I have a datacenter hosted server running Windows Server 2008 R2, and I thought I'd throw a few Halo Custom Edition servers on it.

I am having a few small issues. I did get everything working the way it was supposed to. I haven't run Halo CE servers in a few years so I was a little rusty.

I am having an odd intermittent issue. In the middle of a game, the server will disconnect a client and the client game thinks the server has "closed down". It does not disconnect all clients, only one.

The server is very capable, with 4GB of RAM, a Core i7, and 100 megabit Internet. I know there's nothing wrong with it, so I am speculating that Windows Server 2008 R2 may be causing the problem. I was wondering if anyone on this forum had any insights, or were successfully running a reliable Halo CE server on Windows Server 2008 R2 themselves.

Thanks,
Kirk

Just a WAG but be sure that you have the firewall ports open AND the Server executable (haloceded.exe) included in the firewall exceptions list.

I admit I did not add the specific ports in the firewall - I believe the point of allowing applications in the Windows Firewall is not to have to do the ports. I know the ports I'm using and I could go add rules for them, but I'm not sure there'd be any point in doing that.

I will test the game server with my Windows Firewall disabled and see if the problem persists, as I do agree it could possibly be firewall related. I'm more of an iptables guy, I don't really like how Windows does many things, including their firewall.

However, I don't think the firewall related problem could be that the ports aren't open. If the ports weren't open, there could be no connection at all. The game server lets players on to the game, and it will disconnect them at some random time during the game. I will have to test how long a client can stay on the game before the connection gets closed... as I wonder if it could have something to do with the TCP state of the connection. In Iptables I can treat ESTABLISHED and CLOSE_WAIT and other TCP states differently. Maybe Windows Firewall has some similar options I could look into.

As this is a dedicated server at OVH, there is no router firewall blocking my traffic. However, it's a virtual machine running on my Linux dedicated server, so I suppose it's possible that a problem exists with my virtual network bridge, but that seems unlikely as nothing else on the server (or any of my other VMs) is having any kind of network related problems.

I'll look into all of these possibilities... in the meantime, does anyone else have feedback?

Thanks,
Kirk

Don't forget that the game protocol is UDP not TCP

you are one funny guy dennis

In what way? The Halo CE client and server communicate over the UDP protocol not the TCP protocol.

I might be crossing into thread-jacking territory, but I have a few questions: isn't opening the firewall ports relevant only to the router used (since IIRC most routers only allow the forwarding of ports instead of applications), while allowing the executable only relevant to the system hosting the server? As in, the system hosting the server also needs to open ports other than allowing the executable as an exception?

If yes, I think I know why my servers are not showing ping numbers on the Gamespy master server list ingame.

responds to textwall with one sentence.

There are two things to remember when hosting. The Router must pass the traffic using either NAT and/or forwarding and the server firewall also needs to allow the connection. In the case of the original poster the server is not behind a firewall/router so it is the windows firewall that needs to allow the connection. Depending on the windows version the firewall settings are different. In win2008 the settings are much more granular allowing control of incoming and outgoing traffic at a port/protocol level. It also allow you to tell the firewall to allow all in/out connections to a running program. In the case of Halo the server it is the Haloceded.exe. so adding that to the exceptions will allow whatever communication to occur even if the exact port is not in the exceptions list.

I never see it since the spammers messages are deleted with a single click, besides there is nothing to respond too other than the delete button.

I mean the guy typed up four paragraphs of conclusions and theories, and your response was

'don't forget that it's UDP not TCP :3'
Edited by Actual on Jan 7, 2012 at 10:43 PM

Alright, so to completely debunk the firewall theory, I disabled the Windows Firewall. I started a Race match, and within half a lap around the map, the game closed down. I was running a continuous ping to my house from the server, and can confirm that it was not a connection problem. Additionally I was on TeamSpeak (hosted on the same Windows 2008 server) and that connection was not interrupted.

I am now running the Halo CE dedicated server as administrator, and in compatibility mode with Windows 2000. It's still exhibiting the problem.

I'm not sure what else to try.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Kirk

I think you need glasses. They were four SMALL paragraphs and were easy to read.




You might need to check that Haloceded's properly installed. So if there's no other solution, you should try totally reinstalling the game. Some firewalls are so protective that they ruin installations, and I assume you installed the game before you disabled your firewall.
Edited by Jaz on Jan 8, 2012 at 04:50 AM

After disabling my firewall, I installed regular Halo Dedicated Server. It had the same symptom.

I registered a Windows Server 2003 R2 license from DreamSpark and went ahead and installed that. After having to remove Internet Explorer 8 to resolve an "unable to allocate memory for halo" error... the game runs terribly. It was smooth and not at all demanding on the CPU on Windows Server 2008 - probably because it was a true 64-bit operating system.

I am so done. I have been eliminating Windows from my life as much as possible, and I am not sure why I decided to do a Windows Server. I was hoping I would be able to host Halo 2 and other games that won't run in WINE on Linux, but I am so done. This server is getting wiped and Ubuntu is getting installed.

Running Windows Server was an incomprehensible decision and I have learned my lesson.

- Kirk

Strange that you had issues with an OS that Halo's supposed to be based/optimised on.

Anyway, good luck with Ubuntu. ;)

OT: I considered getting Ubuntu for it's better compatibility with some things too but I'm a gamer and it doesn't support most games.

I should have expected it not to work well. I know Microsoft's track record for working well.


I have been running Halo servers on Ubuntu in WINE for years, mostly because I've only had Linux available to me in my datacenter environments. With DreamSpark and my VM server at OVH, I thought this would be a great opportunity to have a Windows server and finally run my game servers on the operating system they were "designed for". I knew there wouldn't be any substantial gains, except the ability to run a Halo 2 server (can't get that working in WINE) but it's not worth it.

I work part time as a technician at a high school IT department, while attending university for a bachelor's in computer science. My work is pushing to go as close to 100% Linux as possible... mostly as a cost savings measure. As such, I have a lot of experience making things work in WINE, and finding ways to make software work better in Linux.

Jaz, is the only thing keeping you from using Linux a compatibility issue with games, or are there other compatibility problems? I may be able to help you iron out most of your problems, but even on my best hardware I still can't get Halo to play how I want on a Linux client, so I keep a Windows 7 dual boot on my laptop for that.

-Kirk

@Halo 2 incompatibility on WINE
Maybe try finding out how to get H2 working on XP first? As far as I know, WINE has no compatibility for d3d10 whatsoever, and H2's directx10 only. ;)

Anyway, yeah, my main issue with Linux is the incompatibility with games. I know it works with tweaks, but I don't want to spend a long time fixing games, I just want to play them. Plus WINE restricts some processing power and I won't be getting the supercomputer I wanted when I started planning my new computer.