thundernetes is an experimental project and not recommended for production use. However, we consider it as a great tool for testing your game server before uploading it to Azure PlayFab Multiplayer Servers.
Thundernetes is an preview project from the Azure PlayFab Multiplayer Servers (MPS) team that enables you to run Linux game servers that use the PlayFab Game Server SDK (GSDK) on your Kubernetes cluster. Thundernetes can be useful while developing your game server in the following scenarios:
- validate your game server integration with GSDK
- do manual allocations of game server sessions
- as part of your iterative development process, you can use thundernetes to test your game server code before pushing it to the MPS service
- as part of your CI/CD pipeline, you can publish the game server to a container registry and then have it deploy to a Kubernetes cluster where you can run your tests
We will refer to the Azure PlayFab Multiplayer Servers service as "MPS" in all pages of the documentation.
Goal for thundernetes is to be portable with MPS - this means that your Linux Game Server that works on thundernetes should work with MPS.
Thundernetes requires a Kubernetes cluster with Public IP per Node. We've tested it extensively on Azure Kubernetes Service - AKS as well as in local clusters using kind. You also need to have ports 10000-50000 open in your cluster, since these are the ports that Thundernetes will use to receive traffic and forward to your game server.
Quick reminder that you can try Azure (and AKS) for free at azure.com/free.
Check the quickstart document on how to install thundernetes on your cluster and run the sample game server.
Click on the following image for a quick preview of the quickstart:
- Quickstart - Recommended - how to install thundernetes on your cluster and run the sample game server
- Defining a GameServerBuild - Recommended - how to define a GameServerBuild in YAML
- Your game server - Recommended - how to use thundernetes with your own game server
- Architecture
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Other Kubernetes resources
- Development notes - useful if you are working on thundernetes development
As mentioned, thundernetes is in preview and a work in progress. If you find a bug or have a feature request, please file an issue here and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible. You can also reach us on Game Stack server on Discord.