How to Install Starbound Server on Ubuntu 16.04

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Prerequisites

• You need to own this game on your Steam account.
• A sudo user.
• A Vultr Ubuntu 16.04 server instance.

Installing Starbound

Before starting, let's be sure that the system is up-to-date. Then we will create a new user for the server. When prompted, specify a strong, secure password for this user.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
adduser starbound
passwd starbound

Let's also open the necessary firewall port.

firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=21025/tcp --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload

Install the system libraries needed to run SteamCMD.

sudo apt-get install lib32g

Switch to the user account that was created earlier.

su starbound
cd ~

Install the SteamCMD software.

wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
tar xf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Next, we will use SteamCMD to install the game server files. If your Steam account has Steam Guard enabled, you need to check your email inbox for the login code.

./steamcmd.sh
login YourAccount
*input password and steam guard code*

force_install_dir ./starbound
app_update 211820 validate

When the screen reads Success! App '211820' fully installed., simply type quit and press ENTER.

Your Starbound server is now installed.

Customizing the server

Server customization is done by editing the file sbboot.config. Only change the value after the colon :.

nano ~/starbound/linux64/sbboot.config

• On line 47, change A Starbound Server to the server name desired.
• On line 48, change 8 to the amount of slots desired.

Updating your server

First, create the file update_starbound.txt.

nano /home/starbound/update_starbound.txt

Populate it with the following contents.

login YourAccount YourPassword
force_install_dir ./starbound
app_update 211820
quit

You can update your server anytime using the following command. Please note that if you have Steam Guard enabled, you will need to enter the code again during the update process.

cd ~ && ./steamcmd.sh +runscript update_starbound.txt

Running your server

To start your server, run these commands.

cd /home/starbound/starbound/linux64
screen -dmS starbound ./starbound_server 

Your server is now running in a screen session. You may shut it down anytime with the following command:

screen -S starbound -X quit