[SOLVED] BOINC installation help please

[nomis]

I'm new to Mageia and do like it, but I do use BOINC on Windows PC's but can't seem to find how to install it on Mageia.

Can someone give me step by step instructions for a newbie on how to do this, then I can bin Windows for good.

Thanks

[isadora]

Goodevening and very welcome to the Mageia-forum!!!

For Mageia a boinc-client is not available yet in the "official" repositories.
However there is a test-version (be warned: TEST-version!!!) to be found in the "core-updates-testing"-repository.

Software and repositories are managed through Tools->SystemTools->MageiaControlCentre->Software Management.
Be aware disabling the test-repository after installing boinc-client to avoid unwanted updates to your system.

[nomis]

Thanks isadora, maybe I'll wait for a non-test official version to come in the future. I'll be sticking with Mageia anyway as it runs so well on my old Acer Travelmate 240. Can't believe how easy it was to install, even the plug-in wi-fi PCMIA card was just inserted and working right away - I'll never be a Windows user again me thinks!!!!!

[djennings]

Welcome to Mageia. I hope you enjoy the experience.

BOINC is in the process of being added to Mageia 1. It is available in the Core>Update>Testing online repository which is disabled by default in a new installation. To enable the repository in your Mageia Control Centre>Software>ConfigureMediaSources.

Once the repository is enabled you need to install the boinc-client and boinc-manager packages using the software install GUI. Make sure the two drop down boxes in the top left are both set to 'ALL' or else you will not find boinc-client.

After installing the packages remember to disable the core>updates>testing repository again or else you will end up installing lots of experimental packages with your regular updates.

After installing the packages in MageiaControlCentre>System>Services press the button to Start the boinc-client service and check the box so it starts automatically on boot.

With the client running you should now be able to start the boinc manager GUI to manage boinc.
You will find the manager in your menu at
Menu>Tools>More>BOINCManager

Now here is the bad news
There is currently a problem with the boinc-manager GUI that prevents it finding the client. This is why the boinc package is in the updates>testing repository. It will not be fully released until the bug is fixed. A workaround has been published in this bug report at comment 19
https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1690

As a newbie you might have trouble implementing the workaround, but as it is New Years Eve I will try to walk you through it.

Open a terminal window and enter the commands. substituting your own user name for derek

Code: Select all

su
Password:   <give your root password>
cp /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg /home/derek
chown derek:derek /home/derek/gui_rpc_auth.cfg
exit

 boinc_gui &

The boinc manager gui should now open up and you can connect to a project.

Do not use the menu entry to start the boinc_manager GUI in the future. Instead open a terminal and enter

Code: Select all

boinc_gui &

Once the package has been fixed and officially released you will be able to start it from the Menu

Hope this is not too complicated.
Good luck.

[nomis]

djennings thank you for such a detailed response.

[djennings]

Actually in writing out those instructions I think I have found the packaging bug.

Instead of my previous workaround try this

Code: Select all

su
Password:   <give your root password>
chmod +r /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg


Now you can open the GUI from the menu and it works.

[djennings]

Sorry there was a typo in my last post. It should read
chmod +r /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg

[nomis]

Thanks djennings. I thought I'd give it a go, if the worse happens re-installing Mageia is quick and easy.

Anyway I've got BOINC on there and can start it - it won't connect to local host though.

The file gui_rpc_auth.cfg can't seem to be found.
I've used the code you provided in an open terminal and it can't find it (file or directory not found) and I've searched manually and still I can't find the file.

Any ideas??

[djennings]

Thanks djennings. I thought I'd give it a go, if the worse happens re-installing Mageia is quick and easy.

Anyway I've got BOINC on there and can start it - it won't connect to local host though.

The file gui_rpc_auth.cfg can't seem to be found.
I've used the code you provided in an open terminal and it can't find it (file or directory not found) and I've searched manually and still I can't find the file.

Any ideas??

Reinstalling is Windows thinking. In Linux we can always recover without a reinstall.
/var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg will be there. You can confirm by browsing to /var/lib/boinc using a file manager Click on the home folder on your desktop and a file manager will open, go up two levels to reach the document root '/' then down to /var/lib/boinc and you will see the boinc files.

It is possible the initial su command did not work. su stands for 'switch user' it will switch the active user to the root administrator if you give the correct root password you defined during install. You know if it works because the terminal prompt will change from a '$' to a '#' Only the root user has the authority to change system files which is what you need to do.

Next the command
chmod +r /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg changes the mode of the file /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg to enable anybody to read it (that is what the +r does)
Once the gui_rpc_auth.cfg file can be read by your normal user account then the boinc_manage GUI will work.

[nomis]

I think something may have gone wrong. I've checked the BOINC directory in /var/lib/boinc, even showing hidden files and it's empty.

[djennings]

Are you sure the boinc-client service is running? You can check from a terminal window with

Code: Select all

su
<Password>
service boinc-client status
BOINC client is stopped.

service boinc-client start
Starting BOINC client as a daemon:                                                    [  OK  ]


Once the boinc-client service is started it should create that file.

[nomis]

Well success!! Almost anyway and not sure how it worked.

Still no .cfg file in the BOINC dir, however I went into terminal window

su
password

Then I just typed

boinc

I recognised the initial data normally displayed in the message tab of BOINC, config, pref etc. It appears BOINC is running in this window. I then clicked on the menu with BOINC manager and I have the GUI running. Got SETI running already.

After running the first time the .cfg is in the home/user directory rather than the /var/lib/boinc one which is still empty.

Don't know whether this is right or not, and after each boot (tried a few times now) I do have to start BOINC in a terminal window first before clicking on the menu option but at least it works!!! or am I crazy??

Thanks for your help djennings, if you can think of how I could improve or correct this your continued help is welcome.

Thanks again.

[djennings]

Good news you have it working at least partially.

As you say you have the boinc client running in a terminal window which means it will need to be restarted every time you switch on your computer.
The best solution is for it to run as a service. Does it claim to run if you start it with a 'service boinc-client start' command?

If the client is running then this command will give an output similar to this :-

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# ps aux | grep boinc_client
boinc    31057  0.0  0.2  93564  9832 ?        SNs  16:34   0:00 /usr/bin/boinc_client --daemon --dir /var/lib/boinc
root     31088  0.0  0.0  16356   804 pts/2    S+   16:35   0:00 grep --color boinc_client

This tells me a process called /usr/bin/boinc_client is running as user boinc with process identifier 31057
(The line below can be ignored)

[nomis]

Using the command 'service boinc-client start' I get

project requires initialization no projects attached
start boinc-client as a daemon

If boinc manager is then started its like the first install asking to attach a project.

Is that useful at all? or is something wierd happening - still running ok though restarting it in a terminal prior to manager.

[djennings]

Yes that is what it is supposed to do. Attach your project and then you should be good to go.
Set boinc-client to start at boot with

Code: Select all

chkconfig boinc-client on

(or else use the services GUI in Mageia Control Centre)

BTW: If you are wondering what these commands I am telling you to type actually do just enter for example

Code: Select all

man chkconfig

in a terminal and you can read the manual.

[nomis]

That's great, all working, onto my next machine now - bye bye Windows.

Thanks for all your help couldn't have done it without your instruction.

[djennings]

Glad it worked out, and you have learned a bit about Linux in the process.

[morgano]

Welcome aboard

Also see https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1690

[nomis]

Thank you Morgan. I'll take a look at the link you have posted.