PreForm Server in Docker

PreForm Server is published as a Linux container image, formlabs/preform-server, so it runs anywhere Docker or Podman runs, with no install step. The image serves the same PreForm API as PreForm and Headless PreForm Server, and a script attaches to it with the connect() method.

Pull the image#

Pull the latest release from Docker Hub:

docker pull formlabs/preform-server:release-latest

podman pull formlabs/preform-server:release-latest

The image has two kinds of tag:

Pin a full version tag for anything that has to give the same result next month, and use release-latest to try the newest build.

Run the container on a Mac#

To run or test the container on a Mac, we recommend OrbStack. It provides the docker command, so the commands on this page run unchanged.

The image is built for linux/amd64. On an Apple silicon Mac, OrbStack runs it with Rosetta, and the server starts more slowly than on a Linux host.

Run the container#

The container runs PreForm Server on a virtual display and passes it every argument after the image name. PreForm Server needs --port, so give it the port to listen on and publish that port to the host:

docker run --rm -it -p 127.0.0.1:44388:44388 formlabs/preform-server:release-latest --port 44388

podman run --rm -it -p 127.0.0.1:44388:44388 formlabs/preform-server:release-latest --port 44388

The server prints READY FOR INPUT once it accepts requests. The X server warnings from xkbcomp that come before it are harmless. The other options, such as --scene-cache-size, go after the image name too. For more information, see CLI & command-line options.

Connect from Python#

Pass the published port to connect():

from formlabs_sdk import FormlabsClient

with FormlabsClient() as client:
    # The port the container publishes. connect() leaves the container running.
    with client.preform.connect(port=44388) as preform:
        print(f"PreForm Server {preform.version} at {preform.base_url}")

For a container on another host, pass base_url="http://<host>:44388" instead of port. The server starts logged out. To print to the printers and Printer Groups on your account, pass your account to the client and connect with login=True. For more information, see Log PreForm in.

Give the server your files#

PreForm Server reads and writes files in the container's file system, not on your computer. A path you pass to import_models or save_form_file is a path inside the container. Mount a folder into the container and use paths under it:

docker run --rm -it -p 127.0.0.1:44388:44388 -v "$PWD:/work" formlabs/preform-server:release-latest --port 44388

A script then imports /work/part.stl for the file part.stl in the folder you ran the command from, and a .form file saved to /work/ appears in that folder. A path the container can't see fails with OPERATION_FAILED and the message Model file not found.

To pass host paths unchanged, mount a folder at the same path it has on the host, for example -v /srv/models:/srv/models:ro. A read-only mount (:ro) is enough for imports.

Set environment variables#

Pass environment variables to the server with -e. For example, to turn off telemetry:

docker run --rm -it -e DISABLE_PREFORMSERVER_TELEMETRY=1 -p 127.0.0.1:44388:44388 formlabs/preform-server:release-latest --port 44388

Keep the server running#

To run the server in the background and restart it after it exits, replace --rm -it with -d --restart unless-stopped, and read its output with docker logs. A restarted container has none of the old server's scenes or operation records.

What's next#

• Create your first script
• Headless PreForm Server
• CLI & command-line options