languard-servers-manager/docs/ANALYSIS.md

Arma Server Web Admin — Full Analysis

Project Overview

Arma Server Web Admin is a Node.js/Express web application providing a browser-based administration panel for managing one or more Arma game server instances (Arma 1/2/2OA/3, CWA, OFP).

It consolidates all day-to-day server management tasks into a single UI:

• Launch and stop game server processes
• Monitor live player counts, current mission, and server state
• Upload and rotate missions (.pbo files, including Steam Workshop)
• Discover and assign mods per server
• Browse and download server log files
• Configure every server setting (ports, passwords, difficulty, mods, MOTD, etc.)
• Deploy headless clients automatically alongside the server process

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Technology Stack

Layer	Technology
HTTP server	Node.js + Express.js
Real-time	Socket.IO 2.x
Game process	arma-server (Node wrapper)
Game query	Gamedig
Steam Workshop	steam-workshop
File helpers	fs.extra, glob, multer
Async control	async 2.x
Frontend SPA	Backbone.js + Marionette.js
Templating	Underscore.js
UI framework	Bootstrap 3
Build	Webpack v1
Auth	express-basic-auth (optional)

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Directory Structure

arma-server-web-admin/
├── app.js                   # Entry point: Express + Socket.IO + route wiring
├── config.js.example        # All configuration options with defaults
├── config.docker.js         # Docker-specific config overrides
├── webpack.config.js        # Frontend bundling
├── package.json
│
├── lib/                     # Backend business logic
│   ├── manager.js           # Multi-server lifecycle manager (EventEmitter)
│   ├── server.js            # Single server wrapper (start/stop/query/persist)
│   ├── missions.js          # Mission file discovery, upload, Workshop download
│   ├── logs.js              # Log file discovery, cleanup, platform paths
│   ├── settings.js          # Config accessor (public subset for client)
│   ├── setup-basic-auth.js  # Optional HTTP Basic Auth middleware
│   └── mods/
│       ├── index.js         # Mod discovery + parallel metadata resolution
│       ├── folderSize.js    # Recursive folder size calculator
│       ├── modFile.js       # Parses mod.cpp for display name
│       └── steamMeta.js     # Parses meta.cpp for Steam Workshop ID
│
├── routes/                  # Express routers (each returns a router factory)
│   ├── servers.js           # /api/servers/* (CRUD + start/stop)
│   ├── missions.js          # /api/missions/* (list/upload/download/delete)
│   ├── mods.js              # /api/mods/* (list/delete)
│   ├── logs.js              # /api/logs/* (list/view/download/delete)
│   └── settings.js          # /api/settings (GET public settings)
│
└── public/                  # Single-page frontend (built by Webpack)
    ├── index.html
    ├── css/styles.css
    └── js/
        ├── app.js           # RequireJS bootstrap + Socket.IO init
        └── app/
            ├── router.js    # Backbone Router (5 routes)
            ├── models/      # Backbone Models
            ├── collections/ # Backbone Collections
            └── views/       # Marionette views

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Feature Inventory

Server Lifecycle

• Create / edit / delete server definitions persisted to servers.json
• Start / stop server processes (Windows .exe, Linux binary, Wine)
• Auto-start servers on application launch (auto_start flag)
• Process ID tracking
• 5-second polling via Gamedig for live state (players, mission, status)

Configuration

• Title, port, max players
• Player password, admin password
• Message of the Day (MOTD, multi-line)
• BattleEye, VoN, signature verification, file patching, persistent mode
• Difficulty override (Recruit / Regular / Veteran / Custom)
• Per-server additional server.cfg text (freeform)
• Per-server startup parameters (e.g. -limitFPS=100)
• Per-server mod selection
• Per-server mission rotation with per-mission difficulty

Mission Management

• List .pbo files from mpmissions/
• Upload up to 64 .pbo files at once (multipart)
• Download from Steam Workshop by ID
• Download mission files to browser
• Delete mission files
• View name, world name, file size, timestamps

Mod Management

• Auto-discover mods via glob patterns (@*, csla, ef, etc.)
• Extract display name from mod.cpp
• Extract Steam Workshop ID from meta.cpp
• Calculate folder sizes recursively (symlink-aware)
• Delete mod folders
• Assign mods per server (split-pane UI)

Log Management

• Discover .rpt log files from platform-appropriate paths:
  • Windows: AppData\Local\[Game]\
  • Linux: [game_path]/logs/
  • Wine: .wine/drive_c/users/.../Application Data/[Game]/
• View log contents inline
• Download logs
• Delete logs
• Auto-cleanup: retain only the 20 newest log files

Headless Clients

• Configure number of headless clients per server
• Auto-launch when server starts, auto-kill when server stops
• Connect to 127.0.0.1:[server_port]

Real-Time Updates

• Socket.IO push for: server state, mission list, mod list, settings
• All connected clients receive updates simultaneously

Authentication

• Optional HTTP Basic Auth (single or multiple users)
• Credentials in config.js; no database

Platform Support

• Windows, Linux, Wine, Docker

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Data Persistence

Data	Storage
Server definitions	servers.json (plain JSON, in-memory on load)
Mission files	[game_path]/mpmissions/ (filesystem)
Mod files	[game_path]/[mod_dirs]/ (filesystem)
Log files	Platform-specific log directory
App config	config.js (static, not written at runtime)

No database. All runtime state lives in the Manager class and is flushed to servers.json on every mutation.