How to Install ARK: Survival Evolved on Debian 9

Introduction

In this guide, you will learn how to create an ARK: Survival Evolved server on your Vultr VPS.

Requirements

• A Vultr VPS with at least 8192 MB of ram.

Installation

Update your system:

apt-get update && apt-get upgrade

Install SteamCMD:

wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
tar xf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Increase the allowed number of files to be open at the same time:

echo "fs.file-max=100000" >> /etc/sysctl.conf && sysctl -p

Update the limits:

echo "* soft nofile 1000000" >> /etc/security/limits.conf
echo "* hard nofile 1000000" >> /etc/security/limits.conf

Enable PAM limits:

echo "session required pam_limits.so" >> /etc/pam.d/common-session

Create a new directory called server:

mkdir server
cd server

Create a symlink for SteamCMD:

ln -s /usr/games/steamcmd steamcmd

Run steamcmd with the following parameters:

steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir /root/server +app_update 376030 +quit

Create a new SystemD service file and populate it with the following information:

/lib/systemd/system/ark.service

 `[Unit]
  Description=ARK Survival Evolved
  [Service]
  Type=simple
  Restart=on-failure
  RestartSec=5
  StartLimitInterval=60s
  StartLimitBurst=3
  User=ark
  Group=ark
  ExecStartPre=/root/server/steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir /root/server +app_update
  376030 +quit
  ExecStart=/root/server/ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer TheIsland?listen?SessionName=example -server -log
  ExecStop=killall -TERM srcds_linux
  [Install]
  WantedBy=multi-user.target`

Update the daemon to save your changes:

systemctl daemon-reload

Enable your new service:

systemctl enable ark.service
systemctl start ark

Conclusion

You have now successfully installed your ARK: Survival Evolved server on Debian.