server | v5 switch to V4

4.x to 5.0 RC1 Upgrade Guide

This guide is for migrating from v4 to v5 versions equal or higher than v5.0 RC1 (not v5 BETA).

Overview of Major Changes

As on the Photon Cloud, v5 will now run a Name Server. Clients should connect it to authenticate and get a Master Server address. This affects the authentication configuration. The Photon Server requires a valid license to run. CounterPublisher (App, Project and DLLs) was deprecated and removed from SDK. Other than that, some configuration changes need to be reviewed.

License Updates and Upgrades

When upgrading to a new major version of the Photon SDK or when using an older SDK version with a newly purchased license file, you should make sure ahead of time before going into production, that your Photon SDK runs with that license.

The easiest way to do this is to put the license file in question into the Photon SDK folder you plan to use and start Photon via the Photon Control application. You should then check the license information shown in the tray app and additionally check the logs for licensing errors.

Code changes

Here we list the possible changes needed to your custom classes that extend some commonly used types.

ApplicationBase

If you are extending ApplicationBase class:

One of the constructors need to pass IConfiguration parameter to base contructor. In order to do this you need to import NuGet package "Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions". Then load the configuration (from XML or JSON or elsewhere) then pass it to base class constructor. You can take a look at how we do it in MasterApplication or GameApplication or PhotonApp classes. Common pattern we use:
```
    using Photon.SocketServer;
  using Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration;

  public class CustomPhotonApplication : ApplicationBase
  {
      public CustomPhotonApplication() : base(LoadConfiguration())
      {
      }

      private static IConfiguration LoadConfiguration()
      {
```
(optional) New methods to override:
- object DecryptAuthToken(InitRequest initRequest, byte[] authToken, int offset, int length, out Dictionary<byte, object> encryptionData, out string errorMsg)
- void OnWebRTCChannelDestroyed(IPhotonWebRTCPeer peer, object userData, byte channelId)

ClientPeer

If you are extending ClientPeer class:

void OnUnexpectedDataReceived(byte[] data, string debugMessage) is gone and is replaced with void OnDeserializationError(byte[] data, RtsMessageType msgType, string debugMessage, short errorCode = -12, byte code = 0, Exception exception = null)
First parameter of OnDisconnected has changed from DisconnectReason or int: before: void OnDisconnect(DisconnectReason reasonCode, string reasonDetail) after: void OnDisconnect(int reasonCode, string reasonDetail)
(optional) New methods to override:
- string GetHistograms()
- void OnEncryptionQueueOverload(EncryptionQueueFailureParams failureParams)

S2SPeerBase

Same as when extending ClientPeer plus new extra optional method to override: void OnDisconnectMessage(DisconnectMessage message).

InboundS2SPeer

Same as when extending S2SPeerBase.

OutboundS2SPeer

Same as when extending S2SPeerBase plus new extra optional method to override void OnConnectionEstablished(InitV3Response initResponse).

PhotonServer.config Changes

We now support a new syntax for defining server application instances: Instead of:

  <Configuration>
  <InstanceName>
  </InstanceName>
</Configuration>

Do:

  <Configuration>
  <Instance Name="InstanceName">
  </Instance>
</Configuration>

For the LoadBalancing instance, the default application is now NameServer and no longer Master as it used to be in v4.
Remove CounterPublisher application node from LoadBalancing instance.
Remove MMO instance.

Obsolete Settings

There are some settings removed in v5 and due to the newly introduced schema validation, the server will fail to start if these are still present.

Applications

Shared Directory logic is old and not used. Remove related setting:
- SharedDirIsExeDir

Application

Shared Directory logic is old and not used. Remove related settings:
- SharedDirIsExeDir
- SharedDirectory
Automatic restarting of applications on change is now disabled. Remove related settings:
- RestartDelayMilliseconds
- WatchFiles
- ExcludeFiles
- EnableShadowCopy
- EnableAutoRestart
- ForceAutoRestart
Resolver
EnableOutboundENet

TCPListener

Certificate setup has changed read more here. Old certificate setup settings are gone:
- StoreName
- UseMachineStore
- CertificateName
DisconnectTimeout
MaxQueuedBuffers
MaxPendingWrites
FlowControlNotificationStepSize
PolicyApplication

HTTPListener

Access-Control-Allow-Origin

Instance

AttachConsole
TCPUsePageAllocator
UseStandardAllocator
UseLockFreeAllocator
UseTLSAllocator
ENETUseLowContentionBufferAllocator
ENETNumAllocators
ENETUsePageAllocator
ValidateCRCifPresent

IOPool / ENetIOPool / ENetThreadPool

"Priority" setting as been removed from all three pools.

Runtime

OptimiseBroadcast removed
UnhandledExceptionPolicy: Replace value "ReloadDomain" with "Ignore" or "TerminateProcess". "ReloadDomain" is no longer supported.

HTTP WebSocket Listeners

WebSocketListeners have changed syntax.

Before (v4):

    <WebSocketListeners>
      <WebSocketListener
        IPAddress="0.0.0.0"
        Port="9090"
        DisableNagle="true"
        InactivityTimeout="10000"
        OverrideApplication="Master">
      </WebSocketListener>
      <WebSocketListener
        IPAddress="0.0.0.0"
        Port="9091"
        DisableNagle="true"
        InactivityTimeout="10000"
        OverrideApplication="Game">
      </WebSocketListener>
    </WebSocketListeners>

After (v5):

    <HTTPListeners>
      <HTTPListener
        Name="*:[PORT]::Master"
        IPAddress="0.0.0.0"
        Port="9090"
        DisableNagle="true"
        InactivityTimeout="10000">
        <Routing>
          <Route 
            Url="/+" 
            OverrideApplication="Master"
            PeerType="WebSocket"
            Counters="false" />
          <Route Url="/photon/m" Ping="true" Counters="false"/>
        </Routing>
      </HTTPListener>
      <HTTPListener
        Name="*:[PORT]::Game"
        IPAddress="0.0.0.0"
        Port="9091"
        DisableNagle="true"
        InactivityTimeout="10000"
        AppDataInactivityTimeout="15000">
        <Routing>
          <Route 
            Url="/+" 
            OverrideApplication="Game"
            PingEvery="2000" 
            PeerType="WebSocket"
            Counters="false" />
          <Route Url="/photon/g" Ping="true" Counters="false"/>
        </Routing>
      </HTTPListener>
      <HTTPListener
        Name="*:[PORT]::NameServer"
        IPAddress="0.0.0.0"
        Port="9093"
        DisableNagle="true"
        InactivityTimeout="10000"
        AppDataInactivityTimeout="15000">
        <Routing>
          <Route 
            Url="/+" 
            OverrideApplication="NameServer"
            PeerType="WebSocket"
            Counters="false" />
          <Route Url="/photon/n" Ping="true" Counters="false"/>
        </Routing>
      </HTTPListener>
    </HTTPListeners>

Secure Listeners Setup

Since we have moved from Secure Channel (Schannel) to OpenSSL, certificate format and configuration for secure listeners have changed.

Remove the obsolete attributes:
- StoreName
- UseMachineStore
- CertificateName

Replace with the new settings for certificates setup. Read more on Certificate Setup.

LoadBalancing Configuration Changes

File Name Changes

First, the most noticebale difference is that now each server application has its own configuration file that has the following name format: "{application_name}.xml.config". This is important especially for Master and GameServer applications that used to share the same file name and content by default: "Photon.LoadBalancing.dll.config". The content of that file is now split into two files:

"deploy\LoadBalancing\Master\bin\Master.xml.config"
"deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\GameServer.xml.config"

Here is the list of the configuration files:

Master

Before (v4):

"deploy\Loadbalancing\Master\bin\Photon.LoadBalancing.dll.config"

After (v5):

"deploy\LoadBalancing\Master\bin\Master.xml.config"

GameServer

Before (v4):

"deploy\Loadbalancing\GameServer\bin\Photon.LoadBalancing.dll.config"

After (v5):

"deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\GameServer.xml.config"

Plugins

Game Server Plugins configuration is no longer part of the GameSever configuration file, it's now done in its own file "deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\plugin.config". In v4 it used to be inside "deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\Photon.LoadBalancing.dll.config" so you need to move the plugins configuration from there.

Before (v4):

"deploy\Loadbalancing\GameServer\bin\Photon.LoadBalancing.dll.config"

After (v5):

"deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\plugin.config"

Structure Change

The second important change is that configuration files have a new structure.

Old file structure:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <!-- sections defined here -->
  </configSections>
  <applicationSettings>
     <!-- app settings -->
  </applicationSettings>
  <!-- other settings -->
  <Photon>
    <CounterPublisher>
    </CounterPublisher>
  </Photon>
  <startup>
  </startup>
</configuration>

New file structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <Photon>
    <!-- all settings here -->
  </Photon>
</configuration>

Notice the root <Photon> element.

Some of the old configuration sections (XML elements) are no longer needed:

<configSections>
<applicationSettings>
<startup>
<CounterPublisher>

Some elements have been renamed.

<Photon.LoadBalancing.Common.CommonSettings> is now <LoadBalacing>
<Photon.Common.Authentication.Settings> is now <Authentication>
<Photon.LoadBalancing.MasterServer.MasterServerSettings> is now <Master>
<Photon.LoadBalancing.GameServer.GameServerSettings> is now <GameServer>
<WebRpcSettings> is now <WebRpc>
<AuthSettings> is now <CustomAuth>

Also now each setting node has a custom name matching the setting instead of the old generic format. This applies to all elements except <WebRPC> (previously <WebRpcSettings>) and <CustomAuth> (previously <AuthSettings) which did not change.

Old setting node format:

<setting name="SettingName" serializeAs="String">
    <value>SettingValue</value>
</setting>

New setting node format:

<SettingName>SettingValue</SettingName>

Here is a more detailed breakdown of the changes per file:

Master

<CustomAuth> (previously <AuthSettings) is no longer part of the MasterServer configuration and is instead done in NameServer ("deploy\NameServer\bin\NameServer.xml.config").

Old file structure:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <!-- sections defined here -->
  </configSections>
  <applicationSettings>
    <Photon.LoadBalancing.Common.CommonSettings>
    </Photon.LoadBalancing.Common.CommonSettings>
    <Photon.Common.Authentication.Settings>
    </Photon.Common.Authentication.Settings>
    <Photon.LoadBalancing.MasterServer.MasterServerSettings>
    </Photon.LoadBalancing.MasterServer.MasterServerSettings>
  </applicationSettings>
  <Photon>
    <CounterPublisher>
    </CounterPublisher>
  </Photon>
  <WebRpcSettings>
  </WebRpcSettings>
  <startup>
  </startup>
</configuration>

New file structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <Photon>
    <LoadBalancing>
    </LoadBalancing>
    <Authentication>
    </Authentication>
    <Master>
      <S2S>
      </S2S>
      <GS>
      </GS>
      <Limits>
        <Inbound>
        </Inbound>
        <Lobby>
        </Lobby>
      </Limits>
    </Master>
    <WebRpc>
      <HttpQueueSetting>
      </HttpQueueSettings>
    </WebRpc>
    <SocketServer>
      <S2S>
      </S2S>
    </SocketServer>
  </Photon>
</configuration>

GameServer

Old file structure:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <!-- sections defined here -->
  </configSections>
  <applicationSettings>
    <Photon.LoadBalancing.Common.CommonSettings>
    </Photon.LoadBalancing.Common.CommonSettings>
    <Photon.Common.Authentication.Settings>
    </Photon.Common.Authentication.Settings>
    <Photon.LoadBalancing.MasterServer.GameServerSettings>
    </Photon.LoadBalancing.MasterServer.GameServerSettings>
  </applicationSettings>
  <Photon>
    <CounterPublisher>
    </CounterPublisher>
  </Photon>
  <WebRpcSettings>
  </WebRpcSettings>
  <startup>
  </startup>
</configuration>

New file structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <Photon>
    <LoadBalancing>
    </LoadBalancing>
    <Authentication>
    </Authentication>
    <GameServer>
      <S2S>
      </S2S>
      <Master>
      </Master>
      <Limits>
        <Inbound>
          <EventCache>
          </EventCache>
          <Properties>
          </Properties>
          <Operations>
          </Operations>
        </Inbound>
      </Limits>
      <HttpQueueSetting>
      </HttpQueueSettings>
    </GameServer>
    <WebRpc>
      <HttpQueueSetting>
      </HttpQueueSettings>
    </WebRpc>
    <SocketServer>
      <S2S>
      </S2S>
    </SocketServer>
  </Photon>
</configuration>

Plugins

Add a <Configuration></Configuration> enclosing wrapper element as follows:

<Configuration>
  <PluginSettings Enabled="True">
    <Plugins>
      <!-- custom plugin settings here -->
    </Plugins>
  </PluginSettings>
</Configuration>

HttpQueueSettings

HttpQueue is used for everything HTTP (outbound). So it made sense to group the queue's related settings into one group. This group of settings is used in GameServer, WebRPC and CustomAuth settings (as a subgroup). Most of the settings were already available in v4 but now it's more organized (new structure), clean and consistent (naming).

HttpRequestTimeout: How long (in milliseconds) the queue can wait for a HTTP response.
LimitHttpResponseMaxSize: Maximum size of HTTP response payload.
MaxBackoffTime: Backoff threshold when retrying to send a HTTP request.
MaxConcurrentRequests: Maximum concurrent HTTP requests allowed.
MaxErrorRequests: Maximum number of errors that can occur while processing queued requests. If reached the HttpQueue will disconnect (clear all queued requests and reject incoming) and then resume after ReconnectInterval.
MaxQueuedRequests: Maximum number of requests that can be queued.
MaxTimedOutRequests: Maximum number of requests that timeout in the queue waiting to be processed. If reached the HttpQueue will disconnect (clear all queued requests and reject incoming) and then resume after ReconnectInterval.
QueueTimeout: If a request stays in the HttpQueue for QueueTimeout milliseconds it will be removed automatically.
ReconnectInterval: How long (in milliseconds) the queue needs to wait before resuming process of HTTP requests.

Settings with same or similar names from GameServer, WebRPC or CustomAuth nodes need to be removed or moved under a <HttpQueueSettings> element.

NameServer (NEW)

In v5 we added the NameServer application which was available in Photon Cloud only before. Its configuration is done using two files:

one file for the actual application. Custom authentication is now done on the NameServer and not on the MasterServer anymore. So move any previously configured custom authentication settings from the MasterServer's configuration file (section used to be named <AuthSettings>) to the NameServer's configuration file (section renamed to <CustomAuth>): "deploy\NameServer\bin\NameServer.xml.config".
one file for the list of regions (MasterServer) to be associated with that NameServer. The file can be changed in 'NameServerConfig' setting in "deploy\NameServer\bin\NameServer.xml.config". Default is: "deploy\Nameserver.json"

'NameServer' is now the default application for the LoadBalancing instance in PhotonServer.config replacing 'Master' as it used to be in v4.

LoadBalancer and Workload Configuration Changes

Level Name Update

In v4 only 5 levels existed. Those level names were 'Lowest', 'Low', 'Middle', 'High' and 'Highest'.

Now we use 'Level0', 'Level1', 'Level2', ..., 'Level9'. 'Lowest' is replaced with 'Level0'. 'Highest' is replaced with 'Level9'.

Workload Configuration Change

The GameServer setting "WorkloadConfigFile" sets the path for the LoadBalancer configuration file. By default in v5 it's "deploy\Workload.1Gbps.config" (used to be "Workload.config"). Another example file is available in the SDK as well: "Workload.config".

Controller Setup Update

Old controller setup:

<add Name="{ControllerName}" InitialInput="0" InitialLevel="Lowest">
  <FeedbackLevels>
    <add Level="Lowest" Value="{LowestValue}"/>
    <add Level="Low" Value="{LowValue}"/>
    <add Level="Normal" Value="{NormalValue}"/>
    <add Level="High" Value="{HighValue}"/>
    <add Level="Highest" Value="{HighestValue}"/>
  </FeedbackLevels>
</add>

New controller setup:

<Controller Name="{ContollerName}" InitialInput="0" InitialLevel="Lowest">
  <FeedbackLevels>
    <Level name="0" Level="Level0" Value="{Value0}" ValueDown="{ValueDown0}"/>
    <Level name="1" Level="Level1" Value="{Value1}" ValueDown="{ValueDown1}"/>
    <Level name="2" Level="Level2" Value="{Value2}" ValueDown="{ValueDown2}"/>
    <Level name="3" Level="Level3" Value="{Value3}" ValueDown="{ValueDown3}"/>
    <Level name="4" Level="Level4" Value="{Value4}" ValueDown="{ValueDown4}"/>
    <Level name="5" Level="Level5" Value="{Value5}" ValueDown="{ValueDown5}"/>
    <Level name="6" Level="Level6" Value="{Value6}" ValueDown="{ValueDown6}"/>
    <Level name="7" Level="Level7" Value="{Value7}" ValueDown="{ValueDown7}"/>
    <Level name="8" Level="Level8" Value="{Value8}" ValueDown="{ValueDown8}"/>
    <Level name="9" Level="Level9" Value="{Value9}" ValueDown="{ValueDown9}"/>
  </FeedbackLevels>
</Controller>

File Structure Update

Old structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<FeedbackControlSystem>
  <FeedbackControllers>
      <!-- one or more controllers setup -->
  </FeedbackControllers>
</FeedbackControlSystem>

New structure (wrapper <Configuration></Configuration> element/node added):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Configuration>
  <FeedbackControlSystem>
    <FeedbackControllers>
      <!-- one or more controllers setup -->
    </FeedbackControllers>
  </FeedbackControlSystem>
</Configuration>

LoadBalancer Configuration Change

The LoadBalancer configuration file is "deploy\LoadBalancer.config".

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<LoadBalancer>
  <LoadBalancerWeights>
    <add Level="Lowest" Value="{LowestValue}"/>
    <add Level="Low" Value="{LowValue}"/>
    <add Level="Normal" Value="{NormalValue}"/>
    <add Level="High" Value="{HighValue}"/>
    <add Level="Highest" Value="{HighestValue}"/>
  </LoadBalancerWeights>
</LoadBalancer>

New structure (wrapper <Configuration></Configuration> element/node added):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Configuration>
  <LoadBalancer ReserveRatio="{ReserveRatio}" ValueUp="{ValueUp}">
    <LoadBalancerWeights>
      <Level name="0" Level="Level0" Value="{Value0}" />
      <Level name="1" Level="Level1" Value="{Value1}"/>
      <Level name="2" Level="Level2" Value="{Value2}"/>
      <Level name="3" Level="Level3" Value="{Value3}"/>
      <Level name="4" Level="Level4" Value="{Value4}"/>
      <Level name="5" Level="Level5" Value="{Value5}"/>
      <Level name="6" Level="Level6" Value="{Value6}"/>
      <Level name="7" Level="Level7" Value="{Value7}"/>
      <Level name="8" Level="Level8" Value="{Value8}"/>
      <Level name="9" Level="Level9" Value="{Value9}"/>
    </LoadBalancerWeights>
  </LoadBalancer>
</Configuration>

To Document Top

4.x to 5.0 RC1 Upgrade Guide

Overview of Major Changes

Contents

License Updates and Upgrades

Code changes

ApplicationBase

ClientPeer

S2SPeerBase

InboundS2SPeer

OutboundS2SPeer

PhotonServer.config Changes

Obsolete Settings

Applications

Application

TCPListener

HTTPListener

Instance

IOPool / ENetIOPool / ENetThreadPool

Runtime

HTTP WebSocket Listeners

Secure Listeners Setup

LoadBalancing Configuration Changes

File Name Changes

Master

GameServer

Plugins

Structure Change

Master

GameServer

Plugins

HttpQueueSettings

NameServer (NEW)

LoadBalancer and Workload Configuration Changes

Level Name Update

Workload Configuration Change

Controller Setup Update

File Structure Update

LoadBalancer Configuration Change