[Tutorial] How to host ProCon Layer on Ubuntu Server

Previously I showed you how to host a Battlefield 3 Server on Linux. But without ProCon its hard to administrate the server. So today I will show you how to host a Procon Layer on your Linux Server.

1. Install dependencies

sudo apt install mono-4.0-service mono-complete libmono-system-windows-forms4.0-cil mono-devel supervisor mono-mcs unzip -y

2. Download Procon, unzip and put it in a working directory

mkdir procon
cd procon

Download ProCon and move it to your server. Use ftp, shared folder or whatever. Put it in /home/[your user]/procon

unzip [procon archive name] 

If its the only file in the directory you can also use [TAB]

3. Run it once

mono PRoCon.Console.exe

Wait 30 seconds then press any key to close it

4. Set up of the config files

cd Configs

4.1 procon.cfg

nano procon.cfg

Replace configuration with this. (Change variables on the botton. Don't copy the examples)

/////////////////////////////////////////////
// This config will be overwritten by procon.
/////////////////////////////////////////////
procon.private.window.position Normal 0 0 0 0
procon.private.options.setLanguage "au.loc"
procon.private.options.chatLogging False
procon.private.options.consoleLogging False
procon.private.options.eventsLogging False
procon.private.options.pluginLogging False
procon.private.options.autoCheckDownloadUpdates False
procon.private.options.autoApplyUpdates False
procon.private.options.autoCheckGameConfigsForUpdates True
procon.private.options.showtrayicon True
procon.private.options.minimizetotray False
procon.private.options.closetotray False
procon.private.options.runPluginsInSandbox False
procon.private.options.allowAllODBCConnections False
procon.private.options.allowAllSmtpConnections False
procon.private.options.adminMoveMessage True
procon.private.options.chatDisplayAdminName True
procon.private.options.EnableAdminReason False
procon.private.options.layerHideLocalPlugins True
procon.private.options.layerHideLocalAccounts True
procon.private.options.ShowRoundTimerConstantly False
procon.private.options.ShowCfmMsgRoundRestartNext True
procon.private.options.ShowDICESpecialOptions False
procon.private.httpWebServer.enable False 27360 "0.0.0.0"
procon.private.options.trustedHostDomainsPorts
procon.private.options.statsLinkNameUrl Battlelog https://battlelog.battlefield.com/%game%/user/%player_name% PunkBuster https://www.pbbans.com/mbi-guid-search-%player_PBguid%.html BF4DB https://bf4db.com/player/search?query=%player_name%
procon.private.options.pluginMaxRuntime 0 59
procon.private.options.UsePluginOldStyleLoad False
procon.private.options.enablePluginDebugging False
procon.private.options.UseGeoIpFileOnly False
procon.private.options.BlockRssFeedNews False
procon.private.servers.add "SERVER-IP(127.0.0.1 IF ON THE SAME SERVER)" RCON PORT "YOUR-RCON-ADMIN-PASSWORT"
   #EXAMPLE: procon.private.servers.add "127.0.0.1" 48000 "BLABLABLA"~~~ Dont add this line
procon.private.servers.name "SERVER-IP(127.0.0.1 IF ON THE SAME SERVER)" RCON PORT "SERVER-NAME"
   #EXAMPLE: procon.private.servers.name "127.0.0.1" 48000 "FD Server"~~~ Dont add this line

Save this file and then close

4.2 accounts.cfg

nano accounts.cfg

create admin account to login into procon

procon.public.accounts.create "USERNAME" "SOME PASSWORD"

again save and close

4.3 Server Configuration

Per server youre hosting (example 1 Server metro 1 server noshar) you need an extra procon configuration

Create a new folder named after your server for example:

mkdir 127.0.0.1:48000

If you have another server you need to change the port of server 2 to 48001

cd 127.0.0.1_48000

Create a config file for the server

nano 127.0.0.1_48000.cfg

Paste this into the config:

/////////////////////////////////////////////
// This config will be overwritten by procon.
/////////////////////////////////////////////
procon.protected.layer.setPrivileges "USERNAME FROM ACCOUNTS.CFG" 3972679
procon.protected.layer.enable True 27260 "0.0.0.0" "[%servername%]"
procon.protected.playerlist.settings true 1 0.5 0.5
procon.protected.chat.settings False False True 0 0 False False
procon.protected.events.captures False 200 False False
procon.protected.lists.settings False
procon.protected.console.settings True False False True True True
procon.protected.timezone_UTCoffset 0

change username to the account created in "accounts.cfg" keep the rcon port the same if you have only 1 server. if you have multiple server count +1 like 27261, 27262 etc.

5. Start ProCon

Configuration is done! Go back to procon folder

cd /home/[Your user]/procon

and start procon in a screen session to keep it running even after closing the terminal(and the Battlefield 3 server)

screen -S ProCon mono /home/(your user)/procon/PRoCon.Console.exe

Go to windows and start Procon

Add the Port from step 4.3. IP of the BF3 server. Username and PW from accounts.cfg