Appearance

Move to a New Server ​

You can move a panel to a new server with two commands: one on the new server, one on the old. The database, secrets, config, plugins, demos and clips all move, and your game server nodes re-join the new panel on their own.

PANEL SERVERGAME SERVER NODEINTERNET5Stack cloudget.5stack.gg · releases · node codes5stack agentroot service · updates, nodes5stack agentroot servicek3s serverKubernetes control planek3s agentKubernetes workerSteam RelayValve SDRTimescaleDBall panel dataHasuraGraphQLAPIpanel backendGame serversCS2 match + dedicatedSearch, cacheTypesense · RedisWebpanel websiteNode connectorstatus · demo uploadsPlayersCS2 clientsRustFSdemos · clipsTailscaleprivate networkTailscaleprivate networkBrowserplayers, adminspairs with the new serverre-join messagedumps the databasedemos → new serverre-joins the new panel
Moving to a new server, seen from the old one. The two servers pair through the 5Stack cloud, then the database and demos go straight to the new server over Tailscale. Game nodes get a message to re-join.

Panel server

5stack agent

The 5Stack service on your panel server. It installs and updates the panel, approves new game server nodes and moves the panel to a new server.

Talks to

  • 5Stack cloud, outgoing only: releases, node codes and moves
  • Kubernetes, to apply releases and dump the database
  • The API, which passes on what you choose in the panel, such as Update Now or approving a node

It doesn't listen on a network port. The 5stack command talks to it through a local socket.

The diagram shows the old panel. Click a box to see what it does.

Before you start ​

  • The new server meets the Requirements and is fresh: not already a panel or a game server node.
  • The old panel has Tailscale set up, as it needs for game server nodes. If it doesn't, add it with sudo 5stack config tailscale on the old server. The two servers move the data directly over your Tailscale network, never through the 5Stack cloud.
  • The old panel runs the 5Stack service, and you have claimed its install. An unclaimed panel can't look up the new server's code. For a panel still on the git checkout, run git pull && sudo ./service.sh on it and claim the install first.
  • You can change the DNS records for your panel's domain.

1. Start the new server ​

On the new server, run:

bash
curl -fsSL https://get.5stack.gg | sudo sh -s -- migrate

It installs the agent and prints a code, a key fingerprint and two commands for the old server: one for a panel that runs the 5Stack service, and one for a panel installed from the git checkout.

2. Pair the old server ​

On the old server, run the 5stack move command the new server printed:

bash
sudo 5stack move --to QX4-71M --key age1qv3x…

The new server also prints a sudo ./service.sh --to … --key … command, for a panel still on the git checkout. Use 5stack move once you've moved that panel onto the service and claimed it, as above.

--key is the new server's key. The old server sends its data only to a server holding that key, so copy the whole command.

The old server prints its panel key fingerprint. The new server shows the same fingerprint and asks whether it matches. Answer y only if the two are the same.

3. Check the estimate ​

The old server shows the size of the database, the size of the demos and clips, the number of game server nodes, and how long the panel will be down.

4. Demos copy while the panel is live ​

Demos and clips copy from the old server's file storage to the new one while players keep playing. If your panel uses your own S3, both servers already reach it and this step is skipped.

5. The old panel freezes ​

The old panel shows players a banner that it is moving, pauses new matches, and waits for live matches to finish. If it hasn't finished within 30 minutes, the old server asks whether to freeze anyway, which ends any live matches.

6. The database moves ​

This is the only downtime. The old server dumps the database and sends it, encrypted to the new server's key, together with your secrets, config and plugins. Only the demos and clips added or changed since the first copy are sent now. The downtime is the database move plus that difference.

The new server restores the database into the same TimescaleDB version, then updates the extension. If the old panel ran an older PostgreSQL major version, the new server lands on the current one without a separate upgrade.

Search is rebuilt from the database, and the cache starts empty.

7. Game server nodes re-join ​

The new panel is a new cluster, so every game server node has to join it. The old panel sends each node with the agent a signed message, and the node leaves the old panel and joins the new one by itself. This includes nodes that were added with the install script and got the agent from the panel later. You don't need to SSH into them.

If a node has no agent, the move tells you to add it to the new panel again. See Add a Game Server Node.

8. Point DNS at the new server ​

Change the DNS records for your panel's domain and its subdomains to the new server's address. The new server waits until the domain resolves to it before it requests certificates.

Behind a reverse proxy or the Cloudflare proxy, the domain never resolves to the server's own address. The new server waits instead until the domain reaches the new panel through the proxy, so point your proxy at the new server.

9. The old server stays stopped ​

When the move finishes, the old panel stays stopped, not wiped, so its data is still there if you need to go back. Its 5Stack install credential is revoked, and the new server takes over the install and its claim.