Emergiancy Help, Downloading and installing the TF2 server and other games.

[Drocona]

Alright people,

I'm getting a crapload of questions past few days about the install of TF2 on both windows and linux.
Here's to clear up some stuff:

Can I install and run TF2DS on Windows?
- Yes you can, you can install the windows dedicated server through the hldsupdatetool.exe with the following command: "-command update -game tf2 -dir <somedirhere>"

Can I install and run TF2DS on Linux?
Yes and no, the files are all ready to download, however the binaries to run the server are currently unavailable (9/21/07)
Update: Linux DS is Available!

I've installed the TF2DS on windows but I can't find srcds.exe?
The gameserver is actually located in the <installdir>\orangebox\ folder, instead of being in the normal spot at <installdir>. in the installdir you'll find 2 folders, HL2 and Orangebox. Open up orangebox folder to find the actual server files of TF2.

My updater keeps saying "No installation record found" sometimes more than 4 messages!
I don't know why this happens so much but if you stay patient and wait the files will be installed shortly after.

I'm having installation issues with the updatetool, connections reset, winsock errors and content server busy.
At this very moment the steam content servers are under heavy stress, it's been like this since the steam community release. Only thing you can do at this moment is just run the update tool over and over again till srcds.exe appears in the folder.
We can't do anything about this problem, everything is just very slow (it can take up to 5 times longer to install the server you like than normal (mostly around 1 gig an hour on a 3mbit download under normal load, that means it can take up to 5 hours in the current situation))

I have installed the files but there are still errors!
Run the update tool again and add the command -verify_all, this will make it check every file and add missing ones or replace faulty ones.
Currently the TF2 server files need to be updated 3 times (as far as I know) before they are fully functional and can run on windows.
If running the updatetool doesn't suffice, please delete "InstallRecord.blob" in the main install dir and try again.[/b]


Well I hope I helped some of you in advance, it's just the only way in the current situation (I know it sucks), keep in mind, just keep running those updaters!

[BloodyIron]

The Linux SRCDS is available now, fyi.
Even in gentoo!

In regards to your windows server comments. I ran it through the steam GUI srcds, not the CLI one. I did not have to update "three times" to get it functional, for reference. The reason I ran it in GUI form instead of CLI is because it is/was a temporary solution until the gnu/linux SRCDS comes rolling around. For those who are unfamiliar with gnu/linux, it offers a lot of admin-friendly functionality, enabling you to access such machines remotely virtually anywhere with full control (and then some).

[cpt.joo]

Hey you said that in


"the installdir you'll find 2 folders, HL2 and Orangebox."

Everytime i run the updater i seem to get 5 folders and the srcds.exe in the installdir. I get the tf, platform, bin, hl2 and orangebox folders.

Inside the orangebox folder i then have 4 more folders stated as bin, hl2, platform, and tf. I tried the verify_all and i dont seem to get anysort of error when it finishes and ive updated it about 20 times and i stil cannot get an srcds.exe to appear in the orangebox folder or subfolders, it only appears in the installdir.

[BloodyIron]

either you're pointing it to a diff dir, or they've changed something about the directory structuring o.O!

cpt.joo Wrote:Hey you said that in


"the installdir you'll find 2 folders, HL2 and Orangebox."

Everytime i run the updater i seem to get 5 folders and the srcds.exe in the installdir. I get the tf, platform, bin, hl2 and orangebox folders.

Inside the orangebox folder i then have 4 more folders stated as bin, hl2, platform, and tf. I tried the verify_all and i dont seem to get anysort of error when it finishes and ive updated it about 20 times and i stil cannot get an srcds.exe to appear in the orangebox folder or subfolders, it only appears in the installdir.

[skeletor]

cpt.joo Wrote:it only appears in the installdir.

what happens if you try to open it? I have heard they changed stuff around a little, so have you tried it? If it works I wouldn't worry about it

[cpt.joo]

open what? i can open all the folders i see however i just cant seem to get the srcds to start/work. I get some threadwaitforobjects thing then it says failed to load the launcher DLL.