Windows node setup

Add a Windows machine to your panel so it can host the games that need Windows.

What the machine needs

• Windows Server 2016 or later, or Windows 10 or later.
• A 64-bit processor. The Windows daemon is 64-bit only.
• Administrator access through PowerShell.
• Outbound HTTPS access from the machine to your panel.
• Enough disk space and memory for your planned game servers.

Docker is not necessary on a Windows node. The daemon starts each game server as a Windows process and puts it in a Job Object. The Job Object applies the memory limit and the processor limit, and it closes every child process when the server stops.

The daemon downloads SteamCMD on its own when a game needs it.

Create the node in the panel

1. Navigate to Admin > Nodes and click Add Node.
2. Fill in the form:

Field	Description
Node Name	A name for this node, for example win-game-01.
Description	Optional text for your own reference.
FQDN / IP Address	The domain name or the IP address of the machine. Leave it empty to let the panel find it.
Operating System	Select Windows.
Memory Limit (MB)	Memory available for game servers. Leave it empty or at 0 to let the daemon report it.
Disk Limit (MB)	Disk space available for game servers. Leave it empty or at 0 to let the daemon report it.

3. Click Create Node. The panel shows the install command.

Run the install command

Open PowerShell as Administrator on the Windows machine. Run the command from the panel:

irm 'https://panel.example.com/api/nodes/install/TOKEN' | iex

Use the command from your panel. It holds your panel address and your token.

What the installer does

1. Makes sure that you run PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Creates C:\BadgerDaemon, C:\BadgerDaemon\data\servers, and C:\BadgerDaemon\logs.
3. Downloads badger-daemon.exe into C:\BadgerDaemon.
4. Writes the configuration to C:\BadgerDaemon\config.yaml.
5. Adds two inbound firewall rules: BadgerDaemon-API on TCP port 8443, and BadgerDaemon-SFTP on TCP port 2022.
6. Registers BadgerDaemon as a Windows service that starts automatically and restarts after a failure.
7. Starts the service.

The daemon registers itself with the panel at the first start.

If the script cannot add the firewall rules, it prints a warning. Open TCP ports 8443 and 2022 in Windows Firewall yourself.

How long the token lasts

The registration token in the install command is valid for 24 hours.

If the token expires, open the node in Admin > Nodes and click Regenerate Token. You do not need to delete the node.

Check the node is online

Look at the status of the node in Admin > Nodes.

Status	Meaning
Online	The daemon is connected and sends heartbeats.
Pending	You created the node, but the daemon has not registered yet.
Offline	The daemon sends no heartbeats. Make sure that the service runs.
Maintenance	An administrator turned on maintenance mode. The panel places no new servers here.
Error	The daemon reported an error. Read the daemon log.

The node card shows Native Processes as the runtime.

Looking after the service

The daemon runs as a Windows service called BadgerDaemon.

# Status of the service
Get-Service BadgerDaemon

# Stop, start, and restart
Stop-Service BadgerDaemon
Start-Service BadgerDaemon
Restart-Service BadgerDaemon

# Start automatically, or not
Set-Service BadgerDaemon -StartupType Automatic
Set-Service BadgerDaemon -StartupType Manual

You can also manage the service in the Windows Services console (services.msc), where it appears as BadgerPanel Daemon.

Reading the logs

# Follow the log
Get-Content C:\BadgerDaemon\logs\daemon.log -Tail 50 -Wait

If the service does not start, read this file first.

Storage drives

A Windows node can hold game server data on more than one disk. Add each disk in the Storage Drives card of the node page.

For the steps, read Node Storage.

Removing a Windows node

Before you remove a node, delete the servers on it or move them to another node.

1. In Admin > Nodes, open the actions menu of the node and click Delete.
2. On the Windows machine, open PowerShell as Administrator:

# Stop and remove the service
Stop-Service BadgerDaemon
sc.exe delete BadgerDaemon

# Remove the firewall rules
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "BadgerDaemon-API"
Remove-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "BadgerDaemon-SFTP"

WARNING

The next command deletes every game server file under C:\BadgerDaemon. Make sure that you have the backups that you need. Remove any other drive paths that you added yourself.

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "C:\BadgerDaemon"

How it differs from a Linux node

Item	Linux node	Windows node
Runtime	Docker containers	Native processes in a Job Object
Extra storage	Storage Pools	Storage Drives
Server migration	Supported	Not supported
License feature	None	Windows Daemon Support

Next steps

• Daemon Configuration - the full configuration reference
• Node Storage - add more disks
• Allocations - add IP addresses and ports