valheim-ecs-fargate-cdk

This is a CDK Project for spinning up a Valheim game server on AWS Using ECS Fargate and Amazon EFS!

Uses valheim-server-docker - thanks to lloesche for putting it together!

Installation
Configuration
Cost Information
FAQ
- Find your server IP

Installation/Deployment

Making the assumption you have an AWS Account Already and a valid set of creds configured:

Create a Secret named valheimServerPass in the same region you plan to deploy the CDK Stack - we reference it by name here and pass that value to our container as a secret. valheim-server-docker requires this to be AT LEAST 5 characters (ideally much more). The secret string should be a key value pair as below:

aws secretsmanager create-secret --name valheimServerPass --secret-string '{"VALHEIM_SERVER_PASS":"SuperSecretServerPassword"}'

Clone down our source code:

git clone git@github.com:rileydakota/valheim-ecs-fargate-cdk.git && valheim-ecs-fargate-cdk

Install dependencies:

npm i

Setup the config

cp .env.example .env

Decide if you want the optional AWS App gateway lambda endpoints to start and stop your server and get the server status. If you do, then change APPGW_START_STOP_PASSWORD in .env.
Assuming you have already bootstrapped your account via the CDK (see here if not) - deploy the stack

npx cdk deploy --all

enjoy accidentally chopping trees onto your friends powered by AWS!

Configuration

Valheim Server

If you want to configure the Valheim server, then you can do so in .env. Environment variables with the VALHEIM_DOCKER_ prefix will be used in the environment we run the docker image in.

To see a full list of possible environment variables, see valheim-server-docker#environment-variables

Bootstrapping with existing world

This must be a fresh depoyment. If /config/worlds_local/ exists in the container, then we will not copy the files from S3 into the docker container.
Create a ZIP file of your existing world.

This MUST follow the folder structure at the bottom of the steps.
The name of this ZIP file MUST match the BOOTSTRAP_WITH_WORLD_NAME environment variable (in .env).

Update BOOTSTRAP_WITH_WORLD_NAME in .env to the same filename.
Deploy npx cdk deploy --all
After depoying, double check and make sure that the world was loaded and it didn't error and create a new one.

I would check for something likeLoad world: MyCoolValheimServer (MyCoolValheimServer)
If this was a world from a previous version, then you should see a lot of Old location found ... messages.

ZIP archive structure:

# kayo @ ClockTower in ~/workspace/valheim-ecs-fargate-cdk on git:bootstrap-world o [22:02:46] 
$ unzip -l resources/worlds/valheim_backup_2023-01-08T09_26_00_00.zip
Archive:  resources/worlds/valheim_backup_2023-01-08T09_26_00_00.zip
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
       39  2021-02-13 18:16   adminlist.txt
       40  2021-02-13 18:16   bannedlist.txt
       42  2021-02-13 18:16   permittedlist.txt
      217  2021-02-12 20:26   Player-prev.log
      217  2021-02-12 20:28   Player.log
      218  2023-01-02 23:39   prefs
        0  2023-01-08 20:52   worlds_local/
 69646068  2022-11-28 12:04   worlds_local/MyCoolValheimServer.db
       44  2022-11-28 12:04   worlds_local/MyCoolValheimServer.fwl
---------                     -------
141326454                     13 files

Solution Cost Information

Coming soon

Common Problems/FAQ

Accessing the docker container

This assumes that you either have credentials that give you admin roles or have setup an IAM role with the required permsissions.

aws ecs execute-command 
  --region <REGION> \
  --cluster <YOUR_CLUSTER_NAME_GOES_HERE_CHANGEME> \
  --task <YOUR_TASK_ID_GOES_HERE_CHANGEME>  \
  --command "/bin/bash" \
  --interactive

Now you should have an interactive shell you can use to explore the container.

How do I find the IP of my server?

Via the ecs-cli:

Install the ecs-cli by running the following (this assumes Linux - for other environments see here)

sudo curl -Lo /usr/local/bin/ecs-cli https://amazon-ecs-cli.s3.amazonaws.com/ecs-cli-linux-amd64-latest
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ecs-cli

Using the Cluster Name outputted by successfully running the CDK template - run the following command:

ecs-cli ps --cluster YOUR_CLUSTER_NAME_GOES_HERE_CHANGEME

You will be presented with the public ip of your server as follows:

Name                                                                                                            State    Ports                                                                                     TaskDefinition                                            Health
ValheimServerAwsCdkStack-fargateCluster7F3D820B-AxbOSXn1ghAs/8d190269c9df4d3e9709dccb89bdf3d8/valheimContainer  RUNNING  1.1.1.1:2456->2456/udp, 1.1.1.1:2457->2457/udp, 1.1.1.1:2458->2458/udp  ValheimServerAwsCdkStackvalheimTaskDefinitionB5805DE1:17  UNKNOWN

Game server runs on port 2456 (unless changed)

Via the AWS Console:

goto the ECS Service page (click the services dropdown and select ECS - or click here if you are in us-east-2). From here - you will see a Cluster listed. Click the cluster name to continue to the details page.

At the bottom half of the screen - click the Tasks tab tab - you should see a "Task ID". Click the task id to continue to the next page.

Finally - the public IP of your server will be listed here - under the Network section. Connect to the server using the IP and port 2456!

To-Do