ark-survival-ascended-ansible-role

This Ansible role installs and configures an ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server, including optional NFS mounts, SteamCMD installation, game configuration, optional backups, and log rotation on Linux.

Supported Operating Systems

Debian ( apt package manager)

Requirements

This role is designed to run on Debian-based systems unless future support is added for others.
Ensure sufficient disk space (at least 20GB) in the ARK installation directory. The role will fail if <20GB is free in the ark_install_directory_path

Variables

The following variables can be set to customize the role:

Variable	Default Value	Description
`ark_install_directory_path`	`/ark-asa`	Path where the ARK server will be installed. Must have >20GB of free space.
`steam_install_directory_path`	`/opt/steam`	Path where SteamCMD and Proton will be installed.
`ge_proton_version`	`9-16`	The version of GE Proton to download and install.
`template_game_user_settings`	`true`	Use Jinja templating to install a `GameUserSettings.ini` or copy from a user-specified path.
`systemd_service_name`	`ark-island`	The name of the systemd service for managing the ARK server.
`configure_backups`	`true`	Whether to configure automatic backups and create the backup script and cron job.
`cron_minute`	`"*/30"`	Cron schedule minute field for the backup script.
`cron_hour`	`"*"`	Cron schedule hour field for the backup script.
`cron_day`	`"*"`	Cron schedule day field for the backup script.
`cron_month`	`"*"`	Cron schedule month field for the backup script.
`cron_weekday`	`"*"`	Cron schedule weekday field for the backup script.
`dir_to_backup`	`"/ark-asa/ShooterGame/Saved"`	Directory that will be backed up.
`backup_dir`	`"/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/backups/island"`	Directory where the backup files will be stored.
`cluster_dir_to_backup`	`"/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/clusters"`	Directory to back up if `backup_cluster` is set to `true`.
`cluster_backup_dir`	`"/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/backups/clusters"`	Directory to store cluster backups if `backup_cluster` is `true`.
`backup_cluster`	`false`	Whether to back up the cluster directory. Only set to `true` on one host in the cluster.
`map_name`	`Aberration_WP`	The name of the map for the ARK server.
`session_name`	`middle-earth-aberration`	The session name for the ARK server.
`auto_save_period_minutes`	`10.0`	The auto-save interval for the ARK server, in minutes.
`clusterID`	`fellowship`	The cluster ID used for cluster settings.
`ClusterDirOverride`	`/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster`	The directory override for the ARK cluster.
`ServerAdminPassword`	`"password"`	The admin password for the ARK server.
`port`	`7779`	The game server port for the ARK server.
`QueryPort`	`27017`	The query port for the ARK server.
`WinLiveMaxPlayers`	`20`	The maximum number of players allowed on the server.
`ServerPassword`	`"password"`	The password required to join the server.
`RCONEnabled`	`True`	Whether RCON (remote console) is enabled.
`RCONPort`	`27022`	The port used for RCON.
`mods`	[]	List of mods to be installed. use_mods must be true
`use_mods`	`false`	Whether mods should be enabled on the ARK server.
`NoBattleEye`	`true`	Whether to disable BattleEye on the server.
`mount_nfs`	`true`	Whether to mount NFS shares.
`nfs_shares`	`[{ path: "/opt/ark-cluster", server: "nas.lab.com:/mnt/nas/ark" }]`	List of NFS shares to mount.
`game_user_settings_path`	""	If template_game_user_settings is false then provide the local path to an existing GameUserSettings.ini to copy.

Example Playbook

---
- name: Install and configure ARK Survival Ascended server
  hosts: ark-island-server
  become: yes
  vars:
    ark_install_directory_path: "/ark-asa"
    steam_install_directory_path: "/opt/steam"
    ge_proton_version: "9-16"
    template_game_user_settings: true
    game_user_settings_path: ""
    systemd_service_name: "ark-aberration"
    configure_backups: true
    cron_minute: "*/30"
    cron_hour: "*"
    cron_day: "*"
    cron_month: "*"
    cron_weekday: "*"
    dir_to_backup: "/ark-asa/ShooterGame/Saved"
    backup_dir: "/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/backups/aberration"
    cluster_dir_to_backup: "/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/clusters"
    cluster_backup_dir: "/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster/backups/clusters"
    backup_cluster: false
    map_name: "Aberration_WP"
    session_name: "middle-earth-aberration"
    auto_save_period_minutes: 10.0
    clusterID: "fellowship"
    ClusterDirOverride: "/opt/ark-cluster/ASACluster"
    ServerAdminPassword: "password"
    port: 7779
    QueryPort: 27017
    WinLiveMaxPlayers: 20
    ServerPassword: "password"
    RCONEnabled: "True"
    RCONPort: 27022
    mods:
      - 927131
      - 914844
      - 916922
    use_mods: true
    NoBattleEye: true
    mount_nfs: true
    nfs_shares:
      - { path: "/opt/ark-cluster", server: "nas.lab.com:/mnt/nas/ark" }

  roles:
    - ark_server