Error when running IBC on Oracle Linux 9

[TBibby68]

I have followed the user setup guide to running IBC on a Linux VM, up to the point about installing xterm, as whenever I try to do this my VM seems to freeze, so I have removed all reference to xterm from the script files(I am aiming to run headlessly so I don't think this should cause any issues?).

Whenever I try to run either the starttws.sh or startgateway.sh scripts, I get the same error that first runs TWS, and then exits with code 83.

I have made sure that my file structure is correct, ~/ibc containing the config.ini file, and /opt/ibc containing IBC itself, and ~/Jts containing ib gateway. I have edited the ibgateway and twsstart files to reference the correct ib version, 1037, but none of these seem to have any effect on this error. The following is the output from running the command ./ibgateway.sh (the log file). A point that I feel might be important to mention is the fact that it seems to be using Java 17, but I don't know if this will effect it.

2025-09-29 20:45:01:272 IBC: using default settings provider: ini file is /home/opc/ibc/config.ini
2025-09-29 20:45:01:272 IBC: using default login manager: will get username and password from settings; FIX username an>2025-09-29 20:45:01:272 IBC: using default main window manager
2025-09-29 20:45:01:272 IBC: using default trading mode manager: constructor parameter args but trading mode not presen>2025-09-29 20:45:01:273 IBC: using default config dialog manager
2025-09-29 20:45:01:286 IBC: CommandServer is not started because the port is not configured                            2025-09-29 20:45:02:190 IBC: TWS Settings directory is: /home/opc/Jts
2025-09-29 20:45:02:190 IBC: Starting session: will exit if login dialog is not displayed within 60 seconds
2025-09-29 20:45:02:258 IBC: Ensuring /home/opc/Jts/jts.ini contains required minimal lines
2025-09-29 20:45:02:258 IBC: Found setting: [Logon]/s3store=true
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Found setting: [Logon]/Locale=en
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Found setting: [Logon]/displayedproxymsg=1
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Found setting: [Logon]/UseSSL=true
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Found setting: [IBGateway]/ApiOnly=true
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Found setting: [IBGateway]/TrustedIPs=127.0.0.1
2025-09-29 20:45:02:259 IBC: Confirmed /home/opc/Jts/jts.ini contains required minimal lines
2025-09-29 20:45:02:260 IBC: Starting Gateway
2025-09-29 20:45:05:758 IBC: Exiting with exit code=1107
IBC returned exit status 83
Finding autorestart file
autorestart file not found: full authentication will be required

Gateway finished 

I set my config.ini file as exactly the same as when I set this up on my windows machine, which worked perfectly, but this doesn't for some reason. Any help would be greatly appreciated on this thanks!

[rlktradewright]

Java 17 is not a problem, and is expected when running on Intel or AMD hardware. (ARM uses Java 21)

Exit code 83 is a result of IBC trying to call the Gateway entry point, but not being able to locate it, or because some error occurred in the entrypoint . This could be for various reasons:

• you haven't actually installed 1037
• you've installed the self-updating TWS rather than the standalone version
• the changes you made to to remove the xterm dependency were incorrect and somehow messed things up
• the most likely reason is that there is no frame buffer for Gateway to write its X11 output to: Gateway and TWS are GUI programs, so you can't just run them on a headless machine without providing some infrrastructure. Most people doing this use xvfb, which is a virtual frame buffer that handles the X11 output but without writing anything to a screen (though you can access the output using VNC)

Is that all the log information you have? There should be a lot more: I always suggest (strongly!) that users provide the whole logfile when reporting problems, because it contains masses of useful information that often instantly identifies the problem. Just attach the whole file, rather than quoting it.

[TBibby68]

ibc-3.23.0_GATEWAY-1037_Monday (1).txt

This is my full log file. I tried to run it with xterm installed but it had the same error before, and it crashed my VM so I rebooted and started a fresh, and since xterm has not even installed. Thanks for the quick response.

[rlktradewright]

Thanks for the file.

It looks like everything is configured properly, so almost certainly it's the headless aspect that's the cause of the problem.

You may find this helpful:

https://quant.engineering/setting-up-an-ubuntu-2404-ec2-instance-for-algorithmic-trading-with-interactive-brokers.html#:~:text=Inspired%20by%20Dimon%27s%20How%20to%20setup%20IBC%20%283.8.1%29,set%20the%20password%20and%20give%20him%20sudo%20privileges.

It relates to Ubuntu, but it should be straightforward to apply it to Oracle Linux.

Note that it suggests using zsh rather than bash: I installed zsh on my Ubuntu VM and it ran the IBC scripts without any problem (though I'm not sure why this would be any better than using bash).

I used the -inline parameter to gatewaystart.sh to avoid the need for xterm: output is then to the current shell where you invoked. Thus:

zsh /opt/ibc/scripts/gatewaystart.sh -inline &

Good luck!

[TBibby68]

I have followed this guide by installing and setting zsh and running a VNC, but both of these did nothing to help with the error unfortunately. The inline parameter doesn't make a difference either - I just get the following:

[3]  + suspended (tty input)  /opt/ibc/gatewaystart.sh -inline &

and the same error log file as before. Thanks for your help though.

[TBibby68]

Update - I tried this on a windows VM and it worked fine. It is running while showing the UI though which I guess isn't optimal

[rlktradewright]

The crucial thing in that guide is installing xvfb. I presume you did that? And did you set the DISPLAY variable before running gatewaystart.sh?

It doesn't surprise me that it works on Windows.But I don't know what you mean by showing the UI not being optimal? What do you think you will gain by not showing it? It won't make any noticeable difference to performance, especially with Gateway, which has a minimal UI that mostly does nothing.

Personally I wouild never run TWS or Gateway in any mode that doesn't give me instant access to the UI. Things can and do go wrong, and being able to sort it out manually is crucial (rarely necessary, but handy when you need it).