maps). CS2 downloads the maps itself.

Discord and XenForo​


Discord: crashes, updates and errors are posted to channels through webhooks, with the game's icon, the server's name and hostname, in a color per kind of event. Add as many channels as wanted (Settings > Discord > Add a Discord channel), each with what it gets and for which servers: a public channel the updates and starts (the Public preset), a staff channel everything (Admins). This replaces the email alerts.

XenForo: the same posts on your forums through their REST API: as replies of one thread (a "Server status" thread), or each one a new thread of a forum. As many as wanted, each with what it gets and for which servers (Settings > XenForo > Add a forum); Check tests one without posting. The game icon comes with each post, as on Discord: attached (the API key needs the scope attachment:write), or shown from a folder of your site when the forum's "Game icons address" is set. The single webhook and forum of earlier versions are moved into these lists at the first start.

Machines: one page for several machines​


With servers on several machines (a Windows server in the US, an Ubuntu one in Europe…), one manager can show them all: the hub. The managers of the other machines, its nodes, link to it.

  • Each manager stays in charge of its own servers. It watches, restarts, updates and backs them up, as before. If the link drops, or the hub is down, nothing changes for the servers.
  • The hub's page shows every server. Each card says which machine it is on. A strip above the servers shows each machine (connected or not, servers running, RAM); click one to see only its servers.
  • Everything works the same on a node's server: console and RCON, files (upload, download, copy), maps, settings, backups, crash reports. The hub passes the clicks to the node.
  • Copy and paste between machines: copy (or cut) files on a server of one machine, paste them on a server of another. The hub carries them across, in the background: a bar at the bottom of the page shows how far it is (MB copied of the total). A cut removes the originals only once the copy arrived whole.
  • Settings, Addons, Games, Backups, Shared copies, New server belong to a machine: a Machine bar at the top of these pages chooses which.
  • Activity shows the events of every machine, each with its machine's name. Those of a machine whose link was down arrive when it is back.
  • The hub posts for every machine: its Discord channels and XenForo forums get the events of all the servers, each channel with the servers it chooses (of any machine). Set them on the hub only: the other machines need none (theirs would post a second time). Events that arrive more than 30 minutes late (a link that was down) go to Activity, not to the posts.
  • One sign-in: the hub's users, with their rights. A user's server list can include servers of the nodes. On the node, what they do shows with the hub's name: "admin (US)".
  • A machine that goes offline: its servers show "EU offline" with what they said last. After 90 seconds the hub logs an error (so Discord or XenForo hears of it if they get errors), and "connected again" when it is back.

Linking a machine​


  1. On the hub: Settings → Machines → Add a machine. Give it a name (EU), check the hub's address (how the other machine reaches it), click Add a machine. A code shows: SZM-…. It works once, for 30 minutes.
  2. On the other machine's manager: Settings → Machines → Or link this manager to a hub, paste the code, click Link.

That is all: its servers show on the hub's page within seconds. A code of another hub moves a machine to that hub at once (it leaves the one it had).

A hub with no servers​


The hub can run no game at all: on the machine of your website, for example, with every game machine linked to it as a node. Such a hub is left out of the machine strip and the Machine bars, except on Settings (its users, Discord, forums, machines: it opens on it) and New server (to give it a server after all).

How they talk​


  • The node connects to the hub, never the other way. Nothing to open on the node's firewall, and the node's manager does not need to be on the internet at all (it can stay on 127.0.0.1:8888).
  • Over the hub's own web address. On the internet that must be HTTPS (your domain, behind IIS: see INSTALL.md): the link carries RCON passwords and files. Plain http:// is accepted only for an address on a private network (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x).
  • The code is used once. The node gets its own secret in exchange, and the hub keeps only a hash of it (in links.json). Remove on the hub, or Unlink on the node, ends the link at once. New code makes a fresh one, and the old secret stops working.
  • It reconnects by itself after a drop or a restart of either side.


Users are added on the Users page (top bar), each with rights and, without the right e, a list of the servers they see. The letters are the same as in 1.x:

| Letter | Right |
| --- | --- |
| a | Admin: everything |
| b | Manager settings |
| c | Add, install and delete servers |
| d | Users |
| e | Sees every server (without it, a user sees only the servers on their list) |
| f | Server settings and command line |
| g | Console and RCON |
| h | Update servers |
| i | Start, stop and restart |
| j | Files |

Commands​


Code: 
szm                    run in this window (or as the service, when Windows starts it)
szm install            install and start the Windows service (as administrator)
szm uninstall          remove the service (the game servers keep running)
szm start | stop       start or stop the service
szm import <file>      import the old manager's config.xml
szm password <user>    set a user's password (if you are locked out)
szm listen <address>   save the web address: 127.0.0.1:8888 (this machine only), :8888 (every address)
szm version

szm password works at once, even while the manager runs. szm listen is Settings → General → Web interface address, for when you can not reach the page. The manager uses it at its next start: on Windows szm stop then szm start (as administrator); on Linux sudo /opt/szm/szm listen 127.0.0.1:8888, then sudo systemctl restart szm.

Options:

  • -data <folder> keeps the data somewhere other than next to szm.exe.
  • -listen 127.0.0.1:8888 uses another web address for this run only, without saving it.

Files next to szm.exe​


| File | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| szm.json | Settings and servers. It is written by the web interface; you can edit it while the manager is stopped. |
| users.json | Users. Passwords are stored as PBKDF2-SHA256 hashes. |
| state.json | Which servers should run and the processes the manager started. |
| logs\YYYY-MM-DD.log | Activity, one file per day, kept 14 days by default. |
| games.json | The games added or changed: on the Games page (top bar), or by hand (the format of internal/games/games.json; an entry with the key of a built-in game replaces it). Read again within seconds when it changes, no restart; a mistake in it is shown with its line and column on the Games page and in Activity, and the games stay as they were until it is fixed. The built-in list (internal/games/games.json) is part of szm.exe: build again after changing it. |
| steamcmd\ | steamcmd, downloaded when first needed (unless you point to yours in Settings). |
| cache\ | Shared copies of the games, for servers in shared-copy mode. |
| szm.log | What the service prints. |
| setup-code.txt | Until the admin account is created: the code to create it from another machine. |
| backups\ | The backups, a folder per server (unless Settings > Backups says another folder). |
| crashes\ | The crash reports, and crashes\dumps the crash dumps Windows saves. |
| addons\ | The addon packages (unless Settings > Addons says another folder). |
| icons\ | Game icons uploaded on the Games page. |
| rclone\ | rclone and its rclone.conf, for off-site copies to Google Drive, OneDrive… |
| links.json | The machines linked to this manager (on a hub), or the hub it is linked to (on a node), with their secrets. |

szm.json, users.json, links.json, rclone\rclone.conf and the logs hold RCON passwords, tokens and access to your cloud drive: keep them private, and out of any backup you share.

Performance​


There is no limit on the number of servers. What the manager does for each running server:

  • Every second: a quick look at its state, and at its console log (read only when the server wrote something).
  • Every 5 seconds: its CPU and RAM, read from the system.
  • Every 30 seconds: one Steam query (A2S), in the background: a server that does not answer never holds up the others.
  • About 50 KB of memory: mostly its last 600 console lines, for the Console tab.

Update checks are per game, not per server: 50 CS2 servers ask Steam once.

Security​


  • Sign-in uses a session cookie (HttpOnly, SameSite=Strict, and Secure over HTTPS).
  • Every change must carry a header that a page from another site cannot send.
  • Failed sign-ins are slowed down.
  • File access is limited to each server's own folder.
  • Forwarded headers are trusted only from a proxy on the same machine.
  • On its own, szm speaks plain HTTP. On the internet, put it behind IIS with HTTPS (see INSTALL.md), or keep it on 127.0.0.1:8888 and reach it through RDP or an SSH tunnel.
 
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