[Freeciv-Dev] Re: Dedicated Civserver

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> Ok, I think the easiest way to do this is the following:
> 
> Create a cgi-script that allows people to start new servers at a specific
> port.

or just run

  while :; do civserver; done
 
> Make the server load a standard file which sets "cmdlevel hack", that user
> can then change the cmdlevel again.

The 'ctrl' level was invented for this purpose.  Maybe /quit needs to be
added to the 'ctrl' level.
 
> Then there are 2 options:
> 
> 1) Make a little hack that kills the server when there are no-one logged
> on.

That's easy.  I have a wrapper script 'impatiently' that starts a command,
then kills it if it doesn't produce any output soon.  It could be adapted.
 
> 2) Make a little perl, sh, or such like script that looks up the
> metaserver and checks whether anyone are connected to the game, and if
> there aren't then kills the server.

Easy, too (a crontab entry parsing netstat output).

 It should also kill it if the server
> is not listed on the metaserver (but can connect) as this means the server
> has hung.

OK.
 
> A nice little bonus feature would be that the cgi-script also could load
> savegames.

This is a must have, I think.  One way to implement this without
explicit control is by running

  while :; do
    ls -t *.sav | if read f; then civserver -f $f; else civserver; fi; done

Several civservers can run on different ports.  The ones on which games
have been finished or abandoned can eventually be killed by cron.

-- 
Reinier