Hi,

I’m seeing a SteamCMD bootstrap/self-update failure that appears to be a Steam/Akamai DNS/CDN issue rather than a game, Docker, or Pterodactyl issue.

SteamCMD fails before any app_update command can complete with:

Steamcmd needs to be online to update. Please confirm your network connection and try again.

This is blocking installation/update of the Conan Exiles dedicated server Linux files, AppID 443030, but the failure occurs before the Conan-specific update step.

Environment

• Host: Proxmox / Debian
• Kernel: Linux pve 6.17.4-2-pve
• Architecture: x86_64
• Also reproduced inside: Ubuntu 24.04 VM
• Container runtime: Docker
• Panel: Pterodactyl/Wings
• SteamCMD test image: cm2network/steamcmd
• Affected AppID: 443030, Conan Exiles Dedicated Server

Symptoms

A clean SteamCMD container fails on basic startup:

docker run --rm -it cm2network/steamcmd bash -lc './steamcmd.sh +quit'

Result:

[  0%] Checking for available updates...
[----] Verifying installation...
[  0%] Downloading update...
[  0%] Checking for available updates...
[----] !!! Fatal Error: Steamcmd needs to be online to update. Please confirm your network connection and try again.

This happens before running any game-specific command such as:

+app_update 443030 validate

DNS / endpoint checks

From the Proxmox host directly, outside Docker and outside Pterodactyl:

curl -I https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Returns:

HTTP/2 200

This also works:

curl -I http://media.steampowered.com/client/steam_cmd_linux

Returns:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK

But this lookup appears broken:

dig @1.1.1.1 client-download.steampowered.com

Result:

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN

;; ANSWER SECTION:
client-download.steampowered.com. 300 IN CNAME update.client.steamcontent.akadns.net.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
akadns.net. 180 IN SOA internal.akadns.net. hostmaster.akamai.com.

So client-download.steampowered.com returns a CNAME to:

update.client.steamcontent.akadns.net

but the final Akamai target does not return a usable A record and the query status is NXDOMAIN.

Expected behavior

SteamCMD should complete its bootstrap/self-update and allow commands such as:

./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir ./conan-linux +login anonymous +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType linux +app_update 443030 validate +quit

Actual behavior

SteamCMD fails during its own bootstrap/self-update stage with:

Steamcmd needs to be online to update. Please confirm your network connection and try again.

Because of this, the game server files are never downloaded. In the Pterodactyl server directory, only SteamCMD files are present, and no Conan server binary is installed.

Why this does not appear to be a Pterodactyl or Conan issue

The same failure occurs in a clean standalone SteamCMD Docker container with:

./steamcmd.sh +quit

That removes Pterodactyl, the Conan egg, and any Conan-specific launch command from the equation.

The host can also reach other SteamCMD-related endpoints successfully, including:

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
http://media.steampowered.com/client/steam_cmd_linux

The failure appears specific to SteamCMD’s bootstrap dependency on:

client-download.steampowered.com

which currently resolves to a broken Akamai CNAME chain from this network/DNS path.

Impact

This prevents dedicated server administrators from installing or updating affected SteamCMD-managed dedicated servers. In my case, this blocks updating the Conan Exiles dedicated server Linux binaries after a required game update.

Please investigate the DNS/CDN configuration for:

client-download.steampowered.com
update.client.steamcontent.akadns.net

as SteamCMD appears to depend on this endpoint during bootstrap/self-update.