Game Servers for Blesta

Game Servers for Blesta creates, suspends, upgrades and deletes Pelican and Pterodactyl servers with the service, and gives your customers a full game server menu right in the Blesta client area.

The whole service lifecycle

• Activation creates the server: panel user found or created, node and ports chosen, server installed with the package's egg
• Suspend and unsuspend with the service, cancel deletes the server (optionally the panel user with its last server)
• Package changes and configurable options upgrade the server: new limits, more ports, even a different egg with reinstall
• Staff see the server on the service, with Apply package settings and Reinstall

A game server menu for your customers

Every feature is its own entry in Blesta's service menu:

• Game server: address, status, game and resources, Start, Restart, Stop, Kill, live gauges for CPU, memory, disk and network, the SFTP address and an "Open game panel" button
• Console: live output and commands in the client area; the Minecraft EULA accepted with one click
• Schedules with presets and tasks (command, power action, backup), run now, pause, edit
• Backups: create, download, lock and delete within the package's limit

Your texus extensions, built in

When your panel runs texus extensions, the matching entries appear by themselves:

• Statistics (Usage Statistics): CPU, memory, disk and network charts for 24 hours, 7 or 30 days
• Workflows (Schedules Plus): step by step automations with templates and run history
• Subdomains (Subdomain Manager): addresses like survival.example.com with SRV record
• Domains (Custom Domains): the customer's own domain for a web app, with DNS check
• Databases (Database Manager): browse tables, search, run SQL
• Import (Server Importer): copy a server from another host over SFTP or FTP
• Trash (File Explorer): restore deleted files
• Split server (Server Splitter): split the package into several servers; resources given away stay with them on upgrades
• Idle Stop and SFTP Address on the overview

Per package, you choose which of these features customers get.

Pelican and Pterodactyl

• The panel type is detected from its API: Pelican Panel 1.0 and Pterodactyl Panel 1.x
• Pelican node tags or Pterodactyl locations pick region or hardware
• Port range, dedicated IP and extra ports on the same IP as the main port
• Egg drop-down with the eggs of your panel, egg variables per package or configurable option

Built to be safe and reliable

• A customer only ever reaches their own server: every request goes through the module, which looks the server up by the service and passes on a fixed list of panel routes
• Servers and users carry external IDs, so Blesta always finds its server again
• Suspend, unsuspend and cancel keep working even without a valid licence
• Tested through a real Blesta 6.0.3 against Pterodactyl 1.15.1: service, install, suspend, upgrade with egg change, licence check, cancel, and every client area entry; the provisioning core is the same one tested against Pelican 1.0.0-rc.1 in our WHMCS and FOSSBilling modules

Sell Pelican and Pterodactyl game servers with Blesta: when a service is activated, the server is created in your panel; suspending, unsuspending, cancelling and package changes do the same to the server. Customers manage their server right in the Blesta client area: start, stop and restart, a live console, usage, schedules and backups, and the features of texus extensions installed on your panel.

Works with Pelican Panel 1.0 and Pterodactyl Panel 1.x; the panel type is detected from its API. Tested with Blesta 6.0.3 and Pterodactyl Panel 1.15.1; the provisioning core is the same one tested against Pelican Panel 1.0.0-rc.1 in the WHMCS and FOSSBilling modules. The texus extensions in the client area are Blueprint extensions for Pterodactyl.

What it does

Every server carries an external ID blesta-<random>, every user blesta-client-<client id>, so the module always finds its server again.

The client area

Next to Blesta's "Information", the service gets these entries in the client area's menu:

With texus extensions on the panel (installed and licensed), more entries appear:

The module checks every 10 minutes which extensions the panel offers, and shows only what the package allows (see Customer features below). A customer only ever reaches their own server: every request goes through the module, which looks the server up by the service and only passes on a fixed list of panel routes.

Installation

1. Copy the folder components/modules/texus_game_servers from the download into your Blesta folder.
2. Settings > Company > Modules > Available: install Game Servers.
3. On the module page, enter your licence key and save.
4. Add Panel: a name, the panel address and an application API key:
   • Pelican: Admin > API Keys, read and write for servers, nodes, allocations, users and eggs.
   • Pterodactyl: Admin > Application API, read and write for servers, nodes, allocations, users, locations, nests and eggs.
5. For the client area features, also enter a client API key of an admin account (Pterodactyl: Account > API Credentials; Pelican: Profile > API Keys). Power, console, schedules, backups and the extensions only exist in the panel's client API; the key must belong to an admin, as only admins reach the servers of all customers. Without it, the client area shows the server details and the button to the game panel.
6. For the live console, add the address of your Blesta to allowed_origins in the Wings configuration of each node (/etc/pterodactyl/config.yml), then restart Wings: ```yaml allowed_origins:
   • https://billing.example.com ``` Without it, the console shows a note and commands still reach the server.

Setting up a package

Packages > Create Package, module Game Servers, then the panel (or a group of panels). The Module Options offer:

Options the customer chooses

Configurable options with the name of an option (memory, disk, cpu, location, egg, extra ports, server name) or of an egg variable (MINECRAFT_VERSION, or its display name) override the package. 2 GB and 2048 both work for memory and disk. Changing them later upgrades the server.

Welcome email

After the server is created, the service holds server_address, panel_url, panel_username and, for new panel users, panel_password. Use them in the package's welcome email, for example {service.server_address} and {service.panel_password}.

Split servers and upgrades

When a customer splits their server (Server Splitter), the resources they gave to the new servers stay with them on package changes and "Apply package settings": the module subtracts them from the package's limits. The new servers belong to the customer's panel account; they are managed in the game panel.

Good to know

• Suspending, unsuspending and cancelling also work without a valid licence, so a lapsed licence never keeps you from stopping a service. Creating servers and package changes need one.
• An egg change while the server is still installing saves the new egg and asks you to reinstall afterwards; Wings refuses a second reinstall at the same time.
• Actions customers take in the client area appear in the panel's activity log under the admin account of the client API key.
• The module's views and language file stay readable: adjust texts under components/modules/texus_game_servers/language/ and the layout under views/default/.

Requirements

• Blesta 6 (tested with 6.0.3) with PHP 8.1+ (curl, sodium)
• Pelican Panel 1.0 or Pterodactyl Panel 1.x with an application API key, and a client API key of an admin account for the client area features
• Outgoing HTTPS from Blesta to the panel and to texus-addons.de

0.1.1

• Extra ports are shown as their own line ("Extra ports: 25504") instead of a second address.
• The client area sends its security token with every request, also when it only reads.
• Usage gauges, menus and the extension pages use their own layout, so they look the same with any theme.
• The console opens at its newest lines.

0.1.0

• First release: Blesta server module for Pelican Panel 1.0 and Pterodactyl Panel 1.x. Services create, suspend, unsuspend and delete their game server; package changes and configurable options apply new limits, extra ports and another egg with reinstall. Panels as module rows with a connection check, the package's egg from a drop-down of the panel's eggs, node tags or locations, port ranges, dedicated IPs, egg variables and a server name template.
• Client area with its own menu entries: Game server (details, start, restart, stop, kill, live usage gauges, SFTP address), Console (live output, commands, Minecraft EULA), Schedules and Backups. With texus extensions on the panel also Statistics, Workflows, Subdomains, Domains, Databases, Import, Trash, Split server and Idle Stop. Per package, the customer features to offer.
• Staff service tab with "Apply package settings" and "Reinstall".