Game servers with csm
Link a machine running CS2 Server Manager, and let the platform create and run its CS2 servers.
The platform doesn't run CS2 itself. It runs CS2 dedicated servers on machines: Linux computers with CS2 Server Manager (csm). You link a machine once with one command; from then on the platform creates, starts, stops and updates its servers, and each server talks to the platform over its own connection (Ready Up's fleet link). No RCON passwords and no addresses to type in.
What a machine needs
- Linux (Debian or Ubuntu) on
x86_64orarm64, and an account withsudo. The servers run as that account. - About 71 GB of disk for CS2, plus about 2 GB per server, and 8 GB RAM or more.
- It reaches the platform at
FRONTEND_BASE_URL. The platform never connects to the machine, so the machine needs no open inbound port for the platform; players need the game ports (UDP27015,27025, … one per server). - No Game Server Login Token: players join from the match page. See Game Server Login Token.
How many servers per machine depends on the CPU: a match server mostly uses one or two cores. One server on a 4-core mini PC is comfortable; a big server takes many.
Add the machine in the dashboard
Open Servers > Add machine and give the machine a name. It shows one line to copy:
curl -fsSL https://cs.example.com/api/fleet/install-csm.sh | bash -s -- RUE-7F3K-9QX2-LM4D-P8TWThe code works once and runs out after 15 minutes. (No Servers page? Install Counter-Strike 2 under Modules, or pick it at the end of setup.)
Run it on the machine
Log in to the machine as the account the servers will run as (not root) and paste the line. It installs csm if it isn't there, asks for sudo once to prepare the machine (SteamCMD, tmux, services that keep running after you log out), links the machine and starts csm's agent. The dashboard says Connected within a few seconds.
The servers run Ready Up under the license accepted on the platform (License); the machine needs no answer of its own. On a platform served over plain http:// (fine on a LAN) the link uses --insecure; on the internet, put the platform behind HTTPS.
Create servers
On the machine's card, click Create server. The first one downloads CS2 (about 70 GB), which takes a while; the next ones take a minute. Each server installs Ready Up, enrolls itself on the platform and shows as a tile on the machine: Free when it's ready for a match.
Create as many as you want to run matches at the same time. Fleet settings on the Servers page has automatic scaling, which creates and stops servers by itself as tournaments need them.
Next: Run your first tournament.
Good to know
csm statuson the machine lists its servers with map, score and players.csmwithout arguments opens a menu.- csm doesn't restart a server for a CS2 update while a match is loaded or live on it.
- A machine linked again (to a new install of the platform, say) keeps its servers: the platform gives them a new key and they enroll by themselves within a minute or two.
- Servers come only from machines. Servers added by address with an RCON password (the 2.x way) are gone; link their machine with csm instead.
- Problems: csm troubleshooting and Ready Up troubleshooting.