Optionally, [docker-compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) should be installed and available to follow the [docker quick start guide](#docker-quick-start).
The clock on the system running the bot must be accurate, synchronized to a NTP server frequently enough to avoid problems with communication to the exchanges.
Freqtrade provides an official Docker image on [Dockerhub](https://hub.docker.com/r/freqtradeorg/freqtrade/), as well as a [docker-compose file](https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade/blob/develop/docker-compose.yml) ready for usage.
!!! Note
The following section assumes that docker and docker-compose is installed and available to the logged in user.
!!! Note
All below comands use relative directories and will have to be executed from the directory containing the `docker-compose.yml` file.
If you're running freqtrade on a Raspberry PI, you must change the image from `freqtradeorg/freqtrade:master` to `freqtradeorg/freqtrade:master_pi` or `freqtradeorg/freqtrade:develop_pi`, otherwise the image will not work.
The above snippet creates a new directory called "ft_userdata", downloads the latest compose file and pulls the freqtrade image.
The last 2 steps in the snippet create the directory with user-data, as well as (interactively) the default configuration based on your selections.
!!! Note
You can edit the configuration at any time, which is available as `user_data/config.json` (within the directory `ft_userdata`) when using the above configuration.
You should now copy your strategy to `user_data/strategies/` - and add the Strategy class name to the `docker-compose.yml` file, replacing `SampleStrategy`. If you wish to run the bot with the SampleStrategy, just leave it as it is.
!!! Warning
The `SampleStrategy` is there for your reference and give you ideas for your own strategy.
Please always backtest the strategy and use dry-run for some time before risking real money!
Once this is done, you're ready to launch the bot in trading mode (Dry-run or Live-trading, depending on your answer to the corresponding question you made above).
Including `--rm` will clean up the container after completion, and is highly recommended for all modes except trading mode (running with `freqtrade trade` command).
Download backtesting data for 5 days for the pair ETH/BTC and 1h timeframe from Binance. The data will be stored in the directory `user_data/data/` on the host.
Head over to the [Backtesting Documentation](backtesting.md) to learn more.
#### Additional dependencies with docker-compose
If your strategy requires dependencies not included in the default image (like [technical](https://github.com/freqtrade/technical)) - it will be necessary to build the image on your host.
For this, please create a Dockerfile containing installation steps for the additional dependencies (have a look at [Dockerfile.technical](https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade/blob/develop/Dockerfile.technical) for an example).
You'll then also need to modify the `docker-compose.yml` file and uncomment the build step, as well as rename the image to avoid naming collisions.
``` yaml
image: freqtrade_custom
build:
context: .
dockerfile: "./Dockerfile.<yourextension>"
```
You can then run `docker-compose build` to build the docker image, and run it using the commands described above.
The below documentation is provided for completeness and assumes that you are somewhat familiar with running docker containers. If you're just starting out with docker, we recommend to follow the [Freqtrade with docker-compose](#freqtrade-with-docker-compose) instructions.
To add additional libraries to your docker image, best check out [Dockerfile.technical](https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade/blob/develop/Dockerfile.technical) which adds the [technical](https://github.com/freqtrade/technical) module to the image.
For security reasons, your configuration file will not be included in the image, you will need to bind mount it. It is also advised to bind mount an SQLite database file (see the "5. Run a restartable docker image" section) to keep it between updates.
#### Verify the Docker image
After the build process you can verify that the image was created with:
```bash
docker images
```
The output should contain the freqtrade image.
### Run the Docker image
You can run a one-off container that is immediately deleted upon exiting with the following command (`config.json` must be in the current working directory):
```bash
docker run --rm -v `pwd`/config.json:/freqtrade/config.json -it freqtrade
```
!!! Warning
In this example, the database will be created inside the docker instance and will be lost when you will refresh your image.
#### Adjust timezone
By default, the container will use UTC timezone.
Should you find this irritating please add the following to your docker commands:
##### Linux
``` bash
-v /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro
# Complete command:
docker run --rm -v /etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro -v `pwd`/config.json:/freqtrade/config.json -it freqtrade
```
##### MacOS
There is known issue in OSX Docker versions after 17.09.1, whereby `/etc/localtime` cannot be shared causing Docker to not start. A work-around for this is to start with the following cmd.
More information on this docker issue and work-around can be read [here](https://github.com/docker/for-mac/issues/2396).
### Run a restartable docker image
To run a restartable instance in the background (feel free to place your configuration and database files wherever it feels comfortable on your filesystem).
The following will assume that you place your configuration / database files to `~/.freqtrade`, which is a hidden directory in your home directory. Feel free to use a different directory and replace the directory in the upcomming commands.
You can define a [restart policy](https://docs.docker.com/config/containers/start-containers-automatically/) in docker. It can be useful in some cases to use the `--restart unless-stopped` flag (crash of freqtrade or reboot of your system).