Install the Game

(View Table of Contents)

Next we’ll configure some basic information about your game. These settings determine how you connect to the game. When your game opens, the MU* description, website, etc. will appear in the AresMUSH games folder.

Note
The automated install scripts only work on the supported environment - a stand-alone Digital Ocean droplet with only a single MUSH running on it. If you’re using a different environment, do not try to run the install scripts directly. Use them as a reference for what needs to be done, and adjust as needed for your specific environment.

Log into your Server Shell with the ‘ares’ user.

Note
You should use the ‘ares’ user for everything from now on, reserving the root user for rare server admin operations requiring root access. The setup_server script should have created the ares user for you automatically and printed the password. You should be able to scroll back if you missed it.

Copy/paste the following commands into the shell to run them.

 curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/aresmush/aresmush/master/bin/install > install
    
 chmod +x install
    
 ./install
    
 export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
 [ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" 

Enter your ares password when prompted.
Enter the information about your game, as explained below.

This will take several minutes. There will be a lot of spam, but eventually it will say it’s done.

Note
If you already have a GitHub fork, you can pass the HTTPS clone urls to the install script: ./install <game code clone URL> <Web Portal clone URL> If you don’t have a GitHub fork (or don’t know what that even means) then just leave off those URLs.

Game Settings

These are the basic settings you’ll need to enter:

Database URL - Where the database server lives. If you’re using the standard setup scripts, it’s 127.0.0.1:6379
Server Hostname - The the game’s host name or IP Address. Use the actual IP or host name, not just “localhost”.
Server Telnet Port - See ports, below.
Server Websocket Port - See ports, below.
Server Web Portal Port - See ports, below.
MUSH Name - Name your game.
MUSH Description - A short blurb about your game (optional).
Category - Pick which category best describes your MUSH for the Ares games folder.
GitHub Email - See GitHub, below.
GitHub Name - See GitHub, below.

GitHub

AresMUSH is stored in GitHub, a popular software version control system. Sometimes you need to interact with GitHub to retrieve Ares code updates. For this, GitHub needs to be configured with an email and a name.

Note
If you do not plan on using GitHub for version control, you can make these dummy values - any email (even a fake one) and name will do.

Email - If you plan to use GitHub to store your own code changes, then you should use the email address associated with your GitHub account. Some people even create a special GitHub account solely for their game work.
Name - The name is just a record of who made code changes.

Ports

Whereas the old MUSH servers you might be used to have only one port (mush.somewhere.com port 1234) Ares actually uses several. You can use any port that isn’t already in use. On a VPS server, ports greater than 1024 are typically open.

The Telnet Port is the general one that regular MU clients connect to. (default 4201)

The Websocket Port and Engine API Port are behind-the-scenes ports that the Ares Web Portal uses to communicate with the game. (default 4202 and 4203)

The Web Portal Port is where your Web Portal is running. (default 80) ‘80’ works if the Web Portal is the only website running on the server. Otherwise you’ll need to pick a custom port and access the Web Portal through a URL like http://mush.somewhere.com:8081.

Note
Be aware that running the Web Portal on a port other than ‘80’ may prevent some players from accessing it through their work/school firewalls.

This article is part of the Installing AresMUSH tutorial.