Server Help

General Questions - Zones disappearing from download list

xrestassuredx - Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:16 pm
Post subject: Zones disappearing from download list
Okay, I'm running a server, currently hosting 9 zones, got everything going smoothly .. only now suddenly 3 of my zones have disappeared from the directory server lists, so people can't download them. I checked and triple-checked all the files, the server.ini for each zone, and I can't figure it out. The server files for each is identical, the directory server list, port (4991), and name password are unchanged. What could be making this happen?
Purge - Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:59 pm
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Can you connect to it by adding it as Custom? If not, maybe the biller login password was changed, but it still can run solo.
xrestassuredx - Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:36 pm
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I can still connect to the zones just fine, as can everyone who already has them downloaded (or enters them manually), and they are showing up green in the list. They just won't download for new players, even though they seem to be set up exactly as all the others, they have downloaded fine in the past, and nothing seems to have changed..
CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 2:48 am
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Directory Servers typically keep a small backlog of what zones have connected to it recently and with what password. I don't see why this would occur (the dir server part is independent of the biller) - unless they changed the directory password in their server.ini's.
Maverick - Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:02 am
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6 zones currently listed on the biller.
When a subgame server is up and all directory settings are set correct then it should send its server information to the biller every now and then right?
Maybe someone is using the same name password?
A380 - Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:40 am
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Make sure all your zone as the same NamePassword=w/e.
xrestassuredx - Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:10 pm
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Yes, all the name passwords are the same and have been. It's as if some of the zones decide to stop working. Last night GW wouldn't download for a few hours, and then it was there again. I took a couple of zones offline to see if maybe there were was a problem with having too many zones on the same name or something (which makes no sense, but I'm at a loss). All the remaining zones then would download (this was last night), but now this morning another one of my zones is not showing up on the directory servers. I'm completely miffed ..
Maverick - Thu Jun 16, 2005 3:22 pm
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Are you sure that multiple zones using the same namepassword is ok?
In my logical thinking, this sounds like very wrong to me...
Tryed it with different name passwords already?
Cyan~Fire - Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:26 pm
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No, the matching NamePasswords is necessary. NamePassword is for the prefix, not the whole zone name.
CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:53 pm
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I disagree Cyan, because we've had this discussion before. Using Catid's Dir Server program as an example of implementation, it makes no detail to 'prefixes' and as far as I can tell, nor does Priitks. PriitKs directory server has an ability to disable zones that contain obscene names/words in them.

Just take a look at the dserv.cpp icon_smile.gif - and I've tested this w/ my own directory server testing program with both catid's and priitks.
xrestassuredx - Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:44 pm
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hm .. i thought the point of the namepassword was to protect the prefixed server name (SSCU, SSI, etc) so that some person couldn't just start a random zone and pretend it's on whatever server that is.

if that's not the case, what is the point of the name password? to keep someone from using your entire zone name, letter for letter? or something else? and in any case, why would having the same name password ever be a problem .. it's not as if the passwords are also protected from having multiple zones using them.

before, i was having trouble with any of my zones showing up, and making the name password the same worked, plus it makes intuitive sense as to how the directory servers should work. it was great for a few weeks or whatever it was, but for the past few days, though, they've been pretty whacked..

(here is the previous thread on the same subject)
CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:10 pm
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Its used to stop people from taking zone names - more specifically because directory servers do not know when a server goes offline - they just 'expire'. It's to help eliminate a user putting their own zone entry w/ the same name as an existing zone during a time which the server hasn't updated the directory server that it is still alive. It also is designed that if your zone goes offline, you still maintain that zone name for a certain period of time before it becomes 'free' to be used. Make sense?
xrestassuredx - Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:16 pm
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yes, it makes sense, but I had thought that it was used for protecting the server extension (probably because that what cf told me). it also doesn't explain why my zones wouldn't show up before with different passwords, or why the are disappearing now. is there anything else that could be the problem?
CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:26 pm
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What are you directory servers you are trying to use?
xrestassuredx - Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:56 pm
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the list i'm using is
Code: Show/Hide

[Directory]
IP=sscentral.sscuservers.net,sscentral.ds98.com,sscentral.subspacehq.com

CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:25 pm
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What are all the zone names that this is effecting?

It appears sscentral.sscuservers.net isn't letting any of my zones on the directory server - maybe it's an issue PriitK needs to look at? Has anyone else been sucessful? I'd say check with other directory servers but all the ones that I had thought were up and running, are not.
Purge - Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:10 pm
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CypherJF wrote:
It appears sscentral.sscuservers.net isn't letting any of my zones on the directory server


It lets mine in just fine.
CypherJF - Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:17 pm
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I tried several names - from just random strings to complete names w/ known initials. Did you try unknown zone names?
Purge - Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:25 pm
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No, unless it's only letting ASSS zones in or something. I even just tried commenting out all the other directory servers in the ASSS global.conf for Unreal Tournament and it still shows on the zone list and connects to the DIR server just fine.
xrestassuredx - Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:28 am
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The zones that are not showing up, right now at least, are SSXR Extreme Reality, SSXR Blood Corps, SSXR Gundam Wing, and SSXR Agent Under Fire. At the time I made the first post, Gundam Wing and Agent Under Fire were both downloading properly, but SSXR Socom II was not (and it is now). It has no rhyme or reason to it. Nearly all of my other zones, SSXR Navarone, SSXR TraX Battle Zone, and the SSX Dev Zone, have disappeared from the download list at one time or another during the past week. SSXR Bounty SVS is the only zone (knock on wood) that has to my knowledge stayed on the directory servers the whole time. That's probably too much information, but it gives you an idea of how seemingly random this all is..
CypherJF - Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:15 am
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@purge+: I mean try making a new zone title that hasn't been on the directory server for a long time -- see if it comes up like COMP XYZ Zone - and tell us if it works..

@xrestassuredx: it's weird. I don't know what to say. :/
Maverick - Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:43 am
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My own dev zone always gets on the dir server just fine.

xrestassuredx, only thing I can think of is something is blocking packets from the servers to the directory server.
Another thing might be that so much zones at one server might cause the directory server to block you (and thus any future signups) for some minutes because its being spammed by signup packets. Names might expire in that time then. It would also explain the randomness because the zones randomly signup/refresh the directory server.
CypherJF - Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:12 am
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Yeah I got mine to connect as the SSR Cypher - but not on the SSXR initials - funky. Oh well, I apologize to Cyan - it appears that PriitKs DirServer locks initials - however, catid's does not.
Quote:

3:19:40 Logging started
3:19:56 Zone connected 127.0.0.1:1700 players: 0 scoring: 0 SFSS Cypher Test
3:20:06 Zone update 127.0.0.1:1700 players: 0 scoring: 0 SFSS Cypher Test
3:20:16 Zone update 127.0.0.1:1700 players: 0 scoring: 0 SFSS Cypher Test
3:20:24 Zone update 127.0.0.1:1700 players: 0 scoring: 0 SFSS Cypher Test2
3:20:32 Invalid password 127.0.0.1 SFSS Cypher Test22

Between SFSS CypherTest2 and renaming it w/ a different password SFSS Cypher Test22 - thats the output that PriitKs directory server gave.

*shrug*.
xrestassuredx - Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:37 am
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do i have to do something special with port 4991 in my router setup? that may also explain why i often have trouble downloading the zone lists. since i am running zones on more than one computer, i can't use a normal port forward because all computers need to use it. and a port trigger, i believe, only opens on outgoing connections -- will that serve my purpose here? or do i need to do anything at all in that respect?
Cyan~Fire - Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:48 am
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No, since your computer makes the original connection to the outgoing server, you don't need to do any port forwarding.

Have you tried disconnecting all zones, waiting an hour or so just to make sure the dir server has cleared all its data concerning your servers, and then restarting?
xrestassuredx - Fri Jun 17, 2005 12:50 pm
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k i didn't think so, but i'm kind of grasping for straws here. i have done a network shutdown to try and reload everything into the directory servers, but not with an hour's wait -- as a server owner i obviously want to avoid that kind of downtime. is that how long it takes for the zones to refresh? and do you think it would help? i guess i'll try it tonight, when most people are offline...

btw, as of this morning only two zones are showing up, ssxr extreme reality and ssxr gundam wing; none of the other 7 zones are in the download list. and nothing's changed. grr..
Maverick - Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:44 pm
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You should try hosting your own directory server and see if that works (and if doesn't - why not).

SSX is now Subspace Server eXpansion instead of Subspace Server eXtreme (Reality) ?
xrestassuredx - Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:32 pm
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extreme reality is the name of my zone, ssx is the name of my network

i actually thought about hosting a directory server, is there an open one out there? and where do i get it?
Purge - Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:50 pm
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catid.ssihosting.com <-- Check at the bottom for his DIR server.
CypherJF - Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:36 pm
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Catid's is on the above URL .. or you can download PriitKs from www.shanky.com/server/ under the downloads section.
xrestassuredx - Sat Jun 18, 2005 2:46 pm
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Okay, it's been getting progressively worse, such that last night all but one of my zones was not showing up in the download lists. So, I waited until early morning when most of the players had cleared out (still don't have a huge overseas population) and shut down the entire network, waiting an hour this time to restart. When I did start up, I started the biller and one zone (SSX Dev Zone), which showed up in the directory server fine. Then I started another zone (SSXR Gundam Wing), which also showed up in the directory server. I then started two more zones, SSXR Agent Under Fire and SSXR Bounty SVS, and funky things started happening again. Gundam Wing stopped appearing in the download list, and Bounty SVS never showed up at all. So, I closed the last two zones, and GW downloaded again okay. Then I waited about 10 minutes and started just one more zone (SSXR Bounty SVS), and the three zones then were all running fine. I waited some more time, and added SSXR Agent Under Fire again, and all four zones worked okay. Wait some more, add SSXR TraX Battle Zone, still working. Five zones running and all of them showing up in the download. Then, after letting some more time go by, I started up SSXR Navarone . . but no go. The first five zones are still in the download list, but the sixth is not. That's where I am right now, six zones running, one of which won't download, and I have three other zones still offline. Perhaps this experiment can be useful in figuring out what the problem is?
1stStrike - Sat Jun 18, 2005 6:56 pm
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I don't know how you all manage to cause so many problems for yourselves. The worst problem I ever ran into was a bad server.ini which only took a few minutes to fix.
Maverick - Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:26 am
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xrestassuredx, have you tried without firewall on?
Cyan~Fire - Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:21 pm
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Jeez, I really don't know what could possibly be going on. Set up a packet sniffer and catch all the directory packets? Post/PM me all the directory sections for all your servers?
xrestassuredx - Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:34 pm
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@1st: what do you mean, "cause so many problems for yourselves"? i wish it was something obvious that i was doing wrong, so that someone could realize it and help me fix it. every time i have to ask for help on these forums, it's a problem that no one else can immediately figure out either, or something that's not obvious or not documented. so, congrats on everything always working perfectly for you. go spam someone else's thread.

@mav: i don't have and have not had xp firewall on on the server, just the router, with the ports range forwarded.

@cf: for a packet sniffer, you mean something like ethereal? i'm not sure how to set that up for this, but it's a good idea. i've also pmed you the [directory] section of the server.ini files, nothing too interesting as all of the zones are made from copies of the same files, with relevant lines changed. i'm pming just because i don't want the namepassword for my zones displayed publicly.

the five zones i had up were running great for a couple days, but now again, without any changes being made, gundam wing has disappeared from the directory servers. i tried recycling the zone but it still won't show up.

a point of interest, perhaps, but i downloaded catid's dirserver and started running it, straight out of the box, and it immediately recognized all of my running zones, including the ones that aren't showing up on other dirservers. not sure what that means, if anything, but thought i'd throw that out there.
1stStrike - Mon Jun 20, 2005 8:15 pm
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Make sure the ports aren't conflicting. Make sure they're not too close together (i.e. one zone is 1000 and another is 1001). Also, running a directory server on the same box as zones will mess things up. I recommend running the billing server and directory server on their own individual servers. However, I doubt you have the resources to do so.
xrestassuredx - Mon Jun 20, 2005 9:39 pm
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the zone ports are 10 apart, 13300, 13310, .. , just for convenience. when i did run the directory server, it was on my pc, not on the server, although on the same local network. one interesting consequence of that, was when i did a zone download with the dirserver running on this computer, it took my custom added entries such as 'local ssxr gundam wing' set to ip 192.168.1.103, the internal ip of the server, and updated the zone name and description for those entries as well as those by external ip. that's not unexpected behavior, i suppose, since the dirserver on this machine would get the zones' directory broadcasts over the local network first. also interesting to note, i running a zone on this machine along with the dirserver app, and that ip showed up as 192.168.1.100 (this box's network address) instead of 127.0.0.1.

i don't know how any of this is helpful, but it seems that there is something in the way the directory server works that is unexpected or counterintuitive in some way...
1stStrike - Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:12 pm
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You should make your zone ports at least 100 apart. 10 is still a bit too close.

And your router is definitly giving you problems. You'll have to fiddle with the settings or get a better router. Or get rid of your router. That would be the easiest solution tongue.gif
Cyan~Fire - Wed Jun 22, 2005 11:36 pm
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1st wrote:
You should make your zone ports at least 100 apart. 10 is still a bit too close.

I hope you're not being serious. I run zones 2 apart all the time.
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