Creating a Dockerfile for your server

Hathora Cloud utilizes Docker, which is a technology that allows you to package your server project in a portable way so that it can be run in any Linux environment.

In order to deploy on Hathora Cloud, you will need to provide a Dockerfile in the root of your tar file:

tar.gz file
├── Dockerfile
└── <...your server build/project files>

note

You will not need to have Docker installed on your machine, the Docker build happens on Hathora build servers.

The core structure of a Dockerfile contains:

1. Base OS and packages (FROM)
2. Copy project files into container (COPY)
3. Configure build steps (RUN) - can skip if you've already copied a Linux executable in step 2
4. Start command (CMD)

Unity

FROM ubuntu:22.04

# Add these dependencies to enable your server to make outbound TLS requests
RUN apt-get update && \
  apt-get install -y ca-certificates && \
  update-ca-certificates

# Copy the server build files into the container, if Dockerfile is @ parent
COPY ./Server-Build-Dir .

RUN chmod +x ./your_unity_server.x86_64


# Run the Linux server in headless mode as a dedicated server
CMD ./your_unity_server.x86_64 -mode server -batchmode -nographics

Check out our detailed onboarding guide for Unity.

Unreal

FROM ubuntu:22.04

# Add these dependencies to enable your server to make outbound TLS requests
RUN apt-get update && \
  apt-get install -y ca-certificates && \
  update-ca-certificates

# Unreal doesn't like running as root, so let's create a user
RUN groupadd --gid 1000 unreal \
  && useradd --uid 1000 --gid unreal --create-home unreal
USER unreal

# Now copy over your server build
WORKDIR /home/unreal
COPY --chown=unreal:unreal . .

# Make sure your init script and server binary are executable
# If you have any other binaries (e.g. crash handlers), make sure to set those as executable too!
RUN chmod +x init.sh
RUN chmod +x YourGame/Binaries/Linux/YourGameServer

# Start init script (passing any parameters you need)
CMD ./init.sh

Check out our detailed onboarding guide for Unreal.

JS/TS

FROM node:18-alpine # node version

COPY . .            # copy project files

RUN npm install     # install dependencies
RUN npm run build   # build project

# Add these dependencies to enable your server to make outbound TLS requests
RUN apk update && apk upgrade && \
  apk add ca-certificates && \
  update-ca-certificates

CMD npm start       # start server

Check out our detailed onboarding guide for JS/TS.

Godot

FROM centos:centos8

RUN cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
RUN sed -i 's/mirrorlist/#mirrorlist/g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*
RUN sed -i 's|#baseurl=http://mirror.centos.org|baseurl=http://vault.centos.org|g' /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-*

RUN yum install -y wget unzip libXcursor openssl openssl-libs libXinerama libXrandr-devel libXi alsa-lib pulseaudio-libs mesa-libGL

# TODO: replace with your Godot version
ENV GODOT_VERSION "4.0.1"

# Install Godot Server
RUN wget -q https://downloads.tuxfamily.org/godotengine/${GODOT_VERSION}/Godot_v${GODOT_VERSION}-stable_linux.x86_64.zip \
&& unzip Godot_v${GODOT_VERSION}-stable_linux.x86_64.zip \
&& mv Godot_v${GODOT_VERSION}-stable_linux.x86_64 /usr/local/bin/godot \
&& chmod +x /usr/local/bin/godot

# Add these dependencies to enable your server to make outbound TLS requests
RUN dnf -y update && \
    dnf -y install ca-certificates && \
    update-ca-trust

COPY your_game_server.pck .

CMD /usr/local/bin/godot --headless --main-pack ./your_game_server.pck

Check out our detailed onboarding guide for Godot.

Other

Check out Docker's official guide to containerizing an application, or reach out on our Discord for help

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