# Running a signal copier 24/7 on a VPS

Why a signal copier on a computer that sleeps misses signals, the ways to run the Relay2Trade app on a VPS around the clock, what happens when a VPS restarts, and how to manage it all from the Desk on your phone.

## Why a computer that sleeps misses signals

The Relay2Trade app reads your Telegram groups and places the orders in MetaTrader 5, and it trades only while it runs. Groups post at any hour: overnight, during your working day, at weekends on crypto. A laptop asleep with its lid closed, a PC switched off, a dropped home connection or a Windows update restart all mean nothing is read.

When the app comes back, Telegram hands over what was posted in the meantime:

- A message still younger than "Max signal age (min)" (5 minutes by default, from 1 to 60) is read and waits for your approval for 10 minutes, whatever the listener's mode, because the price may have moved.
- Older messages are not read and not traded, so an old call is never traded at today's price. The same holds for the group's follow-ups, such as "close it".

Trades already open keep their stop-loss and take-profit at your broker while the app is away. What the app does itself, such as moving the stop as take-profits fill and trailing a runner, waits until it runs again.

A VPS removes the gap: a computer in a data centre that stays on, with the app on it. Your own computer can then be off, asleep or in your bag. If your PC is on and awake whenever your groups post, you do not need one.

## The VPS ways Relay2Trade offers

All of them start in the Desk under "Where the app runs", and you can do every step from any device, a phone included.

| Way | What you do | Ready in | Who you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| "VPS: Quick install" | Press "Create it now" | Under a minute | Your Relay2Trade plan (included in the demo day) |
| "On a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account" | Approve at DigitalOcean, add a payment method there | About ten minutes | DigitalOcean, 6.00 USD a month |
| A Linux VPS you already have | Paste one command | About ten minutes | Your provider |
| A Windows VPS you set up yourself | Remote Desktop, install, a few settings | About forty minutes, once | Your provider, roughly €10–20 a month |

On the first three the app has no window: you manage it in the Desk, and "Remote control" stays on.

### VPS: Quick install

A VPS created for you, with the app already on it. Press "Create it now" and the Desk shows "Creating your VPS"; in under a minute it says "Your VPS is running the app. One thing is left: sign in to MetaTrader on it."

It is included in your demo day. With a plan it is an optional extra, paid through your Relay2Trade plan and renewed with it: 1.50 € per 7 days with the 7-day plan, 5.00 € a month with a monthly plan, 60.00 € a year with a yearly plan, VAT included. Choose it when the Desk asks "Where should the app run?" as you pick a plan, or add it later under Account → "Plan & billing" → "Add it to my plan".

### In your own DigitalOcean account

Press "Set it up", then "Continue to DigitalOcean", and approve the Relay2Trade application there; a new DigitalOcean account needs a payment method first. The Desk creates a small VPS (1 GB memory, 1 processor, 25 GB disk) in your own account and signs the app in, in about six minutes. DigitalOcean charges you 6.00 USD a month, until the VPS is destroyed: from the Desk with "Destroy this VPS", or at DigitalOcean.

### A VPS you already have

- **Linux:** in the Desk choose "Linux: get the command", confirm it is you, and paste the command in a terminal on the VPS, as root or with sudo. It installs everything, MetaTrader 5 included, and signs the app in, in about ten minutes. It needs Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora or Arch on a 64-bit Intel or AMD machine with at least 1 processor, 1 GB of memory and 10 GB of disk. See https://relay2trade.com/help/installing-on-linux.md.
- **Windows:** Windows Server 2019 or newer, or Windows 10 or 11, with a desktop, 2 cores and 4 GB of memory. Connect with Remote Desktop, open relay2trade.com/download inside it, run the setup and sign in. A few settings make it come back after a restart (below).

If you can, pick a location near your broker's servers: it shortens the time from signal to order. The "VPS" button inside MetaTrader is a different service: it hosts only MetaTrader's own robots, so Relay2Trade cannot run there.

## Moving the app to the VPS

1. Open "Where the app runs" in the Desk: on the Overview while no app runs yet, afterwards under Account → "Where the app runs" or Account → Security → "Computers running the app" → "Run it on a VPS".
2. Pick the way and follow its steps. Each step ticks off as it is done.
3. Open Connections and sign in MetaTrader 5 and Telegram once on the VPS, then check your listeners.

One account runs one app at a time: when the app signs in on the VPS, it is signed out on your PC. With "Sync settings & listeners" on in the app, your profiles, listeners and limits follow your account. Open positions stay at your broker. See https://relay2trade.com/help/computers-and-moving.md.

## After a VPS restarts

**"VPS: Quick install", a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account, or Linux set up with the command:** the app starts again by itself, and MetaTrader and Telegram reconnect by themselves. Give it a few minutes; the Desk's pill then says "Live". If the Desk says "Your VPS is stopped: nothing is traded until you start it again.", press "Start it".

**A Windows VPS you set up yourself:** the app starts when your Windows user signs in, and after a restart nobody is signed in, so the Desk says "Your app is offline". Set it up once:

1. Let Windows sign in by itself with Microsoft's Sysinternals Autologon, run inside the VPS.
2. In the app, keep "Launch at startup" and "Start minimized in tray" on (Settings → "Application").
3. Set Windows Update's active hours to the hours your groups post.
4. Leave Remote Desktop by closing its window with its X. "Sign out" in the Start menu stops everything.
5. Test it: restart the VPS, do not reconnect, and check the Desk on your phone five minutes later.

The full walkthrough is in https://relay2trade.com/help/vps-setup.md.

## Managing it from the Desk on your phone

Day to day you rarely open the VPS itself. The Desk at relay2trade.com/control works in any phone browser, and installed on the home screen it opens like an app: on Android, in the browser's menu choose "Install app" or "Add to Home screen"; on an iPhone or iPad, in Safari tap Share, then "Add to Home Screen". Proper Android and iOS apps with the Desk inside are coming soon.

From the phone you can:

- see at a glance whether the app runs: the pill reads "Live" or "App offline";
- approve or dismiss signals waiting for you under Signals → "Waiting for you" ("Trade it", "Dismiss");
- close trades on Positions, and "Pause" or "Resume" a profile;
- change settings, add listeners and start dry runs;
- manage the VPS under Account → Security → "Computers running the app": "Restart the app", "Sign it out", "Run it on the VPS", and for "VPS: Quick install" also "Stop it", "Start it" and "Remove it". Restarting, stopping, moving and removing ask you to confirm it is you.

To hear when something needs you:

- Account → "Notifications" → "Notifications on this device": trades opened and closed, MetaTrader or Telegram down, signals waiting for you.
- Settings → "Account settings" → "Tell me when the app goes quiet": a notice when the app stops answering for about 15 minutes, and an email if it is still off a day later.

See https://relay2trade.com/help/the-desk-and-phone-app.md.

## When your plan ends

A "VPS: Quick install" ends with your plan and is put away: nothing is traded from it, and its settings and sign-ins are kept for 12 months. Choose a plan with the VPS within that time and it comes back as it was ("Bring it back"). A VPS in your own DigitalOcean account, or any VPS you rent yourself, keeps running and costing until you delete it.

## If something goes wrong

- **"Your app is offline" after a restart (Windows VPS).** Nobody is signed in to Windows. Connect once with Remote Desktop, then set up the automatic sign-in.
- **It stopped a few hours after you disconnected (Windows VPS).** The server ends disconnected sessions after a time limit, or "Sign out" was used: see https://relay2trade.com/help/vps-setup.md.
- **The app is on the VPS and nothing trades.** Sign in MetaTrader 5 and Telegram in Connections, then check your listeners.
- **"Settings sync is off, so your settings are only on your computer and a VPS would start without them. …"** In the app on your computer, switch on "Sync settings & listeners" under Settings → "Application" → "Remote control & sync".
- **"Signed out: your app runs on another computer now."** Press "Run it on the VPS" in the list of computers.

## Related

- https://relay2trade.com/help/telegram-signal-copiers-compared.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/vps-setup.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/where-the-app-runs.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/computers-and-moving.md
- https://relay2trade.com/help/copy-telegram-signals-to-mt5.md
- https://relay2trade.com/guide/vps