How to run NinjaTrader on a Linux/macOS platform

[morrnel]

How to run NinjaTrader on a Linux/macOS platform? Can this be done?

[NinjaTrader_ShawnB]

Hello morrnel,

Thank you for your post.

NinjaTrader 7 and NinjaTrader 8 are Windows applications which rely on the .NET Framework to operate and the .NET Framework is only available on Windows Operating System and DOES NOT run on the Mac Operating System.

While we do not officially support running NinjaTrader on a Mac; we have had many clients run NinjaTrader on Mac hardware.
We have specific installation instructions for Parallels and VMWare Fusion which will allow you to run NinjaTrader on your Mac. Below you will find instructions specific to the available options of running NinjaTrader on a Mac computer with the virtualization tools. Please note that Windows is sold separately from BootCamp, Parallels, and VMWare.

Mac Installation - Configuring NinjaTrader for Parallels
When installing NinjaTrader on a Mac using Parallels users will need to ensure that the following steps have been taken prior to the installation of NinjaTrader.

1. Start Parallels and select your virtual machine
2. Press the "Configure" button on the top
3. Under "Options", select "Sharing"
4. Uncheck "Share Mac" under "Share Mac User Folders with Windows"
5. Press "OK" and start the virtual machine

Mac Installation - Configuring NinjaTrader for VMWare Fusion:
When configuring NinjaTrader on a Mac running VMWare, users will need to ensure that the following steps have been taken prior to the installation of NinjaTrader.

1. Start VMWare and select your virtual machine
2. Press the "Settings" button on the bottom
3. Under "System Settings", select "Sharing"
4. Uncheck "Documents" from the "Mirrored Folders" list
5. Close the "Settings" window and start the virtual machine

Mac Installation - Configuring NinjaTrader for Apple Boot Camp:
When configuring NinjaTrader on a Mac running Apple Boot Camp, there are no special instructions needed.

Currently, there aren't any plans to have a version of NinjaTrader that would run natively in a Linux environment. Here is a link to the Minimum System Requirements necessary to run NinjaTrader 8 and the NinjaTrader 7 Minimum PC Requirements.

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.

[clearlystocks]

Hmmm.... What say the powers that be? Now I realize the "official" answer will be "unsupported" but we all here really want to hear is the "unofficial method" to get it to do what we want, run on Linux!

Because apparently .NET Framework is no longer ONLY a windows thing.

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet/5.0

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dot.../install/linux

https://www.mono-project.com/

[izamryan]

Guys - I've been researching trading platforms and was really interested by Ninja Trader. No Linux support is a big problem for us though.

https://darqube.io/

I did find this - which is quite a promising new startup!

[clearlystocks]

Guys - I've been researching trading platforms and was really interested by Ninja Trader. No Linux support is a big problem for us though.

https://darqube.io/

I did find this - which is quite a promising new startup!

I looked at it, did not find out anything about supported brokers or any fees for that matter, take a look at ironbeam.com if thinking about dumping ninja... I just wish Ninja would get on the Linux operating systems, so few platforms run natively on Linux that Ninja could capture a large market share from those wanting to dump resource heavy Windows.

[morrnel]

Ninja may have little interest in making major changes as they have considerable investment in a technology that's been around for a very long time. There is a product called Mono which as I understand is a port of the dot-net to Linux and MacOS.

I am a full stack developer and developed progressive web apps that runs on multiple platforms including android and iOS.

Ninja needs to move to a modern technology. If they don't, someone else will solve the problem for them.

[dpolyakov]

you can always try lunching NT thru Wine or CrossOver. Alternatively: VirtualBox, VMWare player, KVM,

[dpolyakov]

https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/crossover/ninjatrader-8

[morrnel]

Thank you. Excellent suggestions dpolyakov and am aware of them. However, when it comes to money, I like simple.

[patricia70]

any updates on this topic? I would like to know if anyone's out there that succeeded in installing and using NT8 on Linux successfully. I don't think it'll run using WINE but of course it would work fine on a virtualization platform. I'd also like to know which virtualization suite would give the best performance for NT8, is it VirtualBox or KVM or VMware Workstation or ... ? please shed some light into. Thanks

[morrnel]

Depending upon how you value your time, you may be better off purchasing a dedicated Windows laptop and a monitor.

I have not had good experience trying to virtualize a Windowxs platform. They seem to be better for virtualizing Linux.Microsoft typially is not interested in porting anything to Linux or Mac unless they see $$$. I am not ware of anything other than Office ported to Mac.

Nothing will change at NT, again because of $$$. When it comes to portability, Python and JavaScript seem to dominate multi-platform. I tend toward Python because so much AI and Machine Learning is developed with Python. Several good books highlight Python in trading/investing also.