User management

This page covers the first admin account, user registration, account activation and roles.

Admin user

Initial setup

warning

GameVault does not create the first admin account. Register it yourself with the GameVault client.

The first account registered on a server is activated automatically and gets the admin role.

Admin role recovery

Lost admin access after a misconfiguration? Set SERVER_ADMIN_USERNAME to the username that should get the admin role. On the next server start GameVault grants that user admin permissions and activates the account. The variable only promotes an existing user; it never creates an account.

Admin password recovery

If the admin password is lost, the server can reset it at startup.

First, set the SERVER_ADMIN_USERNAME environment variable to the username whose password should be reset. Then set SERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD to the new password.

tip

Both variables are only applied at server startup, and the user must already exist on the server. They are a recovery mechanism, not an account creation mechanism.

For example:

SERVER_ADMIN_USERNAME=gamevaultfan1
SERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD=hunter2

On the next server start the password is replaced with the one you set.

User registration

Public registration can be turned off, for example when the server should stay private.

Set SERVER_REGISTRATION_DISABLED to true to disable the public registration API. New users can then no longer create accounts. Administrators can still create users while public registration is closed.

User activation

By default an administrator has to activate a new account before it can use the server.

Unactivated users are treated as unauthenticated and cannot access most APIs. That is fewer rights than the guest role has. Admins skip the activation check and activate new users in the admin panel.

Set SERVER_ACCOUNT_ACTIVATION_DISABLED to true to remove the step. New accounts are then active as soon as they register.

User roles

Every user has exactly one role, and the role decides what they may do.

GameVault implements the following roles:

Role	Description	Level
Guest	Can view most content.	0
Users (Default)	Can download games, create progress entries and edit their own profile.	1
Editors	Can edit and remap games.	2
Admins	Full control over users and profiles.	3

Give each user the lowest role that lets them do their job.