NinjaTrader for Linux

[Peque]

I was wondering if there were any plans to support Linux now that Microsoft has open-sourced .NET.

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello,

Thank you for the question.

I don't believe there is any plans specifically for linux regarding NinjaTrader, so long as .net is ported to linux, any .net application would be able to run on linux once that happens.

I am unsure how long this will take, I am sure there will be many bugs/changes in .net that need to be overcome before linux would be fully working with .net.

Please let me know if I may be of additional assistance.

[Peque]

Hello,

Thank you for the question.

I don't believe there is any plans specifically for linux regarding NinjaTrader, so long as .net is ported to linux, any .net application would be able to run on linux once that happens.

I am unsure how long this will take, I am sure there will be many bugs/changes in .net that need to be overcome before linux would be fully working with .net.

Please let me know if I may be of additional assistance.

Hi,

Thanks for the answer as well.

While you talk about "believe" and "unsure", I was looking for a more precise answer from you.

• Has the development team looked at the current state of .NET on Linux by themselves?
  • What is currently preventing NinjaTrader from running on Linux?
  • Could those missing .NET feautres or bugs be listed in this thread?
  • Would NinjaTrader be interested in helping fixing those bugs or adding those missing features?
• Are there any plans for that in the near future? (i.e. months)
• Is NinjaTrader definitely not interested in supporting Linux ever?

It seems to my like this could be a good moment to make that move and support other OSs (and I'm talking about MacOS as well, as it is supposed to be supported as well by .NET).

Thanks for your attention,

Peque

[NinjaTrader_Jesse]

Hello,

Thank you for the reply.

Unfortunately our support can not relay items from development like this as this type of information on research is not available to the public. The development team will research items for the platform and execute those plans on their terms.

If something is being done about this, NinjaTrader would post it publicly as a new feature for the platform or alternate install option or as a future improvement in any supporting documentation they may release when they are ready.

At this time there have been no set plans relayed through support or made public to provide more information on this.

If development is interested in going forward with anything Linux or Mac OS related, they will research it but still only the developers will know this kind of internal information on research and development until they let everyone know publicly.

If you have information to provide on this subject that you would like to have the developers read you can send those comments to platform support @ ninjatrader.com as a feature request and we will be happy to submit it to them.

Please let me know if I may be of additional assistance.

[.kypa]

Hello

Actually Wine is mature enough already to run NinjaTrader. The current problems are with data provider connections.

Ninja can be installed in 32 bit prefix with .net 35 sp 1 and some other stuff - commands I used are this:

sh winetricks -q dotnet35sp1

sh winetricks -q gdiplus mdac27 mdac28 msftedit msxml4 msxml6 riched20 riched30 vb6run vcrun2003 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012

Some of these might not be really needed.

Cabextract should be installed and msxml3, mdac27 and dotnet30 have to be downloaded in advance.

After that Ninja can be installed and connect to Kinetick end-of-day data. If you have 64-bit Linux you might need to install two 32-bit packages - libxslt.i686 and isdn4k-utils.i686 in Fedora.

If you are new to Wine - the simplest way to create a 32 bit Wine prefix in 64 bit Linux is through deleting .wine folder in your home folder and running command:

WINEARCH=win32 winecfg

this will delete the default prefix and all programs installed in it though. The folder gets created the first time you run Wine - if it's a fresh install just run the command.

[.kypa]

I personally use only free demo from NinjaTrader with demo account from FXCM for now.
I know FXCM have a native Linux API (ForexConnect), a Windows version of which is included in NinjaTrader.
Is it possible to connect the Linux version API to Ninja? Or is there anything we can do to help the Windows version to connect to a server?


p.s. I have some issues with cpu recognition from Linux and I actually get an error from Ninja in the log:

Failed to retrieve processor information to build machine ID: 'ProcessorNameString' not found

Could this be a problem about connections with data providers?

[.kypa]

It would be also nice if a fellow trader with full license shares experience (about Ninja on Linux) - I've seen people talking about problems that happen only on demo accounts.

[.kypa]

CQG demo also connects fine.
Should we discuss the FXCM connection here, or it is more appropriate to ask on the FXCM forums as it is about their part of the platform?
I know it is not official OS support, but if it's half working why not make it full?

[sledge]

CQG demo also connects fine.
Should we discuss the FXCM connection here, or it is more appropriate to ask on the FXCM forums as it is about their part of the platform?
I know it is not official OS support, but if it's half working why not make it full?

They are working on nt8 release.

A sales volume of say 100 Linux users probably isn't worth the effort to maintain in costs.

It's easier that you get a $500 windows laptop to trade with.

[.kypa]

They are working on nt8 release.

A sales volume of say 100 Linux users probably isn't worth the effort to maintain in costs.

It's easier that you get a $500 windows laptop to trade with.

There is nothing to maintain.
All the work is already done by the Wine guys, for no sales and no costs - the platform is running and internal connections are OK.
This is (most probably) about settings or a few lines of text the user needs to write, as the ForexConnect API is a standalone software included in NinjaTrader.

It is even easier to install a trial copy or an old out-of-sales 7 or even XP, but it's not about easyness - it's about freedom and choice.

[sanjuro]

There is nothing to maintain.
All the work is already done by the Wine guys, for no sales and no costs - the platform is running and internal connections are OK.
This is (most probably) about settings or a few lines of text the user needs to write, as the ForexConnect API is a standalone software included in NinjaTrader.

It is even easier to install a trial copy or an old out-of-sales 7 or even XP, but it's not about easyness - it's about freedom and choice.

I concur. There is a need to support freedom. I bought a NT license but I can't "own" what I bought, and I am unable to use it in the way that I want.

Wine is not a solution.

Furthermore, the security risks of non-free(dom) operation systems is questionable at best. There may be certain deals that software companies have with Redmond that don't allow them to support other operating systems.

I have benched NT until (if ever) it is supported natively on a proper operating system. A shame since NT is a nice platform. I think one decent programmer would have no problem maintaining it, and I'm sure the community would pitch in as well.

There may currently be only 100 clients currently wanting this support, but it doesn't mean that many others won't follow if given the option.

[yuriy.hozda]

Connection

I have NinjaTrader on Debian
All is ok(work) on Replay and Simulated
but
Not work connection to real account and TopStepTrader
Why?

[davidbrooke]

Hello

Actually Wine is mature enough already to run NinjaTrader. The current problems are with data provider connections.

Ninja can be installed in 32 bit prefix with .net 35 sp 1 and some other stuff - commands I used are this:

sh winetricks -q dotnet35sp1

sh winetricks -q gdiplus mdac27 mdac28 msftedit msxml4 msxml6 riched20 riched30 vb6run vcrun2003 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012

Some of these might not be really needed.

Cabextract should be installed and msxml3, mdac27 and dotnet30 have to be downloaded in advance.

After that Ninja can be installed and connect to Kinetick end-of-day data. If you have 64-bit Linux you might need to install two 32-bit packages - libxslt.i686 and isdn4k-utils.i686 in Fedora.

If you are new to Wine - the simplest way to create a 32 bit Wine prefix in 64 bit Linux is through deleting .wine folder in your home folder and running command:

WINEARCH=win32 winecfg

this will delete the default prefix and all programs installed in it though. The folder gets created the first time you run Wine - if it's a fresh install just run the command.

I would like to find out where you stand with using linux and NT7? Also your recommendations, gdiplus mdac27 mdac28 msftedit msxml4 msxml6 riched20 riched30 vb6run vcrun2003 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012, I would like to review the necessity of these.
Thanks

[davidbrooke]

I have NinjaTrader on Debian
All is ok(work) on Replay and Simulated
but
Not work connection to real account and TopStepTrader
Why?

Please post more detail on your setup.
Thanks

[.kypa]

I would like to find out where you stand with using linux and NT7? Also your recommendations, gdiplus mdac27 mdac28 msftedit msxml4 msxml6 riched20 riched30 vb6run vcrun2003 vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010 vcrun2012, I would like to review the necessity of these.
Thanks

Hello!!
I've done nothing new since last time - I found out my crappy cpu (Intel E2200) gives some error and linux driver doesn't fully load and cpu can't downclock and that keeps cooling fans quite busy in the Summer here.
I saw you saying Ninja gives you same row in log "failed to retrieve processor information.. " - what cpu is yours?

About "my recomendations" - I have no idea what any of those do - I saw some dude wrote some of these while trying to install Ninja, some other dude wrote others - monkey sees, monkey does..