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Infrastructure Upgrade: Moving CSLRP to Unraid

CSLRP is moving away from our traditional single-server configuration to a new Unraid-based infrastructure. This will give us better backups, stronger service isolation, easier recovery, and significantly more flexibility as the community continues to grow. Some temporary downtime may occur during the migration, but we are working to keep interruptions as short as possible.

Hunter_GamingNL 12 min read 13

Infrastructure Upgrade: CSLRP Is Moving to Unraid

Cross State Line RP is currently undergoing one of the biggest infrastructure changes we have made behind the scenes.

We are moving away from our previous configuration, where most of CSLRP's services were running together on a single Ubuntu installation, and transitioning the physical server to Unraid.

This is not a FiveM framework change, a character wipe, a server reset, or a rebuild of CSLRP.

Instead, we are changing the infrastructure underneath our game server, websites, databases, development environment, and internal systems.

The goal is to create a platform that is more reliable, easier to maintain, easier to recover, and much better prepared for the future of CSLRP.

Why Are We Moving Away From The Old Configuration?

Our previous configuration has served us well for a long time.

However, CSLRP has grown considerably.

The physical server is no longer simply a machine that hosts FiveM.

It now supports infrastructure such as:

  • The main FiveM production server
  • The FiveM development server
  • Production databases
  • Development databases
  • Our public websites
  • CAD systems
  • Department management systems
  • Internal operations tools
  • Our development roadmap
  • Cloudflare services
  • Deployment systems
  • Background services
  • Backups
  • Internal development tools
  • Additional supporting infrastructure

Previously, a large amount of this was running together inside the same Ubuntu installation.

While that works, it also means that completely different services depend on the same operating system.

As CSLRP continues to grow, that becomes increasingly difficult to maintain properly.

The Problem With Keeping Everything Together

When everything runs inside one large operating system, problems can spread much further than they should.

For example:

  • A web server problem should not affect FiveM.
  • A FiveM development test should not affect our websites.
  • Updating PHP should not have anything to do with the production game server.
  • A broken DEV resource should not be able to interfere with MAIN.
  • Website maintenance should not require the entire physical server to be disturbed.
  • A problem with one service should not automatically become an infrastructure-wide problem.

Under the old configuration, many of these systems were more closely connected than we wanted them to be.

Troubleshooting also becomes increasingly complicated when FiveM, MariaDB, Nginx, Apache, PHP, Cloudflare, development services, deployment systems, and other applications are all operating inside the same environment.

The larger CSLRP becomes, the less practical that setup becomes.

What Is Unraid Changing?

Unraid now runs directly on the physical CSLRP server.

Instead of running everything directly on one Ubuntu installation, Unraid allows us to divide the physical hardware into multiple isolated virtual machines.

The planned structure will roughly look like this:

UNRAID HOST

MAIN — Production FiveM Server
DEV — Development and Testing Server
WEB — Websites, CAD, Department Systems and Web Services
STORAGE / BACKUPS — Backups, recovery data and infrastructure storage

Each environment can have its own operating system, CPU allocation, memory allocation, storage, networking, services, and maintenance schedule.

This gives us significantly more control over the infrastructure.

MAIN And DEV Will Be Properly Separated

One of the biggest improvements will be separating production and development.

Our DEV server is where we test:

  • New resources
  • Framework changes
  • Configuration changes
  • Database changes
  • Integrations
  • New gameplay systems
  • Updates
  • Experimental features

That environment should be allowed to break.

Production should not.

With the new infrastructure, DEV can operate inside its own dedicated virtual machine.

That means we can restart DEV, modify DEV, overload DEV, or completely break DEV without automatically interfering with the production FiveM environment.

This gives us several advantages:

  • DEV can be restarted independently.
  • MAIN can remain online while development continues.
  • Development databases can remain separate from production.
  • New resources can be tested in isolation.
  • CPU and memory can be allocated independently.
  • Failed development changes are easier to recover from.
  • Production becomes much less dependent on development infrastructure.

This gives us a significantly cleaner development workflow.

Our Web Infrastructure Will Also Be Separated

Our websites and web-based systems will eventually move into their own dedicated environment.

This includes systems such as:

  • The main CSLRP website
  • CAD
  • Department management
  • Roadmap
  • Internal operations systems
  • Other web applications
  • Supporting web services

This means that web maintenance should no longer require us to interfere with the FiveM production server.

Likewise, FiveM maintenance should not automatically mean that every website needs to become unavailable.

A website problem becomes a WEB problem instead of potentially becoming a problem for the entire server.

Better Backups And Recovery

One of the most important reasons for moving to Unraid is improving our backup and recovery infrastructure.

Having backups is important.

Being able to recover quickly from those backups is even more important.

The new infrastructure gives us a much better foundation for protecting:

  • Databases
  • FiveM server data
  • Website files
  • Configuration files
  • Virtual machines
  • Development environments
  • Production environments
  • Important uploads
  • Infrastructure configuration

Our goal is to create multiple layers of protection rather than relying on one type of backup.

This will allow us to improve things such as:

  • Regular database backups
  • Website backups
  • FiveM data backups
  • VM-level backups
  • Recovery points before major updates
  • Separate production and development backups
  • Faster disaster recovery

If a major update goes wrong, we want recovery to become a controlled process instead of having to manually rebuild large parts of the server.

Updates Will Become Safer

Updates always introduce some level of risk.

A resource update can fail.

A database migration can behave unexpectedly.

A PHP update can break a web application.

A configuration change can prevent a service from starting.

With the new structure, those failures can be much more isolated.

Where appropriate, we can prepare backups or recovery points before performing major work.

If something goes wrong, we can focus on recovering the affected environment instead of repairing an entire combined server installation.

That makes future development significantly safer.

Better Resource Management

Another advantage is the ability to control how physical server resources are distributed.

MAIN, DEV, and WEB do not necessarily need the same amount of CPU or memory.

Under Unraid, we can allocate resources based on what each environment actually needs.

For example:

  • MAIN can receive dedicated CPU resources for FiveM.
  • DEV can receive enough resources for testing without competing directly with production.
  • WEB can have its own memory and CPU allocation.
  • Unraid can continue managing the underlying hardware and storage.

This also allows us to monitor actual usage and adjust resources when necessary.

If MAIN needs more memory in the future, we can increase it.

If DEV does not require as many resources, those resources can remain available elsewhere.

What Does This Mean For Players?

For players, the goal is that very little changes.

You will still connect to CSLRP normally.

This infrastructure migration is not intended to wipe player data.

Your:

  • Characters
  • Vehicles
  • Money
  • Inventory
  • Jobs
  • Properties
  • Progression
  • Other production data

are not being intentionally reset as part of this migration.

The biggest changes are happening behind the scenes.

Ideally, once everything is completed, players will mainly notice that maintenance becomes less disruptive and infrastructure becomes more reliable.

Will There Be Downtime?

Yes. Some temporary downtime is possible while the migration is being completed.

We want to be transparent about this.

Moving an active production environment containing databases, websites, FiveM servers, networking, and other services cannot always be completed without interrupting something.

Some services need to be stopped temporarily during their final migration to make sure data does not change while it is being transferred.

Databases are an obvious example.

We can prepare most of a migration while production remains online, but during the final synchronization there may need to be a short maintenance period.

We Are Trying To Keep Downtime To A Minimum

We are specifically designing the migration so that the majority of the work can happen while the existing infrastructure remains online.

Instead of doing this:

Shut everything down → rebuild everything → hope everything works → bring everything back online

we are trying to follow this approach:

Keep the current environment online
Build the replacement environment alongside it
Copy the majority of the data
Configure the new environment
Test everything
Start a short maintenance period
Synchronize the remaining data
Switch services over
Verify everything
Bring the service back online

This dramatically reduces the amount of downtime required.

Some Unexpected Downtime May Still Happen

Even with careful preparation, infrastructure migrations can uncover unexpected problems.

Examples include:

  • Networking behaving differently inside a VM
  • A service still referencing an old IP address
  • Permissions behaving differently
  • Database migrations taking longer than expected
  • A service depending on something from the old environment
  • DNS or Cloudflare changes requiring additional work
  • A configuration file referencing old hardware or network interfaces

If something unexpected happens, we will prioritize stability and data integrity over rushing the service back online.

A few additional minutes of maintenance is better than bringing a broken or unstable system online.

The First Major Migration Step Has Already Been Completed

The first major stage has already been successfully completed.

Unraid is now running on the physical CSLRP server.

Our previous Ubuntu environment has also successfully been brought back online as a virtualized environment under Unraid.

This is extremely useful because it means we can continue operating the existing infrastructure while the new dedicated environments are prepared.

We do not need to keep everything offline while rebuilding the server.

The current environment can continue serving CSLRP while the replacement infrastructure is created alongside it.

The Remaining Migration Will Happen In Stages

We are not planning to move everything simultaneously.

The remaining migration will happen progressively.

Stage 1 — Unraid Host

The physical server is moved from the previous direct Ubuntu installation to Unraid.

Status: Completed

Stage 2 — Legacy Environment

The existing CSLRP Ubuntu installation is brought online under Unraid so existing services can continue operating during the transition.

Status: Completed

Stage 3 — DEV Environment

A dedicated virtual machine will be created for FiveM development and testing.

Development systems will then be migrated away from the existing combined environment.

Stage 4 — WEB Environment

Our websites, CAD, department infrastructure, roadmap, internal tools, and other web services will be moved into a dedicated WEB environment.

The new environment can be prepared and tested before the final switch.

Stage 5 — MAIN Environment

The production FiveM server will be moved into its dedicated MAIN environment.

This will separate production gameplay infrastructure from development and web services.

Stage 6 — Backup And Recovery Infrastructure

Once the environments have been separated, the final backup and recovery structure will be implemented around the new architecture.

Stage 7 — Legacy Retirement

The old combined environment will only be retired once the replacement environments have been properly tested and verified.

Why Not Just Keep The Old Configuration?

The simple answer is:

Because something working today does not automatically mean it is the right architecture for tomorrow.

We could continue running everything inside the old configuration.

It works.

However, every new service we add would increase the complexity of that environment.

Eventually, restructuring would become unavoidable.

Doing it now allows us to control the migration rather than waiting until the infrastructure becomes a serious limitation.

This Is About Long-Term Stability

Moving to Unraid is not being done simply because virtualization is interesting or because Unraid has a nicer interface.

The new infrastructure solves real problems.

It gives CSLRP:

  • Better service isolation
  • Better backups
  • Better disaster recovery
  • Cleaner development environments
  • Easier maintenance
  • Better resource allocation
  • Faster recovery from failed updates
  • Less dependency between unrelated services
  • More flexibility for future expansion
  • Better control over production infrastructure

Most importantly, it gives us room to continue expanding CSLRP without continuously increasing the complexity of one enormous operating-system installation.

Future Maintenance Should Become Less Disruptive

There may be some disruption while this migration is being completed.

However, once everything is properly separated, future maintenance should become significantly less disruptive.

Instead of:

Server maintenance — everything is offline.

we can increasingly move toward:

WEB maintenance — websites affected, FiveM remains online.

or:

DEV maintenance — production remains unaffected.

or:

MAIN restart — websites and internal infrastructure remain available.

That is one of the biggest long-term benefits of this project.

What You May Notice During The Migration

While the transition continues, you may occasionally notice:

  • Short website outages
  • Temporary CAD unavailability
  • Brief FiveM maintenance periods
  • Individual services restarting
  • Development services becoming temporarily unavailable
  • Short networking interruptions
  • Maintenance announcements while systems are moved

We will try to communicate larger maintenance periods beforehand whenever possible.

No Major Infrastructure Migration Is Completely Risk-Free

We also want to be realistic.

We are moving:

  • Operating environments
  • Networking
  • Databases
  • Websites
  • FiveM services
  • Storage
  • Internal systems
  • Production services

There is always some level of risk when making changes of this size.

That is exactly why we are not immediately deleting the old environment and rebuilding everything from scratch.

The migration is being performed progressively, with the existing environment retained while replacement systems are built and tested.

Critical data is also being backed up throughout the process.

The End Goal

When the migration is complete, CSLRP will have a much cleaner infrastructure structure.

MAIN

Purpose: Production gameplay

This environment will primarily be responsible for the live FiveM server and the services directly required by production gameplay.

DEV

Purpose: Development and testing

This environment will be used to test resources, updates, integrations, and other changes before they reach production.

WEB

Purpose: Websites and web infrastructure

This environment will host CSLRP's websites, CAD systems, department infrastructure, internal tools, and supporting web services.

UNRAID

Purpose: Infrastructure management

Unraid will manage the underlying virtualization, storage, hardware resources, and infrastructure.

A Short Period Of Change For A Much Better Future

There may be a few bumps while everything is moved into its new environment.

However, this is being done to solve infrastructure problems before they become larger problems later.

CSLRP has grown significantly, and the infrastructure behind it needs to grow with it.

The new Unraid-based architecture gives us a much stronger foundation for everything we are building now and everything we want to build in the future.

Thank You For Your Patience

We will continue working to keep downtime and disruption as limited as reasonably possible while the migration continues.

Some temporary inconvenience during the transition will give us a much more reliable, maintainable, and flexible infrastructure going forward.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while we complete this major upgrade behind the scenes.

— Cross State Line RP

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