How to Set Up an Icarus Dedicated Server

Option 1: on Windows with SteamCMD

The Icarus Dedicated Server is a free, anonymous download from Steam, application 2089300, about 10.5 GB. You do not need to own the game on the server.

1. Install SteamCMD, then run: +login anonymous +app_update 2089300 validate +quit.
2. Make a shortcut to IcarusServer.exe with arguments such as -Log -PORT=17777 -QueryPort=27015 -SteamServerName="My Server". (-Log opens a log window; without it nothing shows while the server runs.)
3. Open UDP 17777 and 27015 in the firewall and forward them on the router.
4. Copy the sample ServerSettings.ini from RocketWerkz's IcarusDedicatedServer repository into Icarus\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\ and set JoinPassword and AdminPassword. The server writes the file itself on its first run, too.
5. Start the shortcut. With no prospect to resume the server waits in its lobby: join it from the game (Join Session, then the dedicated servers list) and start a prospect there.

Option 2: on Linux, under Wine

There is no native Linux build, but the Windows server runs under Wine. Download it with SteamCMD forced to the Windows build (+@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows) and start Icarus/Binaries/Win64/IcarusServer-Win64-Shipping.exe with wine and -log -nullrhi (the server needs no graphics, and without -nullrhi it looks for a window and exits when there is no display). A Wine with fsync or esync support matters: without one an idle Windows game server spends far more CPU.

Option 3: Docker

runonflux/icarus-server-flux, our image, installs and updates the Windows server with SteamCMD on every start, runs it under Wine 10 with no display, writes ServerSettings.ini and the admin and ban lists from environment variables (ICARUS_SERVER_NAME, ICARUS_ADMIN_PASSWORD, ICARUS_JOIN_PASSWORD, ICARUS_MAX_PLAYERS, ICARUS_ADMINS, the two ports...), starts the server on the prospect you picked, restarts onto new game builds and keeps backups. Its source is on GitHub, RunOnFlux/icarus-server-flux.

• Mount /mnt/icarus/data on a volume: the prospects, the settings, the lists and the backups live there.
• Mount /mnt/icarus/server too, or every start downloads the 10.5 GB install and rebuilds Wine's prefix again.
• Publish the two UDP ports, and keep the numbers the same outside and inside: the server binds exactly the ports it is given.

Option 4: managed on Flux

Deploy an Icarus server on the Flux decentralized cloud, on that same image, with the ports opened and routed for you, DDoS protection included, and a dashboard with the server settings, your prospects (play one, upload one from your own game), admins and bans, a file browser, a live terminal and backups. Plans start at $8.49 a month.

1. Pick the 4, 6 or 8 Players plan.
2. Choose a region close to your players.
3. Name the server, set the admin password (and a join password if you want one), and deploy. The first start downloads about 10.5 GB and then loads in about a minute and a half.
4. Your crew finds it by name in the game's dedicated server list. The first player into the empty server starts a prospect from its lobby.