User Guide

Command-Line Options

Starting the command-line docker program robot:


            bash
            
            
./robot -s node.fmz.com/123456            # prompts for the password (not echoed)
./robot node.fmz.com/123456               # short form: robot address [password]
./robot -c robot.conf                     # read options from a configuration file
./robot -v                                # show the version

Options

Option	Description
`-s address`	Address for talking to the platform, like `node.fmz.com/123456` (`123456` is the account UID); a `ws://` or `wss://` prefix is allowed. Shown on the docker deployment page.
`-p password`	Account password. Not recommended: a plain-text password stays in the shell history and the process list. Without it the password is prompted for, or read from the configuration file.
`-n name`	Docker name, shown on the platform's docker page.
`-w dir`	Working directory. `logs` (robot data, docker log, identity file) lives under it.
`-c file`	Configuration file; format below.
`-u user`	Linux/macOS only: run strategy processes as this system user; the docker itself must run as root. Ignored with `-i`.
`-I IP`	Local outbound IP: the connection to the platform and the strategies' connections to exchanges are bound to this address; see below.
`-i image`	Linux/macOS only: run each strategy process in its own container created from this Docker image; Docker must be installed and running.
`-e path`	With `-i`: path of the executable inside the container.
`-f JSON`	With `-i`: Docker container settings, as inline JSON or `@path` to read them from a file.
`-H address`	With `-i`: address the container uses to connect back to the host.
`-vv`	Verbose log (including the messages exchanged with the platform); off by default to keep logs small.
`-d DNS`	The old custom DNS option; still accepted but ignored, as the docker always uses the system resolver.
`-v`, `-V`, `--version`	Print version and build information and exit.
`-h`, `--help`	Print usage.
`--ctl-stdin`	Read control commands from standard input (the first line is the password when `-p` is not given); `stop` or end of input triggers a graceful shutdown. Meant for programs that wrap the docker as a service.

Options that take a value can also be written as -option=value, e.g. -n=server01. An invalid option prints the usage and exits.

Configuration file robot.conf
One key=value per line; the key is the option name without - (s p n w u I d i e f H vv), and lines starting with # are comments:


            ini
            
            
# robot.conf
s=node.fmz.com/123456
p=your-password
n=server01
vv=true

Give the file with -c; without -c and without an address, robot.conf in the startup directory is loaded automatically if present.
When an option is given both on the command line and in the file, the command line wins.
Keys are case-sensitive: I is the outbound IP and i the Docker image.
The configuration file path and -f @file are resolved relative to the startup directory (before -w changes directory).
The file holds your password, so make it readable only by you (chmod 600 robot.conf).

Pinning the outbound IP (-I)
When the server has several IP addresses and the exchange API key is whitelisted for one of them, pin the outbound IP with -I, e.g. ./robot -s node.fmz.com/123456 -I 192.168.1.100. The connection to the platform and the strategies' connections to exchanges then leave from that address. With -i container isolation the container's network may not have that address; in that case let the container use the host network.

The Windows GUI version has no IP setting; use the command-line version when you need to pin the outbound IP. The GUI version accepts only -s, -p and -n, which prefill the window; when both -s and -p are given it starts automatically.