The BOINC Howto Guide (Win,Linux,MAC)

[likewhoa]

.: Introduction :.
BOINC is a program that lets you donate your idle computer time to science projects like SETI@home, Climateprediction.net, Rosetta@home, World Community Grid, and many others.


.: Why use BOINC? :.

• Support for 'Account managers' - web sites that let you browse BOINC projects, attach/detach, change resource share and settings, all with point-and-click simplicity. Account managers are also great if you have several computers - you just have to make changes once.

• General preferences can be overridden by a local file; details are here .

• BOINC now alerts you whenever it needs you to create a network connection.

.: System Requirements :.

Your computer must satisfy the following requirements to run BOINC. BOINC-based projects may have additional requirements.

Windows Operating systems

• Windows 98 or later

Minimum hardware

• Pentium 233 MHz (Recommended: Pentium 500 MHz or greater)

• 64 MB RAM (Recommended: 128 MB RAM or greater)

• 20 MB disk space

Macintosh Operating systems

• Mac OS X 10.3 and later

Minimum hardware

• Macintosh computer with an Intel x86or PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor

• 128 MB RAM (Recommended: 256 MB RAM or greater)

• 200 MB disk space

Linux Operating systems

• Linux kernel 2.2.14 or higher

• glibc 2.3.2 or higher

• XFree86-3.3.6 or higher

• gtk+2.0 or higher

Minimum hardware

• Pentium 500 MHz or greater

• 64 MB RAM

• 50 MB disk space

Likewhoa's Recommendations

• Overclocked PC that roars and it's stable

.: Downloading Sources :.

Main page showing all available sources can be found here

Windows Download

• 5.8.16 Development Version (MAY BE UNSTABLE - USE ONLY FOR TESTING)
• 5.4.15 Recommended Version (standard GUI)

GNU Linux x86 Download

• 5.8.17 Development Version (MAY BE UNSTABLE - USE ONLY FOR TESTING)
• 5.4.11 Recommended Version (standard GUI)

If you are using a linux distribution i.e "Redhat,Fedora,SUSE,Debian,Ubuntu,Gentoo" which provides a package manager skip this download part.

MAC OS X Download

• 5.8.16 Development Version (MAY BE UNSTABLE - USE ONLY FOR TESTING)
• 5.8.16 Development Version "UNIX command line"
• 5.4.15 Recommended Version (standard GUI)

.: Installation :.

Windows

BOINC can be installed in any of several modes:

• Single-user installation

This is the recommended mode. BOINC will run while you (the installing user) are logged in. BOINC is listed in the Start menu of you,but not other users. The 'Show graphics' command in the BOINC managerworks only for you. The BOINC screensaver shows applicationgraphics only for you (other users can run the screensaver but will see textual information only).

• Shared installation

BOINC runs whenever any user is logged in. BOINC is listed in the Start menu of all users. While BOINC is running, it runs as a particular user (either the first user to log in, or the first to run BOINC). The 'Show graphics' command in the BOINC manager works only for this user. The BOINC screensaver shows application graphics only for this user (other users can run the screensaver but will see textual information only).

• Service installation

BOINC runs all the time (even when no one is logged in). BOINC is listed in the Start menu of the installing user, but not other users. The 'Show graphics' command in the BOINC manager will not work for any user. The BOINC screensaver will only show textual information.

Mac OS X

• If your browser has not already done so, expand the zip archive by double-clicking on it in the Finder.

• Double-click on BOINC.pkg to run the installer, then follow the prompts.

• Close the installer when it is finished. This will automatically launch the BOINC Manager.

• If you want BOINC to be your screen saver, open System Preferences from the Apple menu. Select Desktop & Screen Saver and select BOINCSaver.

Several tools for Macintosh system administrators are available to:

• automatically run BOINC as a daemon or system service at boot time

• improve security for stand-alone clients

• prevent BOINC Manager from launching automatically when selected users log in.

Linux
BOINC for Linux is distributed as a self-extracting archive. This type of installation requires that you be familiar with the UNIX command-line interface.

The download files have names like boinc_5.2.13_i686-pc-linux-gnu.sh. After downloading the file, type

sh boinc_<version>_i686-pc-linux-gnu.sh

where <version> is the boinc version which you downloaded.

This will create a directory BOINC/ with the following files:

boinc
The BOINC core client
boincmgr
The BOINC manager
run_client
A script that cd's into the BOINC directory and runs the core client.
run_manager
A script that cd's into the BOINC directory and runs the manager.

You may want to automatically start the core client at boot time, I will explain how to accomplish this with different Linux distributions later on.

Installation under GNU Gentoo Linux

Installing BOINC sources:

emerge boinc -av

BOINC configuration file is located in /etc/conf.d/boinc.

Important Variables to note:

ALLOW_REMOTE_RPC
set to yes if you wish to access boinc remotely. default is set to no

note that you'll need to edit /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg.
see Server Authorization Under Linux for more info.

NICELEVEL
19 is the default and it's value means to run BOINC at low priority. set to -19 for highest priority, beware this might slow other task down.

Starting the BOINC server:

/etc/init.d/boinc start

Attaching a Project to BOINC: (optional)

/etc/init.d/boinc attach

Starting the BOINC Graphical User Interface:

/usr/bin/boinc_gui &

Installation Under GNU Debian Linux

apt-get update
apt-get install boinc-client boinc-manager

Starting the BOINC server:

/etc/init.d/boinc-client start

Starting the BOINC Graphical User Interface:

/usr/bin/boinc_gui &

Server Authorization Under Linux

For security reasons boinc_cmd should not be authorized to connect to the daemon initially. boinc_client sets a random password (to protect the connection to the boinc_client daemon) and it's located in /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg. You'll probably want to edit this file so that it contains the password you want to use. remember to restart boinc after making changes to gui_rpc_auth.cfg.

Using BOINC without the Graphical User Interface

BOINC can be maintain through the command line, but this becomes a pain in the arse when managing more than 5 projects, but I will show you how anyways.
BOINC's command line tools are boinc_cmd & boinc_client. I will explain what each of these tools do.

• Using boinc_cmd

boinc_cmd is the tool to check detailed information on your projects, set varies boinc options like network,screensaver, & proxy settings or manage and set account managers.

Available boinc_cmd commands:

usage: boinc_cmd [--host hostname] [--passwd passwd] command

--get_state show entire state
--get_results show results
--get_file_transfers show file transfers
--get_project_status show status of all projects
--get_disk_usage
--result url result_name {suspend | resume | abort | graphics_window | graphics_fullscreen}
--project url {reset | detach | update | suspend | resume | nomorework | allowmorework}
--project_attach url auth
--file_transfer url filename {retry | abort}
--get_run_mode
--set_run_mode {always | auto | never}
--get_network_mode
--set_network_mode {always | auto | never}
--get_proxy_settings
--set_proxy_settings
--get_messages seqno show messages > seqno
--get_host_info
--acct_mgr_rpc url name password
--run_benchmarks
--get_screensaver_mode
--set_screensaver_mode on|off blank_time {desktop window_station}
--get_project_config url
--get_project_config_poll
--lookup_account url email passwd
--lookup_account_poll
--create_account url email passwd name
--create_account_poll
--quit

Examples:

• Output HOST info

boinc_cmd --host localhost --passwd <mypassword> --get_host_info

• Output screensaver mode

boinc_cmd --host localhost --passwd  <mypassword> --get_screensaver_mode

• Attach to Project

boinc_cmd --host localhost --passwd  <mypassword> --project_attach http://climateprediction.net <myprojectpassword>

• Detach from Project

boinc_cmd --host localhost --passwd  <mypassword> --project http://climateprediction.net detach

Available boinc_client commands:

Usage: boinc_client [options]
-help show options
-version show version info
-exit_when_idle Get/process/report work, then exit
-show_projects show attached projects
-return_results_immediately contact server when have results
-detach_project <URL> detach from a project
-reset_project <URL> reset (clear) a project
-attach_project <URL> <key> attach to a project
-update_prefs <URL> contact a project to update preferences
-run_cpu_benchmarks run the CPU benchmarks
-check_all_logins for idle detection, check remote logins
too -allow_remote_gui_rpc allow remote GUI RPC connections
-gui_rpc_port port for GUI RPCs
-redirectio redirect stdout and stderr to log files
-detach detach from console (Windows)
-dir <path> use given dir as BOINC home
-no_gui_rpc don't allow GUI RPC, don't make socket
-daemon run as daemon (Unix)

Examples:

• Start BOINC with remote rpc login enabled.

boinc_client -allow_remote_gui_rpc &

Those are just a few examples to give you an idea of how to use the boinc_cmd & boinc_client tools. hope this helps.

Set BOINC to start automatically on reboot

Under Gentoo:

rc-update add boinc default

Under Redhat/Fedora:

Download this script and put it in /etc/rc.d/init.d/boinc (make sure it is executable) and then issued the commands:

service boinc start
chkconfig --add boinc

Under SUSE 9.{2,3}:

Download this script and put it in /etc/init.d/boinc (make sure it is executable) and then issued the commands:

ls -s /etc/init.d/boinc /usr/sbin/rcboinc
/etc/init.d/boinc start

Under MAC OSX:

Note: the Mac Standard GUI installation arranges for BOINC to run on user login.

To automatically run BOINC as a daemon or system service at boot time, or to prevent BOINC from launching automatically when selected users log in, see the Mac administrator tools.


.: Uninstalling BOINC :.

Windows
In the Start menu, select Programs / BOINC / Uninstall. Or in the Start menu, select Settings / Add or remove programs.

Mac OS X
To completely remove (uninstall) BOINC from your Macintosh:

• Move the following files to the trash:

1. BOINCManager.app (from your /Applications/ folder)
2. BOINCSaver.saver (from your /Library/Screen Savers/ folder)
3. the BOINC Data/ folder (from your/Library/Applications Support/ folder.)
4. [username]/Library/Preferences/BOINC Manager Preferences)

• Open the Accounts pane in the System Preferences (accessible from the Apple menu), and remove BOINCManager from your list of Login Items (or Startup Items under OS 10.3.)

• Open System Preferences from the Apple menu. Select Desktop & Screen Saver and select a different screen saver.

Under GNU Linux

Gentoo Linux

/etc/init.d/boinc stop && emerge boinc -C

Debian Linux

/etc/init.d/boinc-client stop && apt-get remove boinc-client boinc-manager

.: Using BOINC Stats Account Manager :.

Introdution

BAM assists you in creating and managing your BOINC project accounts and helps you with setting preferences, joining or creating teams, connecting your computers to projects, and many more.

Whether you're a new or an existing BOINC user, BAM will help you get the most out of BOINC.

BAM Stats Registration

1. Register here.
2. Wait for the activation mail, and activate your account.
3. Login at http://www.boincstats.com/bam
4. Goto "Sign-up for projects" in the BAM menu and select the projects you want to join ("Create account"), then click "Start".
   (This step is optional if you already joined a project)
5. Goto "Resources" in the BAM menu and select the projects that you want all your new hosts to attach to ("Default attach") and click "Update".
6. Start your BOINC client.
   (This step is optional if you already have a 5.4.x client installed)

Attach BAM Stats to your BOINC client
Attaching to BAM! is easy. It takes a few simple steps, and you're done.

If this is the first time that the BOINC Manager is run then a wizard to connect to a project appears. Close this wizard first before proceeding.

1. Start the wizard. It's in the menu under Tools.
   
   
   
2. Just click 'Next' on the first screen.
   
   
   
3. Enter the address of the manager: bam.boincstats.com.
   
   
   
4. Enter your user information. You need to enter your username, and not your email address!
   
   
   
5. After clicking 'Next' on the previous screen, the client will attach to BAM. The next screen appears when it succeeds.
   
   

The client will make two connections to BAM. It will connect to all projects that are set to default attach.
Done! There are more options in BAM to fine-tune settings and hosts. Browse around and read the F.A.Q. for details.

.: Known issues :.

• If you use a proxy server, please hold off upgrading for now. We have a fix in the works for proxies that use NTLM authentication.

Windows

1. If BOINC applications are repeatedly crashing on your computer, it's possibly that you need to upgrade to the latest version of DirectX.
2. Your system is not fully stable as you though and you need to underclock a bit.
3. If you're getting 1 out of 10 results in errors this is normal and something you shouldn't worry about unless you're constantly getting error in results.
4. If BOINC runs at the same time as Windows XP 3-D screensavers, the system becomes sluggish and unresponsive.
5. Applications that were built before October 2004 do not display screensaver graphics with the Service or Shared install type, or the Single-user install type with the password protect screensaver option on NT based machines.

[JAWS]

Thanks for the guide! stuck!

[JAWS]

for ubuntu:

You should be able to do this from the command line:

Code: sudo apt-get install boinc-manager boinc-client

The manager allows a graphical configuration, which should allow you to easily set it up from there. The manager can be found in Applications > Accessories > BOINC Manager, or by using:

Code: boincmgr


There is also a package I see called boince-app-seti, but I don't know anything about that.

Hope that helps!

[CokeCanNinja]

This is cool. If only got paid for how much data your computer processed. Like $1 for every Megabyte processed. Some of the people on here with the insane gaming computers would be millionaires within a week.