Accounts — you and your friends

Your rented box hands you the root login — the master account. Setting up from it is fine. First job: make an admin account for yourself and each friend who’ll help run the server — an admin can do everything in this guide (restart servers, edit configs, run game updates) without needing you.

See your admins:

getent group sudo     # the admins — every name after the last ':' is one

Add an admin (yourself, or a friend who’ll help run the server — two commands, that’s it):

sudo adduser dave           # pick any name; it asks you to set a password
sudo usermod -aG sudo dave  # make him an admin

Dave logs in with ssh dave@your-server-ip and the password you set (he can change it with passwd). He must log out and back in once for admin power to kick in — then he can do everything in this guide: restart servers, edit configs, run updates. Only add people you trust with the whole box.

Remove an admin:

sudo deluser dave sudo              # drops admin power, keeps his login
sudo deluser --remove-home dave     # deletes the account completely

Do the steps below from root or from your own admin account — the commands work either way. One thing to remember for later: the service files in Part 2 and Step 9 have a User= line — put your account name there, so the game and gateway run under your account.

Get the files onto the server

Everything in this kit is one GitHub repo. Two ways to get it onto the Linux box — pick one:

Option A — git (recommended). One command pulls the whole kit straight onto the server; updating later is one more command. On the server:

sudo apt install -y git
sudo git clone https://github.com/Motavar/HF_WastelandZ_SETUP.git /opt/wastelandz
sudo chown -R $USER /opt/wastelandz

Get updates later with: cd /opt/wastelandz then git pull

Option B — WinSCP (drag & drop). On your PC: open the repo page on GitHub → green Code button → Download ZIP → unzip it. Make the target folder on the server first:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/wastelandz
sudo chown $USER /opt/wastelandz

Then connect WinSCP (a free tool) to the server and drag the unzipped folder’s contents into /opt/wastelandz — it works like copying between two Explorer windows.

Install the game server

SteamCMD is Valve’s little downloader — it fetches and updates the dedicated server. On Ubuntu it lives in the “multiverse” package section, so enable that first:

sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y steamcmd

A license screen appears during install — accept it. No Steam account is needed; dedicated servers download anonymously.

Not on Ubuntu? Debian, Arch and other distros install SteamCMD differently — see Valve’s official page for yours: developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD. The rest of this guide works the same once steamcmd is installed.

Make the game server’s folder layout (same idea as C:\reforger\ on Windows), then download the server into it — a few GB:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/reforger/server /opt/reforger/configs /opt/reforger/profiles /opt/reforger/workshop
sudo chown -R $USER /opt/reforger

steamcmd +force_install_dir /opt/reforger/server +login anonymous +app_update 1874900 validate +quit

Drop in the ready-made config from the kit (Wasteland-Z is pre-listed in mods — it works as-is; open it in nano later to rename your server — save/exit with Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X):

cp /opt/wastelandz/server/server1.json.example /opt/reforger/configs/server1.json

Don’t start it yet — it needs the database and gateway first (Steps 3–8). Step 9 does the first start.

Install MySQL and Python

Update the package list, then install both:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y mysql-server python3 python3-pip

Then lock MySQL down and set the root password:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

It asks a series of questions. Recommended answers:

• VALIDATE PASSWORD component? — optional. N is fine (you set your own strong passwords).
• New root password — set a strong one and write it down.
• Remove anonymous users? — Y — closes password-less access.
• Disallow root login remotely? — Y — root only connects locally; the gateway uses its own wastelandz login.
• Remove test database and access to it? — Y — the default test database is open to everyone.
• Reload privilege tables now? — Y — applies it all right away.

Create the database

Open MySQL as admin:

sudo mysql

At the mysql> prompt, paste these four lines, then type exit:

CREATE DATABASE wastelandz;
CREATE USER 'wastelandz'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_password_here';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wastelandz.* TO 'wastelandz'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Set up the gateway

Copy the gateway out of the kit into its own folder (the running copy stays separate, so kit updates never touch your live settings), then build the database tables and install its Python parts:

# the running copy gets its own folder
sudo mkdir -p /opt/wastelandz-gateway
sudo chown $USER /opt/wastelandz-gateway
cp -r /opt/wastelandz/gateway/. /opt/wastelandz-gateway/

# build the tables (logs in as the wastelandz user)
cd /opt/wastelandz-gateway
mysql -u wastelandz -p wastelandz < setup_database.sql

# create an isolated Python environment and install the gateway into it
sudo apt install -y python3-venv
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

# give the whole folder (incl. the venv) to the account the service will run as
sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /opt/wastelandz-gateway

The mysql line asks for the wastelandz password you set in Step 4, then builds the tables — no output means it worked. The script itself holds no usernames or passwords; you never edit it.

whoami        # prints your username       (e.g. motavar)
id -gn        # prints your primary group  (e.g. motavar)

sudo chown -R motavar:motavar /opt/wastelandz-gateway

pip3 install -r requirements.txt
# to force it on a PEP-668 system instead of using a venv (not recommended):
pip3 install -r requirements.txt --break-system-packages

Enter your settings

First generate the gateway key — a unique API key (use a different one for every server). Copy the 64-character line it prints:

python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

Now copy the template to the real settings file and open it in nano:

cp config.example.py config.py
nano config.py

Set DB_PASSWORD to your Step 4 password, and set api_key — the GATEWAY KEY, shown in the file as CHANGE_ME_UNIQUE_KEY_1 — to the key you just generated. Each server needs its own unique gateway key. Leave host as 127.0.0.1 and port as 5000. Save in nano: Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X.

Test that it runs

venv/bin/python gateway.py

This runs the gateway in the foreground, so it holds this terminal — that’s normal (it’s a server, meant to keep running). Look for Database connection: OK in its output — that line is your success check. Then press Ctrl+C to stop it; Part 2 below runs it properly on its own. (venv/bin/python works whether or not the venv is “activated”; a no-venv install uses plain python3 gateway.py.)

curl http://127.0.0.1:5000/api/ping

Firewall

Gateway on the same box as the game server (normal) — nothing to do. Local traffic is already allowed.

Only for a remote server or bot, open port 5000 to that one address:

sudo ufw allow from THE.OTHER.IP.ADDRESS to any port 5000 proto tcp

If you turned ufw on, also open the game’s own ports so players can join: sudo ufw allow 2001/udp and sudo ufw allow 17777/udp. (Ubuntu ships with ufw off — then there’s nothing to do.)

Connect your game server — then first start

Start the game server once and let it boot — it downloads the Wasteland-Z mod from the Workshop and writes its starter config files. This is the command (one long line — same program, its config, its profile folder, the shared mods folder):

cd /opt/reforger/server
./ArmaReforgerServer -config /opt/reforger/configs/server1.json -profile /opt/reforger/profiles/server1 -addonDownloadDir /opt/reforger/workshop -maxFPS 60

When it settles, press Ctrl+C to stop it. Wasteland-Z has now written its starter config files into /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/configs/.

a Gateway URL — already set for a local gateway

The mod defaults GATEWAY_URL to http://127.0.0.1:5000/, which is correct when the gateway is on the same box (the normal setup) — so you can skip this. Only edit it if your gateway runs on a different machine or port:

nano /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/configs/HFWastelandZ_server.conf

Set the GATEWAY_URL line to your gateway’s address (keep the trailing slash), then save: Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X.

b Give it the gateway key

Open the secrets file:

nano /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/configs/HFWastelandZ_secrets.conf

Add a line — API_KEY then a space then the same gateway key from Step 6 (the one in config.py for this server). Save and exit the same way. A ready-made template ships at /opt/wastelandz/configs/HFWastelandZ_secrets.conf.example.

c Add the mission reward templates

cp -r /opt/wastelandz/missions/rewards /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/missions/

These are the loot crates and vehicles missions hand out. (Missions themselves are built in-game — see missions/README.md.)

Now start it again (same command). Player data saves to the database — you’re live.

+ Two optional asides (not required to go live)

nano /opt/reforger/configs/server1.json

d Make yourself the admin

Do this once it’s running. Wasteland-Z admins are keyed by Bohemia Identity GUID — a lowercase xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx code tied to your Bohemia account. It is NOT your Steam number. There are two ways to find yours:

1) In the game (easiest): launch Arma Reforger, click your profile in the upper-right corner — your Identity GUID is listed there. Copy it.

2) From the server log: join the running server once, then read it out of the log:

grep -rh "Authenticated player" /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/logs/ | tail

Copy the identityId= value on the line with your player name. (After Part 2 makes it a service, you can use sudo journalctl -u wz-server1 | grep "Authenticated player" instead.)

Add yourself as OWNER in the admin file:

nano /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/configs/HFWastelandZ_admins.conf

OWNER a1b2c3d4-5e6f-7a8b-9c0d-1e2f3a4b5c6d   # ← your GUID from the log, not this placeholder

cd /opt/reforger/profiles/server1/profile/hf_wastelandz/configs
sed -i 's/[[:space:]]*$//' HFWastelandZ_admins.conf
cat -A HFWastelandZ_admins.conf

Make it a service (once)

Create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wz-gateway.service

Paste this in (change youruser to your Linux username), then save and exit — in nano: Ctrl+O, Enter, then Ctrl+X:

[Unit]
Description=WastelandZ Gateway
After=network.target mysql.service

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/opt/wastelandz-gateway
ExecStart=/opt/wastelandz-gateway/venv/bin/python /opt/wastelandz-gateway/gateway.py
Restart=on-failure
User=youruser

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

That ExecStart path is the venv — pointing systemd straight at venv/bin/python runs the gateway inside the venv automatically; you do not activate it for a service. (A no-venv install uses /usr/bin/python3 instead.) Set User= to your Linux username, and make sure that user owns /opt/wastelandz-gateway (the chown -R from Step 5). Then turn it on — this starts it now and on every reboot:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now wz-gateway

Don’t want to type it? The kit ships this file ready-made: copy /opt/wastelandz/server/wz-gateway.service.example to /etc/systemd/system/wz-gateway.service and just change youruser.

Make the game server a service

Same idea as Step A, but for the game server. (You did its one-time first boot back in Part 1, Step 9 — that generated its config files; this step makes it run permanently in the background.) First make sure your user owns what the server writes to (its profiles/ and logs/) — needed if you ran any of the install as root:

sudo chown -R youruser:youruser /opt/reforger

Then drop in the ready-made service file and set your username:

sudo cp /opt/wastelandz/server/wz-server1.service.example /etc/systemd/system/wz-server1.service
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wz-server1.service   # set User= to your Linux username (save: Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X)
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now wz-server1
sudo systemctl status wz-server1                   # look for "active (running)"

The game server now starts on boot and restarts itself if it crashes — same as the gateway.