How to play AoE2DE multiplayer on linux without steam

bgstack15

2026-07-13 08:46

Overview

I recently purchased the remaining DLCs for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (steam) and I wanted to make sure that my ability to play this game survives Steam, my relationship with them, and even the world wide web.

After a lot of research and the benefit of many Free Software tools, I can play multiplayer AoE2DE with my mods without Steam, on Linux! Here is my method for assembling a package for distributing to my systems without Internet. I have tested only for a few minutes between two machines in the same room. I don't know how this would scale to a vpn or wireless clients.

This does not use system Wine, which crashes immediately with some opengl32 problem.

Building the package

This first asset is the proper Steam directory with all my DLCs installed.

tar -zcf aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz "${HOME}/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/AoE2DE"

Explode my asset aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz to ~/aoe2de.
```
tar -zx -C ~ -f aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
```

Download dependency files to ~/aoe2de/prepare, which is a temporary spot.

wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion/releases/download/v1.3.0.0/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServer/releases/download/v1.14.1/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz

Move debs to ~/aoe2de/debs. They will need to be installed on any system that uses this package.

Explode GE-Proton11-1 to ~/aoe2de.

tar -zx -C ~/aoe2de -f ~/aoe2de/prepare/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz

Prepare files from Goldberg Emulator fork.

cd ~/aoe2de/prepare
7za x emu-win-release.7z
cd ~/aoe2de/
cp -pi prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/{ColdClientLoader.ini,steamclient*.dll,steamclient_loader_x64.exe} .

Prepare the ColdClientLoader.ini. Here is the non-comment values I used.

[SteamClient]
Exe=AoE2DE\AoE2DE_s.exe
ExeRunDir=
ExeCommandLine=NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO
AppId=813780
SteamClientDll=steamclient.dll
SteamClient64Dll=steamclient64.dll
[Injection]
ForceInjectSteamClient=0
ForceInjectGameOverlayRenderer=0
DllsToInjectFolder=dlls
IgnoreInjectionError=1
IgnoreLoaderArchDifference=0
[Persistence]
Mode=0
[Debug]
ResumeByDebugger=0

Prepare configs for steam emulator

cd ~/aoe2de
mkdir -p dlls steam_settings saves

Load dlls.

cd ~/aoe2de/dlls
7za x ~/aoe2de/prepare/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip
cp -pi ../prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/GameOverlayRenderer64.dll ../prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/extra_dlls/steamclient_extra_x64.dll .

Prepare steam_settings.

Prepare these based on Reference 5.

File achievements.json is lengthy and not shown here.

The DLCs that I own are these, for file configs.app.ini.

[app::dlcs]
unlock_all=0
# Expansions
2141580=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome
2555420=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals
#2805510=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Victors and Vanquished
2805520=Age of Empires II: DE - Chronicles: Battle for Greece
3080080=Age of Empires II: DE - The Three Kingdoms
#3793540=Age of Empires II: DE - Chronicles: Alexander the Great
3219700=Age of Empires II: DE – The Last Chieftains
1389240=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West
1869820=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India
1557210=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
# Animated Icons
#2672800=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – La Hire’s Dry Humor Animated Icons
#2672810=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Joan’s Marvelous Moving Masterpieces Animated Icons
#2672820=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Barbarossa’s Barrel of Pickled Goods Animated Icons
# Other
#1039811=Enhanced Graphics Pack

Prepare file configs.user.ini.

[user::general]
# Fill your account name as you would normally see.
account_name=SpacesAreEvil65
# Fill with your real steamid or leave empty for it to be auto-generated.
account_steamid=
# Choose one from steam_settings\supported_languages.txt (described in https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/localization/languages) or leave empty to be set as 'english'
language=
# Choose from 'Alpha-2' country code: https://www.iban.com/country-codes or leave empty to be set as 'US'
ip_country=

[user::saves]
local_save_path=saves

File supported_languages.txt is exactly as is from Reference 5.

english
french
italian
german
japanese
koreana
brazilian
russian
schinese
latam
tchinese
turkish
vietnamese
spanish
polish
hindi
malay

Prepare launcher script aoe2de.sh.

#!/bin/sh

PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run ~/aoe2de/steamclient_loader_x64.exe NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO

The first time you run, umu wants to download components from the Internet for your user. Client scripts set-initial-umu.sh might be able to prevent that requirement.

Prepare scripts/ files.

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-get-account-steamid.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one. IGNORE the saves/settings/configs.user.ini which is the auto-generated one.
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi
final_steamid="$( awk -F'=' '$1~/account_steamid/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}" )"
echo "account_steamid = ${final_steamid}"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-get-username.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

awk -F'=' '$1~/account_name/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-account-steamid.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Useful because the emulator seems to pick the same number on every system when it needs to generate its own account_steamid.
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: moreutils
# Env vars: APPLY VERBOSE
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one. IGNORE the saves/settings/configs.user.ini which is the auto-generated one.
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

# Steam id is 17 digits long, decimal, and starts with 765611982
new_steamid="765611982$( </dev/random tr -dc '0-9' | head -c8 )"

# modconf.py breaks on set account_steamid because of the underscore. I will have to do this with awk or sed or similar 2026-06-30-3 23:55
#if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ; then echo "/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' \"${INFILE}\" set account_steamid \"${new_steamid}\"" ; fi
#/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' "${INFILE}" set account_steamid "${new_steamid}"

# So use basic awk instead
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "awk -v \"b=${new_steamid}\" -F'=' 'BEGIN{OFS=\"=\"} \$1~/account_steamid/{\$2=b} {print}' \"${INFILE}\" | sponge \"${INFILE}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    awk -v "b=${new_steamid}" -F'=' 'BEGIN{OFS="="} $1~/account_steamid/{$2=b} {print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
    # Regardless if it worked, read the value and show it.
    final_steamid="$( awk -F'=' '$1~/account_steamid/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}" )"
    echo "account_steamid = ${final_steamid}"
fi

# modconf.py has a bug where it adds an additional newline after that updated line, so
# collapse multiple empty lines into a single empty line: ref https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/72749
awk '!NF {if (++n <= 1) print; next}; {n=0;print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
if test -z "${APPLY}" ; then echo "Dry run only! Use APPLY=1" 1>&2 ; fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-cert-from-server.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
IPADDRESS="${IPADDRESS:-${1}}"
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/certificates/cacert.pem' -print -quit )"
fi
INFILE="$( readlink -f "${INFILE}" )"
if test -z "${IPADDRESS}" ;
then
    echo "Fatal! Provide \$1 or IPADDRESS (IP address or hostname) to fetch certificate. Aborted." 1>&2
    exit 1
fi
cert="$( </dev/null openssl s_client -connect "${IPADDRESS}:443" 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -in /dev/stdin )"
# Exit if the connection failed. Openssl x509 already printed an error, so do not print another.
if test -z "${cert}" ; then exit 1 ; fi
next_next_to_last="$( echo "${cert}" | awk '{a[NR]=$0} END {print a[NR-2]}' )"
if ! grep -q -e "${next_next_to_last}" "${INFILE}" ;
then
    echo "You need the cert! File ${INFILE} does not have the cert."
    if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
    then
        echo "Applying the the cert." 1>&2
        echo "${cert}" >> "${INFILE}"
    else
        echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to add the cert."
    fi
else
    echo "File ${INFILE} has the cert already."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-etc-hosts.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: bgscripts
# TODO:
#    clean up #ageLANServer entries
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
INFILE="${INFILE:-/etc/hosts}"
mkdir -p "${scriptdir}/backups"
# needs bgscripts
sudo bup "${INFILE}" "${scriptdir}/backups"
IPADDRESS="${IPADDRESS:-${1}}"
if test -z "${IPADDRESS}" ;
then
    echo "Fatal! Need \$1 or IPADDRESS. Aborted." 1>&1
    exit 1
fi
# I need to remove the loopback address for this host, only if this is the server
echo "WARNING: for server only, please modify /etc/hosts and remove 127.0.0.1-type entries. Not implemented automatically yet." 1>&2

# nice idea, but I don't want to depend on this
# This only adds the relevant api.ageofempires.com entries.
#sudo "${scriptdir}/../ageLANServer/linux/launcher/bin/config-admin" setup --game age2 --ip "${IPADDRESS}"

_resolved="$( getent hosts "${IPADDRESS}" | awk '{print $1}' )"
echo "Using resolved ip address ${_resolved}" 1>&2

for word in \
aoe-api.reliclink.com \
aoe-api.worldsedgelink.com \
api.ageofempires.com \
cdn.ageofempires.com \
pb-live-release1-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release2-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release3-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release4-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release5-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release6-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release7-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release8-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release9-api.worldsedgelink.com \
; do
    long="${word}#ageLANServer"
    # depends on bgscripts
    if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ; then
        echo "sudo updateval -v ${INFILE}" \"${_resolved} ${long}\" \"${_resolved} ${long}\"
    fi
    if test -n "${APPLY}" ; then
        sudo updateval -a "${INFILE}" "${_resolved} ${long}" "${_resolved} ${long}"
    fi
done

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-mods.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
INFILE="${INFILE:-/mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz}"
steamid="$( "${scriptdir}/get-account-steamid.sh" | awk '{print $NF}' )"
WINEPREFIX="${WINEPREFIX:-${HOME}/.wine-aoe2de}"
destdir="${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${steamid}/mods"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "tar -zx -C \"${destdir}\" -f \"${INFILE}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    tar -zx -C "${destdir}" -f "${INFILE}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial mods."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-profile.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
indir="$( readlink -f "${scriptdir}/../initial-files" )"
steamid="$( "${scriptdir}/get-account-steamid.sh" | awk '{print $NF}' )"
WINEPREFIX="${WINEPREFIX:-${HOME}/.wine-aoe2de}"
destdir="${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${steamid}"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "cp -pr \"${indir}/profile\" \"${destdir}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    cp -pr "${indir}/profile" "${destdir}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial profile."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-registry.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run regedit "x:\aoe2de\initial-files\aoe2de-partial.reg"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-umu.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
indir="$( readlink -f "${scriptdir}/../initial-files" )"
destdir="${HOME}/.local/share"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "cp -pr \"${indir}/umu\" \"${destdir}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    cp -pr "${indir}/umu" "${destdir}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial umu files."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-username.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: bgscripts, moreutils
# Env vars: APPLY VERBOSE
USERNAME="${USERNAME:-${1}}"
if test -z "${USERNAME}" ; then echo "Fatal! Need \$1 or USERNAME. Aborted." 1>&2 ; exit 1 ; fi
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

# This depends on bgscripts.
/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' "${INFILE}" set account_name "${USERNAME}"

# modconf.py has a bug where it adds an additional newline after that updated line, so
# collapse multiple empty lines into a single empty line: ref https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/72749
awk '!NF {if (++n <= 1) print; next}; {n=0;print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
if test -z "${APPLY}" ; then echo "Dry run only! Use APPLY=1" 1>&2 ; fi

Prepare ageLANServer assets for server.

These assets are only needed for the machine that will run the server.
```
mkdir -p ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux
tar -zx -C ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux -f ~/aoe2de/prepare/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz
```
Adjust battle-server-manager/resources/config.age2.toml
```
Path = '../../../AoE2DE/BattleServer/BattleServer.exe'
```
Adjust server/resources/config/config.toml
```
Enabled = ["age2"]
```
I could have written sed statements, but I didn't bother.

Prepare initial files.

I copied what I think is a reasonably configured "low graphics" user profile from ~/.wine-aoe2de.attempt2/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/7656119EXAMPLE892. Place it as ~/aoe2de/initial-files/profile.

Prepare initial-files/README.md.

# Profile
This initial profile already sets graphics to low. Most, but probably not all, my preferred settings are loaded already.

The destination for `profile/` is the following.

    ${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/7656119EXAMPLE892

# Umu
This is a snapshot of `${HOME}/.local/share/umu` from 2026-07-01.

# Registry key

It appears some values are in registry, and some are in `${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/${account_steamid}/profile/Player.nfp`. So this is the ones from the registry. However, it also appears to use key `HKEY_USERS\{sid}-{UID}-1000\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II DE` which is not predictable.

Prepare the initial umu from a working environment. I found one that works for clients that is less than 1GB, with only steamrt4/.

cp -pr ~/.local/share/umu ~/aoe2de/initial-files/

NOTE: It appears some values are in registry, and some are in ${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/${account_steamid}/profile/Player.nfp.

This command exports the registry keys for the game to ${HOME}\aoe2de-partial.reg. This depends on symlink ${WINEPREFIX}/dosdevices/x: -> ${HOME}

PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run regedit /E "x:\aoe2de\initial-files\aoe2de-partial.reg" "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II DE"

Build release asset #2.

tar -zc -C ~ -f ~/aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz --exclude 'AoE2DE' --exclude 'prepare' aoe2de

This tar operation only took about r0:03.30.

Description of this working environment

~/aoe2de
ageLANServer/linux exploded from https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServer/releases/download/v1.14.1/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz
- battle-server-manager/resources/config.age2.toml customized
- server/resources/config/config.toml customized
AoE2DE proper Steam game with all my DLCs, named aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
aoe2de.sh launcher script
ColdClientLoader.ini customized
steamclient64.dll
steamclient.dll
steamclient_loader_x64.exe These four from https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z release/steamclient_experimental/
debs/ Two files from https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/tag/1.4.0
- python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb
- umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb
dlls/
- ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.dll from https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion/releases/download/v1.3.0.0/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip
- GameOverlayRenderer64.dll
- steamclient_extra_x64.dll These two from https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z release/steamclient_experimental/ and extra_dlls/
GE-Proton11-1/ exploded from https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz
initial-files/
- aoe2de-partial.reg Generated myself, in an attempt to store my settings.
- profile/ Generated myself, in an attempt to store my settings.
- umu/ Copy of ~/.local/share/umu to avoid needing the Internet for umu to fetch its components
saves/ Empty directory that will be used by clients
scripts/ Generated myself, useful scripts for this package.
steam_settings/ Minimal configs for steam emulator, described by https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion
- configs.app.ini Customized for the DLCs I own
- configs.user.ini Will be customized for each client, for account_steamid and account_username.

Operations

See also /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-without-steam.md

Installing this offline bundle

A server and client get the same assets. The server needs some additional steps.

Explode tarball of AoE2DE itself, to ~/aoe2de.

tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz -C ~

Explode the other components.

tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz -C ~

Installing a client

In ~/aoe2de, run some of the `scripts/set-*.sh`.

    APPLY=1 ./set-account-steamid.sh # randomize the steamid in the emulator
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-profile.sh
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-umu.sh
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-mods.sh # optional
    APPLY=1 ./set-username.sh "Steve Harvee 3"
    ./set-initial-registry.sh

Some can only be run after the server is up and running; see section "Running a client".

Installing a server

Run each step from the "Installing a client" first, except the ones for after a server is running. When you adjust /etc/hosts, remove or comment any 127.0.0.1 <hostname>-style records.

It is possible that on a new system, you have to run this.

sudo setcap CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE=+eip ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/server

Initialize a certificate.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/bin/genCert.sh

Running a client

If you will play multiplayer, you need to know the IP address or hostname of the server. This sets the entries in /etc/hosts which can be done manually if necessary.

APPLY=1 ./set-etc-hosts.sh 192.168.1.45 # IP address or hostname of server
APPLY=1 ./set-cert-from-server.sh 192.168.1.45

Run the short launcher.

~/aoe2de/aoe2de.sh

Running a server

Run the battle server manager in a terminal. It will spawn a new one to run, and return this prompt to you for the next command.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/battle-server-manager/start_age2.sh

Run the server.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/start_age2.sh

Then run the client as described above in "Running a client".

Adding mods

With script

From the second asset, use ~/aoe2de/scripts/set-initial-mods.sh. It depends on this network path for this file.

/mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

Manually

Find the generated userid from ~/aoe2de/saves/settings.configs.user.ini.

eval $( awk '/account_steamid/' ~/aoe2de/saves/settings/configs.user.ini | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z=0-9_' )

Visit the user's mods directory and copy in the mods I have provided.

cd ~/".wine-aoe2de/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${account_steamid}/mods"
tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

Updating the game

A full copy of the official game from steam needs to be updated, and then built into a tarball. The path would be similar to /mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/common/AoE2DE.

cd /mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/common
tar -zcf "AoE2DE-$( date "+%F" ).tgz" AoE2DE

Note that this would not have the exact same directory structure as the original first asset which was aoe2de/AoE2DE/.

Updating "other components"

These dependencies might have newer versions. Check the references, and follow the "Building the package" steps.

Updating mods

Build a new tarball from the upstream machine that has the desired mods.

tar -zc -C "/mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${account_steamid}/mods" -f /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.$( date "+%F" ).tgz

Related files

aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz
aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

References

Installing Proton on Linux: A Comprehensive Guide — linuxvox.com
proton ge: https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz from Releases · GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom
Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher: Unified launcher for Windows games on Linux
UMU Database Search shows nothing for "Empires" about AoE2, so GAMEID can be left undefined.
luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion: Libraries to enhance or fix the game behaviour when using a custom launcher in Age LAN Server
Releases · Detanup01/gbe_fork
luskaner/ageLANServer: Web Server (and its launcher) for AoE 1, 2, 3 (all DE), AoE 4 and AoM: RT supporting offline multiplayer
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition DLCs · SteamDB to find ids for the two DLCs I own that were not demonstrated in the configs.app.ini

	`#!/bin/sh`
	`PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run ~/aoe2de/steamclient_loader_x64.exe NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO`

Knowledge Base