Getting it Working (Windows)¶

Once you've compiled the server core, there are still a number of steps you must go through before being able to start your server.

1. Extracting data from the client¶

The server requires a large amount of data from the client in order to operate. That includes DBC, Map, VMap and MMap files. To extract all that data you need extractors. You can compile them yourself by selecting the _USE_EXTRACTORS_ option when configuring in CMake. Alternatively you can download all the required files from the internet.

Extracting data from client on Windows¶

Locate your WoW 1.12.1 client folder Verify it's build 5875 (bottom-left corner of the login screen).
Copy the extractors and dependencies Place these files in your World of Warcraft 1.12.1 game folder:
mapextractor.exe
vmapextractor.exe
vmap_assembler.exe
MoveMapGen.exe
Any required DLLs from the build output.
Run the extractors by double-clicking (in order) Open the WoW folder in File Explorer and double-click each one:
mapextractor.exe - extracts DBC and map files.
vmapextractor.exe - extracts raw visual map files.
vmap_assembler.exe - converts the vmaps into a usable format.
MoveMapGen.exe - generates movement maps (optional, but recommended for proper creature navigation). This step takes a long time - from 30 minutes to several hours. If you skip it, mobs will chase targets in a straight line and fear movement will not work. If you get an error about a missing "mmaps" folder, just create it manually.
Move extracted folders to your server Copy the following folders from your WoW folder: maps, vmaps, mmaps (if created), dbc Paste them into your server data directory (e.g., C:\vmangos\data\).
Organize DBC for build 5875 Rename or move the dbc folder so it becomes 5875\dbc inside your data directory. Example final path: C:\vmangos\data\5875\dbc\ The build number of the 1.12.1 client is 5875.
Cleanup Delete the Buildings\ and Cameras\ folders (if present) from your WoW folder.

2. Setting up the database¶

The server requires a MySQL database to store all account, character, and world data.

Installing MySQL on Windows¶

Download the official MySQL Installer (5.5 or 5.6) or use XAMPP which provides a ready-to-use package of MySQL and Apache. Version 5.7 may work but some users have reported issues.

Creating the databases and a dedicated user¶

You need to create four databases and a database user that the server will use to connect. The default username and password expected by the server configuration files are mangos / mangos. If you prefer different credentials, remember to update the configuration files later.

If you are using a GUI tool (MySQL Workbench, phpMyAdmin, HeidiSQL, etc.):¶

Create the following databases:
realmd
mangos
characters
logs

(For collation put utf8_general_ci.)

Create a user mangos with password mangos and grant it all privileges on all four databases above.

If you are using the MySQL command line:¶

Run the following SQL commands (you can copy and paste them into the mysql prompt after connecting as root):

CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS realmd DEFAULT CHARSET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS mangos DEFAULT CHARSET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS characters DEFAULT CHARSET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS logs DEFAULT CHARSET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;

CREATE USER IF NOT EXISTS 'mangos'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'mangos';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON realmd.* TO 'mangos'@'localhost';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mangos.* TO 'mangos'@'localhost';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON characters.* TO 'mangos'@'localhost';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON logs.* TO 'mangos'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

After running these commands, you will have the required databases and a user mangos with password mangos.

Importing the database structure and content¶

You need four SQL files:

logs.sql - creates the logs database tables. (Located in your core's sql folder)
logon.sql - creates the realmd database tables. (Located in your core's sql folder)
characters.sql - creates the characters database tables. (Located in your core's sql folder)
The world database - you must obtain the latest world database release from the database repository. Download the most recent .7z file (e.g., world_full_YYYY_MM_DD.7z) and extract it to get a .sql file.

You can find the first three SQL files in the sql directory of your source (e.g., C:\vmangos\core\sql\).

Import these files using a GUI tool or the MySQL command line.

Using the command line¶

Run these commands from a Command Prompt (adjust file paths to your actual locations). You will be prompted for the mangos user's password each time (default is mangos).

mysql -u mangos -p mangos < "C:\path\to\world_full_YYYY_MM_DD.sql"
mysql -u mangos -p logs < "C:\path\to\logs.sql"
mysql -u mangos -p realmd < "C:\path\to\logon.sql"
mysql -u mangos -p characters < "C:\path\to\characters.sql"

Using a GUI client¶

In GUI mysql client, choose the option to import from a SQL file.
For each .sql file, select the target database and run the import.

Applying database migrations¶

After the initial import, you must apply any pending updates (migrations). These are located in sql\migrations inside your core repository. For your convenience, there is a batch script that can merge all migrations into a single file for each database. Run the merge.bat script to generate combined update files, then import them using the same method as above or import them using a MySQL GUI client:

mysql -u mangos -p mangos < world_db_updates.sql
mysql -u mangos -p logs < logs_db_updates.sql
mysql -u mangos -p realmd < logon_db_updates.sql
mysql -u mangos -p characters < characters_db_updates.sql

If you skip this step, the server will refuse to start and will tell you which migration IDs are missing.

Defining your realm¶

Insert a record for your realm into the realmlist table of the realmd database. You can do this via a query in your GUI MySQL client or via the command line.

Using the command line:

mysql -u mangos -p -e "USE realmd; INSERT INTO realmlist (id, name, address, port, icon, realmflags, timezone, allowedSecurityLevel, population, gamebuild_min, gamebuild_max, flag) VALUES (1, 'My VMaNGOS Realm', '127.0.0.1', 8085, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 5875, 5875, 0);"

Using a GUI client: Open the realmd database, find the realmlist table, and add a new row with your desired values.

Adjust the name and address if you plan to host it on a different machine or IP. The port (8085) must match the port in the world server configuration file.

3. Editing the configuration files¶

The final step before starting the server is to configure the two configuration files: mangosd.conf (world server) and realmd.conf (login server). They are simple text files located in your server's etc directory (or alongside the executables, depending on your build).

Rename the default config files Change the name of mangosd.conf.dist to mangosd.conf and realmd.conf.dist to realmd.conf.
Edit the database connection strings Open both files in Notepad or any text editor and locate the lines that begin with LoginDatabase.Info, WorldDatabase.Info, CharacterDatabase.Info, and LogsDatabase.Info. The default entries look like:

LoginDatabase.Info              = "127.0.0.1;3306;mangos;mangos;realmd"
WorldDatabase.Info              = "127.0.0.1;3306;mangos;mangos;mangos"
CharacterDatabase.Info          = "127.0.0.1;3306;mangos;mangos;characters"
LogsDatabase.Info               = "127.0.0.1;3306;mangos;mangos;logs"

If you used a different MySQL username or password during database setup, replace the mangos;mangos part accordingly. Leave the IP (127.0.0.1) and port (3306) as they are if MySQL runs on the same machine.

Check the DataDir setting in mangosd.conf Make sure it points to the folder where you placed the maps, vmaps, mmaps, and 5875/dbc directories. For example:

DataDir = "C:/vmangos/data"

Set the logs directory (optional) You can specify where log files should be written, for example:

LogsDir = "C:/vmangos/logs"

Create that folder if it doesn't exist.

Save both files.

4. Starting your server¶

Now that everything is configured, make sure your MySQL server is running.

Start the login server Double-click realmd.exe (or run it from a command prompt).
Start the world server Double-click mangosd.exe. It will take a while to load all data. When you hear a beep, the server is ready.

Creating an admin account¶

Once mangosd is running, type the following commands in its console window:

account create admin admin
account set gmlevel admin 6

This creates an account with username admin and password admin, and grants it Game Master level 6 (full administrator).

5. Connecting with the client¶

In your World of Warcraft 1.12.1 folder, open the realmlist.wtf file with a text editor.
Replace its content with:
```
set realmlist 127.0.0.1
```
Save the file.

Launch the game and login with the account you just created.