Linux dedicated servers use the SteamCMD command-line tool to download the Arma 3 Dedicated Server. In order to download the Deducated Server, the user must log into a Steam account and activate the server with Steam Guard. The Steam account used does not need to have Arma 3 purchased. In fact, Valve recommends that the account used with SteamCMD be a different account than the account a user makes their purchases on. (see https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#With_a_Steam_account). Dedicated Servers for Valve games (TF2, CSGO, etc.) allow the user to log in anonymously and download the server software without an account, as there is no security purpose to requiring a Steam account.
The Steam Guard activation step prevents the server setup process from being fully automated on Linux. I have written an Ansible playbook to automate my Arma 3 server. (see https://github.com/dharmab/ansible-playbooks). The Steam Guard activation is the only step that prevents 100% automation of the process. Currently, the playbook stops execution and instructs the use to manually perform the Steam Guard activation. If the Arma 3 server were available for anonymous download, this playbook would be able to provision an Arma 3 server in minutes with no human intervention. This has many benefits to users:
- Users can spin up and destroy servers on demand, instead of running them 24/7. In combination with a server provider that charges by hourly usage this dramatically reduces server costs. The cost savings can then be reallocated to more powerful servers or multiple servers.
- The server setup and maintenance process becomes an automated process, eliminating human error. This is especially helpful with complex mod setups.
Please consider allowing users to download the Dedicated Server using anonymous accounts. Forcing users to use a Steam account has no security benefit since users can (and are recommended to) create a new blank account as a workaround. The account requirement is only an obstacle to use of automation tools.