[cod] Problems with NAT (Multihomed) and COD

[Boy_One (COD System Admin)]

All,



I didn't know that Activision new from this problem and is fixing it... That
should be nice...;-)



But the problem lies in this (and i got this after a lot of sniffing and
tcpdumping) Activision has chosen an other path to authenticate CD-Keys then
EA with there games like Mohaa. Let me try to put it on paper.



Mohaa AUTH



Client connects to Server with CD-Key. Server then goes to AUTH server EA
and asks to authenticate the CD-Key. Auth server looks in CD-Key database
and give an ack or nack (i tried this with an elegal key on my server sorry
EA). Then the Server lets the client pass and you can play.



COD AUTH



Client connects to Server with. Server then goes to AUTH server Actvision
and asks to authenticate the Client trough its IP. Auth Server then tries to
connect to client to get CD-Key to Authenticate. After getting the CD-Key
AUTH server looks in database and gives an ack or nack back to Server. Then
the Server lets the client pass and you can play.





And this is the problem because Activision has chosen an other pat for
Authentication it created a problem for Multihomed(NAT) environments. It's
not a bad mechanism but it rules out the little people like me who has not a
lot of budget and tries to host this great game for a little community
trough its 2048/1024Mbits ADSL Line. In my eyes Activision is forcing people
to hire a server and this will be the doom of the game because all great
games after a couple of years are hosted in small communities like mine and
are kept alive there (And this is mine thought i hope i don't advent anyone
with this line).



 I hope Activision is trying to fix this or i think i'm going to shutdown
this great game and play it on other servers like i do now(Maybe at
Rudedog's server LoL), and just host mohaa here.

But what i read below i hope Activision is getting awake....;-)





Regards

Quint

Boy_One




----- Original Message -----
From: "Eduardo E. Silva" <esilva at silvex.com>
To: <cod at icculus.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 28, 2003 21:23
Subject: Re: [cod] Problems with NAT (Multihomed) and COD


> I have the same problem and anybody that is doing NAT will have the same
> problem. I think that Activision made a rather poor decision of how to
> handle cdkey. perhaps they should use MAC adresses or simply allow 1-2
> non-public ip addresses. The only logic I can see, is that they wanted to
> avoid piracy. This is particular from Internet cafes where they might have
> 200 some clients. Otherwise I see no logic behind this. I hope the patch
> it up in the promised patch that was supposed to come out a month ago.
> They also promised a non-beta linux server.
>
> VERY BAD ACTIVISION.
>
>
> Boy_One \(COD System Admin\) said:
> > All,
> >
> >
> >
> > A little time ago i had dropped this problem here, but there was no
strait
> > answer to solve it. Now i tried by Activision to see if they had a
> > solution for this problem, but see below still no luck. I'm getting
> > desperate, is there a programmer here that worked on the linux binary???
> > And is it possible (if he is here) to discus this with me???
> >
> >
> >
> > Just to let you know here is a little drawing i made of my home network.
> > See attached.
> >
> >
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Quint
> >
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------- Cut from activision
> > -----------------------------------------------------
> >       Response (Kirk McNesby) 12/26/2003 09:15 AM
> >       Hi,
> >
> >       The fan community is your best bet at this point, since what you
are
> > doing is unsupported. Sorry we were unable to help you further.
> >
> >        Customer 12/26/2003 04:41 AM
> >       Dear Reader,
> >
> >       Where could i get this kind of information then, i enjoy the game,
> > but in this way a can't join my own server.
> >
> >       Regards
> >       Quint
> >
> >        Customer 12/26/2003 04:40 AM
> >       See the site i have update it.
> >
> >        Response (Nick Bee) 12/25/2003 03:58 PM
> >       Hi,
> >
> >       Unfortunately, Activision only provides support for in-game menu
> > options. We are also a publisher, not a developer. We do not have
> > any information for advanced server configurations.
> >
> >       We also do not provide setups for modified network stacks. We do
not
> > design or test our games for passive IP connections.
> >
> >        Customer 12/25/2003 10:07 AM
> >       Dear Anthony,
> >
> >       Sorry for the late response, but I was in deep debug to give you
> > more information.
> >
> >       You said go to
> >
> >       www.codadmin.com
> >       www.callofduty.org
> >       www.codfiles.co
> >
> >       I did already before I mailed you, also I am an active user in
> > icculus.org this group made also Mohaa linux. All the groups I
> > talked to gave me some hints, I tried out. Here my debug information
> > below. I hope you can answer these questions.
> >
> >
> >       I am sending you a picture of my network at home. A little
> > background of my knowledge, I am a network/security advisor, and
> > work at a large bank community in the Netherlands.
> >
> >       Here my debug information.
> >
> >       after i put it up and try to connect from my lan machine to the
> > server i get awaiting cd key authorization. I read on
> > www.codadmin.com that you have to put a redirect in your host file
> > like this
> >       10.5.1.2 codauthorize.activision.com
> >
> >       After i did this it worked like a charm but i am not showing up in
> > either ASE or Gamespy or inside the game. Now i read on this forum
> > that when you block this Actvision is blocking you on gamespy etc.
> > So i removed it and i can see that i get more connections now in my
> > logfile
> >
> >       SV packet 212.4.59.227:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 217.187.228.176:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 66.171.20.41:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 81.50.168.236:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 213.7.84.188:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 80.130.183.223:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 62.15.142.49:6956 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 62.181.213.155:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 194.255.159.186:-496 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 67.163.174.179:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 80.142.139.40:14529 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 213.89.220.43:-1909 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 80.135.182.47:28960 : getinfo
> >       SV packet 81.189.29.89:28960 : getinfo
> >
> >       And it goes on and on. When i put the block again i only see this
1
> > or 2 times in 15 minutes.
> >
> >       I also see that the logfile is saying
> >
> >       sending getIpAuthorize for 10.5.1.123:28960
> >
> >       I understand that this won't work becuase this is a private range
> > and Activision can't registrate my CDKEY.
> >
> >
> >       Now I tried after you told me not to support the linux server a
> > windows server in the same network setup, but this gives me the same
> > result.
> >
> >       What I did then was put the linux environment back and to a
tcpdump
> > on my network to see how the packets are send etc.
> >
> >       I saw in the packets that my translation doesn't work to my
external
> > address this way both servers are trying to AUTH my internal
> > address.
> >
> >       I tried the to see if I could make a loop to my external address,
> > tried proxy port forward etc. etc. but no luck still (because my ip
> > isn't NAT) it is trying to AUTH my internal ip. This due to that my
> > server is seeing that the external ip is local on my server and
> > isn't putting it to NAT.
> >
> >       I mailed this to icculus.org but nobody knows a solution. In my
eyes
> > this is coming due to the fact that the server is resolving my ip
> > sends it to the AUTH server this one Is trying to connect to my
> > client to try to AUTH my CD-KEY.
> >
> >       Can't this changed from this one to server is giving me a push to
> > Activision AUTH server where I registrate my CD-Key and when this is
> > done the AUTH server is giving the COD servers an ok.
> >
> >       Please help me, I'm now more debugging then enjoying the game.:-(
> >
> >       Regards
> >       Quint
> >
> >        Response (Anthony Lu) 12/18/2003 09:24 AM
> >       Hi,
> >
> >       Unfortunately, we do not provide support for the Linux server. For
> > assistance with setting up or running a Linux server, your best bet
> > is to look on the Internet at sites like:
> >
> >       www.codadmin.com
> >       www.callofduty.org
> >       www.codfiles.com
> >
> >       If you have any problems or questions in the future, please feel
> > free to email us.
> >
> >        Auto-Response (Anthony Lu) 12/18/2003 05:24 AM
> >       You have picked Unlisted title as your game title.
> >
> >       Please make sure the title you are inquiring about is not listed
in
> > our product list before proceeding. Click the Back and select the
> > Platform the game is for and then find and select your game from the
> > list.
> >
> >       If you do not see your title listed then the product is more than
> > likely not supported by Activision.
> >
> >        Customer 12/18/2003 05:24 AM
> >       Dear Reader,
> >
> >       I have a question about a COD server and NAT. I have a dedicated
COD
> > server running on a linux enviroment, but when a connect from inside
> > my lan to the linux box i see in the log file that my cd-key is
> > tried to be registered with my internal LAN network adress. I talked
> > to a lot of guys in mailing groups like www.codadmin.com etc. but
> > these guys say it is not possile to connect to the server like this.
> > I have also a mohaa server running and this one works. The guys in
> > the mailing group are saying that the client should be patched, is
> > this true or do you know how to help me.
> >
> >       Regards
> >       Quint
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------- Cut from activision
> > -----------------------------------------------------
> >
>
>
> --
> Thanks,
>
> Ed Silva
> Silvex Consulting Inc.
> esilva at silvex.com
> (714) 504-6870 Cell
> (714) 897-3800 Fax
>
>