Installing and Running MTASA Server on GNU Linux

Installation 64 bit

Main binary

Download the latest stable 64 bit Linux binaries:

rm -f multitheftauto_linux_x64.tar.gz
wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/multitheftauto_linux_x64.tar.gz

Unpack into a directory:

tar -xf multitheftauto_linux_x64.tar.gz

Default config

Download the default config files:

rm -f baseconfig.tar.gz
wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/baseconfig.tar.gz

Unpack and move into the deathmatch directory:
(Note: Only do this for new installations as it will overwrite any existing config files.)

tar -xf baseconfig.tar.gz
mv baseconfig/* multitheftauto_linux_x64/mods/deathmatch

Change to the MTA server install directory:

cd multitheftauto_linux_x64

Test

You can now test if the server will start correctly:

./mta-server64

If your server comes up with issues such as:

libtinfo.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

you may have either a newer or older version of the Shared Object file. In such cases, it is warranted to create a symbolic link with that same name to the newer or older Shared Object file, with for example:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.6 /usr/lib/libtinfo.so.5

Of course, the location of these files could depend on your distribution of GNU/Linux; refer to your distribution's documentation on the location of the files.

Default resources

If you need the default resources: Download the latest default resources zip from https://mirror.multitheftauto.com/mtasa/resources/ and unzip into mods/deathmatch/resources
Make sure you are in the MTA server install directory when following this example:

apt-get install unzip
mkdir mods/deathmatch/resources
cd mods/deathmatch/resources
rm -f mtasa-resources-latest.zip

wget https://mirror.multitheftauto.com/mtasa/resources/mtasa-resources-latest.zip

unzip mtasa-resources-latest.zip
rm -f mtasa-resources-latest.zip
cd ../../..

Installation 32 bit

Main binary

Download the latest stable 32 bit Linux binaries:

rm -f multitheftauto_linux.tar.gz
wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/multitheftauto_linux.tar.gz

Unpack into a directory:

tar -xf multitheftauto_linux.tar.gz

Default config

Download the default config files:

rm -f baseconfig.tar.gz
wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/baseconfig.tar.gz

Unpack and move into the deathmatch directory:
(Note: Only do this for new installations as it will overwrite any existing config files.)

tar -xf baseconfig.tar.gz
mv baseconfig/* multitheftauto_linux/mods/deathmatch

Change to the MTA server install directory:

cd multitheftauto_linux

Test

You can now test if the server will start correctly:

./mta-server

Default resources

If you need the default resources: Download the latest default resources zip from https://mirror.multitheftauto.com/mtasa/resources/ and unzip into mods/deathmatch/resources
Make sure you are in the MTA server install directory when following this example:

apt-get install unzip
mkdir mods/deathmatch/resources
cd mods/deathmatch/resources
rm -f mtasa-resources-latest.zip

wget https://mirror.multitheftauto.com/mtasa/resources/mtasa-resources-latest.zip

unzip mtasa-resources-latest.zip
rm -f mtasa-resources-latest.zip
cd ../../..

Running with 32 or 64 bit Linux

Make sure your server libraries and stuff are up to date

On Debian/Ubuntu this is done with:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

Troubleshooting

• If you get a problem with such as "libreadline.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory.", it can be solved on 32 bit Debian/Ubuntu by doing this:

apt-get install libreadline5

• If you get a problem with such as "libncursesw.so.5 cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory", it can be solved on 32 bit Debian/Ubuntu by doing this:

apt-get install libncursesw5

Note: If you experience this issue on a 64-bit machine while trying to run the 32-bit MTA server, then you should install the following package on a 64-bit Debian/Ubuntu machine (as root):

apt-get install lib32ncursesw5

You can find more 32-bit library alternatives on this page: www.debian.org/distrib/packages#search_contents.

If you're running on Arch may need to install ncurses5-compat-libs from AUR.

MySQL Troubleshooting

• If you are using the inbuilt MySQL functions such as dbConnect and dbQuery, you will need to have libmysqlclient.so.16 installed.
• If you get a problem with such as "libmysqlclient.so.16: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory", it can be solved on Debian/Ubuntu by doing this:

apt-get install libmysqlclient16

If that fails:

• For 32 bit Linux, download 32 bit libmysqlclient.so.16 and put it in /usr/lib/
• For 64 bit Linux, download 64 bit libmysqlclient.so.16 and put it in /usr/lib/

[Optional] Installing and Configuring an External Web Server

Instructions on how to install and configure Nginx as an external web server for MTA is here: Installing and Configuring Nginx as an External Web Server

Server crashes

If your Linux server crashes, please obtain a backtrace and post a report on our Bug tracker

Do you have a core dump file in the the MTA server directory?

It's usually called 'core', and usually over 100MB, and looks something like this:

If you have a core dump file in the the MTA server directory:

• Install gdb. To install gdb on Debian, use this command:

apt-get install gdb

• And from the MTA install directory do this command

gdb mta-server -c core

• When gdb launches, do this command to get a module list:

i sh

• And then this command to get a backtrace:

bt

• Save the output
• (To exit gdb, use the quit command)

If you do not have a core dump file in the the MTA server directory:

• Install gdb. To install gdb on Debian, use this command:

apt-get install gdb

• And from the MTA server directory start the mta-server like this:

gdb -ex "set print thread-events off" --eval-command run --args mta-server -q

• Now wait for a crash. (Ignore any weird screen output in the meantime)
• When a crash occurs, do this command to get a module list:

i sh

• And then this command to get a backtrace:

bt

• Save the output
• (To exit gdb, use the quit command)

Server freezes

If your Linux server freezes, please obtain a backtrace with thread information and post a report on our Bug tracker

To obtain a backtrace with thread information:

• Install gdb. To install gdb on Debian, use this command:

apt-get install gdb

• And from the MTA server directory start the mta-server like this:

gdb -ex "set print thread-events off" --eval-command run --args mta-server -q

• Now wait for a freeze. (Ignore any weird screen output in the meantime)
• When a freeze occurs, press ctrl-c to start gdb
• Then do this command to get a module list:

i sh

• And then this command to get a backtrace:

bt

• And then this command to get thread information:

info threads

• Save the output
• (To exit gdb, use the quit command)

Automatic installer

Prerequisites

Make sure you have bash, unzip, tar and wget available on your server. Also notice that for 64-bit servers the 64-bit binary will be installed, otherwise 32-bit binary will be.

Source code

#!/bin/bash -x
#==============================================================================#
#                                mtasa-install                                 #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
#  This shellscript installs MTA:SA on your server. You can configure it and   #
#  modify it as desired, you can even improve it if you want.                  #
#==============================================================================#
 
ARCH_TYPE=""
 
getArchitecture()
{
    if ((1<<32)); then
        ARCH_TYPE="_x64"
    fi
}
 
downloadFiles()
{
    wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/multitheftauto_linux${ARCH_TYPE}.tar.gz
    wget https://linux.multitheftauto.com/dl/baseconfig.tar.gz
}
 
unpack()
{
    tar -xf multitheftauto_linux${ARCH_TYPE}.tar.gz
    tar -xf baseconfig.tar.gz
}
 
moveConfig()
{
    mv baseconfig/* multitheftauto_linux${ARCH_TYPE}/mods/deathmatch
    rm -rf baseconfig
    cd multitheftauto_linux${ARCH_TYPE}
}
 
installResources()
{
    mkdir mods/deathmatch/resources
    cd mods/deathmatch/resources
    wget https://mirror.multitheftauto.com/mtasa/resources/mtasa-resources-latest.zip
    unzip mtasa-resources-latest.zip
    cd ../../..
}
 
clean()
{
    rm -f ../multitheftauto_linux${ARCH_TYPE}.tar.gz
    rm -f ../baseconfig.tar.gz
    rm -f mods/deathmatch/resources/mtasa-resources-latest.zip
}
 
main()
{
    getArchitecture
    clean
    downloadFiles
    unpack
    moveConfig
    installResources
    clean
 
    if ((1<<32)); then # 64 bits
        echo "Installation ready! Use ./mta-server64 to initialize server"
    else
        echo "Installation ready! Use ./mta-server to initialize server"
    fi
}
 
main # calling program entry point

Procedure

To proceed with installation, save somewhere with read-write-execute access (777) the mtasa-install shell. Finally, proceed to execute it (./mtasa-install for example).

Alternative way to install server

https://linuxgsm.com/lgsm/mtaserver/