Launching MetaTrader VPS: A step-by-step guide for first-time users

MetaTrader 5 — Trading systems | 17 October 2023, 14:28

61 406

Everyone who uses trading robots or signal subscriptions sooner or later recognizes the need to rent a reliable 24/7 hosting server for their trading platform. We recommend using MetaTrader VPS for several reasons. You can conveniently pay and manage the subscription through your MQL5.community account. If you haven't registered on MQL5.com yet, take a moment to sign up and specify your account in the platform settings.

Launching MetaTrader VPS: A step-by-step guide for first-time users

1. Getting started

Connect to the trading account for which you want to run a VPS, and you are ready to migrate your platform to the cloud. The most straightforward way is to click on the "Open MQL5 Virtual Hosting" icon in the platform's top menu:

Open MQL5 Virtual Hosting

You can also select the virtual server option in the Navigator or in the trading account's context menu. A window will open showing the closest server and an estimated reduction in the delay compared to your current connection. Lower network latency provides better trading execution conditions, such as minimized slippage and reduced probability of a requote.

2. Service plans

Before choosing a payment plan, check if your broker offers MetaTrader 5 virtual hosting for free. Brokers participating in our recently launched Sponsored VPS program can provide virtual hosting to their clients as a bonus, subject to certain conditions.

Choose a VPS subscription plan

Choose a VPS subscription plan: the longer the rental period, the lower the monthly cost. The plan can be changed when the rental period expires, that is, after a month. An auto-renewal option is provided for those who prefer a hands-off approach to monitoring the service status. This option can be enabled or disabled at any time. Furthermore, before any payments, the system will check the hosting status. If it is inactive, the subscription will not be renewed, safeguarding you from unnecessary expenses on unused servers.

Please note that if the subscription is interrupted, all hosting data will be lost. The server can be rented again, but you will have to re-configure the entire environment. The auto-renewal option can assist in avoiding such a situation.

3. Payment

All your payments are registered on MQL5.com, ensuring a unified and transparent hosting rental history. This eliminates the need to search for payments across different payment systems if such information is ever needed. Pay using your preferred method and access all transaction details in your profile. The hosting is ready for use immediately after payment, and thus you can proceed to migrate your local platform environment to the virtual server.

4. Preparation

Migration means transferring the current active environment from the trading platform to the virtual one. Your pre-configured set of charts, Expert Advisors, indicators, and copied signals can be seamlessly transferred to the VPS with a single command. A copy of your platform with the relevant settings and programs will run on the virtual server. Therefore, you need to prepare your local platform before migrating.

In the Market Watch window, set up the list of symbols required for your Expert Advisors' operation. Remove unused symbols and charts to reduce resource consumption. Add the necessary indicators and Expert Advisors to the charts for autonomous operation. Most trading robots do not use on-chart indicators, so review all programs and leave only the required ones. If your Expert Advisor will send emails, submit data via FTP, or copy Signal trades, specify the relevant settings. To copy signals, please make sure to specify your MQL5.community account credentials in the Community tab.

5. Migration

The trading environment is migrated with each synchronization of the platform. Synchronization is always performed in one direction: the local platform environment is migrated to the virtual platform, never the reverse. The virtual platform status can be monitored using platform and Expert Advisor logs, as well as via virtual server monitoring data.

To start synchronization, go to the VPS section and select the migration type:

Full – if you want to simultaneously run Expert Advisor/indicators and copy signal subscriptions. In this mode, account connection data, all open charts, signal copying parameters, running Expert Advisors and indicators, FTP parameters, and email settings are copied to the virtual server.
Expert – run Expert Advisors and indicators.
Signal – copy a signal subscription.

The available history data for all open charts is automatically uploaded to the VPS during the first synchronization. Fetching history from the trading server may take some time, and all robots running on the charts should correctly process the updated data.

Automated trading is always enabled in the virtual platform even if it is disabled in local platform settings or in the running Expert Advisor's parameters.
Scripts are not transferred during migration even if they were running in an endless loop during synchronization.
Charts with non-standard or custom timeframes and symbols are not migrated.
Accounts with one-time password authentication cannot be used on the VPS. Autonomous platform operation is impossible if manual one-time password specification is required for each connection.

6. Operation

You can monitor the state of the rented server from the trading platform. The Tools \ VPS section provides the following options:

View the virtual server data
Synchronize the environment by performing the immediate migration
Request platform and Expert Advisor logs
Stop the server

$The Tools \ VPS section$

Watch our new video to learn how to analyze virtual hosting reports and how to control your subscriptions.

To monitor the operation of the virtual platform, use the VPS \ Log section.

$The VPS \ Log section$

For further details about how to monitor the VPS please read the Documentation.

Translated from Russian by MetaQuotes Ltd.
Original article: https://www.mql5.com/ru/articles/13586

Warning: All rights to these materials are reserved by MetaQuotes Ltd. Copying or reprinting of these materials in whole or in part is prohibited.

MetaQuotes

www.metaquotes.net

MetaQuotes Ltd is the software development company. One of our products is the MetaTrader 5 trading platform intended for trading in different financial markets.
Use the links below to download the latest builds:
• MetaTrader 5 Client Terminal - https://download.terminal.free/cdn/web/metaquotes.ltd/mt5/mt5setup.exe
• MetaTrader 5 iPhone - https://download.terminal.free/cdn/mobile/mt5/ios
• MetaTrader 5 Android - https://download.terminal.free/cdn/mobile/mt5/android

Other articles by this author

Last comments | Go to discussion (75)

Sergey Golubev | 23 Oct 2026 at 16:52

dougclose #:
Just signed up to try this VPS, and its not working. No idea where to contact support besides here. I'm getting great connection and data when my EA is running on my MT5 and laptop, but when I connect it to the VPS I get a massive, massive delay from the data to the VPS. my broker said they don't control data speeds to VPS, so its the VPS. anyone I can talk to for help?

Look at the previous post to know about how to migrate and which EA is to be the suitable for this MQL5 VPS.

dougclose | 26 Oct 2026 at 19:01

Sergey Golubev #:
Look at the previous post to know about how to migrate and which EA is to be the suitable for this MQL5 VPS.

I read all that information before I posted in here. Trades just won't connect to the VPS

Sergey Golubev | 27 Oct 2026 at 04:34

dougclose #:
I read all that information before I posted in here. Trades just won't connect to the VPS

Check Metatrader journal and MQL5 VPS logs about what was written there (yes, there are separated MQL5 VPS logs).
Because once you made a migration/synchronization so your home Metatrader has nothing to do with any trades, so check all the logs incl the time - because MQL5 VPS is the "Metatrader in cloud" - yes, it is your other Metatrader but in cloud, and this Metatrader has nothing to do with your home Metatrader and with the trading by EAs using your home Metatrader.

Besides, not all EAs are migrated to MQL5 VPS (according to the Rules) ... why? because dll is prohibited on this "Metatrader in cloud" so if you are trying to use EA to migrate to VPS so make sure that your EAs were adapted to be used there.

filipinunes20 | 2 Nov 2026 at 21:03

Automatic translation was applied by a moderator. Please post in the language of the forum section you selected.

Hello, I need urgent technical assistance with my paid MQL5 VPS service.

My VPS server is "VPS Germany 01".

My Expert Advisor migration failed, and the MT5 Journal displays the following:

VPS Germany 01 failed to send status command [1009]

I've contacted MQL5's support chatbot several times, but it keeps redirecting me to my broker, even though it's a VPS hosting issue.

Could a moderator forward this issue to the MetaQuotes VPS technical team?

I would also like to know if my VPS server can be restarted, repaired, or transferred to another hosting server.

Thanks.

Sergey Golubev | 3 Nov 2026 at 05:29

filipinunes20 #:
or transferred to another hosting server

The service desk only can do it so you need to contact with the service desk asking them for advice, for example: #1

Learn how to deal with date and time in MQL5

A new article about a new important topic which is dealing with date and time. As traders or programmers of trading tools, it is very crucial to understand how to deal with these two aspects date and time very well and effectively. So, I will share some important information about how we can deal with date and time to create effective trading tools smoothly and simply without any complicity as much as I can.

Mastering ONNX: The Game-Changer for MQL5 Traders

Dive into the world of ONNX, the powerful open-standard format for exchanging machine learning models. Discover how leveraging ONNX can revolutionize algorithmic trading in MQL5, allowing traders to seamlessly integrate cutting-edge AI models and elevate their strategies to new heights. Uncover the secrets to cross-platform compatibility and learn how to unlock the full potential of ONNX in your MQL5 trading endeavors. Elevate your trading game with this comprehensive guide to Mastering ONNX

Integrate Your Own LLM into EA (Part 1): Hardware and Environment Deployment

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence today, language models (LLMs) are an important part of artificial intelligence, so we should think about how to integrate powerful LLMs into our algorithmic trading. For most people, it is difficult to fine-tune these powerful models according to their needs, deploy them locally, and then apply them to algorithmic trading. This series of articles will take a step-by-step approach to achieve this goal.

StringFormat(). Review and ready-made examples

The article continues the review of the PrintFormat() function. We will briefly look at formatting strings using StringFormat() and their further use in the program. We will also write templates to display symbol data in the terminal journal. The article will be useful for both beginners and experienced developers.