Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager is a small Linux CLI tool for FiveM/RedM FXServer.

The tool helps you detect existing server installations, update FXServer artifacts safely, and optionally clear the cache after an update.

It is mainly designed for Pterodactyl servers, but it also works with manual Linux installations.

In short:

cd /ur/location/server/mainfolder
sdev adoptserver
sdev install-artifact --clean

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Important disclaimer

Always create a backup before using this tool on a live server.

Even though Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager is designed to update artifacts safely, every server setup is different. Wrong paths, custom folder structures, permission issues, interrupted downloads, or manual changes can always cause problems.

Before your first use, and before every important artifact update, back up at least:

server.cfg
resources/
txData/

If possible, also back up your current artifact folder:

alpine/

You are responsible for your own server files. Never run artifact updates on a production server without a working backup.

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Why Linux?

For FXServer hosting, Linux is usually the better choice than Windows.

Linux is lighter, more efficient, and much easier to automate on servers. Especially when working with Pterodactyl, Docker, shell scripts, and server maintenance, Linux feels much more natural.

Windows can work, but for production game servers Linux is usually cleaner, more stable, and easier to maintain.

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What can this tool do?

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager can currently:

• automatically detect existing FXServer installations
• detect the artifact folder, usually alpine
• detect the resources folder
• detect the server.cfg
• detect the cache folder
• create a local sdev.json
• create a local sdev.lock.json
• import existing resources without overwriting them
• use the recommended FiveM Linux artifact from JG Scripts
• safely update FXServer artifacts
• ask whether the cache should be cleared after an artifact update
• clear the cache manually
• add new resources from GitHub, Git, or ZIP links
• update managed resources
• list resources
• remove resources from management

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What does this tool not do?

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager does not replace:

• Pterodactyl
• txAdmin
• your server panel
• your database management
• backups

If you use Pterodactyl, you should still start and stop your server through the Pterodactyl panel.

This tool is meant for file-level management: artifacts, cache, resources, and configuration.

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Requirements

Install the required packages first:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3 git tar unzip

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager does not require any extra Python libraries.

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Installation

Extract the ZIP file:

unzip SDEV_linux_manager_v0_5.zip
cd SDEV_linux_manager_v0_5

Make the files executable:

chmod +x sdev.py install.sh

Install as root:

install -m 755 sdev.py /usr/local/bin/sdev

Or with sudo:

sudo ./install.sh

Check the installation:

sdev --version

Expected output:

sdev 0.5.0

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Quick start for existing servers

Go into your server folder.

On a Pterodactyl host, this usually looks like this:

cd /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/YOUR-SERVER-ID

Example:

cd /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/45abe830-c0e3-4604-a97d-32fa3a352652

Let the tool detect the server:

sdev adoptserver

Check the status:

sdev status

Update the artifact:

sdev install-artifact --clean

After the update, the tool asks:

Clear cache folder 'cache' now? [Y/n]

Press Enter or Y to clear the cache.
Press n to skip cache clearing.

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Typical Pterodactyl structure

A typical installation looks like this:

/home/container/
├── alpine/
├── cache/
├── resources/
├── txData/
└── server.cfg

On the host system, the same content is usually located here:

/var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/SERVER-ID/
├── alpine/
├── cache/
├── resources/
├── txData/
└── server.cfg

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager detects this structure automatically.

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Important note about alpine

FiveM Linux artifacts are usually extracted into a folder named alpine.

Most servers therefore use this structure:

/home/container/
├── alpine/
├── cache/
├── resources/
├── txData/
└── server.cfg

For normal servers, you do not need to do anything special.
Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager detects alpine automatically.

If your server uses a different artifact folder for some reason, you can set it manually:

sdev adoptserver --artifact-folder alpine --force

For most Pterodactyl servers, this is enough:

sdev adoptserver

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Command: adoptserver

sdev adoptserver

This command scans the current folder and looks for:

• artifact folder
• resources
• server.cfg
• cache

After that, the tool creates:

sdev.json
sdev.lock.json

Example output:

SDEV adopted the current server folder.

Detected layout:
  Artifact folder: alpine
  Resources dir:   resources
  Server cfg:      server.cfg
  Cache dir:       cache

Generated config:
  Artifact extract:  .
  Artifact clean:    alpine
  Artifact expected: alpine
  Resources dir:     resources
  Server cfg:        server.cfg
  Cache dir:         cache
  Cache after update:ask

Imported local resources as unmanaged: 13

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What happens to existing resources?

Existing resources are not overwritten.

When you run:

sdev adoptserver

the tool only imports your existing resources into the lockfile.

They are marked as local/unmanaged.

That means:

• SDEV knows the resource exists
• SDEV does not delete it
• SDEV does not overwrite it
• sdev update does not update it

This is intentional, so existing servers can be adopted safely.

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Artifact updates

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager uses the recommended Linux artifact from JG Scripts by default.

Show artifact information:

sdev artifact-info

Install or update the artifact:

sdev install-artifact --clean

Only the configured artifact folder is deleted and reinstalled.

For a normal Pterodactyl installation, that is:

alpine/

These files and folders are not deleted:

resources/
txData/
server.cfg
sdev.json
sdev.lock.json
cache/

The cache is only cleared if you confirm the cache prompt.

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Install artifact from a direct URL

You can also use a direct artifact link:

sdev install-artifact "https://runtime.fivem.net/artifacts/fivem/build_proot_linux/master/XXXXX/fx.tar.xz" --clean

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Clear cache

After an artifact update, the tool asks automatically:

Clear cache folder 'cache' now? [Y/n]

Answers:

Enter   clear cache
Y       clear cache
n       do not clear cache

Clear cache manually:

sdev clear-cache

Without confirmation:

sdev clear-cache -y

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Change cache mode

By default, Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager asks after every artifact update.

Ask after updates:

sdev cache-mode ask

Always clear automatically:

sdev cache-mode always

Never clear automatically:

sdev cache-mode never

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Add resources

New resources can be managed by SDEV.

GitHub example:

sdev add https://github.com/overextended/ox_lib --name ox_lib

Git repository:

sdev add https://github.com/example/example-resource.git --name example-resource

ZIP file:

sdev add https://example.com/resource.zip --name resource-name

Newly added resources are saved as managed.

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Update resources

sdev update

Rules:

• managed Git resources are updated with git pull --ff-only
• managed archive resources are downloaded again
• local/unmanaged resources are skipped

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List resources

sdev list

Example:

[core]                         local    local
[standalone]                   local    local
ox_lib                         git      managed  https://github.com/overextended/ox_lib.git

Meaning:

local      existing resource, will not be overwritten
managed    resource managed by SDEV

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Remove a resource

Delete the resource and remove it from the lockfile:

sdev remove ox_lib

Only remove it from the lockfile, but keep the folder:

sdev remove ox_lib --lock-only

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Show status

sdev status

Example:

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager v0.5.0
Project:             45abe830-c0e3-4604-a97d-32fa3a352652
Profile:             auto
Artifact source:     jgscripts
Artifact version:    30439
Artifact URL:        https://runtime.fivem.net/artifacts/...
Artifact extract:    .
Artifact clean:      alpine
Artifact expected:   alpine
Resources dir:       resources
Server cfg:          server.cfg
Cache dir:           cache
Cache after update:  ask
Resources in lock:   13

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Check an artifact for known issues

Check a specific artifact:

sdev check-artifact 30439

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Start the server

There is a run command:

sdev run

For Pterodactyl installations, you normally should not use this command.

Start your server through the Pterodactyl panel as usual.

sdev run is mainly useful for manual installations or testing.

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Files

After running:

sdev adoptserver

two files are created:

sdev.json
sdev.lock.json

sdev.json

Stores the local server configuration.

Example:

{
  "name": "45abe830-c0e3-4604-a97d-32fa3a352652",
  "profile": "auto",
  "artifact_source": "jgscripts",
  "artifact_url": "",
  "artifact_extract_dir": ".",
  "artifact_clean_paths": [
    "alpine"
  ],
  "artifact_expected_dir": "alpine",
  "server_dir": ".",
  "resources_dir": "resources",
  "server_cfg": "server.cfg",
  "cache_dir": "cache",
  "clear_cache_after_artifact_update": "ask"
}

sdev.lock.json

Stores:

• known resources
• managed resources
• local/unmanaged resources
• last installed artifact
• artifact URL
• artifact version

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Safety

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager refuses dangerous delete paths like:

/
.
./
~

Clean and cache paths must be inside the current server folder.

For a correctly detected Pterodactyl installation, an artifact update only deletes:

alpine/

These files and folders are not deleted:

resources/
txData/
server.cfg
sdev.json
sdev.lock.json

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Recommended Pterodactyl workflow

Stop the server in the panel first.

Then run this on the host:

cd /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/YOUR-SERVER-ID
sdev artifact-info
sdev install-artifact --clean

Answer the cache prompt.

Then start the server again in the panel.

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Backup recommendation

Before the first use, creating a backup is recommended:

cd /var/lib/pterodactyl/volumes/YOUR-SERVER-ID
tar -czf backup-before-sdev.tar.gz server.cfg resources txData

Optionally back up the artifact folder too:

tar -czf alpine-backup.tar.gz alpine

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Common errors

sdev: command not found

SDEV is not installed.

Fix:

install -m 755 sdev.py /usr/local/bin/sdev

Check:

which sdev
sdev --version

---

invalid choice: adoptserver

An old version is still installed.

Fix:

install -m 755 sdev.py /usr/local/bin/sdev

Then check:

sdev --version

---

sdev.json already exists

The server has already been adopted.

Scan again:

sdev adoptserver --force

---

Artifact folder is not detected

Set it manually:

sdev adoptserver --artifact-folder alpine --force

---

Resources folder is not detected

Set it manually:

sdev adoptserver --resources-dir resources --force

---

server.cfg is not detected

Set it manually:

sdev adoptserver --server-cfg server.cfg --force

---

Cache folder is not detected

Set it manually:

sdev adoptserver --cache-dir cache --force

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Important commands

sdev --version
sdev --help

sdev adoptserver
sdev adoptserver --force
sdev status

sdev artifact-info
sdev artifact-info --show-broken
sdev check-artifact 30439

sdev install-artifact --clean
sdev install-artifact --clean --clear-cache
sdev install-artifact --clean --no-cache
sdev update-artifact --recommended

sdev clear-cache
sdev clear-cache -y
sdev cache-mode ask
sdev cache-mode always
sdev cache-mode never

sdev add https://github.com/overextended/ox_lib --name ox_lib
sdev list
sdev update
sdev remove ox_lib
sdev remove ox_lib --lock-only

sdev run

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Current limitations

Sinners DEV. Artifact Manager currently cannot:

• start or stop Pterodactyl servers automatically
• manage txAdmin
• create database backups
• create full server snapshots
• perform automatic rollbacks
• automatically check resource dependencies
• manage multiple server profiles

---

Roadmap ideas

Possible future features:

• sdev backup
• sdev restore
• sdev rollback-artifact
• sdev snapshot
• sdev doctor
• permission checks
• automatic ownership fixes
• Discord webhook after updates
• Pterodactyl API integration
• update history

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Short version

Adopt a server:

sdev adoptserver

Update artifact:

sdev install-artifact --clean

Confirm cache clearing:

Clear cache folder 'cache' now? [Y/n]

Check status:

sdev status

Linux servers, clean artifacts, less stress.