LinuxGSM Base Docker Image

About

LinuxGSM is a command-line tool for deploying and managing Linux dedicated game servers.

This is the base LinuxGSM image: LinuxGSM, SteamCMD and the packages most game servers need. Set GAMESERVER to any server LinuxGSM supports and the container installs and runs it. For a ready-made image per game, with that game's extra packages already installed, use docker-gameserver.

The image is rebuilt weekly and published to Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry:

gameservermanagers/linuxgsm
ghcr.io/gameservermanagers/linuxgsm

Images are built for linux/amd64 only.

Tags

Ubuntu

Tag(s)	Ubuntu release	Notes
latest, ubuntu	26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)	Current LTS
ubuntu-26.04	26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)	Current LTS
ubuntu-24.04	24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat)	Previous LTS
ubuntu-22.04	22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)	Older LTS
ubuntu-20.04	20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)	Standard support ended May 2025; may be removed

latest moves to each new Ubuntu LTS shortly after it is released. Pin a specific ubuntu-XX.04 tag if you need the base to stay the same.

Other distros (testing only)

These images exist to test LinuxGSM on other distros. They work the same way as the Ubuntu images, but they are not supported releases.

Tag(s)	Release
debian-13	Debian 13 (Trixie)
debian-12	Debian 12 (Bookworm)
rocky-9	Rocky Linux 9

Rocky Linux 10 isn't available, because it no longer ships the 32-bit (i686) libraries SteamCMD needs.

Quick start

Run a Garry's Mod server (gmodserver), keeping everything in /path/to/gmodserver on the host:

docker run -d --name gmodserver \
  -e GAMESERVER=gmodserver \
  -v /path/to/gmodserver:/data \
  -p 27015:27015/udp -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -p 27005:27005/udp -p 27020:27020/udp \
  --stop-timeout 60 \
  gameservermanagers/linuxgsm:latest
docker logs -f gmodserver

Swap gmodserver for any server in LinuxGSM's server list, and publish the ports that game uses. On the first start the container installs the game server, which can take a while for big games. If the game needs packages that aren't in the image, LinuxGSM installs them.

The same with Docker Compose:

services:
  gmodserver:
    image: gameservermanagers/linuxgsm:latest
    container_name: gmodserver
    environment:
      - GAMESERVER=gmodserver
    volumes:
      - /path/to/gmodserver:/data
    ports:
      - "27015:27015/udp"
      - "27015:27015/tcp"
      - "27005:27005/udp"
      - "27020:27020/udp"
    stop_grace_period: 60s
    restart: unless-stopped

What the container does

Each time the container starts, it:

1. Creates the LinuxGSM script for GAMESERVER the first time.
2. Installs the game server if /data/serverfiles is empty. Otherwise it checks for an update (UPDATE_ON_START), and validates the files if VALIDATE_ON_START is on.
3. Schedules an update check every UPDATE_CHECK minutes.
4. Starts the game server and shows its log.

docker stop runs LinuxGSM's stop command, so the server shuts down cleanly. Some servers take longer than Docker's default 10 seconds to stop, which is why the examples raise the timeout to 60 seconds.

The image's health check runs LinuxGSM's monitor command, which also restarts the game server if it stops responding.

Configuration

Variable	Default	What it does
GAMESERVER	gmodserver	The LinuxGSM server to run, for example csgoserver or pzserver
UPDATE_ON_START	true	Check for a game server update each time the container starts
VALIDATE_ON_START	false	Check the game files each time the container starts (slow)
UPDATE_CHECK	60	Minutes between update checks while the server runs. 0 turns them off; 60 or more checks once an hour
UID	1000	User ID that owns the files in /data
GID	1000	Group ID that owns the files in /data
LGSM_GITHUBBRANCH	master	The LinuxGSM branch to use. Any other branch, such as develop, is downloaded on start
LGSM_DEV	false	Turn on LinuxGSM's developer mode

Game server settings live in LinuxGSM's own config files in /data/config-lgsm. See the LinuxGSM docs for what they can do.

Data

Everything the server needs to keep is in /data, so mount it as a volume:

Path	What's in it
/data/serverfiles	The game server files
/data/config-lgsm	LinuxGSM config files
/data/log	Console and LinuxGSM logs
/data/data	LinuxGSM data files
/data/.machine-id	A machine ID that stays the same across image updates

On every start, the container makes the files in /data owned by UID and GID.

Running LinuxGSM commands

For a running server, use docker exec (here the container is named gmodserver):

docker exec -it --user linuxgsm gmodserver ./gmodserver details

For one-off tasks on a stopped server, such as details, validate or backup, pass the command after the image name. The container runs it and exits with its status:

docker run --rm -v /path/to/gmodserver:/data -e GAMESERVER=gmodserver gameservermanagers/linuxgsm details

Don't do this against data that a running container is using. The two containers can't see each other, so commands such as update or stop wouldn't work safely.

Building the image

There is a single Dockerfile. Choose the distro with the DISTRO (ubuntu, debian or rocky) and DISTRO_VERSION build arguments; the default is the current Ubuntu LTS. The image builds on the matching ghcr.io/gameservermanagers/steamcmd:<distro>-<version> image. Set BASE_IMAGE to build on a different one, such as a local steamcmd build.

docker build --build-arg DISTRO_VERSION=24.04 -t linuxgsm:ubuntu-24.04 .
docker build --build-arg DISTRO=debian --build-arg DISTRO_VERSION=13 -t linuxgsm:debian-13 .
docker build --build-arg DISTRO=rocky --build-arg DISTRO_VERSION=9 -t linuxgsm:rocky-9 .
docker build --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=steamcmd:rocky-9 -t linuxgsm:rocky-9 .

The packages differ by distro, but the result is the same. On Rocky Linux the image enables EPEL and CRB, installs the Red Hat package names, links cron to crond, and installs Node.js from NodeSource's rpm repository.

How new releases are added

The images that get built are listed in versions.json. Each week a workflow checks for a new Ubuntu LTS, Debian stable or Rocky Linux release. It opens a pull request to add a new release when:

• the matching steamcmd image exists, and
• the new image builds and passes a smoke test.

The pull request also reports whether LinuxGSM's dependency check passes on the new release. A new Ubuntu LTS also takes the latest tag. Rocky Linux 10 is skipped because it has no i686 libraries.

Dependency check

Another weekly workflow checks that every package in LinuxGSM's dependency list for each image (lgsm/data/<distro>-<version>.csv) can be installed. It only simulates the installs, so no game server files are downloaded. It checks both LinuxGSM branches:

• develop: a failure here fails the workflow, and means a list needs fixing in LinuxGSM.
• master: a failure here is reported but doesn't fail the workflow. It's usually already fixed in develop and waiting for the next LinuxGSM release.

To run it locally:

docker run --rm -u root -v "$PWD/tests:/tests:ro" --entrypoint /tests/check-deps.sh linuxgsm:debian-13 develop