Rust Server Metrics

A metrics gathering HarmonyMod for Rust game servers.

Basic Setup Guide

1. Install Grafana v9+ and InfluxDb v1.8 (v2.0+ is not compatible) on a server
2. Set both of the InfluxDb config variables; max-values-per-tag & max-series-per-database to 0, this is required due to the volume of data that is stored for player based metrics

NOTE: Failure to do this will eventually result in metrics submission failures and the loss of data

3. Restart InfluxDb to apply the config change
4. Create a database in InfluxDb with an appropriate retention policy

NOTE: A good starting point for a retention policy is a total duration of 12 weeks and a shard group duration of 24 hours

5. Create a user with write permissions on the newly create database
6. Import the Dashboard into Grafana and Configure the DataSource variable
7. Stop your Rust server, see warning below
8. Download the latest version of RustServerMetrics.dll from this projects latest release and copy it to the HarmonyMods folder in your rust server directory
9. Start your Rust Server, see warning below
10. Once the server has started and the mod has loaded, setup your configuration file located HarmonyMods_Data/ServerMetrics/Configuration.json
11. Reload the configuration file by issuing the command servermetrics.reloadcfg

WARNING: Never update or delete a HarmonyMod DLL file when the rust server is running, this can lead to your server throwing random Invalid IL exceptions and eventually crash

Configuration

Sample

HarmonyMods_Data/ServerMetrics/Configuration.json

{
  "Enabled": true,
  "Influx Database Url": "https://my-influx-database:8086",
  "Influx Database Name": "rust-server-metrics",
  "Influx Database User": "my-database-user",
  "Influx Database Password": "my-super-secret-password-thats-a-decent-size",
  "Server Tag": "us-10x",
  "Debug Logging": false,
  "Amount of metrics to submit in each request": 1000
}

Explanation

Enabled

If set to true, the mod will collect and submit metrics to your configured InfluxDb.

Influx Database Url

The Url that your InfluxDb is accessible at.

NOTE: It is highly recommended that you setup a valid SSL certificate for this if you plan to access the database over the internet

Influx Database Name

The name of the database setup in step 4.

Influx Database User

The username of a user created in step 5.

Influx Database Password

The password for the user created in step 5.

Server Tag

This is a static tag that is added to all records submitted by your rust server to the database, this tag should be different for each rust server

TIP: You can have multiple rust game servers submit data the same InfluxDb database if you use different server tags for them

Debug Logging

Setting this to true with output the raw HTTP response for failed submission attempts, it is reccomended to disable this once your server is up and connected as it can cause performance issues.

Amount of metrics to submit in each request

This field configures exactly how many individual statistics records should be sent in each HTTP request, too high will result in sending of records taking large amounts of time and potentially causing FPS issues on your server, too low and the Mod will begin discarding records as they are being generated faster than they are being sent.

The minimum value this field can be set to it 1000.

NOTE: 200 -> 600 pop servers have been tested without issue with this set to 1000

Commands

servermetrics.reloadcfg

If you have made changes to the config file directly, you can run this console command and it will load the changes.

servermetrics.status

This command will output whether the Mod is ready to collect metrics, whether the report uploader is sending a http request and how many records are in the send buffer.

Remarks

Report Buffer Size

The report buffer is hardcoded to a size of 100,000 reports, once this buffer size is exceeded, the Mod will begin to discard reports, of which will cause data to be missing from your Grafana dashboard.

If you plan to play around with the Amount of metrics to submit in each request configuration variable, ensure you watch the size of the report buffer.

Securing InfluxDB 1.8

IMPORTANT - Failure to secure your InfluxDB can result in your data being accessible to the general public! Please follow all steps below

Enable Authentication

1. Edit the InfluxDB Configuration File: Locate the InfluxDB configuration file (influxdb.conf), usually found in /etc/influxdb/.

2. Enable HTTP Authentication:

   • Find the [http] section.
   • Set auth-enabled to true.

   [http]
     auth-enabled = true
   

3. Restart InfluxDB: Apply the configuration changes by restarting the InfluxDB service.

   sudo systemctl restart influxdb

4. Create Users with Passwords:

   • Access the InfluxDB shell.

   influx

   • Create an admin user (replace <username> and <password> with your desired credentials).

   CREATE USER <username> WITH PASSWORD '<password>' WITH ALL PRIVILEGES
   

   • Optionally, create additional users with fewer privileges as needed.

Secure the InfluxDB with HTTPS

1. Obtain SSL Certificates: You can use a tool like Let's Encrypt or generate a self-signed certificate.

2. Configure HTTPS in InfluxDB:

   • In the influxdb.conf file, locate the [http] section again.
   • Set https-enabled to true.
   • Provide the paths to your SSL certificate and key.

   [http]
     https-enabled = true
     https-certificate = "/path/to/your/certificate.pem"
     https-private-key = "/path/to/your/privatekey.pem"
   

3. Restart InfluxDB to apply the HTTPS settings.

   sudo systemctl restart influxdb

Firewall Configuration

• Ensure your firewall is configured to allow only trusted traffic to the InfluxDB ports (8086 for HTTP by default, or 8084 if HTTPS is enabled).

Regularly Update InfluxDB

• Keep your InfluxDB version up to date with the latest security patches by regularly checking for and applying updates.

Backup Your Data Regularly

• Regularly backup your InfluxDB data to prevent data loss in case of a security breach or failure.

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