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Use IronPDF with in-Engine Mode

Chaknith Bin

Updated:July 12, 2025

Difference between Native & Engine

IronPDF has some performance-intensive functions that you may choose to run remotely. While IronPDF does not require IronPdfEngine to run, setting up IronPdfEngine as a remote service is an optional way to avoid platform-specific Chrome compatibility issues on older operating systems and mobile environments.

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How using Engine changes the way you code with IronPDF

When using the Engine configuration, we recommend installing IronPdf.Slim instead of the full IronPdf package from NuGet, as the Engine manages all the extra bulk included in the Native package.

Install-Package IronPdf.Slim

After installing IronPdf.Slim, configure the connection settings by pointing IronPDF to your IronPdfEngine instance. Add the following code at the startup of your application (or before calling any IronPDF method):

Extra Line of Configuration Code to add to your C# code

Assuming that IronPdfEngine runs remotely at 123.456.7.8:33350:

// Establish a connection with the remote IronPdfEngine
// Remember to replace the IP address and port with your actual server details
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(
    IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350")
);

// Additional code for your application

// Establish a connection with the remote IronPdfEngine
// Remember to replace the IP address and port with your actual server details
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(
    IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350")
);

// Additional code for your application

' Establish a connection with the remote IronPdfEngine
' Remember to replace the IP address and port with your actual server details
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350"))

' Additional code for your application

How does IronPdfEngine Work?

IronPdfEngine is a containerized server designed to manage various IronPDF operations, including creating, writing, editing, and reading PDFs, all using the gRPC protocol. Built as a self-contained C# .NET application, IronPdfEngine operates independently, eliminating the need for the .NET runtime during execution. We handle the gRPC connection for you so you can focus on the coding!

Other clarifications for IronPdfEngine

IronPdf .NET does not require IronPdfEngine to run. IronPdfEngine is just an optional way to use IronPdf. By default, IronPdf for .NET will not use IronPdfEngine.

IronPdf .NET with Remote IronPdfEngine

The IronPdf.slim NuGet package is the only package needed to use IronPdf for .NET with Remote IronPdfEngine.

Assuming that IronPdfEngine runs remotely at 123.456.7.8:33350.

Install IronPdf using NuGet:

Install-Package IronPdf.Slim

After installing IronPdf.slim, you just need to tell IronPdf where IronPdfEngine is (please make sure that address is accessible, not blocked by firewall). Use the IronPdfConnectionConfiguration class to configure the connection settings. Add the below code to the initial stage of your application (or just before calling any IronPdf method).

// Connect to the remote IronPdfEngine
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(
    IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350")
);

// Connect to the remote IronPdfEngine
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(
    IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350")
);

' Connect to the remote IronPdfEngine
Installation.ConnectToIronPdfHost(IronPdf.GrpcLayer.IronPdfConnectionConfiguration.RemoteServer("123.456.7.8:33350"))

Simple as that! After this, your application will be connected to the Remote IronPdfEngine!

IronPdfEngine Limitations

• Currently, IronPdfEngine does not support horizontal scaling yet (load balancing with multiple instances) because we store the processing PDF file binaries inside the server memory and use PdfDocumentId for communicating between server and client. This also minimizes bandwidth usage and increases the processing speed.
• To run IronPdfEngine Docker remotely, you need to ensure that the IronPdfEngine port is reachable.
• IronPdfEngine Docker running on Linux x64 (Debian) using official ubuntu:22.04 based images may produce PDF output that is slightly different from what you would get running IronPdf locally due to different OS behavior.
• Since IronPdfEngine Docker is Linux-based, it requires Linux Containers daemon (select Switch to Linux Containers if you are using Windows).
• IronPdfEngine binaries are not cross-platform, so we build them for each platform specifically.
• Cross-version support is not available.

Chaknith Bin

  Chat with engineering team now

Software Engineer

Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.

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