Setting up a MOSS shard easily

Lyrositor · **Joined:** Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:14 pm **Posts:** 808

Will it ever be possible, in the future, to deploy a MOSS shard (sorry if I got the terminology wrong :oops:

) in a way that is accessible to practically anyone with slightly better-than-average computer skills ?
For example : one of my biggest hopes about this open-sourcing of MO:UL is that it will be ported to Linux, both on the client side... and on the server side. Will it ever be possible to just download, say, a .deb installer format, and install it on a regular Ubuntu machine ?
In a related topic, would the server running the shard need to be continuously on and dedicated to running it ? Could it work on a small laptop computer with regular specs, on for an hour or two at a time ?

Mac_Fife · **Posted:** Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:53 pm

The MOSS server software is a Linux application. At the moment you need to build it for your own use since you need to create and build in your own "private key" for the encryption, but there is an expectation that a "supply your key and we'll build it for you" service will be available soon on OpenUru.org. Whether that would also include a deb installer is a question I can't answer - it'd depend on what can be scripted in to the Foundry, I guess (and that's rarified's field).

A Linux client is a bit further away because things like DirectX would need to be substituted.

I don't think MOSS is very demanding on server specification, but it really depends on how many users are hitting it.

PaladinOfKaos · **Joined:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 10:55 pm **Posts:** 625

Uru server's aren't terribly complex animals (compared to many other game servers). I don't know specifics abotu MOSS, but DirtSand is fairly simple to install once it's been compiled.

As for Linux clients: The Guild of Writers team has cross-platform support as one of its highest development priorities. This will be done in a way that enabled Mac OS X and Linux support more-or-less simultaneously (hurray for POSIX).

Lyrositor · **Joined:** Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:14 pm **Posts:** 808

What I'm thinking of doing is setting up a small personal server for about three people. If a client is developed, and a build service is provided, should a regular computer be able to run it ? I know it can run the MO:UL client on Wine.

Nalates · **Posted:** Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:42 am

I suspect the biggest limitation is going to be your upload speed.

I have not run Until Uru or MOSS. I do run an OpenSim server. (Mostly down right now as I am ripping video for RL project). OpenSim has much more to do than the MOSS server because all assets are downloaded at run time. MOSS deals with a game that pre-downloads all assets then runs the game. If the user has all the current age files, there is nothing to download. So, the amount of data needing to be uploaded is much higher for OpenSim than it likely is for MOSS.

Also, OpenSim runs a bunch of the physics on the server. I understand most of the MOSS physics happens in the client CWE/MOUL. So, I'm assuming MOSS is likely going to place much less of a load on its host. I can normally run OpenSim and do everything I need to do on my workstation and there is no visible performance hit. I seldom notice when 1 or 2 people come through the simulator. However, when 4 or 5 people are in the region they start to see lag. My CPU's are still under 50%. My outbound network is running high as communication between my server, the clients, the grid's asset servers, chat servers, voice servers, map servers... I'm not sure how much of that extra communication stuff MOSS deals with. But, I can't imagine 2 or 4 people overloading MOSS into lag on a reasonable laptop.

I suspect you too will find that the big bottle neck for MOSS is your upload speed. If you plan to try to run wireless, it will be even more of a problem.

Lyrositor · **Joined:** Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:14 pm **Posts:** 808

Thanks, that was reasurring.

a'moaca' · **Joined:** Sat May 20, 2006 5:30 am **Posts:** 66

MOSS uses the rather standard autoconf/automake system to compile. It is not
difficult to compile.

While the client does have keys compiled in, MOSS does not. The keys are stored
in configuration files. So you do not need a custom server binary. The only
real thing between now and a .deb package is someone with the time and
inclination to make the package.

As others have pointed out, Uru servers do not actually generate much load. It
should run fine on your computer, especially with a small number of users like
that. I even tested it on a > 15-year old computer the other week. (I will
admit, I could see it was a bit slower on response times... funny that!)

There is quite a lot of documentation, including detailed setup information at
the wiki: http://wiki.openuru.org/index.php?title=MOSS

- a'moaca'

Lyrositor · **Joined:** Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:14 pm **Posts:** 808

How hard would it be to package it ?
And for manual installation, would it be best if waited a bit to see if there are any updates to the procedure ? Maybe, specific command-by-command tutorials. Or someone could just show me how to do it, and then I could write up a tutorial.

Setting up a MOSS shard easily

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