diff --git a/ci/docker/ubuntu-gnu-cpp.dockerfile b/ci/docker/ubuntu-gnu-cpp.dockerfile
index e5bf682cf7..40e06e9d7c 100644
--- a/ci/docker/ubuntu-gnu-cpp.dockerfile
+++ b/ci/docker/ubuntu-gnu-cpp.dockerfile
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ RUN apt-get update -y -q && \
     apt-get clean && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
-RUN pip3 install schema
+RUN pip3 install schema deepdiff
 
 FROM base as build
 COPY . /vt
diff --git a/scripts/check_lb_data_files.sh b/scripts/check_lb_data_files.sh
index 3f04f385bf..3914a5b35b 100755
--- a/scripts/check_lb_data_files.sh
+++ b/scripts/check_lb_data_files.sh
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ function run_schema_validator() {
 }
 
 # Use vt to generate LB Datafile
-python3 "${path_to_vt_src_dir}/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py" \
-    -g -s "${path_to_vt_src_dir}" -b "${path_to_vt_build_dir}" -i "LBData_from_lb_iter.%p.json"
+if ! python3 "${path_to_vt_src_dir}/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py" -g \
+    -b "${path_to_vt_build_dir}" -f "LBData_from_lb_iter.%p.json"
+then
+    exit 2;
+fi
 
 find . -iname "*.json" | grep -v "compile_commands" | while read f
 do
@@ -32,6 +35,9 @@ do
     run_schema_validator "$f"
 done
 
-# # Use vt to generate LB Datafile
-# python3 "${path_to_vt_src_dir}/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py" \
-#     -v -s "${path_to_vt_src_dir}" -b "${path_to_vt_build_dir}" -i "${path_to_vt_build_dir}/LBData_from_lb_iter.json"
+# Use vt to generate LB Datafile
+if ! python3 "${path_to_vt_src_dir}/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py" -v \
+    -b "${path_to_vt_build_dir}" -f "LBData_from_lb_iter.0.json" -r "${path_to_vt_src_dir}/examples/LBDatafile_example.json"
+then
+    exit 3;
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py b/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py
index 7b0fa9b99a..086603daed 100644
--- a/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py
+++ b/scripts/generate_and_validate_lb_data_file.py
@@ -1,23 +1,43 @@
 import subprocess
 import argparse
+import json
+import sys
+from deepdiff import DeepDiff
 
-def generate(vt_build, out_path):
+def generate(vt_build, out_file_name):
     """
     Runs vt lb_iter example to generate LBDatafile
     """
     exe_path = vt_build + "/examples/collection/lb_iter"
     out_dir = "--vt_lb_data_dir=" + vt_build
-    out_file = "--vt_lb_data_file=" + out_path
-    
+    out_file = "--vt_lb_data_file=" + out_file_name
+
     args = (exe_path, "8", "1.0", "2", "--vt_lb", "--vt_lb_interval=1", "--vt_lb_name=RotateLB", "--vt_lb_data", "--vt_lb_data_compress=false", out_dir, out_file)
     runner = subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    runner.wait()
+    exit_code = runner.wait()
+    if exit_code != 0:
+        sys.exit(1)
 
-def validate(file_to_validate, reference_file):
+def validate(vt_build, file_to_validate, reference_file):
     """
     Compares file to validate wih reference
     """
-
+    print("Comparing '" + file_to_validate + "' with reference file '" + reference_file + "'.")
+
+    with open(vt_build + "/" + file_to_validate) as val_file, open(reference_file) as ref_file:
+        to_validate = json.load(val_file)
+        reference = json.load(ref_file)
+        diff = DeepDiff(to_validate, reference, report_repetition=True, math_epsilon=0.001)
+        is_valid = not len(diff.affected_paths)
+
+        if not is_valid:
+            sys.stderr.write("Detected differences:\n")
+            json.dump(str(diff), sys.stderr, indent=4)
+            sys.stderr.write("\n")
+            sys.stderr.flush()
+            sys.exit(1)
+        else:
+            print("Comparison OK.")
 
 def main():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
@@ -25,18 +45,16 @@ def main():
     group.add_argument("--generate", "-g", dest='generate', required=False, action='store_true')
     group.add_argument("--validate", "-v", dest='validate', required=False, action='store_true')
 
-    parser.add_argument("--vt-source-dir", "-s", dest='vt_source_dir', required=True)
     parser.add_argument("--vt-build-dir", "-b", dest='vt_build_dir', required=True)
-
-    parser.add_argument("--inout-file", "-i", dest='inout_file', required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--file-name", "-f", dest='file_name', required=True)
     parser.add_argument("--reference-file", "-r", dest='reference_file', required=False)
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     if args.generate:
-        generate(args.vt_build_dir, args.inout_file)
+        generate(args.vt_build_dir, args.file_name)
     if args.validate:
-        validate(args.inout_file, args.reference_file)
-    
+        validate(args.vt_build_dir, args.file_name, args.reference_file)
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     main()