How to set up a l4d2 server on Linux

Specfically for Centos / RHEL but broadly applicable. You should have general familiarity with Linux before you attempt this.

1. As your normal user create a screen – this is a virtual terminal your server will be running in, I strongly suggest you get familiar with screen

   screen

2. In one of the screen windows, su to root

   su - root

3. Create a user to run the server as & set a password, eg l4d2

   adduser l4d2
   passwd l4d2

4. Su to that user

   su - l4d2

5. Download hldsupdatetool.bin & run – this will create a steam executable

   wget http://www.steampowered.com/download/hldsupdatetool.bin
   chmod +x hldsupdatetool.bin
   ./hldsupdatetool.bin

6. Download the L4D2 server – this will take time

   ./steam -command update -game left4dead2

7. Create a basic config file

   vi left4dead2/cfg/server.cfg

   Example Contents:

   hostname "My Cool L4D2 Server" // Server Name
   rcon_password "changethis" //Set remote control password
   sv_lan 0 // Disable LAN
   mp_disable_autokick 1 // Disable Autokick
   sv_cheats 0 // Disallow Cheats
   sv_clearhinthistory 0 //Clear Server Side Hint History
   sv_consistency 1 //Enforce file consistency
   sv_pausable 0 //Server not pausable
   sv_allow_lobby_connect_only 0 // Disable Lobby Connections
   sv_voiceenable 1
   sv_alltalk 1
   sv_region 3 // set this to your region if required (3 = Europe)
   //sv_steamgroup 999  // set this if required
   z_difficulty hard
   sv_search_key "hohum"
   sv_gametypes "coop"

8. Start the server (with your own IP address here)

   cd ~/left4dead2
   ./srcds_run -game left4dead2 +maxplayers 4 +ip 123.45.67.89

9. To kill the server just hit ctrl-c. You can now disconnect or reconnect to the screen the server is running in.

Every so often you may need to update to the latest version of the server, just kill it & run line 6 again.

If your linux box is firewalled with iptables, you may need to open ports 27015 & 27005 tcp & udp, eg have lines like

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m udp -p udp --dport 27015 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m udp -p udp --dport 27005 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m tcp -p tcp --dport 27015 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m tcp -p tcp --dport 27005 -j ACCEPT

in

/etc/sysconfig/iptables

& do a

service iptables restart

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