Guides - Deploy Counter-Strike Global Offensive through the Linode Marketplace

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a fast-paced first person shooter. Teams compete against each other to complete objectives or to eliminate the opposing team. A competitive match requires two teams of five players, but hosting your own server offers you control over team size and server location, so you and your friends can play with low latency. Up to 64 players can be hosted on a single server.

This Marketplace App deploys the CS:GO server software through LinuxGSM. While no additional license is required to run the server, each client needs to have a license for the game.

Deploying a Marketplace App

The Linode Marketplace allows you to easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using the Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to the Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Configuration Options

• Supported distributions: Debian 11, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
• Recommended minimum plan: 4GB Dedicated CPU Compute Instance

CS:GO Options

• Game Server Login Token (required): A Steam game server login token. This is required to publicly list your server. To get a Steam Token, visit the Steam Game Server Account Management page.
• RCON Password (required): Password for RCON, a protocol which allows CS:GO administrators to remotely execute commands on the game server. Password must be at least 6 characters and contain each of the following characters: uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special character. Required.
• Message of the Day: The message of the day text that is displayed whenever a player logs on to the server.
• Server Name: Your CS:GO server’s name.
• CS:GO Server Password: The password for the CS:GO server, if you want to make it password protected. Password must be at least 6 characters and contain each of the following characters: uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special character.
• Team Balance Enabled: When enabled, automatically balances the number of players on a team.
• Round Time Limit: The time per round, in minutes.
• Maximum Rounds: The maximum amount of rounds before the map changes.
• Buy Anywhere: When enabled, allows teams to buy equipment from outside buy zones.
• Friendly Fire Enabled: Friendly fire allows teammates to damage and kill each other.

Getting Started after Deployment

Connect with the CS:GO Client

After CS:GO has finished installing, you will be able to access your game server by connecting to its IP address. To find your Linode’s IPv4 address:

1. Click on the Linodes link in the Linode Cloud Manager sidebar. You will see a list of all your Linodes.

2. Find the Linode you just created when deploying your app and select it.

3. Navigate to the Networking tab.

4. Your IPv4 address will be listed under the Address column in the IPv4 table.

5. Copy the IPv4 address.

6. In CS:GO, use the back tick key (`) to open the developer’s console. If pressing the back tick key does not bring up the developer’s console, you might need to enable it in the settings. Under Game Settings choose Enable Developer’s Console and select Yes:

7. In the CS:GO developer’s console, type connect 192.0.2.240 and click Submit, where 192.0.2.240 is the IP address of your Linode.

   Note

   If you included a CS:GO Server Password in your CS:GO Options when installing, submit connect 192.0.2.240; password your_server_password instead.

Software Included

The CS:GO Marketplace App installs the following required software on your Linode:

More Information

You may wish to consult the following resources for additional information on this topic. While these are provided in the hope that they will be useful, please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy or timeliness of externally hosted materials.

• List of CS:GO Cvar Commands to use with RCON