Docker Setup¶

Configuration¶

Copy the example environment file:

cp docker/.env.example docker/.env

Edit docker/.env:

# Absolute path to your TwinCAT solution or project file
PLC_PROJECT_PATH=/path/to/MyProject.sln

# URL of the Windows bridge service
# If bridge is on a separate machine, use its IP
BRIDGE_URL=http://host.docker.internal:8765

# XAE connection mode
XAE_MODE=attach   # attach to running XAE, or 'headless' for CI

# AMS Net ID of the target PLC (needed for deploy/test)
TARGET_AMS_ID=192.168.1.100.1.1

Starting the server¶

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up

Read-only mode (no bridge)¶

If the Windows bridge is not running, TcKit works in read-only mode:

xml_reader — reads .TcPOU and .TcGVL files
sphinx_generator — generates docs
beckhoff_infosys — searches Beckhoff documentation

Write, build, deploy, and test operations will return an error until the bridge is reachable.

Running tests in Docker¶

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml run tckit pytest tests/unit/ -v