Did You Know Spellbreak Can Let Players Self Host Playit

# Self-Hosting Spellbreak on Playit: A Comprehensive Guide for DevOps Engineers

Welcome to this guide where we will walk you through the process of self-hosting the popular game, Spellbreak, on Playit, an open-source gaming platform. This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of Linux system administration, Docker, and DevOps practices. Let’s get started!

Prerequisites

1. Ubuntu 20.04 or later with Docker installed (apt install docker-ce=5.0.8)
2. Docker Compose version 1.27.x or higher (curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/download/1.27.4/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose)
3. Sufficient system resources to run the Spellbreak server (minimum 4GB RAM, 2 vCPUs)
4. Stable internet connection for downloading game assets and updates

Setup Self-Hosted Playit Infrastructure

1. Clone the official Playit repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Playit-org/playit.git
   cd playit
   

2. Create a docker-compose.yml file in the root directory of your cloned Playit repository:

   version: '3'
   services:
     playit:
       image: ghcr.io/playit-org/playit:latest
       environment:
         - PLAYIT_API_SECRET=your_secret_key
         - PLAYIT_WEBSOCKET_PORT=8001
         - PLAYIT_DATABASE_DRIVER=postgresql
       ports:
         - "80:80"
         - "443:443"
         - "8001:8001/tcp"
       volumes:
         - ./playit-data:/data
       restart: always
   

   Replace your_secret_key with a randomly generated secret key for Playit API.

3. Create the necessary directories and files in your playit-data volume directory:

   mkdir -p playit-data/postgresql/data
   touch playit-data/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
   

4. Configure the Nginx server block for Playit in playit-data/nginx/conf.d/default.conf:

   server {
     listen 80;
     server_name _;
   
     location / {
       proxy_pass http://playit:8001;
     }
   }
   

5. Start the Playit service with Docker Compose:

   docker-compose up -d
   

Install and Configure Spellbreak Server on Playit

1. Navigate to the Playit server’s data directory:

   docker exec -it playit sh -c "cd /data"
   

2. Download and unzip the latest Spellbreak server release:

   wget https://cdn.epicgames.com/SpellbreakGame/RelocatedContent/linux-server-latest.tar.gz && tar -xzf linux-server-latest.tar.gz
   

3. Rename the unzipped directory to spellbreak:

   mv spellbreak-* spellbreak
   

4. Update the spellbreak/config/SpellbreakServer.ini configuration file with your desired settings (e.g., region, max players, etc.)
5. Create a systemd service unit file for the Spellbreak server:

   cat > /etc/systemd/system/spellbreak.service << EOF
   [Unit]
   Description=Spellbreak Server
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/docker run -it --rm --name spellbreak_server -v /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone -v /data/spellbreak:/spellbreak -e "PUBLIC_IP=$(curl -s http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/local-ipv4)" ghcr.io/playit-org/spellbreak:latest runCmd
   Restart=always
   User=root
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target
   EOF
   

6. Enable and start the Spellbreak service:

   systemctl enable spellbreak
   systemctl start spellbreak
   

Troubleshooting

• Ensure the Playit API secret key is correctly set in your docker-compose.yml file
• Verify that the Spellbreak server container is running with the correct port forwarding (e.g., docker ps -a | grep spellbreak)
• Check the logs for both the Playit and Spellbreak services to identify any issues

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to self-host the Spellbreak game on Playit infrastructure using Docker and DevOps practices. By following these steps, you have built a robust and flexible gaming environment in your homelab, allowing you to enjoy the freedom of customization while leveraging open-source solutions for automation and infrastructure management. Happy gaming!