Command Line Installation¶

Overview
Requirements
Installation for Debian, Mint, and Ubuntu
- Identify and Download the Latest F@H Version
- Install the Packages
Terminal installation for RedHat, CentOS, and Fedora
Troubleshooting

Overview ¶

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. This is not for Linux running in Terminal mode (no GUI).

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.

Requirements ¶

This document assumes root access to the system.

Installation for Debian, Mint, and Ubuntu ¶

Identify and Download the Latest F@H Version ¶

Navigate to https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/
Right click the deb links, and select ‘Copy Link Location’

Download the latest identified F@H version to your local machine:

wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahclient/debian-stable-64bit/[version]/fahclient_[version]_amd64.deb
wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahcontrol/debian-stable-64bit/[version]/fahcontrol_[version]-1_all.deb
wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahviewer/debian-stable-64bit/[version]/fahviewer_[version]_amd64.deb

Install the Packages ¶

Install the FAHClient. The package will prompt for initial setup information, user name, etc. Enter information or change as needed, and click OK:
```
dpkg -i --force-depends fahclient_[version]_amd64.deb
```
Install the FAHControl application. Root privileges are required. FAHControl will show “offline” or “connecting” status until the FAHClient is running, either started automatically (strongly recommended) or started manually:
```
dpkg -i --force-depends fahcontrol_[version]-1_all.deb
```

Optionally, install the FAHViewer:

dpkg -i --force-depends fahviewer_[version]_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, and Fedora ¶

Identify and Download the Latest F@H Version ¶

Navigate to https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/
Right click the rpm links, and select ‘Copy Link Location’

Download the latest identified F@H version to your local machine:

wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahclient/centos-[version]-64bit/[version]/fahclient-[version]-1.x86_64.rpm
wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahcontrol/centos-[version]-64bit/[version]/fahcontrol-[version]-1.noarch.rpm
wget https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/release/fahviewer/centos-[version]-64bit/[version]/fahviewer-[version]-1.x86_64.rpm

Install the Packages ¶

Install the FAHClient. Note that Fedora / RedHat .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:
```
rpm -i --nodeps fahclient-7.4.4-1.x86_64.rpm
```
Install the FAHControl application. Root privileges are required:
```
rpm -i --nodeps fahcontrol-7.4.4-1.noarch.rpm
```

Optionally, install the FAHViewer:

rpm -i --nodeps fahviewer-7.4.4-1.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.

Configure config.xml ¶

Open the config.xml file:
```
vi /etc/fahclient/config.xml
```

Enter the desired configuration. The below example displays identifying a user, team, and 2 CPU cores:

<config>
  <!-- Folding Slot Configuration -->
  <gpu v='false'/>

  <!-- Slot Control -->
  <power v='light'/>

  <!-- User Information -->
  <passkey v='123456789abcdefg'/>
  <team v='123456'/>
  <user v='First_Last'/>

  <!-- Folding Slots -->
  <slot id='1' type='CPU'/>
  <slot id='2' type='CPU'/>

Configure System Service ¶

Open a new file for F@H:

vi /etc/systemd/system/FAHClient.service

Insert the following text into the file:

[Unit]
Description=Folding@home V7 Client

[Service]
Type=simple
User=fahclient
Group=fahclient
WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/fahclient
ExecStart=/usr/bin/FAHClient --config=/etc/fahclient/config.xml --chdir=/var/lib/fahclient/
PrivateTmp=yes

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Save the file
Start the service:
```
systemctl start FAHClient.service
```
Verify service status:
```
systemctl status FAHClient.service
```

Troubleshooting ¶

If the FAHControl application still has dependency issues with the installed version of Python, there is a workaround to copy the FAH Python files to the newer Python folder. These commands assume that FAH is set to use Python 2.6, and Linux has Python 2.7 installed. Create a link from the newer version to the older version:

cd /usr/lib

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/python2.7 /usr/lib/python2.6

Copy the fah module from the old location to the new location:

sudo cp -R /usr/lib/python2.6/site-packages/fah /usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/fah

This resolves the FAHControl dependency and will allow the application to run in the newest distributions of Linux.

Note that using this virtual link to Python may cause Yum to complain the next time a Python update is available. Removing FAHControl from the RPM database will resolve this problem:

sudo rpm -e --justdb FAHControl