Windows

How to install Athena in any Windows Environment

Install on Windows 10+

Installing on windows is very straight forward but you will need to do a handful of things to ensure your environment is setup correctly. There is a lot to cover when installing Athena but these instructions cover nearly everything you need to do in a Windows Environment to get Athena running.

Read them carefully, read them twice, and double check your steps.

Table of Contents

Dependencies

Install or perform all actions in this section.

GIT

Grab the latest version of GIT from the official website.

Download GIT

NodeJS 16+

Grab the latest version of NodeJS from the official website.

Download NodeJS 17+

MongoDB

Install MongoDB Community Server with all default settings.

Download MongoDB Community Server

Create a Github Account

Yes you are going to need a Github account. You are also going to need to setup an SSH key for your Github account. It is covered below.

Sign Up with Github

VSCode*

VSCode is optional but recommended for editing, and modifying code.

Download VSCode

Windows Terminal

This is a great tool for inputting commands like the ones you will see below. Highly recommended to install and pin it to your desktop somewhere.

Download Windows Terminal

Setup SSH Key

Github has really good SSH Setup Instructions but they may not be entirely clear for newer developers. If you are comfortable with normal documentation give the above link a try. Make sure to select the windows tab.

Open Git Bash

Git Bash is something that should come with GIT by default. Enter Git Bash in your windows search to open it.

Create the SSH Key

Enter the following in a terminal:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

When you're prompted to "Enter a file in which to save the key," press Enter. This accepts the default file location.

It may ask you for a password. Hitting enter twice will automatically default to no password.

Start ssh-agent

Enter the following in a terminal:

eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"

It should respond with 'Agent pid XYZ'

Add the SSH Key

Enter the following in a terminal:

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519

Add the SSH Key to Github

It is highly recommended you follow the Github instructions for the rest of this tutorial. They cover / update how to add SSH keys very well.

Github Instructions for Adding SSH Key to Github

Ensure MongoDB Running as a Service

MongoDB does not have to be installed locally but if it is this is an important step. Open your Task Manager and ensure that you see MongoDB running as a service.

Port Forwarding

At the very least you will need to open port 7788 for your main server if you are exposing it to the outside world.

You may need to Forward Ports in your Server Panel, Router, etc. If you are running Athena on a server it is likely you will need to add 7788 to an additional Firewall somewhere in your server providers panel.

You will need to open the following ports in your Windows Firewall and Router.

  • 7788

Here's a .bat script that will open both ports in your Windows Firewall.

ECHO OFF

echo Opening 7788 for TCP
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="alt:V-7788-IN-TCP" dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=7788
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="alt:V-7788-OUT-TCP" dir=out action=allow protocol=TCP localport=7788

echo Opening 7788 for UDP
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="alt:V-7788-IN-UDP" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=7788
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="alt:V-7788-OUT-UDP" dir=out action=allow protocol=UDP localport=7788

pause

If you need additional help with port forwarding in your router you should check out this Port Forward Website where you can find instructions for your router based on brand.

You can verify that ports have been opened successfully after you setup the rest of Athena.

Setup Private Repo

Open a Windows Terminal such as command line or powershell. The author personally recommends Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store.

Enter the following in a terminal:

git clone https://github.com/Stuyk/altv-athena --bare altv-athena-bare

Create a new private repistory on Github. Let's call it altv-athena-private

Copy your URL from github.

Enter the following in a terminal:

cd altv-athena-bare

Then you are going to mirror the bare repository to your private mirror.

Which means you will have a private copy of Athena's code base on your private github.

Enter the following in a terminal:

git push --mirror <your_github_url_here>

Delete the bare repository folder you have just created.

Set Private Repo Main Branch to Master

This is important and DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.

Download from Private Repo

Clone the new repository you created from Github.

You can find the new repository you created in your Github profile's repository section.

Enter the following in a terminal:

git clone the_url_from_your_private_github_repo

Enter the Directory

You need to navigate into the directory to run the next few commands.

Enter the following in a terminal:

cd your_repo_name

Add Upstream

Add the upstream of the original athena repository.

This step must be done any time you need re-clone your repository.

git remote add upstream https://github.com/Stuyk/altv-athena
git remote set-url --push upstream DISABLE

Pushing updates

When you make changes to the code base you can push it by doing:

git add .
git commit -m "Whatever You Changed"
git push origin master

Installing Dependencies

This installs all NodeJS packages and dependencies that help run the server.

npm install

Installing Server Files

From this point forward you can simply run this npm command to update dependencies.

npm run update

Starting the Server

Hey Listen, normally you start the server through altv-server.exe but we do not do that with Athena. There are other programs that run along-side Athena that allow it to function. You will need to run one of the commands below.

Update the server.cfg

Do not modify the server.cfg, yes you are reading this correctly.

Instead, you should do the following.

Open 1 of the 3 configuration(s) in the configs folder.

You should see any of the following configurations:

  • dev.json

  • devtest.json

  • prod.json

Edit all of these but remember this very important rule.

Do not change 'host' because 0.0.0.0 is correct.

Production Mode

This is the mode you should use when you are having users connect.

Enter the following in a terminal:

npm run windows

Development Test Mode

This is the mode you should use when you are having a limited set of users connect with debug mode on.

Enter the following in a terminal:

npm run devtest

Development Vue Mode

This is the mode you should use when you want to work on Vue interfaces, and have very fast reconnections to your server. Limited to 1 user.

THIS ONLY WORKS IF THE SERVER + GAME ARE RUNNING ON SAME MACHINE

THIS WILL NOT WORK FOR REMOTE SERVERS

This is the fastest way to develop your game mode and requires the least amount of compile time to test things.

Enter the following in a terminal:

npm run dev

Checking Ports

Check if the ports are currently open while the server is running. Check port 7788.

Check Ports with YouGetSignal

Connecting

Remember to get the https://altv.mp/ client and connect.

What IP to use?

If you are running this on your local machine you should connect to 127.0.0.1:7788 or 0.0.0.0:7788 if it does not work.

If you are running this on an external server you should connect to the server's IP address.

Successful Installation

A successful installation and bootup will look like the following:

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