Windows nodes

GameDash runs nodes on Windows as well as Linux. A Windows node behaves the same way from the panel's point of view — the differences are in how it is installed and what it can do at the host level.

Requirements

  • A supported Windows release, Server or desktop. No particular edition is required; there is nothing Datacenter- or Pro-specific about the daemon.
  • Administrator privilege. The daemon checks this at startup and refuses to run without it, for the same reasons it requires root on Linux.
  • Docker, for containerised instances.

Installation

The one-line shell installer is Linux-only. Windows nodes are installed from the Windows installer package rather than the script in Installing the daemon; the configuration that follows is identical.

Platform integration

Java's standard library does not reach far enough into Windows for everything the daemon needs to do — process ownership, resource accounting, service integration. The daemon calls into a bridging library for those, which it downloads automatically on first start. There is nothing to install by hand.

Package management goes through MSI and PowerShell rather than apt.

What differs in practice

Not every game runs on Windows, and not every game runs on Linux. Modules declare which operating systems they support, and the panel will only offer a game on a node that can run it. Several titles are Windows-only — ARK: Survival Ascended, Conan Exiles, V Rising, Sons Of The Forest, Space Engineers, Assetto Corsa and Wreckfest among them. See Supported games for the full matrix.

Overhead is higher. Running Docker on Windows costs meaningfully more than on Linux. For nodes it is a reasonable trade when a game requires it; for the panel we recommend against it outright.

Firewall

The same ports apply as on Linux — see Ports & firewall — but you will be allowing them through Windows Defender Firewall rather than ufw or firewalld. Restrict the source to your panel's address.