AWS Cloud Gaming

This repo will automate the creation and connection to an AWS EC2 spot instance to be used for cloud gaming.

Prerequisites

• Running on an Ubuntu system
• AWS CLI (v2) is installed
• Node.js and NPM are installed
• You have sudo permissions on your current system

Configuration

Environment Variables

Name	Description	Example
AWS_CLOUD_GAMING_PROFILE	The AWS profile to use corresponding to a profile in your AWS config (usually ~/.aws/config). Defaults to personal This profile should have permissions to create the appropriate resources in AWS, including CloudFormation stacks, and EC2 instances	AWS_CLOUD_GAMING_PROFILE=uber-sandbox
AWS_CLOUD_GAMING_SSH_KEY	The name of some key pair that exists in AWS and that you have locally in your ~/.ssh directory	AWS_CLOUD_GAMING_SSH_KEY=team-building

CDK Variables

Modify the following properties in the cloud-gaming-on-ec2 stack:

Parameter Name	Description
ACCOUNT_ID	The AWS account ID you want to use
REGION	The AWS region in which you want the resources created
VPC_ID	The ID of the VPC you wish to deploy the instance into
SUBNET_ID	The ID of a public subnet that you want your instance deployed into
SUBNET_AVAILABILITY_ZONE	The availability zone of the subnet you provided

Running the application

To run the application, simply run

./cloud-gaming.sh

from the root directory and follow all instructions/menu choices and the script will take care of everything else!

Debugging

The scripts output logs to /tmp/cloud-gaming.log for easy debugging and auditing.

Note that CDK specific logs are output for each CDK task (synth, bootstrap, deploy) in their own log files to make debugging the CDK easier:

• synth outputs logs to /tmp/cdk-synth.log
• bootstrap outputs logs to /tmp/cdk-bootstrap.log
• deploy outputs logs to /tmp/cdk-deploy.log

Customizing the EC2 Instance

Change the Instance type

To change the instance type, simply create a new stack that subclasses the base.ts, and override the getUserData() and getInstanceType() methods to change the type, and customize the user data for the instance. Just make sure to add the new call to this stack in cloud-gaming-on-ec2.ts

Log into instance desktop

You can log into the desktop of the instance via the Manage Personal Instance menu in the cloud-gaming.sh script.

Managing instance state

All personal instance management can be achieved via the Manage Personal Instance menu in the cloud-gaming.sh script. This includes

• Checking the state of the instance (started, stopped, terminated, etc.)
• Start the instance
• Stop the instance

Managing the Stream

There are two types of streams this project enables: Personal and Shared

Personal Streams

A personal stream is a Steam Link stream to your personal EC2 instance. This is ideal for online multiplayer games where players all play on their own machines.

You can start a stream to your personal instance via the Stream Settings menu in the cloud-gaming.sh script. This will prompt to start your personal instance if it's not already started.

Shared Streams

A shared stream is a Steam Link stream to an instance that multiple people are connecting to at once. This is ideal for couch co-op games like Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart, etc. where everyone needs to be on the same machine.

You can either be a host or a player in a shared stream.

Hosts host the shared stream on their EC2 instance, and players are the other players connecting to that same instance.

The Stream Settings menu in the cloud-gaming.sh script will guide you through the setup of either the host or player stream for a shared stream.

Note: A Shared stream will not overwrite your settings to connect to your personal instance. You'll just have to change back to your personal instance in Steam Link via the Gear icon -> Computers menu.

Troubleshooting

I can't connect to my instance again after rebooting

Your public IP may have changed, so you may be blocked from the security group. To correct it, simply re-deploy the stack and skip the setup steps again. This will update the security group with your current public IP address and allow you access to the instance again.

Built With

• Bash - Shell that all the scripts are written in
• Node.js - JS runtime for CDK
• TypeScript - CDK stacks and constructs are written in TS
• AWS CDK - AWS Cloud Development Kit is IaC using familiar programming languages. It's used to define the EC2 instance
• AWS CLI - Used to manage the EC2 instance; e.g. get credentials for instance, start/stop/restart instance, check instance status, etc.
• Whiptail - Used to create a TUI for the user
• Dialog - Used to display tail boxes for long-running processes like CDK deploys
• NICE DCV - High-performance RDP for connecting to EC2 instance desktop
• Xvfb - X Virtual FrameBuffer, used to open a connection to your instance via NICE DCV in the background. Necessary to allow SteamLink connections to your instance
• Steam Link - High quality, low latency stream from your machine to your EC2 instance that forwards all inputs, controllers or otherwise.
• Flatpak - Used to install Steam Link (Ubuntu only)
• xdotool - X11 automation tool to minimize the terminal
• pulsemixer - Used to mute NICE DCV running in Xvfb so there's no echoing of sound between Steam Link and NICE DCV
• nc - Ping the EC2 instance on port 8443 to see when NICE DCV is running