# services/valheim-autoupdate.nix — restart the Valheim server only when Steam # actually ships a new build, and only when nobody is playing. # # The Pelican egg already has AUTO_UPDATE=1, so steamcmd runs on every boot and # a restart *is* the update. The missing half is knowing when to bother, which # a nightly restart doesn't answer (it reboots players for nothing 364 nights # out of 365). So, hourly: # # 1. installed buildid <- steamapps/appmanifest_896660.acf in the server volume # 2. latest buildid <- the container's own steamcmd, public branch # 3. same -> exit. differ -> wait for an empty server, then restart. # # Waiting is a 10s poll held inside this one invocation rather than a re-check # on the next hourly tick, because when Valve ships a build Steam auto-updates # the *clients* — so everyone not currently online is locked out by a network # version mismatch until the server catches up. Waiting an extra hour after the # last player leaves is the expensive case, so we don't. # # Why the wings API and not `docker restart`: the egg's stop command is ^C, so # wings sends SIGINT and Valheim saves the world before exiting. docker's # SIGTERM would not. Auth reuses the node token already in /etc/pelican/config.yml # — read at *runtime*, so eval stays pure (see CLAUDE.md); no new secret, and # nothing to rotate by hand. # # Valheim has no console, no RCON and no broadcast command, so players cannot be # warned in-game at all. ntfy gets the play-by-play instead. { config, lib, pkgs, ... }: let # Pelican server "hawk" (panel server id 3). Both the volume path and the # container name are this uuid — wings names containers after the server. serverUuid = "185008d8-8a04-4077-be78-63853dc06c0e"; steamAppId = "896660"; # valheim_server; 892970 is the client gamePort = "25569"; # Valheim's Steam query port is always game port + 1, and wings publishes it # on the LAN address, not localhost. queryHost = "10.0.0.1"; queryPort = "25570"; # How long to keep waiting for a busy server before giving up and letting the # next hourly tick start over. Long enough for a full evening of play. maxWaitSeconds = "21600"; # 6h # Boot budget after the restart: steamcmd pulls the update, then Valheim # loads the world (~40s on top). bootTries = "90"; # x10s = 15min autoupdate = pkgs.writeShellScript "valheim-autoupdate" '' set -uo pipefail uuid=${serverUuid} appid=${steamAppId} manifest=/var/lib/pelican/volumes/$uuid/steamapps/appmanifest_$appid.acf wings_cfg=/etc/pelican/config.yml secret=/var/secrets/ntfy-url reply=/run/valheim-autoupdate/a2s-reply docker=${pkgs.docker}/bin/docker awk=${pkgs.gawk}/bin/awk curl=${pkgs.curl}/bin/curl grep=${pkgs.gnugrep}/bin/grep nc=${pkgs.netcat-openbsd}/bin/nc sleep=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/sleep date=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/date timeout=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/timeout notify() { # body [ -f "$secret" ] || return 0 url=$(${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/tr -d '\n' < "$secret") $curl -fsS --max-time 10 \ -H "Title: Valheim server" -H "Tags: shield" \ -d "$1" "$url" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true } running() { [ "$($docker inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' "$uuid" 2>/dev/null)" = "true" ] } # ponytail: UDP conntrack entries for the game port are the cheap stand-in # for a player count — no A2S challenge handshake to parse. They linger # ~2min past the last packet, so this reads as "played very recently", # which errs toward leaving people alone. Upgrade path if that's ever too # coarse: A2S_INFO the query port and read the players byte. players_online() { $grep -q "dport=${gamePort} " /proc/net/nf_conntrack 2>/dev/null } # The server browser's own liveness test: anything at all back from the # query port means Valheim is up and joinable. The first reply is a Steam # challenge, which is enough — no need to complete the handshake. query_answers() { printf '\xff\xff\xff\xffTSource Engine Query\x00' \ | $timeout 3 $nc -u -w2 ${queryHost} ${queryPort} > "$reply" 2>/dev/null || true [ -s "$reply" ] } installed_build() { $awk -F'"' '/"buildid"/{print $4; exit}' "$manifest" 2>/dev/null; } # Nothing to restart, and no steamcmd to ask — a stopped server updates # itself whenever it next boots anyway. running || exit 0 installed=$(installed_build) latest=$($docker exec "$uuid" \ ./steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +login anonymous +app_info_update 1 \ +app_info_print "$appid" +quit 2>/dev/null \ | $awk '/"branches"/{b=1} b && /"public"/{p=1} p && /"buildid"/{gsub(/"/,"",$2); print $2; exit}') # Steam unreachable, rate-limited, or output we don't recognise: do nothing # rather than guess. Next hour will try again. case "$latest" in ""|*[!0-9]*) exit 0 ;; esac case "$installed" in ""|*[!0-9]*) exit 0 ;; esac [ "$installed" = "$latest" ] && exit 0 if players_online; then notify "Valheim build $installed -> $latest is out. Waiting for the server to empty before updating." echo "valheim-autoupdate: $installed -> $latest available, players connected, waiting" deadline=$(( $($date +%s) + ${maxWaitSeconds} )) while players_online; do if [ "$($date +%s)" -ge "$deadline" ]; then echo "valheim-autoupdate: still busy after ${maxWaitSeconds}s, leaving it for the next run" exit 0 fi $sleep 10 done fi # It may have been stopped by hand while we waited. running || exit 0 token=$($awk '/^token:/{print $2}' "$wings_cfg") if [ -z "$token" ]; then echo "valheim-autoupdate: no wings token in $wings_cfg, cannot restart" >&2 exit 1 fi echo "valheim-autoupdate: $installed -> $latest, server empty, restarting" notify "Installing Valheim build $installed -> $latest. Server restarting now." if ! $curl -fsS --max-time 30 -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $token" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{"action":"restart"}' \ "http://127.0.0.1:8443/api/servers/$uuid/power" >/dev/null; then notify "Valheim restart request failed — server left on build $installed." echo "valheim-autoupdate: wings power request failed" >&2 exit 1 fi # Done when the manifest shows a different build than we started on (proves # steamcmd finished) *and* the query port answers (proves it's joinable). # Compared against $installed rather than $latest so an even newer build # landing mid-wait still counts as success. i=0 while [ "$i" -lt ${bootTries} ]; do i=$(( i + 1 )) $sleep 10 now_build=$(installed_build) [ -n "$now_build" ] && [ "$now_build" != "$installed" ] || continue query_answers || continue echo "valheim-autoupdate: back up on build $now_build" notify "Valheim is back up on build $now_build." exit 0 done notify "Valheim restart for build $latest was sent, but it has not come back after 15 min. Check the panel." echo "valheim-autoupdate: server did not come back in time" >&2 exit 1 ''; in { config = lib.mkIf (config.networking.hostName == "FredOS-Mediaserver") { systemd.services.valheim-autoupdate = { description = "Restart the Valheim server when a new Steam build ships"; after = [ "docker-pelican-wings.service" ]; serviceConfig = { Type = "oneshot"; ExecStart = autoupdate; RuntimeDirectory = "valheim-autoupdate"; # The script holds itself open while waiting for players to leave, so # this is only a backstop above its own 6h deadline + boot budget. TimeoutStartSec = "7h"; }; }; systemd.timers.valheim-autoupdate = { wantedBy = [ "timers.target" ]; timerConfig = { OnBootSec = "10min"; # let wings bring the game container up first OnUnitActiveSec = "1h"; RandomizedDelaySec = "5min"; # don't hit Steam on the exact hour }; }; }; }