In which cases can you host your own planet server?
In this case, install the planet server on your PC.
You can build there alone, even without an internet connection.
You can bring your constructions later on the public planets via your inventory.
Connect with planet://127.0.0.1/#my_planet and browse the group with http://127.0.0.1
You should know that planets have public access, i.e. you can't control who comes to build on your particular server. Having your own planet won't protect you from having undesirable neighbors next to your land.
This choice was made so that Planet would offer players a large, neutral and uniform universe in which to build, rather than a list of planets each with their own rules dictated by their administrators.
We don't want players to have to worry too much about which server they're on. All public terrains from all servers appear mixed together in the search list without indicating which server they are on.
We would like to caution you that it is very possible that your server will not have any visitors, even if you build a beautiful scenery yourself.
If you are alone, please do not start your own planet. The servers are designed to host up to 1000 people, so if you're alone it's far too big for you.
Don't expect to attract people to your land by having your own planet, it will be the other way around: you will have even less people than if you stay on one of the other planets which already has its regular residents.
What you have to do is first to create a group of friends who have been building for several weeks on the other planet servers and who agree to follow you for a common project.
We want public planets to remain online 24 hours a day, for a long time (several months), to offer players land where they can build without fear of losing their work if the server closes.
Therefore, to open a public planet, you need to rent a dedicated server from an Internet provider. Each server has reliability statistics that players can consult.
The management of the server brings a chore, that of regularly (every day or at least every week) taking a backup of the database, so that in case of failure of your machine you can start again from a new installation and your last backup, to avoid the losses of creations and angry users.
It's a good idea to install an automatic job that takes daily backups of the database to another server in another building. If you don't have the computer knowledge to guarantee reliability at this level, please don't start your own public planet.
Your server is totally independent and contains everything you need to run your planet. If the Planet Samuro site should ever close your server will continue to function.
To bring visitors to your planet we advise you to create your own website with lots of beautiful pictures.
You need to rent a dedicated server from an internet provider.
Here are the minimum requirements: i3 processor, 8 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD hard disk, 100 Mb/s internet access.
Choosing an SSD hard disk (and not an HDD hard disk !) is recommended otherwise you will have delays, for example a 0.25 second wait or more when clicking on a chair before sitting down. If you could get only an HDD, we advise you to defragment it at least once a week, it helps a little.
To run the Planet server (which is a Windows software) you can choose between :
You can connect to your server using the Windows Remote Desktop.
To share a folder on your PC, use the MS-DOS command :
net use z: \\TSCLIENT\C
To start task manager, type :
taskmgr.exe
To stop the planet server, select it in the task manager and click 'end task'.
To open UDP port 13000 and TCP port 80, open a DOS box with administrator privilege and type :
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="UDP Port 13000" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=13000 netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="TCP Port 80" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=80
Here is some information for specialists who want to risk installing Planet on Linux.
We have tested with Ubuntu Server 18.04 distribution
It should be noted that running Windows programs with Wine always involves risks of compatibility problems. We have tested with Wine 7.0 and everything seems to work fine.
To connect from your Windows PC:
ssh -o ServerAliveInterval=30 root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Create a planet directory
mkdir planet
Go to the planet directory
cd /planet
Copy planet_server.exe from your PC to the server
scp planet_server.exe root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:/root/planet/planet_server.exe
To install Wine 7.0,
see the instructions on the site https://wiki.winehq.org/Download
Start the planet server in background
for info, the nohup is used so that linux doesn't stop planet when you close your session, the & is used to start in background.
You need to run planet as root, otherwise it won't have access to TCP port 80 and the website won't work.
nohup wine planet_server.exe &
See the running processes
ps -e
Stop the planet process
kill 4566 (replace 4566 by the PID of the planet process)
The Planet server software runs on Windows. It supports a maximum of 1000 connected users and needs about 50 GB of hard disk space to store the users' 3D creations.
At the first startup, the software creates a large planet with 90% of oceans and 10% of empty building lands composed of islands of random position and size. While it is daytime on one side of the planet it is night on the other side. It takes 20 minutes to fly around it.
The users connect to the server on the one hand via the port UDP 13000 with the planet software,
and on the other hand via the port TCP 80 with an internet browser to consult the group, the help manual,
the message forum, and the mini-chat.
To get the Planet Server software, take a copy of planet.exe (which is normally on your hard disk if you have installed the planet software), and simply rename planet.exe into planet_server.exe
Create a folder on the hard disk of your server, put planet_server.exe in it and start it.
Open the ports UDP 13000 and TCP 80 so that your server is accessible publicly on the Internet. To test, give the IP of your server to a friend so that he can connect with the planet software via a link planet://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx or via an internet browser by giving a link http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
The server will create a database "planet_server_database.db" which contains the whole 3D world and the groups. The database file is always locked since it is actively updated. It is not possible to take a copy, this is normal.
Every night at 5am, the server creates a file "planet_server_database.db.BACKUP" which is a copy of the database. The previous copy is renamed in "planet_server_database.db.OLD-BACKUP". So you have at any time 3 files:
planet_server_database.db : the active (blocked) database planet_server_database.db.BACKUP : the copy of the previous day planet_server_database.db.OLD-BACKUP : the copy from 2 days ago
It is your responsibility to regularly take a copy of the backup files. After a reinstallation, simply rename the most recent backup file to "planet_server_database.db" so that it becomes the active database again.
It is possible, via a planet_server.ini file, to specify a folder where the server stores the backup files:
# planet_server.ini [settings] backup_folder = e:/backup/ # the pathname must end with /
It is possible that at the start of the server you cannot connect to it immediately. If you see a file "planet_server_database.db.DFRG" it means that the server is defragmenting the database. You have then to wait between 5 and 15 minutes.
If you start planet_server.exe while it is already running, the second planet_server.exe will not start.
If the server stops with an error window, you can try to restart it. The error is recorded in a CRASH-REPORT.TXT file that you should send to marcsamu@hotmail.com for correction.
The server manager(s) can enter their avatar name in the planet_server.ini file, as follows:
# planet_server.ini [settings] # administrators who can change colors and ban a domain admin = Samuro admin_2 = Ingrid admin_3 = Ursula
They then gain access, in domain info, to a button for choosing Planet's standard colors, as well as another button for banning a domain (in the very rare event that the domain or its group contains illegal content).
One or more trusted persons can be authorized to manually take a copy of the server database, to enable shared responsibility and server continuity in the event of illness or death.
To do this, enter the avatar names in the planet_server.ini file, as follows:
# planet_server.ini [settings] # avatars that can manually take a copy of the database using the F10 key backup_op = Samuro backup_op_2 = Ingrid backup_op_3 = Ursula
To take a copy of the server database, log in with your avatar on the correct server and press F10. A file is then copied to the hard disk in the Planet directory.
It's not a good idea to open several copies of the same planet at the same time: teleportation will then send you to one of the servers at random.
# planet_server.ini [settings] # administrators who can change colors and ban a domain admin = Samuro admin_2 = Ingrid admin_3 = Ursula # path on the server to which the database copies are moved backup_folder = e:/backup/ # the path must end with a / # avatars that can manually take a copy of the database using the F10 key backup_op = Samuro backup_op_2 = Ingrid backup_op_3 = Ursula
In the Windows Start menu, select "Windows PowerShell(admin)" and click Yes.
Type the following command:
netsh interface ipv6 show addresses
A list like this one appears:
Interface 20 : Ethernet 2
Addr Type État DAD Vie valide Pers. Fav. Adresse
--------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------
Dhcp Préféré 55s 25s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:213:3bff:fefb:63ff
Temporaire Préféré 4d3h37m 4d3h35m32s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:d94c:d1b5:7c35:f84
Public Préféré 13d23h59m43s 6d23h59m43s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:e591:aa85:3fea:4081
Autre Préféré infinite infinite fe80::a829:560b:6cb8:4944%20
The first thing to look for is the interface number, here 20. This number represents the network card used to connect to the Internet, of which there may be several.
Next, you'll see that there are 4 IPv6 addresses. Each address is made up of 8 groups of digits separated by a colon. The one starting with fe80 doesn't interest us, as it's valid only on the local LAN, and can't pass through your router.
The other 3 addresses have a limited lifespan: often between 1 minute and 24 hours. In other words, Windows changes them frequently. If you're surfing the web, Windows will use the temporary IPv6.
If you want to install a server on your PC, none of these addresses is suitable, so you need to create a new one that doesn't change.
You're not totally free to choose the IPv6 you want. Your Internet provider always provides you with the first 4 groups of digits, so here
2a02:2788:764:ac9:
As you can see, this prefix is common to all 3 addresses above.
Some routers (e.g. sfr) automatically set the first 7 groups of digits. The exact procedure may therefore vary, and should be checked with your router.
Here we'll show you how to add an Ipv6 simply. You take the prefix and you add a suffix 1, which gives :
2a02:2788:764:ac9::1
The ::1 is an abbreviation for :0:0:0:1
To create this address, type :
netsh interface ipv6 add address 20 2a02:2788:764:ac9::1
Note that 20 is the interface number.
If you type :
netsh interface ipv6 show addresses
You'll see this address added with an infinite lifetime:
Addr Type État DAD Vie valide Pers. Fav. Adresse
--------- ----------- ---------- ---------- ------------------------
Manuel Préféré infinite infinite 2a02:2788:764:ac9::1
Dhcp Préféré 58s 28s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:213:3bff:fefb:63ff
Temporaire Préféré 4d3h35m33s 4d3h34m5s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:d94c:d1b5:7c35:f84
Public Préféré 13d23h59m46s 6d23h59m46s 2a02:2788:764:ac9:e591:aa85:3fea:4081
Autre Préféré infinite infinite fe80::a829:560b:6cb8:4944%20
If you've made a mistake, you can delete the line by retyping the above command but replacing add with delete.
To connect to planet, use the link :
planet://[2a02:2788:764:ac9::1]
If this doesn't work, you should also open the IPv6 firewall on your router, or on some routers, redirect incoming calls from UDP port 13000 and TCP port 80 to the IPv6 on your PC.
Don't use the other temporary IPv6s as Planet link. This works at first, and these IPv6s will then be registered in the Planet system. But when the lifetime of these addresses has expired your users will complain that your server is no longer reachable when teleporting, and these expired addresses will remain in the Planet system for up to a week.