I would like developers to be more clear about the end of support for Linux 32-bit in PZ dedicated servers.

[Werex]

I lost 3 days trying to install a dedicated server in an old 32 bits netbook.

I am aware that the experience in an old netbook with 2 gbs of RAM would not be the best, but I thought it was possible.

After all, the 32 bit batch file for dedicate servers for windows works fine, why in Linux it would be different?

 

So I installed everything from SteamCMD.

In the linux distribution pz dedicated server installation folder:

-There is a .json file for 32 bits machines.

-There is a .sh file trying to detect if the system is 32 or 64 bits to run the appropriate files.

So 32 bits must be supported, right? I think not...

When i run the .sh file (start-server.sh), instead of a clear message alerting that "32 bits is not supported for linux distributions anymore", I got the error: "couldn't determine 32/64 bit of java".
So I went to investigate why.
Turns out there was a missing directory called "jre/" .
I also noted other directories were missing, one of them is "linux32/"

-Maybe my installation is corrupted.

-Maybe java openJDK is not installed in my machine.

I thought...

I'm not a Linux expert, neither do I understand profoundly how SteamCMD works.  Maybe SteamCMD copy these folders from somewhere in the filesystem and they are missing because the directories were not found.
Tried multiple times to reinstall the app or verify it's integrity without success.
After a bit, I finally tried to just copy a jre folder from my machine directly to pz dedicated server folder.

And it worked!
But I stumbled in the next problem:
-There is no ProjectZomboid32 executable file.
Well, that couldn't be a java problem or something like that...

After all these days trying, I finally found a SteamDB page that registers all project zomboid dedicated server installation files:
https://steamdb.info/depot/380873/

There is no JRE folder, ProjectZomboid32 executable or Linux32 folder in any of these registers.

Which makes me conclude that Project Zomboid Dedicated Server is not supported for Linux 32 bits anymore.
At some point it was, but now, most of 32 bits files were deleted.

So I ask you developers to delete everything referencing the 32 bit version from project zomboid dedicated server folder to prevent other people to make the same mistake I did.
The only mention I got about 32 bits servers not being supported anymore was from a steam forum reply. I thought it wasn't right, since there is so much files referencing the existence of a 32 bit version. But it turns out, it is probably true.

If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.

 

[NorthRoad]

Just checked myself to confirm, I notice I have a ProjectZomboid32 executable in my Zomboid game folder, and the projectzomboid.sh file seems to try to detect whether there's 64 or 32-bit Java installed, but my server installation doesn't have the former and it looks like neither have a jre folder, only a jre64.

 

I would be shocked if the 32-bit version is still tested or supported, if it even still works, so removing it probably would be a good idea if it's not anymore (which I wouldn't expect it to be). I was surprised to learn it exists honestly, IIRC from someone on reddit who had some bug with (I think) vehicle physics of some sort, and wasn't using any mods; all I could think to tell them was maybe the 32-bit version isn't well-supported.

[EnigmaGrey]

32-bit support was dropped years ago (5+?). Instability in the jvm past 1.5 gb alone precludes its use.

 

 Not that you can’t still do it. And you can certainly get around the script/jvm without very much work. Install openjdk 15 32-bit, drag n’drop to the game file; call ../linux32/bin/java zombie.GameServer in terminal, basically. No exe needed.

[Werex]

4 hours ago, EnigmaGrey said:

32-bit support was dropped years ago (5+?). Instability in the jvm past 1.5 gb alone precludes its use.

 

 Not that you can’t still do it. And you can certainly get around the script/jvm without very much work. Install openjdk 15 32-bit, drag n’drop to the game file; call ../linux32/bin/java zombie.GameServer in terminal, basically. No exe needed.

Unfortunately, there is no linux32 folder either.
Also, I don't think it would be part of openjdk because the linux64 folder has steam related files: "lib_steamapi.so" and "steamclient.so".

Edit.:
I found a linux32/ directory in steamcmd folder.
But there is no "bin/java" inside.
The folder seems to have a content similar the linux64/ directory: Steam related .so files.

Maybe the OpenJDK 15 would come with a linux32/ directory with the content you mentioned.
But I think it doesn't worth the price insisting with it, since you mentioned 32 bits is not supported for around 5 years.
If I managed to start the server I would probably come across multiple problems/error before being able to make it functional. All that for in the end get a pretty bugged/laggy experience.
So I think I will probably try on other machine that can run 64 bits.
It will be more expensive energy wise to maintain it 24h, but the final experience will be better overall.
Thank you for your help.
I still suggest to delete these 32bits referencing files.

Edited November 17, 2023 by Werex