gaming

Configures the services of the 21_steam package group: ananicy-cpp, and power-profiles-daemon as the only CPU power manager.

Requirements

Arch Linux or CachyOS, with 21_steam selected. site.yml runs the role only then.
The packages of packages_gaming_required_packages installed. The role checks them first and does not install them: run the packages tag for that.
Privilege escalation (become: true).

Role Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`gaming_power_manager_conflict_action`	`ask`	Another CPU power manager is running: `ask`, `remove` (stop, disable, uninstall) or `fail`.
`gaming_ananicy_rule_packages`	`[cachyos-ananicy-rules]`	Packages whose update restarts `ananicy-cpp` so it loads the new rules.
`gaming_sched_ext_units`	`[scx_loader.service, scx.service]`	sched-ext units stopped, disabled and masked.

Behavior

The role enables and starts ananicy-cpp and power-profiles-daemon. If auto-cpufreq, TLP, tuned or another known CPU power manager is active or enabled, it asks whether to stop, disable and uninstall it, and stops if you decline. Check mode never removes anything. Once the check passes, a systemd mask on power-profiles-daemon.service is removed before it is enabled. A running ananicy-cpp keeps running.

ananicy-cpp and a sched-ext scheduler both change how processes are scheduled, and the CachyOS wiki advises against running both. The role therefore stops, disables and masks the installed units of gaming_sched_ext_units. scx_loader starts on D-Bus demand, so the mask also stops scx-manager from starting it. To use a sched-ext scheduler instead, set gaming_sched_ext_units: [] and run sudo systemctl unmask scx_loader.service.

Deselecting Steam does not stop the services.

The hardening role raises vm.max_map_count for Proton games.
The steam-optimize launcher (deployed by dotfiles) uses game-performance on CachyOS. It sets a 12 GB Mesa shader cache on AMD or a 12 GB proprietary-driver cache on NVIDIA; game profiles can override them, and Arc Raiders uses 20 GB. It reads the most recent account from loginusers.vdf, and falls back to the only localconfig.vdf when there is exactly one.
Avoid gamemoderun while ananicy-cpp runs: both change process priorities (CachyOS gaming guide). ENABLE_LAYER_MESA_ANTI_LAG stays a per-game option.

make deploy TAGS=packages,gaming BECOME_PASS=1

Dependencies

None. The packages role installs the services it configures.

Example Playbook

- hosts: all
  become: true
  roles:
    - role: gaming
      when: "'21_steam' in packages_selected_groups"
      tags: [gaming]

License

Unlicense

Author Information

pad