HOWTO: Autostart Folding at Home at startup

[ions]

I run mine from a dir I created called .FAH in the home directory:

mkdir ~/.FAH

Change into that directory:

cd ~/.FAH/

I know the ~ isn't necessary but in case you're not in home when you start doing this you're still gonna be ok.

Then dowload the FAH console found here: http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html

For the lazy:

wget http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe

Don't get mad at me if the version changes and that link breaks.

Run and configure it to your username, team and machine ID as they tell you here:

http://folding.stanford.edu/linux.html

Feel free to join the #justlinux irc regulars and choose team #36480. We're doing well.

Now let's make it start at startup!
First create the script that will run FAH:

sudo nano -w /etc/init.d/foldingathome

It will look like this:

#!/bin/bash

pushd /home/user/.FAH/
su user -c "screen -d -m ./FAH502-Linux.exe"
popd

C-o to save it in nano.

Now let's make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/foldingathome

Now let's link it to the runlevel:

sudo ln -s /etc/init.d/foldingathome /etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome

*Thanks to Retsaw & maccorin for the help.

[Rancoras]

This needs a HOWTO: tag on the title.

[ions]

Originally Posted by Rancoras This needs a HOWTO: tag on the title.

You'll have to do that, I can edit the topic line that appears in the thread but not the title that appears in the HOWTO area.

[ions]

Originally Posted by ions You'll have to do that, I can edit the topic line that appears in the thread but not the title that appears in the HOWTO area.

A problem has occured. When FAH is started via this method it freezes once reaching 100% on a WU. Started normally it does not freeze at 100%.

[Saibei]

For those that have trouble, this is how I did it:

Make a directory to install F@H in. Location doesn't particularly matter... I chose /home/fah so I'll be using that throughout the post. Download the F@H client to the newly created folder and run it as root:

sudo mkdir /home/fah
cd /home/fah
sudo wget http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe
sudo chmod +x FAH502-Linux.exe
sudo ./FAH502-Linux.exe

Enter the required info, and when F@H starts working on a work unit, close the client. Now to set up the startup scripts.

Make a file called fah in the /etc/init.d directory:

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/fah

Paste this into /etc/init.d/fah:

#!/bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/fah for Ubuntu
# Start/stop/restart the F@H service.

fah_start() {
 if [ -x /home/fah/startfah.sh ]; then
   echo "Starting F@H:  /home/fah/startfah.sh"
   /home/fah/startfah.sh
 fi
}

fah_stop() {
 sudo killall FAH502-Linux.exe
}

fah_restart() {
 fah_stop
 sleep 2
 fah_start
}

case "$1" in
'start')
 fah_start
 ;;
'stop')
 fah_stop
 ;;
'restart')
 fah_restart
 ;;
*)
 fah_start
esac

Save the file and close gedit, and finally make the file executable:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/fah

Now the startfah.sh script:

sudo gedit /home/fah/startfah.sh

and paste this into it:

#!/bin/sh
cd /home/fah
/home/fah/FAH502-Linux.exe -forceasm -advmethods >/dev/null 2>&1 &
exit 0

And don't forget to make it executable!

sudo chmod +x /home/fah/startfah.sh

Feel free to remove the -forceasm and -advmethods flags, or add others of your own. I find those flags increase my weekly output a bit. For more info on what they do, see here.

last and final step! Make a symlink into the /etc/rc2.d directory!

ln -s /etc/init.d/fah /etc/rc2.d/S99fah

You can either test the script by rebooting or by typing the command:

sudo /etc/init.d/fah start

Open the System Monitor and watch your CPU usage skyrocket

Many thanks to XtremeSystems for the startfah.sh script and a good friend of mine for the /etc/init.d/fah script

[ions]

I've tried both my method and Saibei's since moving to Hoary and can't get F@H to autostart. Any idea why that would be or am I likely doing something wrong?

[beatyou]

Originally Posted by Saibei For those that have trouble, this is how I did it: Make a directory to install F@H in. Location doesn't particularly matter... I chose /home/fah so I'll be using that throughout the post. Download the F@H client to the newly created folder and run it as root: sudo mkdir /home/fah cd /home/fah sudo wget http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe sudo chmod +x FAH502-Linux.exe sudo ./FAH502-Linux.exe Enter the required info, and when F@H starts working on a work unit, close the client. Now to set up the startup scripts. Make a file called fah in the /etc/init.d directory: sudo gedit /etc/init.d/fah Paste this into /etc/init.d/fah: #!/bin/sh # /etc/init.d/fah for Ubuntu # Start/stop/restart the F@H service. fah_start() { if [ -x /home/fah/startfah.sh ]; then echo "Starting F@H: /home/fah/startfah.sh" /home/fah/startfah.sh fi } fah_stop() { sudo killall FAH502-Linux.exe } fah_restart() { fah_stop sleep 2 fah_start } case "$1" in 'start') fah_start ;; 'stop') fah_stop ;; 'restart') fah_restart ;; *) fah_start esac Save the file and close gedit, and finally make the file executable: sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/fah Now the startfah.sh script: sudo gedit /home/fah/startfah.sh and paste this into it: #!/bin/sh cd /home/fah /home/fah/FAH502-Linux.exe -forceasm -advmethods >/dev/null 2>&1 & exit 0 And don't forget to make it executable! sudo chmod +x /home/fah/startfah.sh Feel free to remove the -forceasm and -advmethods flags, or add others of your own. I find those flags increase my weekly output a bit. For more info on what they do, see here. last and final step! Make a symlink into the /etc/rc2.d directory! ln -s /etc/init.d/fah /etc/rc2.d/S99fah You can either test the script by rebooting or by typing the command: sudo /etc/init.d/fah start Open the System Monitor and watch your CPU usage skyrocket Many thanks to XtremeSystems for the startfah.sh script and a good friend of mine for the /etc/init.d/fah script

Thanks saibei ;]

[XDevHald]

Worked like a charm!

Also note that I have created an UbuntuForums Team. If one of the Admins would like to take over this team please PM me and I will give you the password.

The Team ID Number Is: 45399
The Team WebPage Is: http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/m...&teamnum=45399

EDIT: Yes the start up script works perfectly

[mongolito404]

You can also use finstall to your Folding@Home client and then use the provided folding script.
Simply execute finstall, follow the instructions and then

sudo cp <install path>/foldingathome/folding /etc/init.d/folding
sudo update-rc.d folding defaults

[simonp]

ive just got ubutnu installed im a toal noob to Linux by the way. I followed the above text and thought i was going well got the FAh running and dowloaded a wu
and carried on with the rest of the tutorial I think i may have gone wrong at the startFAh bit in the folder startfah.sh i can see the text that I copied and pasted
and then it goes on to say make it execuatable so i saved the startfah and opened the terminal window and pasted the next bit I think i cocked up here
How do i go about starting again ? Ive gone into the process monitor and disabled the FAH process it wasnt running anyway my cpu was only showing 2%
thanks for looking