Advanced In-Game Admin and Ban Enforcer - AdKats

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jamesonp*:

 

Super excited! Hurry up already !!!

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Berndel*:

 

that looks good thanks for the hard work

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

A test version of 3.0.0 (without the webadmin) will be available in a few days. Do i have any testers?

 

Changes

 

• Performance. All actions, parsing, and database communications take place on their own threads now, increasing performance greatly.
• Setting Sync. All plugin settings are now stored in the database, specific to each procon instance. Usage shown in readme.
• Dependencies. XPKiller's Stat logger is now REQUIRED for AdKats to function. It provides much useful information regarding both player and server statistics, which the new Ban Enforcer and AdKats itself use to improve your admin abilities.
• AdKats WebAdmin API. A website from which you can manage all aspects of your server and playerbase. Direct control of players within the server, command feeds, all logs, ban management, and server statistics are all included in this site.
• AdKats Ban Enforcer. Due to lacking functionality and/or bugs in other ban managers, an internal Ban Enforcer is now coded into AdKats. AdKats can now enforce bans accross all of your servers. The Ban Enforcer will import and consolidate all bans from every procon instance it's enabled on. Once enabled, bans made on one of your servers will be enforced on all others within seconds of issuing the ban. Bans can be made by name, GUID, IP, any combination, or all at once. The enforcer works with all existing auto-admins, and requires AdKats WebAdmin for ban management. You can use it without WebAdmin, but you will be unable to manage any bans, lift them early, or modify them in any way once submitted. Use of the ban enforcer is optional because of this dependency, and is disabled by default.
• Punishment Enhancements. IRO punishments can now override the low population count and act normally.
• Kick/Ban Messages Improved. Frostbite has a 80 character limit for ban/kick messages, and the new ban/kick messages comply with that. Also, all kick/ban messages are more descriptive than before, and ban messages in particular will tell the player how long their ban is.
• Small bug-fixes and enhancements. Messages for errors, player information, and commands, are more informative to the users now. Small bugs fixed.
• Debug Soldier Added. Set the debug soldier name in settings to get the speed of commands on your server sent to you in-game. Time is in milliseconds, from the time you entered it until all actions resulting from that command have finished.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Berndel*:

 

nice to see there come an new ver.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jamesonp*:

 

A test version of 3.0.0 (without the webadmin) will be available in a few days. Do i have any testers?

Sign me up!

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by dyn*:

 

Wow! You're going (already have__) to make adkats the GOTO admin tool. I'm looking forward to seeing everything put together in a way that enables all of our admins to easily manage bans, actions, etc etc.

 

Actually thinking about disabling procon access for our admins and then requiring them to use the commands in game or via the webpage. This will give us an unprecedented ability to log every admin action and make those logs very easy to get at, which has been a major gripe of mine. I bluff all the time saying "all admin commands are logged" but truth be told there isn't any good way to know what admin did what action.

 

While I do have adkats installed on our layer, I've been hesitant to go through installing and training all of our admins how to use it in fear that development would stall, but with a new domain and some solid progress it looks like my fears were unfounded.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Hutchew*:

 

We've been running every version since initial deployment; keeps getting better and better.

 

Hook us up, we'll test 3.0.

 

Certainly hope it will roll over into BF4!!

 

Thanks, cobeliga. You and your clanmates efforts are deeply appreciated.

 

Hutchew

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

Wow! You're going (already have__) to make adkats the GOTO admin tool. I'm looking forward to seeing everything put together in a way that enables all of our admins to easily manage bans, actions, etc etc.

 

Actually thinking about disabling procon access for our admins and then requiring them to use the commands in game or via the webpage. This will give us an unprecedented ability to log every admin action and make those logs very easy to get at, which has been a major gripe of mine. I bluff all the time saying "all admin commands are logged" but truth be told there isn't any good way to know what admin did what action.

 

While I do have adkats installed on our layer, I've been hesitant to go through installing and training all of our admins how to use it in fear that development would stall, but with a new domain and some solid progress it looks like my fears were unfounded.

Making it the goto admin tool has become the goal for me. I will be fully supporting it until school starts again in the fall, and during school if i find the time. Version 3 of AdKats and version 1 of WebAdmin will be released by that time though.

 

I will give the plugin file link, new plugin readme, and testing instructions to all those who are able to test once it's ready!

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

We've been running every version since initial deployment; keeps getting better and better.

 

Hook us up, we'll test 3.0.

 

Certainly hope it will roll over into BF4!!

 

Thanks, cobeliga. You and your clanmates efforts are deeply appreciated.

 

Hutchew

The sad part is i wont have nearly enough spare cash for BF4 right away , college sucks that way. I will do what i can though! I'm hoping to make it work so BF4 and BF3 servers can run AdKats on the same database, but we'll have to see what happens with XpKiller's stat logger.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by dyn*:

 

The sad part is i wont have nearly enough spare cash for BF4 right away

lol... put a donate link in your signature and you'll have the game.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

lol... put a donate link in your signature and you'll have the game.

Thanks! Link added.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

For all who are planning to test version 3.0, please read this documentation COMPLETELY. A lot has changed (so much so i will be removing original 2.0 documentation from this thread on release), as a tester please be thorough in reading how it is intended to work. I will be linking with the test post, but giving it early for those who want to read it early. Thanks guys!

 

https://github.com/ColColonCleaner/A.dev/README.md

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jasonpb*:

 

Sounds good, never understood why procon didn't have a nice web admin tool, or I should say ones that are maintained so they still work after a few months

 

Any idea when the web admin component will be released?

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

Sounds good, never understood why procon didn't have a nice web admin tool, or I should say ones that are maintained so they still work after a few months

 

Any idea when the web admin component will be released?

Once I release the test version of 3.0.0 to you guys i will jump more on that project, a good portion of it is done already but it needs finishing, mainly in setup and ban/player management. Only two of us are working on things right now, myself on the plugin and blackhawk on webadmin. Won't be able to give a time estimate until i dive into that project more, but i can say it is being actively worked on.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by leibhold*:

 

Nice Work.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by 24Flat*:

 

I run 3 servers and would love to test version 3 out. we have many admins and have been looking/waiting for something like tis for a LONG time. Please sign me up!

[Prophet731]

Originally Posted by Prophet731*:

 

Update from me.

 

Lately, i've been working on another section in our gaming community getting a minecraft server back up and running so I haven't worked on the web admin.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

I run 3 servers and would love to test version 3 out. we have many admins and have been looking/waiting for something like tis for a LONG time. Please sign me up!

Still needs a bit more coding plugin side before test release, import from previous versions of AdKats still needs it. And to what blackhawk said, sorry about delays but things within our community come first, we're spread thin at times. Doing our best though.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

I just looked at the usage statistics for AdKats and it is reporting 3 servers running 3.0.0. There should be 1 (my testing server), or none. I admire your enthusiasm, but please do not grab code early. The dev version on github is not ready for a full or test release just yet, and I will not be responsible for any malfunctions you may encounter running code I have not released.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by 24Flat*:

 

2 are mine sorry I Downloaded it from your get hub page. I will revert to the older version

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

2 are mine sorry I Downloaded it from your get hub page. I will revert to the older version

Thanks, at that time i was playing around with setting storage both in procon and on the database, so some things may be corrupted for you now. All tables starting with "adkats_" (NOT "adkat_"), must be deleted from your database. And you should clear all settings made by AdKats from your config file for each server you installed it on.

 

In the future, please use only links i give for downloading updated content, thanks!

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

TEST 0.3.0.0 with instructions will be released tonight, got through the final few issues last night and just minor tweaking is left. Due to an issue with Procon's version of the MySQL connector you will need to run the new DB setup script manually, at least until we get things working properly for automation.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by dyn*:

 

Wonderful! Looking forward integrating this with our setup.

 

I've also been told that our money man has sent you some funds for BF4.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

Only read this post if you are willing/able to give me feedback on how the plugin functions, trying to keep this quick and clean. The test period will be 1 week, so next Wednesday i will post this change in the main thread for the public bugfix release. Thanks for the testing help guys, I'd rather get all bugs out of the way now before school hits.

 

Preliminary Instructions:

1. Read the documentation linked below, a lot has changed.

2. Backup your procon ban list for every server this will be installed on! In procon's working directory there is a text file containing all bans, copy that and place the copy in a safe place. The ban enforcer directly modifies that ban list, so until testing is completed I will not be responsible for loss of information.

3. All bugs you find, or suggestions you want to make to functionality must be submitted here:

Please keep this thread clean and don't put any testing outcomes here, instead submit a "New Issue" there and I will work on it. It's much easier to manage things there than in a thread like this. If you find a bug, please included the console logs from around when it happened, you might need to modify the debug level to see more detail.

4. Remember, with everything beyond this point you are trying to break the program. Think outside the box and attempt to make the program malfunction. The more things you think of trying the better. Also, be mindful of how long things are taking to complete, not just with the debug soldier but in general. If things appear to be lagging in any way let me know where it's happening and i will look into it.

5. "WARNING": monitor the program and pay attention, something is important. "ERROR": A non-fatal error has occured, whatever happened the program was able to handle it without crashing. "EXCEPTION": A fatal error has happened, and the program cannot recover. Restart AdKats and try again.

 

These files will be updated as i find and fix errors. These links will be deleted after testing is finished.

AdKats 0.3.0.0 Test Plugin File:

AdKats 0.3.0.0 Test DB Script:

 

Current AdKats Documentation:

 

Upgrade Test Instructions:

(This is a complete list, please let me know what you are able to complete. Note: AdKats will auto-disable when any exception or error occurs so tracking of errors while we're testing is easier.)

1. Remove the 2.5.1+ plugin file, and replace it with 0.3.0.0. Make no other changes.

2. Test startup/shutdown sequences in all cases. No DB info, incorrect DB info, correct DB info, not installing stat logger (clean install only), etc...

3. Test database structure setup. Note any errors in the setup script when it runs. All tables are new in this version of AdKats, so all records from 2.5.1+ should be imported into the new tables. Your old tables from 2.5.1+ will not be modified in any way. Tables only have 1 character difference in naming between the versions (2.5.1+ = "adkat_whatever" vs 3.0.0 = "adkats_whatever").

4. Test server IDs. Any server IDs you manually assigned before will be overwritten by the "correct" server ID pulled from the stat logger, confirm this both in the settings window and in all records imported from the previous version, imported records should have their server IDs properly updated to the new version. If you want to test the record import multiple times you will need to clear "adkats_records" of all entries so it imports from "adkat_records" again.

5. Test each of the in-game commands to confirm full functionality per their description. Many commands have multiple methods of calling, for example using report IDs and/or preMessage IDs. This will probably be the most tedious part of the testing process, but it's equally as important.

6. Test the ban enforcer. Importing existing bans, creating new ones once enabled, repopulating on disable, everything per its description.

7. Test general settings. Do everything you can think of to make settings malfunction.

8. Test cross-server support. If you have multiple servers, test all aspects of AdKats that are meant to operate across servers. This includes ban list for the ban enforcer, settings for import, etc.. If you have a server I can use for testing that would be great, right now i only have my own personal testing server. They don't need to be popular servers, or even need to have players in them, need it mainly for ban sync testing and setting management. The more test servers i can connect at once the better.

 

Clean Install Test Instructions:

(I am performing a lot of clean install testing, but if you want to test this as well, feel free. Perform this after running all needed instructions for upgrade testing. You won't need re-do testing of commands.)

1. Add the 0.3.0.0 AdKats file to procon's plugin directory

1.1 Open your procon directory and do a search for your gameserver's IP address, a settings file will show up. Open that in an editor and remove all lines containing AdKats.

1.2 Create a new schema in your database with no tables in it. Use that database to run both the stat logger and AdKats on.

2. Perform same tests as above.

 

Once again, thanks for the help. The faster we get this tested, the faster we can get webadmin released.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

Wonderful! Looking forward integrating this with our setup.

 

I've also been told that our money man has sent you some funds for BF4.

Test version released . No-go on the funds though .

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jasonpb*:

 

I'll give it a go on our three instances, they are generally full so should be a good test.

 

I'll throw some $$ your way when the admin web panel comes out

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jasonpb*:

 

How does the ban list work exactly, appreciating that you require the web admin to remove bans I went into the DB and removed one manually, without restarting the procon layer it wouldn't remove the ban even though it had been removed from the DB.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

How does the ban list work exactly, appreciating that you require the web admin to remove bans I went into the DB and removed one manually, without restarting the procon layer it wouldn't remove the ban even though it had been removed from the DB.

You don't remove the line from the database to remove the ban, you set its ban_status to "Disabled" and clear "ban_sync", then it will update to the layer after a few seconds.

 

Possible types for status are "Active", "Disabled", and "Expired". Every time a change is made to a ban you must clear the ban_sync column for that ban, that is what notifies the layers that they need to update their lists for that ban.

 

Also, for the future, please submit all issues to the github link i gave, not here. Trying to keep things organized.

[ImportBot]

Originally Posted by Jasonpb*:

 

Right, because it's not supposed to work that way . You don't remove the line from the database to remove the ban, you set its ban_status to "Disabled" and clear "ban_sync", then it will update to the layer after a few seconds.

 

Possible types for status are "Active", "Disabled", and "Expired". Every time a change is made to a ban you must clear the ban_sync column for that ban, that is what notifies the layers that they need to update their lists for that ban.

 

Also, for the future, please submit all issues to the github link i gave, not here. Trying to keep things organized.

Thanks, yeah worked that out inbetween posting, already posted a bug on github.

 

I've tried to break things over three instances and it seems to work fairly well, noticed procon would lock up sometimes for a brief period but that's about it.

[ColColonCleaner]

Originally Posted by ColColonCleaner*:

 

Thanks, yeah worked that out inbetween posting, already posted a bug on github.

 

I've tried to break things over three instances and it seems to work fairly well, noticed procon would lock up sometimes for a brief period but that's about it.

Automated actions are most likely the cause.

Depending on your settings there are up to 4 automated actions happening.

New actions to be handled are pulled from the database every 10 seconds.

Ban enforcer updates are pulled from the database every 60 seconds.

Access List updates are pulled from the database every 5 minutes.

All plugin settings are updated from the database every 5 minutes. I will be using this from the webadmin to orchestrate a few mandatory settings once it's enabled.