¶ Difficulty / Time Taken
Quick and easy
¶ Overview
This guide takes you through choosing an Amazon AWS instance type to configuring it to automatically login on boot and allow JustRace to start and stop the servefr as required. This saves you money as Amazon charge for compute time (time the server is running) and storage.
¶ Choosing an Amazon AWS
¶ Instance Location
Choose a location for you instance that is closest for the majority of your users / regular racers. This keeps ping / lag to a minimum. If you have users from all over the World then the United States is a good location. In particular the East coast.
¶ Instance Type
Amazon offer some "free" instance types but unfortuntely these are two low spec for running windows and dedicated servers reliably. We recommend a t3.medium or better.
¶ Storage Capacity
Amazon charge for storage used so it is best to keep this to a minimum. If you don't plan on running rFactor 2 we recommend 30Gb. This is enough for windows (approx. 20Gb) and the dedicated servers.
If you want to run rFactor 2 then an Amazon AWS server is probably not cost effective due to the extensive storage space requirements needed for rFactor 2 content.
¶ Windows Version
We recommend the most recent version of Windows Server. You don't need any of the SQL varients.
¶ Making Your Device Login on Every Reboot
Note. This step is optional but you will have to manually log into your AWS instance every time it starts.
If the device gets rebooted then for JRSM to run it must automatically log in to windows. Follow the steps below to make this happen.
- Download the Windows Auto Logon tool
- Open the ZIP and run the
AutoLogon64.exefile - Check the username, leave the domain empty and enter the password you configured for windows
- Reboot the server and check it logs in automatically for you
¶ Allowing JustRace to Start and Stop AWS Servers as Required
For JustRace to be able to automatically start and stop Amazon AWS servers we need:
- AWS MetaData set to V2 Optional
- AWS account access key and secret key
Follow tios guide to configure the settings needed for JustRace to start and stop your AWS server as required.
- Visit the Amazon AWS console and access your instances
- Select the instance and then click
Actions-->Instance Settings-->Modiffy Instance Metadata Options - Make sure that V2 metadata is
Optional. If it is required then we will NOT be able to automatically start and stop your server.
- Visit the Amazon AWS console and access the My Security Credentials page
- On the
AWS IAM Credentialstab click theCreate access keybutton and note down theAccess key IDand theSecret access key - On the JustRace Profile select the
Linked Game Serverstab at the top and find theAWS Accountssection - Click the
Add AWS Accountbutton - Enter in a
Descriptionand theAWS Access Key IDandSecert Keyfrom stage 2 above followed by clickingOK - Reload the profile page and then on the servers, if you have JRSM running on an AWS server, you should be able to see a
Manage AWS Serverssection where you can start and stop the server. - In the
Manage Your Serverssection click theEditbutton for an AWS server and edit the timing for starting and stopping the server so that the server will be started and stopped as required.
¶ Things to Keep in Mind
Amazon charges for the amount of storage you use and the amount of "uptime" you have. We can't help with the storage required for each game but JustRace can automatically start and stop the AWS servers for events. This saves on up time. There are somethings to keep in mind when using an AWS server with JustRace.
- AWS servers are best used for one off events. If you configure a long runnign practice or looping server then the AWS server will be up for a long time. This will affect your costs.
- If you have anything else runnign on the AWS server they will also stop working when the server is shut down by JustRace
- You should keep an eye on your up-time. JustRace can not guarentee to shutdown servers automatically
¶ The Next Step
Once you have your Amazon AWS server configured you can go onto the next step.