New All-In-One Gameserver Control Panel

CConner

I am currently working on a all-in-one (billing, support, server manager etc,) gameserver control panel for my own hosting company.

The control panel currently looks like this:

It includes billing via payment methods such as PayPal, PaySafe cards, bank transfers and credit and debit cards, a server manager, so clients can manage their server with tools such as advanced statistics, mod installer/manager, live console and other basic features as updating the base files and mods and stopping and starting the server and other basic tools such as an FAQ and a support system. The control panel supports Windows, Linux and BSD, it also operates using its own, highly optimized protocol written in Node.JS.

Made a quick video showing off the basics: https://tinyurl.com/y8uppp3b

I had the idea to create a separate version of the control panel that I will be able to rent out to other people to either have them use it on their own servers (control panel still being hosted by us, of course) or have people rent a Virtual Dedicated Server or dedicated server from us.

Would there be a market for such a thing? Especially since TCAdmin seems to dominate the market at the moment, whilst it is not perfect either.

Feel free to leave me with suggestions and ideas, like suggestions for more tools and functions, are highly appreciated.

FoxelVox

if it's stable/bug-free I would definitely buy this, looks really good

CConner

I have put up a demo account with a Minecraft server in it. The login details are:

Log-in page: https://panel.oasis-hosting.net E-mail: [email protected] Password: LETdemo

Note that only one user is allowed to log-in at any one time, it is something I plan on fixing asap.

CConner

Made a quick video showing off the basics: https://tinyurl.com/y8uppp3b

OBHost

Looks great! How many game servers this panel will support?

CConner

OBHost said: Looks great! How many game servers this panel will support?

I made it so it supports almost any game. We are currently using it to host Mount & Blade: Warband, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Minecraft, Arma 3, Rust, Garry's Mod and Team Fortress 2. We are also working on implementing TeamSpeak and mumble.

OBHost

Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

CConner

OBHost said: Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

I will definitely look into those games, thanks for suggesting them. What do you think about the concept of renting out the control panel use, so resellers can use them for instance?

AnthonySmith

CConner said: control panel still being hosted by us, of course

CConner said: It includes billing

It's those 2 things in isolation and in combination that would make it a no for me.

I don't want the complexity of managing 2 different customer sets and billing methods, booking keeping and accounting, so either it needs a WHMCS (and similar) module or an add-on for pulling data.

It absolutely has to be self-hosted, a conversation that has been done to death around here so I won't cover the reasons why again.

Aside from that, I love the idea/look/design, you are probably on to something good if you execute the business side of things properly and take some time to understand your real market.

CConner

AnthonySmith said: I don't want the complexity of managing 2 different customer sets and billing methods, booking keeping and accounting, so either it needs a WHMCS (and similar) module or an add-on for pulling data.

You mean 2 customers sets because hosts want to offer additional services beside gameservers? No problem! The control panel will also support cPanel, making it an all-round control panel, at least, for game oriented hosts.

We want to implement billing with the control panel so you only have to access one control panel and that is it. Additionally, for the ones that really need a WHCMS implementation, we can of course do that. I have put that on my planner as to-do. Thank you for your suggestion.

AnthonySmith said: It absolutely has to be self-hosted, a conversation that has been done to death around here so I won't cover the reasons why again.

I am struggling a bit here, as the control panel is written mainly in PHP (which is very difficult to properly protect). We've written the part that interacts with the actual server in Node.JS and can be reasonably well obfuscated and is what is safe to give to our customers.

I imagined the control panel being hosted by us, so we can make sure everything works as intended and to keep our source code secure. Our customers will still be able to use their own domain with it. I have not read all the discussion that has been going on, but what are the major complaints people have with this solution?

OBHost

@CConner said:

OBHost said: Add SAMP,VCMP & MTA also as market have a demand for it.

I will definitely look into those games, thanks for suggesting them. What do you think about the concept of renting out the control panel use, so resellers can use them for instance?

70% Hosting Companies do the co-location or purchase dedicated servers and install all panels on that machines by virtualizations or use the dedicated servers from their own dc or from the co-location part, If you offer them to purchase from you again then they will not take too much interest on your panel. Add license system but make it self hosted..

CConner

OBHost said: Add license system but make it self hosted..

I see, I will try to make this possible.

SolidxGaming

How is this better than Pterodactyl?

joepie91

CConner said: I am struggling a bit here, as the control panel is written mainly in PHP (which is very difficult to properly protect). We've written the part that interacts with the actual server in Node.JS and can be reasonably well obfuscated and is what is safe to give to our customers.

I feel like you're kind of missing a few points here.

First of all, there's no such thing as "protecting" source code, from a technical perspective. The idea that PHP/Python/JS/[insert language here] is somehow 'protectable' whereas C++/C#/[insert other language here] is not, while a common story going around, is nonsense. All of it can be deobfuscated and/or decompiled, and usually in little enough time that it's not going to deter pirates.

Secondly, if you're worried about people 'stealing your code' (which seems to be the undertone here), you should probably take a step back and reevaluate why you consider this a problem. Not only is this a legal problem and not a technical one, and not only is it inherently unsolvable from a technical perspective, but it also suggests that perhaps there's a problem with your business model.

Customers should want to pay you for the software, because that means they get support, updates, bugfixes, and so on. The only reason why this wouldn't be sufficient to keep a company running, is if your support is poor enough that people don't want to pay for it - in which case, why aren't you fixing the support quality?

In the end, support is what it all comes down to, and it's the only thing that can produce a sustainable long-term income from software. Cracking DRM and deobfuscating code is trivial for somebody who's trying to pirate your software (either for fun if non-commercial, or for profit if commercial), and it only has to be cracked once to nullify the 'protection' for the entire world.

And guess who actually suffers from DRM and obfuscation? The legitimate customer, who's just trying to fix an urgent bug in their deployment. For them, there are no incentives to crack the DRM / deobfuscate the code, because it's too expensive. In other words: by obfuscating code and/or applying DRM, the only people you're causing a problem for are your legitimate, paying customers. You shouldn't want that.

It's the same story with "you can't self-host". Serious businesses will not outsource something that's critical to their core business to a relatively unknown third party, and potentially not even to a well-known party, because it means they have no control over a critical part of their business and are beholden to your decisions in full.

And to address the issue of 'piracy' in particular; there are roughly three groups of "pirates":

1. Commercial pirates; they have the money and incentive to crack whatever you throw at them.
2. Non-commercial crackers; they enjoy the challenge of cracking stuff and being the first, and the more hindrances you add, the more fun it will become for them.
3. Non-commercial 'unskilled' pirates, typically unable to afford the software; they will get their cracked copies from groups 1 and 2, and they weren't going to buy your software anyway.

TL;DR: Stop screwing over your legitimate customers by trying to 'force' them into not doing anything with the software you don't want. It will not deter pirates. Keep your customers by offering unparalleled service instead. And if there's really a problematic user, then use legal means to stop the infringement; it's a legal problem, not a technical one. Also, code in and of itself does not have value.

</rant>

CConner said: I imagined the control panel being hosted by us, so we can make sure everything works as intended

A SaaS model is not required for this. There are plenty of error reporting systems that can be deployed on systems outside of your control. This problem was solved a decade ago.

CConner

joepie91 said: Secondly, if you're worried about people 'stealing your code' (which seems to be the undertone here), you should probably take a step back and reevaluate why you consider this a problem. Not only is this a legal problem and not a technical one, and not only is it inherently unsolvable from a technical perspective, but it also suggests that perhaps there's a problem with your business model.

First of all, thank you for the load of information you've just provided me!

I will be continuously providing updates with new and improved features - I don't really mind it being used illegally as I am targeting proper businesses. I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

I've looked in to HHVM, but is not something I want, especially since I will be providing the panel to customers and the overhead is too big to be effective, I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

CConner

SolidxGaming said: How is this better than Pterodactyl?

I can't show you just yet, but we are working on a new version of our backend and frontend. This version of our control panel is currently in production.

First off, our control panel is and is going to be even less cluttered, than the free alternative. I will also be providing support in regards to helping customers install it and maintaining the software, so that if a bug appears it will be patched a lot faster than a free alternative would generally do. Our control panel is all-in-one, which means it includes a support and billing system, something that control panel seems to lack.

joepie91

CConner said: I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

Again: this is a legal problem, not a technical problem. It cannot be solved in a technical manner. Everything I've said applies to this too (and this scenario falls under the "commercial pirates" group). Obfuscation is not the solution here, simple as that.

CConner said: I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

That obfuscator is trivially cracked.

SolidxGaming

@CConner said:

SolidxGaming said: How is this better than Pterodactyl?

I can't show you just yet, but we are working on a new version of our backend and frontend. This version of our control panel is currently in production.

Our control panel is all-in-one, which means it includes a support and billing system, something that control panel seems to lack.

That's more of a disadvantage than an advantage for most.

CConner

SolidxGaming said: That's more of a disadvantage than an advantage for most.

I get that it is, that is why I will be implementing an option to turn native billing and/or support off and integrate the panel with WHCMS.

CConner

joepie91 said: CConner said: I want my code to be reasonably well obfuscated so that a malicious party can't modify my product so much that they will be able to sell it as a separate product.

Again: this is a legal problem, not a technical problem. It cannot be solved in a technical manner. Everything I've said applies to this too (and this scenario falls under the "commercial pirates" group). Obfuscation is not the solution here, simple as that.

CConner said: I will use the same obfuscater WHCMS used to obfuscate their source code.

That obfuscator is trivially cracked.

Currently offering Node.js code review, tuto

At first this is why I also wanted to go the SaaS route, so that I can keep the source code private. Since I made this thread I found that a large group of providers prefer to have full control over the application they are running, which is understandable.

SolidxGaming

And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

CConner

SolidxGaming said: And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

But their service is not paid, so I can't imagine them being able to help assist customers as a paid service would.

SolidxGaming

@CConner said:

SolidxGaming said: And about updates, Pterodactyl is very fast at fixing critical bugs.

But their service is not paid, so I can't imagine them being able to help assist customers as a paid service would.

Well they do. Their support staff is one of the best I have experienced so far. Maybe you should check out their Discord server.

CConner

SolidxGaming said: Well they do. Their support staff is one of the best I have experienced so far. Maybe you should check out their Discord server.

Will do. Thanks for making aware that such a control panel also exists. Looking through their source to get some inspiration :)

LTniger

Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version).

Roll out your software! Do it!

CConner

LTniger said: Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version).

Roll out your software! Do it!

Thank you for your interest and enthusiasm!

I will be releasing this for our own hosting company around August, and keep it there for some time to allow me time to discover bugs and fix them, as well as adding new features etc.

I am thinking of a per server based subscription, so no "master licenses" required, something to the sound of:

Small business / community:

1 server: 4.99$ /month 2 servers: 9.99$ /month 3 servers: 12.99$ /month 4 servers: 15.99$ /month

Sizable business:

5-10 servers: 24.99$ /month 10-20 servers: 35.99$ /month 20-30 servers: 45.99$ /month 30-100 servers: 99.95$ /month

Any suggestions concerning the price are very welcome!

OBHost

@CConner said:

LTniger said: Such software would be awesome! Specially if pricing bellow 10 USD/month. TCAdmin is a dead in the water: development stalled, support response rate degraded a lot, bugs (Linux version). I am thinking of a per server based subscription, so no "master licenses" required, something to the sound of:

Small business / community:

1 server: 4.99$ /month 2 servers: 9.99$ /month 3 servers: 12.99$ /month 4 servers: 15.99$ /month

Sizable business:

5-10 servers: 24.99$ /month 10-20 servers: 35.99$ /month 20-30 servers: 45.99$ /month 30-100 servers: 99.95$ /month

Any suggestions concerning the price are very welcome!

Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

CConner

OBHost said: Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

You can manage as many servers as you want from one control panel. Don't get me wrong for saying "master license" - I meant that I will charge a flat fee per server instead of an initial fee like others do.

In order to install the control panel, you must install the master files on your webserver, and then install the slave files on the servers you wish to control.

OBHost

@CConner said:

OBHost said: Add agent/slave system as well, Like if we have 2 location then need to create 2 different panels, It will make hard in terms of management of services.

You can manage as many servers as you want from one control panel. Don't get me wrong for saying "master license" - I meant that I will charge a flat fee per server instead of an initial fee like others do.

In order to install the control panel, you must install the master files on your webserver, and then install the slave files on the servers you wish to control.

Its great then and if you are adding whmcs module then make option (Use Whmcs or Default billing module) it will be best for many of gaming servers provider who use whmcs..

CConner

OBHost said: Ita great then and if you are adding whmcs module then make option (Use Whmcs or Default billing module) it will be best for many of gaming servers provider who use whmcs..

If you want, you can send me an e-mail at [email protected] so I can put you on the notification list for when this comes out.

OBHost

I will contact you once you release..

MagicalTrain

I dont know how much sense the pricing makes for small business/communities.

If I compare those prices to prices the first three game server providers in a google search for "game server rent" charge (which includes the server itself as well), it doesnt compare all too favourably, imo.

perryoo11

Will it become open to download upon release??

CConner

MagicalTrain said: I dont know how much sense the pricing makes for small business/communities.

If I compare those prices to prices the first three game server providers in a google search for "game server rent" charge (which includes the server itself as well), it doesnt compare all too favourably, imo.

Server, as in physical host server. Not individual gameservers.

CConner

perryoo11 said: Will it become open to download upon release??

If by that you mean free, no. It will be paid, although it will be a fair price.

Hxxx

The silicon valley vision : SaaS . Sometimes is just hard to trust. Summary: show me the code.

MikePT

This panel looks great, I wish you the best luck. :) You can either choose to license it, or grow your company with a custom control panel and develop exactly the features you need... I think it would be more profitable ;-)

Clouvider

It looks really nice. Great work there!

teamacc

@joepie91 said: 3. Non-commercial 'unskilled' pirates, typically unable to afford the software; they will get their cracked copies from groups 1 and 2, and they weren't going to buy your software anyway.

I agree with most of what you're saying, however, I have to highlight this sentence.

As the intended users of this product will be supplying services to the public, and as they're not paying for it, they'll be able to offer it at lower cost, cutting that group out by keeping it as SaaS might keep more end-users with the people that actually pay for the software to begin with, instead of "every summer host using a nulled whmcs".

Clouvider

@teamacc said:

@joepie91 said: 3. Non-commercial 'unskilled' pirates, typically unable to afford the software; they will get their cracked copies from groups 1 and 2, and they weren't going to buy your software anyway.

I agree with most of what you're saying, however, I have to highlight this sentence.

As the intended users of this product will be supplying services to the public, and as they're not paying for it, they'll be able to offer it at lower cost, cutting that group out by keeping it as SaaS might keep more end-users with the people that actually pay for the software to begin with, instead of "every summer host using a nulled whmcs".

I agree to a degree - software and knowledge are the key to being competitive. I get the part about the summer hosts being able to undercut the paying providers.

However, hosting someone's billing is a very serious stuff. Starting from PCI compliance, through security, etc. it's a big task. I also wouldn't feel comfortable relying 100% on a solution that's not under my control, but that might be might mania of avoiding single points of failure.

mgilang

this is nice, maybe you can start put email subscription to let us know when its ready

pbgben

@Hxxx said: The silicon valley vision : SaaS . Sometimes is just hard to trust. Summary: show me the code.

But thats the thing, SAAS means less time to develop as the code can be ugly. Also, self-hosted means the dev has to invest in obfuscater and complex licencing modules to minimize piracy.

I am a pro saas millennial, sooo gtfo?

CConner

mgilang said: this is nice, maybe you can start put email subscription to let us know when its ready

Sure, good idea! Send me an e-mail at [email protected] so I can put you on the notification list.

Hxxx

Exactly the point with millenials, ignorant until the end. I don't trust SaaS unless is from a very high end and recognized company.

@pbgben said:

@Hxxx said: The silicon valley vision : SaaS . Sometimes is just hard to trust. Summary: show me the code.

But thats the thing, SAAS means less time to develop as the code can be ugly. Also, self-hosted means the dev has to invest in obfuscater and complex licencing modules to minimize piracy.

I am a pro saas millennial, sooo gtfo?

CConner

Hxxx said: Exactly the point with millenials, ignorant until the end. I don't trust SaaS unless is from a very high end and recognized company.

I've had quite a couple years of experience hosting servers. We have plans to dedicate 4 servers at different providers, 2 being webservers which can both serve as a fail-over of eachother, and 2 dedicated database servers.

We have a decent amount of money to invest in to this, and I can piggy back it off the infrastructure we need to build for a small-ish social platform for Riot Games Europe.

amyling

I have to admit, your panel looks very modern and sleek :)

CConner

amyling said: I have to admit, your panel looks very modern and sleek :)

Thanks! We are currently working on a new design that will keep a lot of the aspects this design has, hard to explain. Will show you when it's finished (should be soon).

Ympker

Looks very nice :) Im working on a gameserver panel as well but bash based maybe a small web ui. Something like centminmod for gameservers. Cool to see someone accomplishing this with node.js as I never learnt php but got directly into node.js :P But I guess there is some php, too eh?

CConner

Ympker said: Looks very nice :) Im working on a gameserver panel as well but bash based maybe a small web ui. Something like centminmod for gameservers. Cool to see someone accomplishing this with node.js as I never learnt php but got directly into node.js :P But I guess there is some php, too eh?

I've built it like this:

Frontend -> PHP Backend (API, MySQL) -> Node.JS daemon

The frontend is written entirely in JavaScript, which communicates with my backend API (which is also accessible for other developers to use). The backend does all the hard work and sends commands to the Node.JS daemon, which sits directly on the remote server that you wish to control.

Ympker

@CConner said:

Ympker said: Looks very nice :) Im working on a gameserver panel as well but bash based maybe a small web ui. Something like centminmod for gameservers. Cool to see someone accomplishing this with node.js as I never learnt php but got directly into node.js :P But I guess there is some php, too eh?

I've built it like this:

Frontend -> PHP Backend (API, MySQL) -> Node.JS daemon

The frontend is written entirely in JavaScript, which communicates with my backend API (which is also accessible for other developers to use). The backend does all the hard work and sends commands to the Node.JS daemon, which sits directly on the remote server that you wish to control.

Thanks for the info :-)

CConner

Ympker said: Im working on a gameserver panel as well but bash based maybe a small web ui.

Do you have a link to your control panel? I'd love to take a look.