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Desktop Version of cTrader for Linux
One of the downsides of cTrader is that Spotware hasn’t created any downloadable and installable version of the desktop application for other operating systems besides Windows. There is no native support for Linux or macOS.
While MetaQuotes provides a native version for Apple Mac devices, there is no native Linux version of either MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. We were previously misled to believe that there were native Linux versions of MetaTrader and 5. That was mostly due to lazy research. Luckily this was pointed out to us by a visitor, and we have thus updated this article not only with this correction but some of their suggestions. Thank you.
MetaTrader
Operating Systems" width="825" height="243" />In fact, the Linux link in the MetaQuotes website (see above) actually points to a post in their forum. This post instructs users on how to run the MetaTrader applications with Wine.
Introduction to Linux
This article is mostly for tech-savvy traders who have chosen the Linux operating system for its advantages over Windows. Typically Linux users come from software development or IT backgrounds. They would be the type of trader interested in building their own automated trading software, likely using high-performance setups. The best advice we could give to Mac users is to try cTrader Web. However, the web-based version of the platform isn’t equipped with Automated Trading functionality. This means that particular piece of advice won’t be much help for most cTrader Linux users. Let’s explore what else is possible.
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system that is open-source. This means it’s free to use, unlike Windows, which you must purchase under a license agreement.
There are multiple forms of the Linux OS, such as Debian, Mint, Gentoo and Ubuntu; these are known as distribution packs. Ubuntu is the most popular one.
Wine is also open-source and free to use software that allows Linux users to run applications developed for Microsoft Windows systems. There is a specific version of Wine for Ubuntu.
Run cTrader with Wine
Wine is a compatibility layer that can be installed on different operating systems such as Linux or macOS to run Windows applications. This is an important development since many software companies neglect to develop native versions for the Linux operating system. One of the main obstacles of Linux users who wanted to use cAlgo or what is now known a cTrader Automate was that Wine didn’t support Windows Presentation Foundation technology. The cTrader applications use WPF. Despite Wine’s mission of enabling all Windows applications on other operating systems, there has been a specific lack of interest in supporting WPF. This means that running cTrader with Wine will not work out of the box. Users who have tried running cTrader on Linux this way have reported GUI problems.
Run cTrader with VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a virtualisation application that can be installed on pretty much any computer, running most operating systems. It allows you to run additional operating systems inside virtual machines. This means you can run Windows on your Linux desktop or server. And therefore, you can install cTrader. VirtualBox is free to use. This advice can be extended to macOS users as well. VirtualBox can be used as an alternative to Parallels, which was suggested in a previous article.
Alternatives for Running cTrader on Linux
A final alternative is to run cTrader from a VPS. You can access the VPS remote desktop from your Linux System and install cTrader on a Windows Server VPS. For active day trading or active development and testing of your trading robot, this solution trumps the option of using a VPS. A VPS is only really good for running applications, like an automated trading strategy. They are not friendly for actively using applications.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”Choose a Verified cTrader Forex Broker!” h4=”We recommend checking these verified cTrader Brokers”]
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