nventiveux / azure-gaming

Cloud Gaming on Azure

Cloud Gaming in Azure

Table of contents

1. About
2. Disclaimer
3. Known issue
4. Usage
5. Delete the Azure infrastructure
6. Futur

About

This project automates the set-up process for cloud gaming on a Nvidia Tesla M60 GPU on Azure Standard NV6 VM. The development of this project is heavily inspired by this excellent guide.

• Cloud gaming technology used

  • Parsec
  • Steam In-Home streaming using ZeroTier VPN
  • NVIDIA GameStream using Moonlight

• Game launcher installed

  • Battle.net (soon)
  • Epic Games Launcher
  • GOG Galaxy (soon)
  • Origin (soon)
  • Steam
  • UPlay (soon)

• Software installed

  • 7zip
  • Nvidia Tesla drivers for Windows 10
  • Parsec for game streaming
  • VB-CABLE driver
  • ZeroTier One for VPN

Disclaimer

This software comes with no warranty of any kind. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! This a personal project and is NOT endorsed by Microsoft. If you encounter an issue, please submit it on GitHub.

Known issue

The only issue so far is about Steam In-Home streaming. Due to a bug, you cannot return to the Windows Desktop during your game session using ALT+TAB.

A workaround could be to press ALT+ENTER to switch from fullscreen to window mode, and then return to the Desktop.

Usage

Create the infrastructure in Azure

• The only requirement is to have AZ CLI installed. You can use the Azure Cloud Shell
• Do not forget to update the options values of the below example.
• At the end, you will be prompted to choose your Windows admin password

(
rm -rf ~/azure-gaming
git clone https://github.com/nVentiveUX/azure-gaming.git
cd ~/azure-gaming

# Yvesub example
./create_vmss.sh \
    --subscription="8d8af6bf-9138-4d9d-a2e6-5bff1e3044c5" \
    --location="westeurope" \
    --rg-vnet="rg-net-shared-001" \
    --vnet-name="vnt-shared-001" \
    --subnet-name="snt-gaming-001" \
    --subnet="10.1.0.16/28" \
    --rg-vm="rg-inf-gaming-001" \
    --vm-name="vm-gaming-001" \
    --lb-name="lb-gaming-001" \
    --dns-name="yvesgaming-001"
)

Configure the Virtual Machine

• Connect using RDP. Click on the Windows key in the bottom-left corner, type "mstsc", and open on the app.
• From powershell admin prompt, run the 1st script

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
$path = "C:\azure"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $path | Out-Null
(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://github.com/nVentiveUX/azure-gaming/raw/master/setup1.ps1", "$path\setup1.ps1")
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File "$path\setup1.ps1"

• Reboot
• From powershell admin prompt run the 2nd script

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
$path = "C:\azure"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $path | Out-Null
(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile("https://github.com/nVentiveUX/azure-gaming/raw/master/setup2.ps1", "$path\setup2.ps1")
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File "$path\setup2.ps1"

Configure Parsec

On you local machine

• Install the Parsec client
• Sign In

On the VM

• Sign In to Parsec using the same account and Enable Hosting
• Close the remote desktop connection using the shortcut disconnect.lnk on the Desktop.
• Try to connect into the VM thought your local installation of Parsec
• On the VM, tick Run when my computer starts from the minimized icon into the task bar
• Reboot the VM... and you're done.

Configure ZeroTier VPN

On you local machine

• Create a dedicated ZeroTier network
  • Certificate (Private Network) (Access Control)
  • Enable Broadcast (ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff)
  • Auto-Assign from Range (IPv4 Auto-Assign)
  • All IPv6 stuff
• Install the client ZeroTier One, Sign In and Join the Network
• Tick Preferences.../Launch ZeroTier On StartUp from the minimized icon into the task bar

On the VM

• Open ZeroTier One, Sign In and Join the Network
• Tick Preferences.../Launch ZeroTier On StartUp from the minimized icon into the task bar

Configure Steam In-Home streaming

On you local machine

• Open Steam and Sign In to configure the client
• In-Home Streaming
  • Enable streaming
  • Beautiful
• In-Home Streaming > Advanced Client Options, and Check only the following:
  • - Limit bandwidth to 30 Mbits/s (do NOT set unlimited, it does not work)
  • - Limit resolution to > Display resolution
  • - Enable hardware decoding
  • - Display performance information (Press F6 to display it in-game)

On the VM

• Open Steam and Sign In to configure the client
• In-Home Streaming
  • Enable streaming
• In-Home Streaming > Advanced Host Options, and Check only the following:
  • Enable hardware encoding
  • Prioritize network traffic
  • Prefer NvFBC capture methode See Explanation: NvFBC, NvIFR, NvENC for more info

Now, steam should see the Streaming VM. Try to launch a game !

Delete the Azure infrastructure

az group delete --name rg-inf-gaming-001

Futur

• Update VM SKU to Standard_NV6s_v2 (awaiting end of preview)
• Update OS to Windows 10 1809 (rs5-pron), as soon as Nvidia drivers will be supported on this version. (See Supported operating systems and drivers for more details. We are using rs4-pron today.

az vm image list --publisher MicrosoftWindowsDesktop --all -otable

Offer       Publisher                Sku       Urn                                                       Version
----------  -----------------------  --------  --------------------------------------------------------  ------------
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  RS3-Pro   MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:RS3-Pro:16299.904.65   16299.904.65
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  RS3-ProN  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:RS3-ProN:16299.904.65  16299.904.65
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  rs4-pro   MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:rs4-pro:17134.523.65   17134.523.65
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  rs4-pron  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:rs4-pron:17134.523.65  17134.523.65
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  rs5-evd   MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:rs5-evd:17763.253.67   17763.253.67
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  rs5-pro   MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:rs5-pro:17763.253.65   17763.253.65
Windows-10  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop  rs5-pron  MicrosoftWindowsDesktop:Windows-10:rs5-pron:17763.253.67  17763.253.67

News

• Download and install the latest NVIDIA Capture SDK (formerly GRID SDK)