Initial development Iterate on your game server

Test your integration using Amazon GameLift Anywhere fleets

You can use an Amazon GameLift Anywhere fleet to iteratively build and test your game integration with Amazon GameLift. Set up your own hardware as an Anywhere fleet with a connection to the Amazon GameLift service, then install and run your game server on it. Use a test app to run scenarios such as starting/stopping game sessions, tracking player connections, and handling matchmaking backfills. With an Anywhere fleet, you can update your game server build as needed and have full visibility into hosting activity.

You can Amazon GameLift Anywhere fleets with games integrated with Amazon GameLift Server SDK version 5 or greater.

Initial development

You've developed your game and are integrating it with the Amazon GameLift server SDK. To test your integration, you could upload each new iteration of your game server build to Amazon GameLift and create a fleet. Alternatively, using an Anywhere fleet with your development laptop gives you a more efficient way to do iterative development and testing.

Use the following procedures to create an Anywhere fleet and start a game session on your laptop using the Amazon GameLift console or the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI).

Console

Open the Amazon GameLift console.
In the navigation pane, under Hosting, choose Locations.
Choose Create location.
In the Create location dialog box, do the following:
1. Enter a Location name. This labels the location of your compute resources that Amazon GameLift uses to run your games in Anywhere fleets. Custom location names must start with custom-.
2. Choose Create.
To create an Anywhere fleet, do the following:
1. In the navigation pane, under Hosting, choose Fleets.
2. On the Fleets page, choose Create fleet.
3. On the Choose compute type step, choose Anywhere, and then choose Next.
4. On the Define fleet details step, define your new fleet. For more information, see Create a new Amazon GameLift fleet.
5. On the Select locations step, select the custom location that you created.
6. Complete the remaining fleet creation steps to create your Anywhere fleet.

Register your laptop as a compute resource in the fleet that you created. Use the register-compute command (or the RegisterCompute API operation). Include the fleet-id created in the previous step and add a compute-name and your laptop's ip-address.


aws gamelift register-compute \
    --compute-name DevLaptop \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --ip-address 10.1.2.3 \
    --location custom-location-1

Example output:


Compute {
    FleetId = fleet-1234,
    ComputeName = DevLaptop,
    Status = ACTIVE,
    IpAddress = 10.1.2.3,
    GameLiftServiceSdkEndpoint = wss://12345678.execute-api.amazonaws.com/,
    Location = custom-location-1
}

Start a debug session of your game server.
1. Get the authorization token for your laptop in the fleet that you created. Use the get-compute-auth-token command (or the GetComputeAuthToken API operation).
```
aws gamelift get-compute-auth-token \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --compute-name DevLaptop
```
  Example output:
```
ComputeAuthToken {
  FleetId = fleet-1234,
  ComputeName = DevLaptop,
  AuthToken = abcdefg123,
  ExpirationTime = 1897492857.11
}
```
2. Run a debug instance of your game server executable. To run the debug instance, your game server must call InitSDK(). After the process is ready to host a game session, the game server calls ProcessReady().
Create a game session to test out your first integration with Amazon GameLift Anywhere. Use the create-game-session command (or the CreateGameSession API operation). Specify the fleet's custom location.
```
aws gamelift create-game-session \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --name DebugSession \
    --maximum-player-session-count 2 \
    --location custom-location-1
```
Example output:
```
GameSession {
    FleetId = fleet-1234,
    GameSessionId = 1111-1111,
    Name = DebugSession,
    IpAddress = 10.1.2.3,
    Port = 1024,
    ...
}
```
Amazon GameLift sends an onStartGameSession() message to your registered server process. The message contains the GameSession object from the previous step with game properties, game sessions data, matchmaker data, and more about the game session.
Add logic to your game server so that your server process responds to the onStartGameSession() message with ActivateGameSession(). The operation sends an acknowledgement to Amazon GameLift that your server received and accepted the create game session message. For more information see, Amazon GameLift server SDK reference.

Your game server is now running a game session for you to test out and use for iteration. To learn how to iterate on your game server, continue to the next section.

AWS CLI

Create a custom location using the create-location command (or the CreateLocation API operation). A custom location labels the location of your hardware that Amazon GameLift uses to run your games in Anywhere fleets.
```
aws gamelift create-location \
    --location-name custom-location-1
```
Example output:
```
{
    Location {
        LocationName = custom-location-1
    }
}
```
Create an Anywhere fleet with your custom location using the create-fleet command (or the CreateFleet API operation). Amazon GameLift creates the fleet in your home Region and the custom locations that you provide.
```
aws gamelift create-fleet \
    --name LaptopFleet \
    --compute-type ANYWHERE \
    --locations "location=custom-location-1"
```
Example output:
```
Fleet {
    Name = LaptopFleet,
    ComputeType = ANYWHERE,
    FleetId = fleet-1234,
    Status = ACTIVE
    ...
}
```


aws gamelift register-compute \
    --compute-name DevLaptop \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --ip-address 10.1.2.3 \
    --location custom-location-1

Example output:


Compute {
    FleetId = fleet-1234,
    ComputeName = DevLaptop,
    Status = ACTIVE,
    IpAddress = 10.1.2.3,
    GameLiftServiceSdkEndpoint = wss://12345678.execute-api.amazonaws.com/,
    Location = custom-location-1
}

Start a debug session of your game server.
1. Get the authorization token for your laptop in the fleet that you created. Use the get-compute-auth-token command (or the GetComputeAuthToken API operation).
```
aws gamelift get-compute-auth-token \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --compute-name DevLaptop
```
  Example output:
```
ComputeAuthToken {
  FleetId = fleet-1234,
  ComputeName = DevLaptop,
  AuthToken = abcdefg123,
  ExpirationTime = 1897492857.11
}
```
2. Run a debug instance of your game server executable. To run the debug instance, your game server must call InitSDK(). After the process is ready to host a game session, the game server calls ProcessReady().
Create a game session to test out your first integration with Amazon GameLift Anywhere. Use the create-game-session command (or the CreateGameSession API operation).
```
aws gamelift create-game-session \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --name DebugSession \
    --maximum-player-session-count 2
```
Example output:
```
GameSession {
    FleetId = fleet-1234,
    GameSessionId = 1111-1111,
    Name = DebugSession,
    IpAddress = 10.1.2.3,
    Port = 1024,
    ...
}
```
Amazon GameLift sends an onStartGameSession() message to your registered server process. The message contains the GameSession object from the previous step with game properties, game sessions data, matchmaker data, and more about the game session.
Add logic to your game server so that your server process responds to the onStartGameSession() message with ActivateGameSession(). The operation sends an acknowledgement to Amazon GameLift that your server received and accepted the create game session message. For more information see, Amazon GameLift server SDK reference.

Your game server is now running a game session for you to test out and use for iteration. To learn how to iterate on your game server, continue to the next section.

Iterate on your game server

In this use case, consider a scenario where you've set up and tested your game server and found a bug. With Amazon GameLift Anywhere, you can iterate on your code and avoid the heavy setup of using an Amazon EC2 fleet.

Clean up your existing GameSession, if possible. If the game server crashes or it won't call ProcessEnding(), Amazon GameLift cleans up the GameSession after the game server stops sending health checks.
Make the code changes to your game server, compile, and prepare for the next test.
Your previous Anywhere fleet is still active and your laptop is still registered as a compute resource in the fleet. To begin testing again, create a new debug instance.
1. Retrieve the authorization token for your laptop in the fleet that you created. Use the get-compute-auth-token command (or the GetComputeAuthToken API operation).
```
aws gamelift get-compute-auth-token \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --compute-name DevLaptop
```
  Example output:
```
ComputeAuthToken {
  FleetId = fleet-1234,
  ComputeName = DevLaptop,
  AuthToken = hijklmnop456,
  ExpirationTime = 1897492857.11
}
```
2. Run a debug instance of your game server executable. To run the debug instance, your game server must call InitSDK(). After the process is ready to host a game session, the game server calls ProcessReady().
Your fleet now has an available server process. Create your game session and perform your next tests. Use the create-game-session command (or the CreateGameSession API operation).
```
aws gamelift create-game-session \
    --fleet-id fleet-1234 \
    --name SecondDebugSession \
    --maximum-player-session-count 2
```
Amazon GameLift sends an onStartGameSession() message to your registered server process. The message contains the GameSession object from the previous step with game properties, game session data, matchmaker data, and more about the game session.
Add logic to your game server so that your server process responds to the onStartGameSession() message with ActivateGameSession(). The operation sends an acknowledgement to Amazon GameLift that your server received and accepted the create game session message. For more information see, Amazon GameLift server SDK reference.

After you finish testing your game server, you can continue to use Amazon GameLift for your fleet and game server management. For more information, see Create a Amazon GameLift Anywhere fleet.

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Test your integration (server SDK 4)