Hang on map change

[freyyr]

Server OS: Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit running on OpenVZ VPS. Host OS appears to be RHEL if /proc/version is to be believed:

Code:

thor@moonshine:~$ cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.6.18-194.17.1.el5.028stab070.7 (root@rhel5-build-x64) (gcc version 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-46)) #1 SMP Fri Oct 1 14:17:14 MSD 2010

Processor: Shared access to two cores of a Xeon E5620 w/12mb cache clocked @1800MHz
RAM: 512MB guaranteed/1024MB burstable
Game: CS:S
Startup command: ./srcds_linux -game cstrike +maxplayers 32 -autoupdate +map de_dust2 -pidfile srcds.pid
I also have a crontab set to renice -20 this process which appears to working according to top:

Code:

1422 steam      0 -20  163m  61m  17m S    2  6.0   0:07.38 srcds_linux

Admin mods: none.

The trouble: the damn thing hangs on map changes. Here's part of the output:

Code:

HLDS installation up to date
CAsyncIOManager: 0 threads terminating.  0 reads, 0 writes, 0 deferrals.
CAsyncIOManager: 102 single object sleeps, 0 multi object sleeps
CAsyncIOManager: 0 single object alertable sleeps, 0 multi object alertable sleeps
Using breakpad minidump system
Using breakpad crash handler

Console initialized.
Game.dll loaded for "Counter-Strike: Source"
Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 240
Forcing breakpad minidump interfaces to load
Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient
Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit
Installing breakpad exception handler for appid(240)/version(4394)
maxplayers set to 32
Unknown command "r_decal_cullsize"
maxplayers set to 32
Network: IP 216.24.196.220, mode MP, dedicated Yes, ports 27015 SV / 27005 CL
ConVarRef room_type doesn't point to an existing ConVar
Executing dedicated server config file
[S_API FAIL] SteamAPI_Init() failed; unable to update local steamclient.dll. Continuing with current version anyway.
Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient
Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit
Failed to load Steam ServiceServiceStart: failed to startexec: couldn't exec banned_user.cfg
exec: couldn't exec banned_ip.cfg
Connection to Steam servers successful.
   VAC secure mode is activated.
changelevel cs_italy
---- Host_Changelevel ----
ConVarRef room_type doesn't point to an existing ConVar
Executing dedicated server config file
exec: couldn't exec banned_user.cfg
exec: couldn't exec banned_ip.cfg

The server works beautifully with no lag so long as the map doesn't change. However, the second that I issue a changelevel or the server changes level based on config, it just hangs. I've got it set to 24/7 dust right now, but if there's something the world doesn't need, it's *another* 24/7 de_dust2 server.

Thoughts?

[BehaartesEtwas]

any plugins? -> try without any

running game servers inside a VPS is usually a bad idea. I wouldn't think it causes hangs on map change, but one never knows...

nice doesn't help much (if anything). try to set the server to realtime scheduling (see my kernel howto linked in the signature and look for the resched.sh there. ignore the rest, you cannot change the kernel)

[freyyr]

(12-03-2010, 06:36 PM)BehaartesEtwas Wrote:  any plugins? -> try without any

running game servers inside a VPS is usually a bad idea. I wouldn't think it causes hangs on map change, but one never knows...

nice doesn't help much (if anything). try to set the server to realtime scheduling (see my kernel howto linked in the signature and look for the resched.sh there. ignore the rest, you cannot change the kernel)

Thanks for the reply.

Nope, no plugins

From what I understand, for security and performance reasons most OpenVZ containers restrict realtime scheduling:

Code:

thor@moonshine:~$ sudo resched.sh
chrt: failed to set pid 30254's policy: Operation not permitted

OpenVZ acts a bit like a glorified chroot - all VPSes share the same kernel. It's much much faster for game servers than Xen, as there's no real virtualization going on - users are just restricted from viewing each others' processes. So I assume if they allow realtime scheduling, you'll get some guy who realtime schedules folding@home and hogs everything.

That said, this box does seem pretty slow when it comes to spawning processes which leads me to believe that my provider (YardVPS/PhotonVPS) might be overselling. I think I might also try switching to Debian or Arch, as I've heard people have been having trouble with their bloated Ubuntu images.

Edit: to examine stability I used your FPS meter (kickass utility by the way - but i'm sure you get that a lot). Anyway, it seems reasonable considering it's a VPS - only one major framerate drop, although it wasn't under load. Still, I think i'm going to try arch or debian, and maybe drop the rate down some.
http://www.fpsmeter.org/p,view;102484.html

[BehaartesEtwas]

did you try reinstalling the whole thing and running the server without a single modification? does it still hang on mapchange then?

regarding the VPS: if your server runs fine there, it's ok. but beware that this can change anytime. you are highly dependent on what the other users of the hardware node are doing, and how many VPS your provider runs on the node.