Private server implementation for Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst by SEGA.
The goal of the Archon project is to build a modern, easy-to-use, customizable, and high-performing PSOBB server that can be run across multiple platforms with little setup overhead. The project is currently in relatively active development and things change frequently while I piece together the PSO protocol and lean how the client works.
Credit is due to the authors of Tethealla, Sylverant, and Newserv, whose servers I'm studying as I write Archon.
This is a long running project that I work on when I have time, which is pretty sporadic given how time-intensive this endeavor is. That said, forks, bug fixes, issue reports, explanations of some of the client's bizarre behavior, questions, etc. are welcome to help move things along. If you'd like to get involved, the Developer's Guide is a good place to start.
There are three ways to set up the server:
- using the setup script
- manually
- running the server in docker
Most people will want to use the setup script, which just automates the manual installation process. However if you'd prefer to test the server in an isolated environment or prefer to use fewer tools, the Dockerized setup may work better for you.
git clone https://github.com/dcrodman/archon.git
The setup script is located in the setup directory. To run the script, execute the following with an optional
parameter specifying the install path:
path-to-cloned-code/setup/setup.sh [install-path]
If the last directory in the install path does not exist, it will be created. If the install-path is omitted, the setup script will install to:
path-to-cloned-code/archon_server
The script will guide you through the initial server configuration as well as prompt for credentials for the first PSO account. Once the setup is complete, the script will provide additional configuration scripts, and a command to run the server.
Note: The provided commands are aimed at MacOS/Linux but running their Windows equivalents on a Windows system should still set the server up correctly.
Assuming Go installed:
git clone https://github.com/dcrodman/archon.git
cd archon
make
This will install the Archon server and tools to the bin subdirectory in the root
of your project's directory.
This isn't necessary to run the server, however you may find it easier to have the server executable, tools, and supporting files all in once place. If you choose to go this route then from the directory in which you want the server files to reside:
mkdir archon_server
cd archon_server
cp path-to-cloned-code/bin/* .
In the following steps you'll need to update config.yaml with the full path to
any subdirectories you create (for instance, patch_server.patch_dir).
Note: For the remainder of this guide, the commands assume that your current working directory is the server directory you've just created.
Archon expects a few files in order to run, which can be retrieved from the setip directory:
cp -r path-to-cloned-code/setup/* .
The setup/config.yaml file contains all configuration options available to Archon,
set to (hopefully) sane defaults.
Archon will also look for the config file in /usr/local/etc/archon if you're running
the server binary separately from the of the support files.
Archon uses Postgres for persistent storage, which means you'll need to have a PostgreSQL database instance running. Once you have one ready to go (assuming you have the Postgres CLI tools available on your PATH):
createdb archondb
psql archondb
> CREATE USER archonadmin WITH ENCRYPTED PASSWORD 'psoadminpassword';
> GRANT ALL ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO archonadmin;
Feel free to choose your own credentials or database location, just make sure the settings in your
config.yaml reflect them. Archon takes care of creating the tables and performing any migrations.
In order for clients outside your network to connect, Archon needs to listen on a network interface. Once
you know your server's IP address, update hostname and external_ip in config.yaml. These values may
be the same but if the server will be running on a private subnet (like a home network) then hostname
should be set to the IP assigned by the router and the external_ip to the internet-facing address.
Note: If the server will be hosted on a machine in a private network, you'll need to set up port forwarding on the router between the server ports and the machine running Archon.
There are a few possible ways to accomplish this:
- Update the connection addresses in the PSOBB client executable
- Override the psobb domains in users' hosts file
- Configure a DNS server that sends the psobb domains to your server
I may write a DNS server for this one day but for now option #1 is the simplest. You can either grab a hex editor and change the addresses in the client yourself OR use the patcher utility that comes with Archon. To use the patcher (which should be in your server directory if you followed the optional) step above:
./patcher -address <server-address> -exe <path-to-psobb-exe>
A copy of the PSOBB client can be found here (as well as some additional instructions if they're helpful): https://www.pioneer2.net/community/threads/tethealla-server-setup-instructions.1/
Note: If you use a client other than the TethVer12513 executables, you may need to uncomment lines
in patcher.go that correspond to your client. If none exist, you'll have to find the offsets with a
hex editor.
It's recommended that you take the critical files from the copy of the client you intend for people to
use and put the majority of them in the patch directory (patch_server.patch_dir in the config file).
Archon will load these files and verify that they haven't been tampered with when the client connects,
which can help improve stability as well as make cheating harder.
mkdir patches
# copy your client files into ^
The shipgate API server requires clients to connect over SSL as both a form of security as well as mutual authentication. Archon includes a tool for generating these certificates, which need to be present in the server's config directory:
./certgen
The tool will prompt you for your server's external_ip (which should be the same as external_ip
in config.yaml). You may also provide a CIDR block.
You can do this with your own tool (or SQL) Archon comes with a small utility for adding accounts:
./account -config /path/to/config add
The moment of truth; run the server by running this from your server directory:
./server -config /path/to/config
If everything's been configured correctly, you should get a bunch of messages about the different sub-servers waiting for connections on the configured ports.
- Docker
- Assumes a recent docker version bundled together with docker-compose - otherwise compose should be installed too
Run with docker-compose up - it will download required images and run both Postgres DB and the server.
There are 4 services available in current docker-compose version:
postgres- PostgreSQL database with initial DB and tables created via scriptaccount- account tool which creates initial account for login (can be disabled or commented out if not needed)server- actual server running on 127.0.0.1 with PSO ports exposedanalyzer- the packet_analyzer tool
In the dockerized setup, the server is running the same commands as in the manual setup.
* Note: Once the account service runs successfully, it will fail on subsequent runs.
While individual commits may at points break master, the current HEAD of master should at all
times reference a fully functioning server. It should generally be safe to update your version by
doing the following:
cd path-to-cloned-code
git pull
make build
cp bin/* your-server-directory
At the time of writing Archon doesn't yet have a recommended way of doing a no-downtime upgrade. There are ways to mitigate this (like running a script to do this when nobody is connected) but for now this is up to server admins to work out what works for them.