PsB Streaming Guide 101
The TeamWarfare Call of Duty Series Staff has prepared this guide in order to help each clan setup and run a PsB streamed server. Granted not everyone here is a computer expert, but with this tutorial you'll be up and running with a streaming server in less than a week. Please make sure to read the tutorial carefully and follow all of the correct steps.
- Becoming a Punksbusted Server Admin
- Downloading Auto-MBL Software
- Configuring the Auto-MBL Software
- Setting up Auto Updates
1. Punksbusted Server Admin Application
To become a Punksbusted Server Admin, the first step is to register an account on the Punksbusted Forums. Once your forum account has been accepted, then you can fill out the Admin Application Form.
This application is fairly straightforward. Be aware there are 2 spots for a clan website URL. One of these boxes should contain a link to your team's TWL profile. If your clan has a website, then that link should appear as the first website, and the TWL Profile as the second link. If your team does not have a website, then the only way to get approved as a clan/streaming admin is to link to an active TWL clan profile.
After submitting the Admin Application, you will receive an email telling you that the application has been received and is under review. You will also be supplied with an Application ID.
After approximately 3 days, you should receive an email signifying if your application has been approved. If your application has been approved, you will now receive a Clan Id. This is NOT the same as the Application ID. If your account has been denied, then you will be alerted as to the reason for the denial.
Once you are accepted as a Punksbusted Admin, then you will have to setup your server to stream.
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2. Auto-MBL Software
First, you want to download the Auto-MBL software. Once you have downloaded the program to your local PC go ahead and install it to the default directory. It is easier to setup the windows GUI edition. I will use that for this tutorial.
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3. Configuring the Auto-MBL Software
The first thing you will need to do is to open the program.
From the Home screen, to the 'Settings' menu
From the Settings Menu, click the 'Add Server' button.
Enter all the information pertinent to your server.
Use the 'Auto Detect' button to get the PB folder path. In most cases, this path is incorrect. To find the correct PB Path, connect to your server's FTP, and go to the PB folder. Use the path that you used in your FTP to get the proper PB path, subtracting the FTP Address portion of the path. Compare the path, shown in the address bar, in the image below to the path, given as the PB Location, in the image above.
Leave the PASV option unchecked. Click the Apply button. Back at the 'Settings' menu, fill in the information for how often you want to update Server Ban Lists, as well as your Clan ID and Password.
Click OK. Now, click the 'Configure Streaming' menu.
Select your server from the drop down menu, and click Go.
This should give you alerts.
If you have an error on the PB Path, then you must go back and set the correct PB Path in the server configuration.
If the PB Path is correct and you still get errors, then you must enable PASV mode in the server configuration. If you receive no errors, than you server is good to setup for streaming.
Next, go to the update MD5 File Checks.
Select your server from the list, and click Update.
Once the MD5 Checks have been updated, the box at the bottom of the screen will list how many checks have been added.
So long as you got through the Setup Streaming with no errors, then the MD5 shouldnt throw any errors. Once your MD5 checks are updated, return to the home screen, and click Update Ban Lists.
This will load the MBL ban list onto your server.
Take me homeThis process of updating MD5 and ban lists is manual, unless you specified it to be automated in the Configuration Menu. Or, you can use the console version of the AutoMBL program. The program, once downloaded, has information on how to set it up. You must setup your servers using the GUI version first though. You can use the Console edition of the Auto-MBL for other automation procedures.
Note: Once you have set your server up to stream via the Auto-MBL program, it will take approximately 24 hours to verify your server is streaming.
4. Setting up Auto Updates
The standard Auto-MBL program has a provision for some automation built in to it. From the "Settings" menu, there were options for how often you want to update your server's ban list. The only downside to this system is that you must have the program running in order for the updates to occur and you are only able to do a ban list update automatically. Any MD5 updates or if you want to do a full ban list, you still must do these manually. This is where the console Auto-MBL comes in to help.
The console Auto-MBL is a small program that runs as a background scheduled task on your system. Think of it as somewhat of a text based version of the Auto-MBL program. The advantages of using the Console Auto-MBL are that you can set your server updates to run as a Scheduled Windows task, and you can update ban lists, update MD5 lists, check server streaming, and anything else that the full GUI program can do, without using the GUI edition.
To setup the Console Auto-MBL, it is recommended that you first, setup your server(s) via the GUI edition of the Auto-MBL program. This is just because it's a lot simpler to have the GUI program write your configuration file for you.
Once your server(s) are setup using the GUI program, then you can download the Console based Auto-MBL. The zip file contains 1 folder (docs) and 3 files (automblc.exe, index.html, readme.txt).
You must extract the automblc.exe program to your windows directory (CWindows\). Then you need to get your Auto-MBL configuration file and save it to the windows directory as well. You will find the configuration file in the Auto-MBL install folder (Typically CProgram Files\Punksbusted\Auto-MBL\). The configuration file is called 'autombl.conf'.
Once these 2 files are saved into your windows directory, then you can go and setup the Task Scheduler to run your updating for you.
To access the task scheduler, follow Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks.
From the home screen of the Task Scheduler, double click "Add Scheduled Task"
On the next window, click "Next". This window just tells you that you are invoking the Scheduled task Wizard.
The next window is where you would select the task that you wish to schedule. The list box lists different installed programs on the system. It may seem logical to select Auto-MBL from this list, but do NOT select that program, it is the GUI version. Instead click "Browse" and find to the automblc.exe file, that you placed in the CWindows folder.
In the next window, you will select how often you want to run the task. You can run it Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Once, When Computer Starts, or When I Log On. Daily updates are recommended.
The next window you will set the frequency of updating, based on the schedule you selected in the previous step.
The next window will ask you for your user login password. If you do not use a password to log on to your computer, simply leave the password boxes blank. The username must remain as the computername\username.
The last window of the Task Scheduler is a verification window. This will briefly summarize what you have setup to this point. From this window, check the box "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish". Then click 'Finish'.
You will either be prompted with 1 of 2 windows. The password error alert
or the Task Properties window.
If you get the password error alert, simply click "OK" for the time being. This will bring you to the Task Properties window.
The only changes you want to make to the Task Properties are to add the update flags. The readme.txt file that came with the Console Auto-MBL download explains the different update flags that you can use. It is recommended that you use the -u (standard MBL Update) and -m (MD5 update) flags. To enter these flags, you just add them to the path listed in the Run box of the task properties. BY default, it will say "CWINDOWS\automblc.exe". You want to change this to "CWINDOWS\automblc.exe -u -m". Then click OK.
If you get the password error again, click OK.
The windows XP task Scheduler uses user passwords to add security to scheduled tasks. The problem with this is that not all users have passwords on their accounts. If you are a user with a null password, then you cannot specify a password in the task setup, and therefore you get the password error.
To fix the password error, you need to change one the system security policy that deals with the task scheduler passwording. This is very simple, as long as you have Administrator Privileges on your computer.
Open the control panel (Start -> Control panel), and find the Administrative Tools section. If you use the classic Control Panel layout, simply double click the Administrative Tools icon.
If you use the newer XP layout, then the Administrative Tools link can be found under the "Performance and Maintenance" section.
From the Administrative Tools section, double click the icon for "Local Security Policy".
From the "Local Security Settings" window, click the '+' next to "Local Policies", then click the 'Security options' icon. This will bring up list of local security policies. Toward the top of the list there is a policy called "Accounts: Limit local account use of blank password to console logon only". This will be listed as "Enabled".
Double click this policy, and select Disable under its properties window.
Click OK, and exit back to the desktop. This will remove the password error that you get when setting up scheduled tasks.
The last thing you will want to do after setting up the console Auto-MBL task, is to remove the GUI based Auto-MBL from starting up when your system starts. It is recommended that you keep the program installed, in case you need to edit server configuration later (add, remove, or change settings), but with the updates now happening via the Task Scheduler, there is no need for the Auto-MBL to open automatically.
To remove the Auto-MBL from your startup program list, you must get into the System Configuration Utility. You can get there by typing "msconfig" in the Start -> Run dialog box.
Go to the "Startup" tab, and uncheck the box next to "Auto-MBL".
Then click OK. You can restart if you wish, or exit without restart.
The next time the computer boots, you will see a dialog box saying that you have modified the system startup settings.
This is just alerting you that the Auto-MBL program is not set to start on boot anymore. Just check the box "Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows start", then click OK.
Take me homeIf you have any problems not covered by this tutorial, then you should consult the Punksbusted Forums, the Punksbusted IRC Channel; #punksbusted, or a CoD Admin in the #twl_cod IRC Channel.
Credits:
Tutorial by Kn1ght
Banner by Zimnick
Design and Layout by Handsom3
©2007 TeamWarfare.com
Community First Gaming, LLC, All rights reserved
Post edited by -ferOcitY` at 8/7/2007 3:49:37 PM
TWL|ferOcitY`
TeamWarfare Competition Director
Email: ferOcitY@TeamWarfare.com
IRC: #teamwarfare, #twl_cod, #twl_cs