Server Ops Runbook

Server Ops Runbook

This page is the operator entrypoint for running, packaging and observing Wasp Warfare. It links the operational pieces from Tools and build workflow, External integrations, Testing/debugging/release workflow and Self-host testing field notes.

If you arrived from a broad "server runtime and operations" prompt, start with Server runtime and operations to choose between this runbook, gameplay runtime loops, integration trust boundaries and release/testing gates.

What Ships In The Repo

Area	Repo artifact	Operator meaning
Mission source	Missions/[55-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.chernarus	Source mission for gameplay edits and source-backed docs.
Generated maintained mission	Missions_Vanilla/[61-2hc]warfarev2_073v48co.takistan	LoadoutManager copy/generation target. Use the skip-list rules before hand-editing it.
Build/generation tool	Tools/LoadoutManager	Generates EASA/balance/version outputs, copies Chernarus to maintained Vanilla and optionally packages _MISSIONS.7z.
Offline performance parser	Tools/PerformanceAuditAnalyzer	Parses existing [Performance Audit] RPT/log files; see Tools/build.
Discord/status integration	DiscordBot, Extension, BattlEyeFilter/publicvariable.txt	Runtime status, global stats and AFK filter stub; see External integrations.

What Is Not In The Repo

Missing artifact	Why it matters
server.cfg / basic.cfg	Server identity, password, mission rotation, difficulty and network tuning are operator-owned.
Complete BattlEye filter bundle	The repo only ships publicvariable.txt for kickAFK; no scripts.txt, createvehicle.txt, setvariable.txt or similar production bundle is present.
Server restart/deploy wrapper	A repo scan found no tracked server restart/deploy/copy wrapper script. Tools/PerformanceAuditAnalyzer does ship local desktop/helper launchers, but those start the offline log analyzer only. Use documented tools/manual deployment unless a new server wrapper is added later.
DiscordBot/token.txt and DiscordBot/preferences.json	Required for bot runtime and intentionally ignored.
Separate A2WaspDatabase extension	AntiStack uses this out-of-repo DLL; the in-repo Extension project is the global game stats writer.
Production BEpath, extension install path and profile/RPT locations	Needed before release or live-server support claims are reproducible.

Deploying mission changes — the client PBO-cache trap (READ FIRST)

A new mission PBO must use a new FILENAME if the change touches anything the client runs. Arma 2 OA caches downloaded missions by filename in the client MPMissionsCache; a same-filename content change is re-downloaded unreliably and clients usually reuse the stale cache. An in-place hotfix (same name) therefore reaches the server but not the player — every client-side fix stays invisible. This cost an entire debugging cycle in June 2026 (the server had the fix; players ran the stale cached b742aicom). The repo's version history (…b55 … …b742aicom) bumps the filename per build for exactly this reason.

• Client-side change (Client/*, Init_Client.sqf, GUI, marker FSMs): deploy under a new PBO filename (e.g. …b743aicom → …b744aicom), set the PBO prefix to match, and repoint the server.cfg mission template to the new name. Confirm via the client RPT (new telemetry present), not just the server RPT.
• Server-only change (Server/*, HC AICOM logic): takes effect in-place on a restart; a rename is optional.
• Editing server.cfg: stop the service first — it is file-locked while the server runs (Set-Content fails "being used by another process"). Stop → edit → restart.
• Bracketed PBO paths ([55-2hc]…): use literal-path copy ([IO.File]::Copy), not wildcard-expanding Copy-Item/Get-Item (which silently no-ops).
• Restart wrapper runs a ~5-minute headless-client reseat dance and archives the RPT; wait for a new "RESTART DONE" marker rather than racing it.
• Boot-smoke = MISSINIT shows the new build name + ErrInExpr=0.

Full root-cause writeup (and the related A2-OA JIP data-delivery limitation that drove the rename): JIP Enrollment And Client Data Delivery.

Deployment Inventory Fields

Before calling a host reproducible, record these owner-provided paths/versions in the deployment notes:

Artifact	Record
Arma server config	Absolute paths for server.cfg, basic.cfg, profile directory and active mission/PBO location.
BattlEye	Active BEpath, publicvariable.txt, scripts.txt and any command-specific filters such as createvehicle.txt, setvariable.txt, setdamage.txt, deletevehicle.txt and mpeventhandler.txt.
Extensions	Installed x86 a2waspwarfare_Extension DLL path/version and separate A2WaspDatabase DLL path/version when AntiStack is enabled.
DiscordBot	Runtime folder, token.txt, preferences.json, selected DataSourcePath and readable database.json location.
Logs	Server RPT path, client RPT capture plan, extension logs and DiscordBot logs.

Release Artifact Checklist

1. Generate/copy missions with LoadoutManager from a repo root that contains Missions, Missions_Vanilla and Tools/LoadoutManager/LoadoutManager.csproj, or from a normal a2waspwarfare clone.
2. Set A2WASP_SKIP_ZIP=1 for propagation-only runs. Configure 7za only when producing _MISSIONS.7z.
3. Inspect generated version.sqf files before packing. They are git-ignored generated inputs; release config should deliberately set WF_DEBUG and WF_LOG_CONTENT.
4. Copy or package mission folders only after source Chernarus and maintained Vanilla scope are clear. LoadoutManager sync can delete destination-only files/directories (FileManager.cs:116-119,123-136), so snapshot generated mission trees before propagation and do not hand-edit generated targets as if they were durable source.
5. Deploy BattlEye filters from the actual server BEpath. Do not assume the repo's kickAFK filter is comprehensive.
6. Deploy a2waspwarfare_Extension and the separate A2WaspDatabase only with their expected x86/.NET Framework/runtime dependencies.
7. Provide DiscordBot token.txt, a valid parseable preferences.json and a readable database.json data source outside git. database.json can fall back to default bot data if absent, but preferences.json is read before the token check in the current bot startup path; malformed or JSON-null preferences can also break later command/status paths because runtime code assumes Preferences.Instance is non-null. The active status reader uses Preferences.Instance.DataSourcePath / default data path; FileConfiguration.cs and botconfig.json are secondary helper paths and should not be treated as the one source of truth until integration cleanup picks a single path. Because botconfig.json is not currently ignored, do not put live secrets or production-only paths there casually.
8. Preserve rollback copies of the previous mission package and server configuration.

Runtime Telemetry Contracts

Signal family	Operational contract	Canonical detail
Server FPS	Dedicated publishers feed RHUD/server-FPS compatibility state; hosted/listen loop behavior is a release-scope smoke item.	Hosted server FPS loop sleep, Server gameplay runtime atlas
Client delegation FPS	Player clients report FPS for delegation mode 1; do not trust it as a security signal.	AI runtime/HC loop map, Headless delegation/failover
Performance audit rows	Collect server and client RPTs; the parser consumes literal [Performance Audit] rows, not a live daemon stream.	Tools/build, PerformanceAuditAnalyzer
Global stats / Discord status	In-repo extension writes database.json; DiscordBot polls the selected data path; AntiStack uses a separate missing DB extension.	External integrations, AntiStack database extension audit

Operational caveats:

• Collect the server RPT for server-scope performance and each client RPT for client/RHUD/UI performance. Client and server performance audit writers are local to their own RPTs.
• GlobalGameStats.sqf subtracts all live connected headless clients (dynamic count from WFBE_HEADLESSCLIENTS_ID registry) from player count; smoke no-HC and multi-HC deployments before relying on Discord player counts.
• origin/feat/player-stats has a branch-only StatsService/stats.json flow. Current source uses the global database.json status path.

Dedicated Versus Listen Server

initJIPCompatible.sqf:52 sets isHostedServer for single-player or listen-server hosts, then branches server/client/headless init at :61, :70, :218 and :224.

Use Self-host testing field notes for local listen-server gotchas: clear %LOCALAPPDATA%\ArmA 2 OA\Tmp<PORT>\__cur_mp.pbo, keep HC password flags symmetrical, and attribute RPT warnings by line order rather than frame number.

Use dedicated smoke for authority, BattlEye, AntiStack, extension and publicVariable behavior. Use listen-server smoke for fast UI/gameplay iteration only, and do not call a fix release-ready until the required Testing/debugging/release workflow smoke level is recorded.

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Related: Testing/debugging/release workflow | Self-host testing field notes | AntiStack database extension audit