XauBot/docs/MT5-ARCH-LINUX-SETUP.md

MT5 on Arch Linux (Wine + mt5linux bridge)

The MetaTrader5 Python package is Windows-only. On Arch Linux we run the MT5 terminal under Wine plus a Windows Python that exposes the MT5 API over an rpyc socket (mt5linux). The Linux-side bot connects to that socket.

Linux Python (bot)  --rpyc-->  Wine Python (mt5linux server)  -->  MT5 terminal  -->  broker
   mt5linux client                MetaTrader5 pkg                 terminal64.exe

One-time setup (already done on this machine)

• Wine: wine-11.10 (Staging) ✅
• Headless display: Xvfb (pkg xorg-server-xvfb) ✅
• MT5 terminal installed in Wine: ~/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/MetaTrader 5/terminal64.exe ✅
• Windows Python 3.9 in Wine: ~/.wine/drive_c/users/$USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python39/python.exe ✅
• Wine Python packages: MetaTrader5, mt5linux, rpyc ✅
• Linux Python packages: mt5linux, rpyc ✅

To reproduce the Wine Python install:

curl -sL -o /tmp/py39.exe https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.9.13/python-3.9.13-amd64.exe
DISPLAY=:1 WINEDEBUG=-all wine /tmp/py39.exe /quiet InstallAllUsers=0 PrependPath=1 Include_pip=1
WINPY="$HOME/.wine/drive_c/users/$USER/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python39/python.exe"
wine "$WINPY" -m pip install MetaTrader5 mt5linux

Configuration (.env)

MT5_LOGIN=...
MT5_PASSWORD=...
MT5_SERVER=...                 # exact broker server name (see terminal)
MT5_BRIDGE_HOST=127.0.0.1
MT5_BRIDGE_PORT=18812
MT5_WIN_PATH=C:\Program Files\MetaTrader 5\terminal64.exe

Run (robust, one command)

# Bring the whole bridge up (idempotent): Xvfb + rpyc server + verified login.
# The terminal is auto-launched headless and logged in from .env credentials.
scripts/mt5_bridge.sh up

# Other commands
scripts/mt5_bridge.sh status     # components + live login + trade_allowed
scripts/mt5_bridge.sh restart
scripts/mt5_bridge.sh down

up is safe to re-run: it only starts what is missing and health-checks the rpyc port (no blind sleeps). Credentials and port are read from .env (MT5_LOGIN/PASSWORD/SERVER, MT5_BRIDGE_PORT, MT5_WIN_PATH).

Auto-start on login (systemd --user)

scripts/mt5_bridge.sh install-service
systemctl --user enable --now mt5-bridge.service
journalctl --user -u mt5-bridge -f      # logs

After this the bridge comes up automatically; you never repeat the manual steps. Then just run the bot:

python main_live.py

First-time only

The account must be logged into the terminal once so the profile knows it. Normally up does this automatically via explicit login. If you ever get LOGIN_FAIL (-6), do a one-time GUI login:

scripts/mt5_bridge.sh login-gui      # File -> Login to Trade Account

The bot (src/mt5_connector.py) auto-detects the bridge: if the native MetaTrader5 import fails but mt5linux is present, it connects lazily to MT5_BRIDGE_HOST:MT5_BRIDGE_PORT on the first connect() call, trying initialize() attach-mode first then explicit login.

Zero-step auto-connect

You do not need to start anything by hand. When the bot calls connect() and the bridge port is closed, it auto-runs scripts/mt5_bridge.sh up (Xvfb + rpyc server + login) and waits for it to become ready. So on Linux:

python main_live.py        # bridge is started automatically if needed

Disable autostart (e.g. when using the systemd service) with:

export MT5_BRIDGE_AUTOSTART=0

Broker symbol note

XM Global names spot gold GOLD (not XAUUSD). .env sets SYMBOL=GOLD. The connector pre-selects whatever SYMBOL is configured.

Root cause of the -6 Authorization failed we hit

Per the official mt5linux docs, the intended flow is: (1) open MT5 and log in via the GUI → (2) start the server → (3) call initialize() with no credentials to attach to the running terminal.

Our first attempt launched the terminal with /portable and passed login/password/server to initialize(). A fresh portable profile has no saved account, so the broker rejected the fresh login attempt with (-6, 'Authorization failed'). Confirmed: no accounts.dat/servers.dat account was present in the Wine prefix.

Fixes applied:

• launcher no longer uses /portable (uses the persistent profile)
• added scripts/mt5_bridge.sh login_gui for the one-time GUI login
• the connector + test now try initialize() attach-mode first

So the credentials were almost certainly fine — the terminal simply had never logged into the account. Do the one-time login_gui step, then the bridge attaches cleanly.

QA status (verified)

• rpyc server starts and listens on 127.0.0.1:18812 ✅
• Linux client connects through to the broker ✅
• mt5.initialize(...) reaches the broker server ✅
• src/mt5_connector.py imports without blocking; backend detected as bridge ✅

NOTE: With the supplied XM credentials the broker returned (-6, 'Authorization failed'). The transport works end-to-end — this is a credential/server-name issue, not an infrastructure problem. Confirm in the MT5 terminal:

• exact server name (XM has several, e.g. XMGlobal-MT5, XMGlobal-MT5 2 … 10)
• login number and password (investor vs master password)
• account is active and AlgoTrading is enabled

Troubleshooting

• Authorization failed (-6) → wrong server name / login / password, or expired account. Log into the terminal GUI once to confirm the exact server.
• Client result expired / timeout → the Wine MT5 terminal hung; run scripts/mt5_bridge.sh restart.
• Port already in use → another server instance is running; mt5_bridge.sh stop.