Linux Install Guide

Software Version 7+ (V7)

- Introduction to V7
- What is new in V7?
- New Terminology
- Requirements
- Quick Start
- Express Installation - Recommended!
- Manual Installation - Optional (Advanced)
- Terminal installation for Debian / Mint / Ubuntu
- Terminal installation for RedHat / CentOS / Fedora
- File Locations
- Command Line Only Options
- Table of Options
- How to Uninstall V7
- Install Guide Updates
- I found a better way to install the V7 client, where can I make a suggestion?

Introduction to V7

The new Folding@home (FAH) software is configured, controlled, and monitored through a new graphical interface named FAHControl. This new application has incorporated many new features, including remote monitoring and configuration of all FAH installations on multiple computers. FAHControl is now the recommended interface for all FAH types (CPU and SMP in Linux), replacing the Console versions of FAH.

What is new in V7?

We are pleased to say that everything is new in this version, using completely new software coding from the ground up. Our goal is to include the best features from the previous clients, make improvements where possible, discard what was no longer needed, then add new features like the Express mode package installer, the new FAHViewer, and the new unified interface. V7 has all of these and more, making installation and configuration much simpler and faster for new users, while continuing to support advanced options.

Note: There are too many updated and new features to list in an Installation Guide, so this section only covers What's New when installing V7 software. Please review the V7 documentation.

New Terminology

The V7 software really changes the concept of how people interact with FAH. And with new concepts come new or updated terms to describe those concepts. Learning new references is part of the process for change and improvement.

FAHControl - This is the new unified graphical interface (front-end). FAHControl will configure and monitor one or more client (slots), on one or more computers. FAHControl interface (FCI) can also control when the FAHClient starts and stops.
FAHClient - This is the (back-end) client software managed by FAHControl and typically runs behind the scene. This is a truely unified client (slot) manager. FAHClient (FCL) starts one or multiple instances of a Fahcore and manages the work assignments for each of these client "slots."
FAHSlot - aka "slot" - Each FahCore and the data associated with it is called a slot. For example, one FAHSlot (FSL) can be associated with a GPU and another slot associated with the CPU. Each folding slot can download, process, and upload results independently. The FAHClient manages each slot, and the FAHControl monitors and displays their progress independently.
FAHViewer - This is the new and fully functional work unit viewer. FAHViewer (FVR) is modeled after the very popular PS3 viewer, and continues the many rendering options, ball and stick, space fill, zoom, rotation, etc., and adds snapshot capture and cycling to show folding in action.

Requirements

The new V7 software has the same basic hardware and operating system requirements as the previous clients. However, a few software specific requirements have changed to support newer features. Listed by slot type:

CPU Slot Requirements
- Recent 32 bit or 64 bit Linux distribution
- Intel PIII-450 processor or newer, or AMD equivalent (modern multi-core processors recommended)
  - A limited selection of Projects are available for 32-bit
  - A limited selection of Projects are available for single core processors
  - Projects for higher numbers of cores may require 64-bit and have shorter deadlines, generally requiring a client running at or close to 24/7
- Broadband internet connection or faster

Note: There are many linux distributions and flavors, each with its own list of software dependencies. The V7 client attempts to meet the most common list of dependencies in the latest linux versions. However, addition effort to meet a specific software dependency may be required for V7 to run.

GPU Slot Requirements
- GPU support is not currently offered
- An unsupported configuration using WINE may be possible

Quick Start

This section describes how to get started folding quickly with the new V7 software and a single client slot.

Download the package for your distro.
Click Install Package.
Enter password and click OK.
Click Forward, click close.
Done.

After the download, the new V7 software is installed as a service and folding in under 1 minute. Very quick and easy. For a more guided installation, please see the Express Install or Custom Setup sections.

Express Installation - Recommended!

This section describes the recommended method for installing the V7 FAH software for an individual client slot using a software package in Linux. A first time installation is assumed. And unless otherwised noted, the default setting for each option is the recommended setting.

Select the appropriate V7 package for your Linux distribution from the V7 download page (see figure 1). There are separate installation packages for the new FAHControl (client manager) interface software, the new FAHClient (slot manager) software, and the new FAHViewer (viewer) software. FAHClient is required, FAHControl is recommended, FAHViewer is optional.

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 1 --> Fedora / Red Hat

Click the link for a matching operating system to start the software installation.

Linux will ask how to handle the package file download (see figure 2).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 2 --> Fedora / Red Hat

When prompted, click OK to open the package installer.

Note: Some versions of Linux do not have a package installer program listed to open the file directly. The only option is to save the file, and then open the file with the software manager. The process is very similar and the rest of the setup is the same.

The Package Installer is displayed (see figure 3).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 3 --> Fedora / Red Hat

Click the Install Package or Apply button to continue the installation.

Enter an administrator password when prompted (see figure 4).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 4 --> Fedora / Red Hat

Click OK to continue.

The Package Installer prompts for initial setup information in Debian / Ubuntu installs only (see figure 5).

Note: Fedora / Red Hat .rpm packages do not support prompting for setup information. Instead, the client is set to pause on start so initial setup information may be entered through the FAHControl interface.

Figure 5

Additional configuration changes are optional and may be skipped. The client will run as user: Anonymous on team: 0 by default. Or a Donor Name, Team number, and/or Passkey number may be configured. Entering a passkey is recommended but not required. However, a passkey is required to participate in the Quick Return Bonus points system.

Note: Express Installation (ALL) automatically installs a single client slot to match the computer hardware detected. If multiple CPU cores are detected, an SMP slot is installed. If not, then a Uniprocessor slot is installed as the fall back option. A GPU slot option is not yet supported in the Linux client.

Click Forward to continue.

The Package Installer shows installation progress (see figure 6).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 6 --> Fedora / Red Hat

Finishing the install will take another minute or two.

Installation is complete (see figure 7).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 7 --> Fedora / Red Hat

Click the Close button. The V7 software is installed and running as a service.

Repeat steps 1 - 7 with the FAHControl package, and optionally, the FAHViewer package.

Settings may be updated and progress can be monitored in FAHControl (see figure 8).

Debian / Ubuntu <-- Figure 8 --> Fedora / Red Hat

The FAHControl application launches.

This is the FAHControl (client manager) interface . The client should display ONLINE and Running (see figure 9).

Figure 9

V7 is folding.

Please see the FAHControl (client), FAHClient (slot), and FAHViewer (viewer) documents for more information about setup and customization options.

Manual Installation - Optional (Advanced)

Here are the basic command-line instructions to install and run the V7 Folding@home software.

Open the Terminal / Console application. Depending on the Linux distribution (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.), OS version, and desktop engine (KDE, GNOME, Unity, etc.) the Terminal / Console application may be found in a variety of locations. It is typically located under Accessories, or System Tools.

Type each command exactly as it appears, or cut and paste directly from this guide.

Note: The installation commands shown include options to continue even when exact dependencies are not met. The V7 software is rather generic and works with most, if not all, version of the various libraries.

Terminal installation for Debian / Mint / Ubuntu

Download the installation package files; 64-bit versions shown. If using an i386/i686 32-bit OS version, download those files as appropriate from the client download - other platforms page.

https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahclient/debian-testing-64bit/v7.2/fahclient_7.2.9_amd64.deb

 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahclient/debian-testing-64bit/v7.2/fahclient_7.2.9_amd64.deb
 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahcontrol/debian-testing-64bit/v7.2/fahcontrol_7.2.9-1_all.deb
 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahviewer/debian-testing-64bit/v7.2/fahviewer_7.2.9_amd64.deb

Install the FAHClient.

 sudo dpkg -i --force-depends fahclient_7.2.9_amd64.deb

The package will prompt for initial setup information, user name, etc. Enter information or change as needed, and click OK.

Install the FAHControl.

 sudo dpkg -i --force-depends fahcontrol_7.2.9-1_all.deb

Optionally, install the FAHViewer.

 sudo dpkg -i --force-depends fahviewer_7.2.9_amd64.deb

Done. The FAHClient is installed and running as a service. Manage, monitor and update settings using the FAHControl.

Terminal installation for RedHat / CentOS / Fedora

Download the installation package files; 64-bit versions shown. If using an i386/i686 32-bit OS version, download those files as appropriate from the client download - other platforms page.

 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahclient/centos-5.3-64bit/v7.2/fahclient-7.2.9-1.x86_64.rpm
 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahcontrol/centos-5.3-64bit/v7.2/fahcontrol-7.2.9-1.noarch.rpm
 wget --no-check-certificate https://fah-web.stanford.edu/file-releases/beta/release/fahviewer/centos-5.3-64bit/v7.2/fahviewer-7.2.9-1.x86_64.rpm

Install the FAHClient.

 rpm -i --nodeps fahclient-7.2.9-1.x86_64.rpm

Install the FAHControl.

 rpm -i --nodeps fahcontrol-7.2.9-1.noarch.rpm

Optionally, install the FAHViewer.

 rpm -i --nodeps fahviewer-7.2.9-1.x86_64.rpm

Done. The FAHClient is installed and is ready to run as a service. Open FAHControl, enter user information, then unpause the client. Manage, monitor and update settings as needed.

File Locations

The cores, logs, and work folder, plus current log file, are located here:

 /var/lib/fahclient

The config.xml file is located here:

 /etc/fahclient

The FAHClient is started and stopped via the service script in /etc/init.d/FAHClient.

 sudo /etc/init.d/FAHClient start
 sudo /etc/init.d/FAHClient stop

Command Line Only Options

There are three options for running the FAHClient in Linux:

Run as a system service. This is the recommended and default option. The FAHClient service is installed automatically via the installer package, and will start at boot. Then control and configure the FAHClient with FAHControl. Note that FAHControl will not start or stop the FAHClient process. This setup uses /etc/fahclient/config.xml and runs in /var/lib/fahclient/. Do not run FAHClient directly when the service is running.
Run from FAHControl. Disable the service using the appropriate commands or through the administration interface. This enables running the FAHClient via FAHControl. This is similar to how FAHControl runs FAHClient in Windows. You must enable autostarting of the local FAHClient in FAHControl. In this case the FAHClient will run in ~/.FAHClient/ and use a client.xml from that location.
Run from command line. Alternately, with the service disabled, it is possible to run the FAHClient manually from the command line in a directory of your choice. FAHClient will run in the current directory and use a config.xml from the same directory.

1. and 3. can be headless if choosing not to use FAHControl. The FAHClient can be configured for remote access by editing /etc/fahclient/config.xml. The FAHClient is started and stopped via the service script in /etc/init.d/FAHClient.

 sudo /etc/init.d/FAHClient start
 sudo /etc/init.d/FAHClient stop

Services are started and stopped by root but the client will automatically drop root privileges when run this way. It runs in the restricted fahclient account for added security. Starting and stopping the service is however, not at all necessary if when using FAHControl. Instead pause/unpause the FAHClient. When paused the FAHClient should idle in the background using negligible resources.

The plain command line only FAHClient tarball is available for download here.

Note: There is no install guide or support in the forum for this type of expert only installation. The only support for command-line only installs is this:

 Documentation:
 ./FAHClient --help

 Configuration using config.xml:
 ./FAHClient --configure

 Configuration with no config file (minimum flags):

./FAHClient --user=Anonymous --team=0 --passkey=1385yourpasskeyhere5924 --gpu=false --smp=true

Table of Options

This Client Differences v6 to V7 table lists some of the more common V7 options. Some options are operating system specific.

How to Uninstall V7

This section describes how to uninstall V7 FAH application.

Please let the current Work Unit finish and upload (using "Finish"). Exit the FAHControl application.

Open a terminal window. Enter the command appropriate for your version of Linux:

Ubuntu:

   sudo dpkg -P fahclient

Fedora:

   su -c 'yum remove fahclient'

Press Enter.

Enter password when prompted.