PBUCON Console
From RconMax
Contents |
PBUCON General
Let us draw a clear distinction here between the PBUCON tab (also referred to as Live Chat Monitoring or LCM) in RconMax and the PBUCON.exe also known as the PBUCON Console. RconMax uses the data from the PBUCON Console for LCM and Remote Admin. By using the PBUCON Console you are agreeing to the PunkBuster End User License Agreement.
The PBUCON Console connects to your game server and tells PunkBuster (running on your game server) where to send (the internet IP address and port of your PC / router) your game server console data to (which includes the chat data). The PBUCON Console on receiving the game server console data will write it to a log file named rmax.log which is in the PBUCON folder in your RconMax user folder. LCM then reads the chat data out of this log file.
You must make sure that your router / firewall does not block the PBUCON Console.
If you do not have the PBUCON Console set up and working correctly then you will not be able to use LCM or Remote Admin.
The PBUCON Console is provided and supported by PunkBuster at www.evenbalance.com The RconMax team do not provide support for the PBUCON Console it's self, however we have put together some information for your help / guidance.
PunkBuster say: "For any issues related to PBUCON, please communicate directly with the PunkBuster staff using our Web Ticket System".
The following information should help get you going.
You do not need to download / install / copy or move PBUCON.exe as it is included in the RconMax installation package and it will be placed in the correct folder on your PC by RconMax.
PBUCON And Your Game Server
You must have PunkBuster version 1.225 or higher running on the server.
On your game server go to your PB folder and check that there is a file called pbucon.use.
If this file does not exist then create it on your desktop with Notepad (the file contents does not matter) and upload it to your game servers PB folder using an FTP program like FileZilla which is available for download free of charge from filezilla-project.org
On your game server go to your PB folder and check that there is a file called pbsv.cfg.
If this file does not exist then create it as an empty file it on your desktop with Notepad and upload it to your game servers PB folder.
Check to see if your pbsv.cfg file has the following commands in it: pb_sv_usessionlimit and pb_sv_ucontimeout if not you will need to add them.
Suggested setting as follows:
pb_sv_ucontimeout 90 pb_sv_usessionlimit 16
The pb_sv_usessionlimit setting determines how many concurrent PBUCON sessions are allowed to be active at any point in time (the default is 0 and the maximum is 16). It must be set to a number higher than 0.
You do not need to create PBUCON Profiles in your pbsv.cfg file because RconMax will do this on-the-fly when you start LCM.
After adding the pbucon.use file and or the pbsv.cfg file to your game servers PB folder and having made any necessary changes you need to restart your game server to make the changes take effect.
PBUCON And Your PC
You do not need to download / install / copy or move PBUCON.exe as it is included in the RconMax installation package and it will be placed in the correct folder on your PC by RconMax.
You must make sure that your router / firewall does not block the PBUCON Console.
If you do not have the PBUCON Console set up and working correctly then you will not be able to use LCM or Remote Admin in RconMax. When you use LCM RconMax will create the PBUCON Profile on your game server to allow the PBUCON Console to connect.
When you start the PBUCON Console from within RconMax the PBUCON Console graphical user interface will be hidden.
RconMax will close the PBUCON Console for you when you either select a different server in the RconMax My Server list, or when your close RconMax.
How To Test PBUCON Console
Here is a guide to help you test that your PBUCON Console is working correctly.
If your PBUCON Console is not working correctly i.e. connecting to your game server, receiving data and writing the data to the log file then you will not be able to use the LCM or Remote Admin functions.
For further help in getting your PBUCON Console working you should contact PunkBuster using their own Web Ticket System. (PunkBuster will not be able to support RconMax LCM or Remote Admin, however they will help you get PBUCON Console running.)
During this process you will need to know what the internet IP address is for your PC / router. If you do not know go to the PBUCON tab and click the "IP" button and RconMax will try to determine what your internet IP address is. If RconMax is unable to do this then you will have to find out what it is for yourself.
RconMax does not detect or choose the port number for you. You choose the port number that will be used and you key it in to the Port text box yourself. This port must be a UDP port, one that is not already in use. You must make sure that your router / firewall does not block this port number. In some cases if you have a router you will need to set up port forwarding to tell your router to forward this port to the local IP address of your PC.
Many people have internet connection which have a dynamic IP address. In such cases your internet IP address may change regularly. If you select Auto Check IP then RconMax will try to get your internet IP address each time it starts.
If RconMax is already running then close it.
If you have any other rcon tools running then close them.
If you have any PBUCON Console windows running then close them.
Run RconMax and connect to your server.
Type the following command into the Send Command box and press [ENTER].
(You MUST substitute 123.123.123.123 with your own internet IP address.)
You should get a response back like above.
Go to your \<Documents>\RconMax(MW)\PBUCON\ folder
and see the PBUCON.exe file and double click on it to run it.
You do not normally run the PBUCON.exe from this folder yourself, this is solely for the purpose of this test.
If you do not already have a pbeula.txt file in the same folder then you will see the PunkBuster license agreement and you have to type "I Agree" and press [ENTER].
Key in your information you are asked for.
- Your servers IP address and port.
- Your internet IP address and the UDP port that you have chosen. (This port must not be blocked by your router / firewall).
- Your user name as above.
- Your password as above.
If you have set every thing up correctly and followed these steps correctly then you should see some thing like this:
In the PBUCON Console window type the following command serverinfo and press [ENTER]. You should see some thing like this:
You may also see other game server console data like this:
To close the PBUCON console type the following command PBUCONEXIT and press [ENTER].
During this test the PBUCON Console will write the same data that you see in the console window in to a log file called pbucon.log which will be in the PBUCON folder. You can open this file with a program like WordPad (Notepad is no good for this as the log will not be formatted correctly) and view the content.
During the normal operation of Live Chat Monitor the PBUCON console will write to a log file called rmax.log (and not pbucon.log).
Basically if you don't get this kind of result then you have got something wrong with your set-up.
Maybe your firewall, your router, your server files / settings.
If your PUBCON Console is not working correctly i.e. connecting to your game server, receiving data and writing the data to the log file then you will not be able to use the RconMax Live Chat Monitoring or Remote Admin functions.
If your PBUCON Console is not working correctly you should contact PunkBuster using their own Web Ticket System.
PBUCON Profiles
You can view PBUCON profiles that are on your server by using the pb_sv_uconlist command.
ÿÿÿÿprint ^5PunkBuster Server: [Slot] [Type] [Mask] [Name] ^5PunkBuster Server: 1 1 64.24.21.46 pbbanshub ^5PunkBuster Server: 6 3 123.123.123.123 fred ^5PunkBuster Server: 6 3 123.123.123.123 tom ^5PunkBuster Server: 8 3 99.99.99.99 mary ^5PunkBuster Server: End of PB UCON Profile List (4 Enteries)
Sometimes you may find it is necessary to clear down this list.
Any PBUCON Profiles that have been left hanging around and have not timed out yet can be removed by using the pb_sv_ucondel <Slot> command.
pb_sv_ucondel 6
ÿÿÿÿprint ^5PunkBuster Server: PB UCON Slot #6 deleted
Using the pb_sv_uconlist command again you will see that the PBUCON Profile has been removed.
If your server streams to places like the pbbanshub then make sure that you do not delete these PBUCON Profiles.
