Run Prosys OPC UA Simulation Server Headless and in Docker

Start the headless server

The quickest way is the launcher script in the package. It loads the image, makes the server available on port 53530 and runs the server in the foreground. Give it your license and, optionally, your Project. If you have a hostname bound license, make sure that the docker container hostname matches that of the license being used.

On Linux/Mac OS:

export SIMSERVER_LICENSE=/path/to/license.lic
export SIMSERVER_PROJECT=/path/to/myproject.uasim
export SIMSERVER_HOSTNAME=<"your-license-hostname"> # only for hostname-bound licenses
./bin/simulation-server-docker.sh

On Windows (PowerShell):

$env:SIMSERVER_LICENSE = "C:\path\to\license.lic"
$env:SIMSERVER_PROJECT = "C:\path\to\myproject.uasim"
$env:SIMSERVER_HOSTNAME = <"your-license-hostname"> # only for hostname-bound licenses
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File bin\simulation-server-docker.ps1

Without a Project the server starts with default settings. The launcher keeps the server certificate in the package's pki folder, and the fixed SIMSERVER_HOSTNAME lets it reuse the same certificate on every run.

When the server is up, the log prints a line that scripts can wait for:

SERVER READY endpoints=[opc.tcp://your-license-hostname:53530/OPCUA/SimulationServer]

Arguments after the script name go to the server. For example, if your Project uses a port other than 53530, add --port 53530.

Run it with docker run

The image also runs directly with docker run, in Compose or in Kubernetes. Load it once:

docker load -i docker-image/prosys-opc-ua-simulation-server-2026.2.0-38-image.tar

Then start it:

docker run --hostname "your-license-hostname" --rm -p 53530:53530 \
  -v "$PWD/license.lic:/license/license.lic:ro" \
  -v "$PWD/myproject.uasim:/project/myproject.uasim:ro" \
  prosys-opc-ua-simulation-server:2026.2.0-38 \
  --headless --license /license/license.lic --project /project/myproject.uasim

Each run starts fresh from the Project with a new server certificate, which suits repeatable test runs. To keep state, see Persisting state between runs below below.

The desktop installation takes the same options: start it with --headless to run it without the UI (on Windows add -console to see the output; on macOS start it with java, as shown in the user manual).

Connect with OPC UA Browser

Connect to opc.tcp://localhost:53530/OPCUA/SimulationServer and browse the address space. The security mode you pick decides whether the server has to trust your client first:

• Security mode None connects right away. Use it when you don't need security, for example on a local test machine.
• Sign or Sign & Encrypt needs the server to trust the client's certificate. The desktop asks you to accept the client; headless, start the server with --trust-all-certificates (-T) instead:

./bin/simulation-server-docker.sh -T

-T trusts any client certificate that passes validation, so expired or otherwise invalid certificates are still rejected.