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Guide To Smp Folding With Linux In Vmware


CheeseMan42

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This guide is to help everyone out there get Linux set up in VMWare on their Windows computer for the purpose of Folding@Home. I'm basing this off the guide I read on PlanetAMD64 a few years back, I don't have the link but want to give credit where it is due. I made some modifications and will include several pictures for those people who have no idea what to do when it comes to Linux.

 

Before you start download the following:

VMWare Server http://www.vmware.com/products/server/

Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit (can use other versions, I prefer 8.04, but they MUST be 64-bit) http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

 

I am using VMWare Workstation, VMWare Server may look slightly different

 

Creating and Installing a Virtual Machine

 

You will want to install VMWare first, which I won't cover.

 

The first step is to open VMWare and click on create Virtual Machine.

1.jpg

 

Select the following options for your VM. Make sure you select 64-bit, or SMP won't work. Next you need to select a location to install the virtual machine.

2.jpg3.jpg

 

Be sure to select two processors. SMP only works on multi core systems, so selecting one won't work here.

4.jpg

 

When asked for the system specs, I like to use the following:

512 MB Memory

4 GB HDD Space

Ethernet: Bridged

You now need to select the location of the image. I prefer to just point the CD-Rom to the image on my computer rather than burning the disk.

5.jpg

 

Click on Start Virtual Machine. The next screen will prompt you to select your language, select whatever you feel comfortable with. Following that select “Install Ubuntu” from the next screen.

 

When you make it to the step in the install dealing with partitions, select Guided. If you have never worked with Linux before then you may easily be confused as to what to do for partitions.

7.jpg

 

Now you must create a user name, password, and hostname. The hostname is used to identify your computer to other computers on the network. You can choose anything that you like, I like to use the names of attractive Russian women. After all info is entered, continue with the install.

8.jpg

 

At the end of the install, you will be prompted to restart. Simply click the button to do this.

 

After it reboots, log in using the user name and password you just created. The first step with your new installation is to update your system. There is a red arrow as pointed to by my pink arrow. The screen on the left will come up, click Install Updates. After doing so, it would be a good time to go make a sandwich or do something else while they download and install. This is the most time intensive step in this process.

10.jpg

 

After this is done, you may have to restart again. You now want to open a terminal, which is found under Applications and then Accessories. Type the following commands into the terminal in order.

1)sudo apt-get install ia32-libs 
(When prompted for a password, it is the same as the one you created earlier.)
2)mkdir Folding
3)cd Folding
4)wget http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/release/FAH6.29-Linux.tgz
(You may want to just copy and paste into the terminal to prevent spelling errors. To paste in a terminal, use Shift + Ctrl + V.)
5)tar xvf F<Tab>
(You don't need to enter the whole file again, just press tab after the F)

11.jpg

 

You are now ready to run the SMP Client! The -advmethods flag will allow you to get the Gromacs CVS core which is faster (thanks graememk).

To make it easier to run, you can use the following command to create a script (make sure you are in the folding directory to do so):

echo "./fah6 -smp -advmethods" > fah

The next step is to make this directory executable.

Type the following commands into a terminal.

1)cd ..
2)sudo chmod 0755 Folding
3)cd Folding

To run the client, you will now only need to navigate to the folding directory and enter the following command at the terminal.

./fah

 

If you want to stop the client, press Ctrl + C at the terminal.

The image below shows the config options I used. Be sure to change the advance options and set the machine ID. F@H will not work if you have more than one instance with the same machine ID. You are now folding for OverClockersClub!!!

12.jpg

 

If you are folding on VMWare and have a GPU client, I would recommend using the F@H affinity setter found in another sticky.

 

For an easier setup, or to use 4 or 8 cores, here is some helpful info:

I know this is cheating, but i just downloaded the VM Ware player and used a custom ISO from THIS site it works like a charm

 

If you have any further questions, feel free to post in this thread or contact me by PM.

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Setting up Samba to monitor your F@H clients.

 

Now that you have the SMP Client setup, you may want to set up Samba to view your progress without constantly opening VMWare. This guide will show you how to easily do this.

 

Open up a terminal and enter the following command.

sudo apt-get install samba

After this, you want to make sure it is stopped before you edit it.

sudo /etc/init.d/samba stop

Now you are free to edit the configuration file for Samba

sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

gedit is similar to notepad so you should have no problem navigating your way around.

Make sure the workgroup in the file is the same as that on your network. Find the line that says

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I usually add the -advmethods attribute aswell to the command, ie ./fah6 -smp -advmethods as that will bring you work units for the SMP GROMACS CVS core which is newer and faster.

 

Wasn't aware of that, thanks for the heads up. I'll add that.

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