Build and Run a Private Valheim Dedicated Linux Server

Everything needed to install and run a private Valheim dedicated server to a Linux virtual machine running inside of Windows on your local network.

Instructions

Prerequesites

• Download and install Vagrant for Windows [https://releases.hashicorp.com/vagrant/2.2.16/vagrant_2.2.16_x86_64.msi]
• Download and install VirtualBox for Windows [https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.30/VirtualBox-6.1.30-148432-Win.exe]

Get Started

• Use git clone https://github.com/chuckthomasincontact/private-valheim-dedicated-server.git to clone this repo, then cd into the cloned folder from a Windows command prompt.
• Edit the Vagrantfile in the root directory and change line 55 (vb.memory = "8192") to whatever value (in MB) you care to give to the virtual machine (at least 2048?).
• Edit scripts\bootstrap.sh
  • Edit line 28 to change the Valheim server name To The Pain to whatever server name you would like to use.
  • Edit line 29 to change the Valheim world name MomsWorld to whatever world name you would like to use.
  • Edit line 30 to change the Valheim password password to whatever you would like to use.
• From a command prompt, in the cloned root folder, type vagrant up, and follow any instructions. This will create the Linux server in VirtualBox, and will power it up as a virtual machine on your private local network. This will also install updates, etc., and scripts you will use to install, start, stop and update your Valheim server.
• When that completes, type the command vagrant ssh to log in to your Valheim server. Note: if this fails, you can open VirtualBox, then select your Valheim Server instance (which should be running by now), then click the big green Show arrow at the top, which will launch a window for you to log in to. Log in as vagrant, using the password vagrant. Either way should take you to your Valheim Linux home folder (/home/vagrant).
• From there, type ./install_steam. This will install all remaining things needed to create your Valheim server (under /home/vagrant/valheim), and will start the server automatically. Some user input is needed during this step, so don't walk away from your keyboard.
• From your vagrant account home directory (/home/vagrant), you can use the following commands at any time:
  • ./stop_valheim_server to stop the Valheim server.
  • ./start_valheim_server to start the Valheim server (if it stopped for any reason).
  • ./update_valheim_server to update your Valheim server software (this command is set to run automatically, however, every day at 6 am).
  • systemctl status valheim to see if the Valheim server is currently running or not (use q to exit).
  • journalctl to view anything logged by the server (use q to exit).
  • ./power_off to shutdown the virtual Linux machine and power it off (use VirtualBox to restart it by right clicking on the virtual machine and clicking Start, then Headless Start, which will automatically restart your Valheim server as well).
• If you ever need to wipe out the virtual machine and start over, from a Windows command prompt (and from the root directory of this cloned repository), simply type the command vagrant destroy --force. Then, you can rebuild the server again using vagrant up, etc., as before. Note: this will tear down the entire virtual machine, and remove it from the list of servers in VirtualBox.
• Lastly, your worlds are automatically backed up every minute the virtual machine is running (to /home/vagrant/.conf/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds-backup). You can restore your worlds any time by typing the command rsync -a /home/vagrant/.conf/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds-backup/ /home/vagrant/.conf/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds from your vagrant home directory.