Minecraft server bootstrap with terraform & GCP

This repo contains components to create a minecraft server.

prerequisites

• Have gcloud & terraform cli installed on your shell
• Have a GCP account & a GCP project with a billing account linked to it

steps

Initialization

1. Run init script with your GCP project & region

chmod +x init.sh
./init.sh --project GCP_PROJECT --region GCP_REGION --zone GCP_ZONE

2. Run terraform initialization

terraform init

Infrastructure Installation

Run terraform apply

terraform apply

this will install all infrastucture components to run the minecraft server

Download & install minecraft

1. connect to your newly created virtual machine via the GCP console
2. upgrade packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

3. install java & screen

sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre-headless && sudo apt install screen

4. download minecraft server (1.20.4)

wget https://piston-data.mojang.com/v1/objects/8dd1a28015f51b1803213892b50b7b4fc76e594d/server.jar && \
mkdir /home/minecraft/ && \
mv server.jar /home/minecraft/minecraft_server.1.20.4.jar

5. Setup minecraft server 1.

   screen && \
   java -Xms1G -Xmx3G -jar minecraft_server.1.20.4.jar nogui

   It will prompt an error. It is normal ! do not worry. 2. change the eula.txt

   vim /home/minecraft/eula.txt

   change eula=false to eula=true
6. (Optional) Update your server properties

vim /home/minecraft/server.properties

7. Add the backup script

touch /home/minecraft/backup.sh

copy the script below and add it to the newly created backup.sh file

#!/bin/bash
screen -r mcs -X stuff '/save-all\n/save-off\n'  # -> save the worlds, désactivate the auto saving
/usr/bin/gsutil -m cp -R /home/minecraft/world gs://minecraft-backup/$(date "+%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")-world # -> copy the saved data to our bucket
screen -r mcs -X stuff '/save-on\n' # -> re-activate the auto saving

8. Everything is setup ! 🎉 close your VM

Run the server & enjoy

1. go to your start cloud function http address. It will start your VM and give you its IP ! it should be https://GCP_REGION-GCP_PROJECT.cloudfunctions.net/start-minecraft-server
2. when you finish, do not forget to stop the VM by clicking the shutdown button on the cloud function url. it should be https://GCP_REGION-GCP_PROJECT.cloudfunctions.net/stop-minecraft-server

Nota Bene

• We use Ephemeral IP for cost saving. Thus, the IP will change at each VM start.
• We also use SPOT VM for cost saving. Thus the VM will necessarly stop within 24h. You have to start it again when it appears

Script used

Startup script

#!/bin/bash
cd /home/minecraft
screen -d -m -S mcs java -Xms1G -Xmx3G -jar /home/minecraft/minecraft_server.1.19.3.jar nogui

We use screen to run the server on the background NB: we use the flags -d -m because there is no terminal on the startup script

Shutdown script

#!/bin/bash
/home/minecraft/backup.sh
screen -r mcs -X stuff '/stop\n'

Backup script:

#!/bin/bash
screen -r mcs -X stuff '/save-all\n/save-off\n'  # -> save the worlds, désactivate the auto saving
/usr/bin/gsutil -m cp -R /home/minecraft/world gs://minecraft-backup/$(date "+%Y%m%d-%H%M%S")-world # -> copy the saved data to our bucket
screen -r mcs -X stuff '/save-on\n' # -> re-activate the auto saving