RomsBrowse

ROM browser with built-in emulator and server side game saves

Running the Application

The application can run standalone, as IIS application, or as a service.

Standalone

To run the application in standalone mode, run it from the command line and supply the --urls argument to tell it where to listen on.

Example: --urls http://localhost:54321

Then simply point your webbrowser at this address

IIS

When using dotnet publish, it creates the necessary web.config to make IIS launch the application automatically. Simply create a new website in IIS, then dump all application files into the web directory.

Service

This is the recommended way to run the application. This way it runs even when nobody is logged into the device, and it can be used directly, or in combination with any webserver that supports reverse proxy operations, not just IIS.

To install the application as a service, do the following:

Put the application into an empty directory of your choice
Run the command sc create RomsBrowse binPath= "C:\Path\To\RomsBrowse.Web.exe --urls http://localhost:54321"
Run services.msc and double click on the RomsBrowse service
Change the startup type to automatic
In the "Log on" tab, select "This account", then type NT Service\RomsBrowse, and erase the password fields.
Click "OK"
Open the properties of the wwwroot directory, and grant write access to NT Service\RomsBrowse
(If using SQL server) Connect to your SQL server and create a database named "roms"
(If using SQL server) Grant db_datareader, db_datawriter and ddl_admin rights to NT Service\RomsBrowse.
Start the service

Initial Configuration

Until the database settings have been configured, all requests will be redirected to the setup page. Fill in the details relevant for your SQL setup, then save the settings.

RomsBrowse supports SQLite and SQL server

Initial Account

The first account you create will be the admin account. To ensure nobody else can do this, you must copy the value of the "AdminToken" from the "Settings" SQL table.

The registration form provides a field to paste this value into.

Configuration

When logged in as administrator, you can use the admin drop down menu in the top navbar to open the application settings, there you can configure all aspects of the application.

ROMs Directory

The ROM file directory needs to have a certain layout to be usable. The application contains a help for how to set up the directory structure in the admin menu when you're logged in as administrator

Server Side Save States

When signed in, save states are saved on the server, and restored automatically when the emulator is run the next time.

A state is automatically uploaded whenever the "Save State" button in the emulator menu bar is pressed.

Server Side SRAM

Game memory that is used by the game for the regular save function is uploaded and restored from the server in a similar fashion to save states.

The application detects automatically when the SRAM changes, and then uploads it.

AyrA/RomsBrowse