This project exists because I wanted a cheaper and more efficient way to host a Valheim server. Using AWS and Terraform this project will create a single Valheim server which is ready to join from the Valheim server browser. It will automatically turn off after ~15 minutes of inactivity (saving you loads of money), and you have the option of using the AWS app to turn it back on whenever you want to play.
- Cheap (~$0.049 USD per hour)
- Updates
- Backups
- Alerts
- Monitoring (Netdata)
- Remote management (AWS app)
- MacOS required to run this code (or Linux, but will require some fiddling around)
- AWS account including CLI configured on your machine
- Terraform v1.4+
- Create a Terraform backend S3 bucket to store your state files
- Copy and paste the
templatefolder somewhere on your computer - Configure
terraform.tfto point at the S3 bucket you just created - Create a file called
terraform.tfvarsas per the input descriptions ininputs.tfE.g.
aws_region = "ap-southeast-2" // Choose a region closest to your physical location
domain = "fakedomain.com" // (Optional) Used as the monitoring URL
keybase_username = "fakeusername" // Use Keybase to encrypt AWS user passwords
sns_email = "[email protected]" // Alert go here e.g. server started, server stopped
world_name = "super cheap world"
server_name = "super cheap server"
server_password = "nohax"
admins = {
"bob" = 76561197993928955 // Create an AWS user for remote management and make Valheim admin using SteamID
"jane" = 76561197994340319
"sally" = "" // Create an AWS user for remote management but don't make Valheim admin
}
- Run
terraform init && terraform apply
valheim-on-aws // (this project)
└── your-valheim-server // (create me)
├── inputs.tf // (copied from ./template)
├── main.tf // (copied from ./template)
├── outputs.tf // (copied from ./template)
├── terraform.tf // (copied from ./template)
└── terraform.tfvars // (create me, example above)
To view server monitoring metrics visit the monitoring_url output from
Terraform after deploying. Note that this URL will change every time the server
starts unless you're using your own domain in AWS. In this case I find it's
easier to just take note of the public IP address when you turn the server on.
- It usually takes around 1 minute for Terraform to deploy all the components
- Upon the first deployment the server will take 5-10 minutes to become ready
- Subsequent starts will take 2-3 minutes before appearing on the server browser
The server logic around backups is as follows:
- Check if world files exist locally and if so start the server using those
- If no files exist, try to fetch from backup store and use those
- If no backup files exist, create a new world and start the server
- Five minutes after the server has started perform a backup
- Perform backups every hour after boot
todo
The following breakdown is an estimate based on the region ap-southeast-2 and
the monthly cost. A more accurate estimate is the hourly cost since the
server is designed to shutdown automatically when not in use.
I.e. 35.74 * 12 / 52 / 7 / 24 = $0.049 USD per hour
Name Quantity Unit Monthly Cost
module.main.aws_cloudwatch_metric_alarm.valheim_stopped
└─ Standard resolution 1 alarm metrics $0.10
module.main.aws_instance.valheim
├─ Instance usage (Linux/UNIX, on-demand, t3a.medium) 730 hours $34.67
├─ CPU credits Cost depends on usage: $0.05 per vCPU-hours
└─ root_block_device
└─ Storage (general purpose SSD, gp2) 8 GB-months $0.96
module.main.aws_route53_record.valheim[0]
├─ Standard queries (first 1B) Cost depends on usage: $0.40 per 1M queries
├─ Latency based routing queries (first 1B) Cost depends on usage: $0.60 per 1M queries
└─ Geo DNS queries (first 1B) Cost depends on usage: $0.70 per 1M queries
module.main.aws_s3_bucket.valheim
└─ Standard
├─ Storage Cost depends on usage: $0.03 per GB-months
├─ PUT, COPY, POST, LIST requests Cost depends on usage: $0.0055 per 1k requests
├─ GET, SELECT, and all other requests Cost depends on usage: $0.00044 per 1k requests
├─ Select data scanned Cost depends on usage: $0.00225 per GB-months
└─ Select data returned Cost depends on usage: $0.0008 per GB-months
module.main.aws_sns_topic.valheim
└─ Requests Cost depends on usage: $0.50 per 1M requests
PROJECT TOTAL $35.74
Source: Infracost v0.8.5 infracost breakdown --path . --show-skipped --no-color
- Terraform
- AWS CLI
- Docker
- Golang
| Name | Description | Type | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| admins | List of AWS users/Valheim server admins (use their SteamID) | map(any) |
{ |
no |
| aws_region | The AWS region to create the Valheim server | string |
n/a | yes |
| domain | Domain name used to create a static monitoring URL | string |
"" |
no |
| instance_type | AWS EC2 instance type to run the server on (t3a.medium is the minimum size) | string |
"t3a.medium" |
no |
| pgp_key | The base64 encoded PGP public key to encrypt AWS user passwords with. Can use keybase syntax, e.g., 'keybase:username'. | string |
"keybase:marypoppins" |
no |
| purpose | The purpose of the deployment | string |
"prod" |
no |
| s3_lifecycle_expiration | The number of days to keep files (backups) in the S3 bucket before deletion | string |
"90" |
no |
| server_name | The server name | string |
n/a | yes |
| server_password | The server password | string |
n/a | yes |
| sns_email | The email address to send alerts to | string |
n/a | yes |
| unique_id | The ID of the deployment (used for tests) | string |
"" |
no |
| world_name | The Valheim world name | string |
n/a | yes |
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| bucket_id | The S3 bucket name |
| instance_id | The EC2 instance ID |
| monitoring_url | URL to monitor the Valheim Server |
| valheim_server_name | Name of the Valheim server |
| valheim_user_passwords | List of AWS users and their encrypted passwords |
- Add docs on performing restores
- Don't include empty keys in admin list
- Add tests, e.g., cron, cname update, etc