Steam – Download CS:GO server without redownloading entire game

counter-strike-global-offensivesteam

I'm trying to setup a home CS:GO server, but I want to do it without redownloading the entire game. I'm using Steamcmd to download the server and I've had a look at the files which it is downloading, they appear to be exactly the same as CS:GO which I already have installed. Is there anyway I can copy my current installation over so it can only download the files it needs for the dedicated server? My internet isn't very fast so letting it download will take a very long time.

Best Answer

Both, the Steam client and steamcmd create a directory called SteamApps by default. Inside there's common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive and common/Counter-Strike Global Offensive - Dedicated Server respectively. The contents should be roughly the same for the game client and the dedicated server.

Copying the contents from the client to the server's directory and calling app_update 740 validate inside steamcmd (or steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 740 validate) should result in a minimal download time.