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Communicating with BOINC client. Please wait
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Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
I am a Linux newbie. I went to upgrade my BOINC version in Virtual Box from the Android version (BOINC v7.18.1 ) to the proper Ubuntu version. One system upgraded perfectly. The other did not. When I run BOINC from the UI, The dialog box shows: BOINC Manager (Pre-release) - Communication Communicating with BOINC client. Please wait The dialog box.has two buttons: Exit BOINC Manager and Cancel. It will wait seemingly forever. When I try to start the client from the terminal, I get "command not found". It looks to me like the install went correctly. In the /usr/bin directory I find both the boinc and boincmgr files. In the /var/lib directory there is a boinc subdirectory with several files in it.. Any suggestions will be appreciated. |
Send message Joined: 15 May 09 Posts: 4529 Credit: 18,661,594 RAC: 14,529 |
What is the command you use to try and start the client? sudo systemctrl start boinc-clientis the way to do it on recent distributions. |
Send message Joined: 5 Aug 04 Posts: 1120 Credit: 17,193,804 RAC: 2,852 |
What is the command you use to try and start the client? For Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 8.8 (Ootpa) it is in /usr/bin/boinc_client; note the _ is not the same as -. So for RHEL 8 versions, the start command would be sudo systemctrl start boinc_client (You probably do not want to run just plain /usr/bin/boinc_client (where it is on my machine) because I suppose it will exit as soon as you exit the shell you started it from.) |
Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
When I run BOINC from the UI, The dialog box shows: As you are on Ubuntu in virtualbox you may not have the systemctl running, but you can start the boinc client manually just to test it. On Ubuntu, the client executable is: $ ls -l /usr/bin/boinc -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 989552 Jan 30 2022 /usr/bin/boincIs your 'boinc' executable in /usr/bin? If not, the install put it somewhere else. Try looking in the installer log to see what directory it put it into. If boinc is there, what do you get if you type: /usr/bin/boinc --version(if your boinc is somewhere else, change the directory name appropriately. I get: 7.18.1 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu If you get similar or same, then try starting the client with: /usr/bin/boinc --dir /var/lib/boinc and report back what output you get. Also, have a look in the /var/lib/boinc directory and see if you have a file called 'stdoutdae.txt'. This is the logfile for the client. If that exists, then the client started up. Run the command: tail -20 /var/lib/boinc/stdoutdae.txtand send us the output and we can help. |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
When I try: sudo systemctrl start boinc-client I get: sudo: systemctrl: command not found. |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
When I run BOINC from the UI, The dialog box shows: I get 7.20.5 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
I get 19-Jul-2023 11:40:51 Another instance of BOINC is running
There is no 'stdoutdae.txt' file in the /var/lib/boinc directory
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Send message Joined: 15 May 09 Posts: 4529 Credit: 18,661,594 RAC: 14,529 |
sudo apt-get install systemdShould let you run systemctl commands. |
Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
I getOk, the client is already running. Might have started automatically when the Virtual machine was booted, or when you tried previously. So, go into the boinc data directory and try starting the boinc manager there without any arguments: cd /var/lib/boinc boincmgr & and see if you can 'Add Project -> climateprediction.net'. If you get 'command not found', use: /usr/bin/boincmgr & |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
I getOk, the client is already running. Might have started automatically when the Virtual machine was booted, or when you tried previously. Starting from a restarted Ubuntu in the VM I went through getting the 19-Jul-2023 11:40:51 Another instance of BOINC is running steps. Then I tried starting the boinc manager as you suggested. The boinc manager came up in the GUI and gave me the 'Communicating with BOINC client. Please wait' dialog box as if the client were not running.
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Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
Ok, I think most likely the client is not running but we can check. This is one of those support question that would take 5 mins to sort out if I could see the machine. Let's see if the cilent is running and what the command line arguments are. Run this on your Ubuntu VM in a terminal (could reboot the VM first to make a clean start): ps -ef | fgrep 'bin/boinc' If the boinc client is running, you'll get a line similar to this: boinc 1404 1 0 09:56 ? 00:00:09 /usr/bin/boinc --allow_remote_gui_rpc --dir /work/boinc-client If it's not running, you'll get nothing. It's possible you might get multiple lines if, for some reason, the client has been started up multiple times (which it shouldn't). Report back what output you get. I'd like to see what command line arguments it's using. We're going to kill this later and try restarting manually, see below. Let's also check ownership is correct. This can be another reason the client isn't starting. Run the following command to check there is a 'boinc' user for the client: grep boinc /etc/passwd should give output like this: boinc:x:122:130:BOINC core client,,,:/var/lib/boinc-client:/usr/sbin/nologin Let's check the user 'boinc' owns the files in the client directory. Run this command: ls -l /var/lib/boinc-client(note that /var/lib/boinc is just a symbolic link to /var/lib/boinc-client where the real files are) You should see plenty of files, with lines like: -rw-r--r-- 1 boinc boinc 1691 Feb 4 00:21 global_prefs.xml The key thing is here that 'boinc boinc' part. That means the boinc user & group owns these files. There should also be a couple of files owned by 'root' user which are links to the /etc/boinc-client directory. If that looks ok, then first kill off any existing boinc client that's running. Referring back to the output from ps above: boinc 1404 1 0 09:56 ? 00:00:09 /usr/bin/boinc --allow_remote_gui_rpc --dir /work/boinc-client the number in the second column is the 'process id'. That's what you need (yours will be different). Kill the process with: sudo -u boinc kill 1404!! Do not use 1404 here, use the process id you got !! Confirm the client is no longer running by using the ps command above. If for some reason you have multiple clients running, kill all of them. Now let's try starting the client at the terminal: sudo -u boinc /usr/bin/boinc --dir /var/lib/boinc-client(you might be prompted for your sudo password here) This should produce output to the terminal. Then run the 'ps' command above to make sure it's working. If there are any obvious errors in the output of the command post it here. If the client starts up ok, try the boincmgr as before: cd /var/lib/boinc boincmgr & and hopefully that will connect! |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
Ok, I think most likely the client is not running but we can check. This is one of those support question that would take 5 mins to sort out if I could see the machine. I get boinc 862 1 0 11:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/boinc dave 3570 1991 0 11:28 pts/0 00:00:00 grep -F --color=auto bin/boinc
This gave me boinc:x:126:133:BOINC core client,,,:/var/lib/boinc-client:/usr/sbin/nologin
There were many lines of output some owned by root
I was unable to kill process 862. I had to provide my password and got zero output. When I re-checked the running processes as above, I got the exact two lines shown above. boinc 862 1 0 11:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/boinc dave 3570 1991 0 11:28 pts/0 00:00:00 grep -F --color=auto bin/boinc
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Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
boinc 862 1 0 11:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/boinc Ok, so the boinc client is running using defaults. That'll mean it should be using the files in /var/lib/boinc-client and communicating on port 31416. I'm puzzled why running boincmgr in /var/lib/boinc-client didn't work in that case. Let's see if the command line tool rather than boincmgr can talk to the client. Try this and let us know what output you get: boinccmd --get_stateIf it can see the client you'll get alot of output. If it can't, you'll get "can't connect to local host" Try that first. For killing the client, you can use root privilege rather than as the user boinc: sudo kill 862but don't do that just yet. |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
boinc 862 1 0 11:27 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/boinc I got something quite different: Can't get RPC password: /var/lib/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg exists but can't be read. See https://boinc.berkeley.edu/gui_rpc.php Only operations not requiring authorization will be allowed. Operation failed: read() failed
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Send message Joined: 1 Jan 07 Posts: 1058 Credit: 36,583,114 RAC: 15,886 |
I got something quite different:You need to add your user name to the boinc user group, and ensure that is active. I can't remember the exact wording at this time of night, but it's been given before. It you try the boinc controls in the same terminal window afterwords, they should work: but to be safe, the easiest way is to reboot the machine - after that, the group membership will be permanent. |
Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
I got something quite different:You need to add your user name to the boinc user group, and ensure that is active. That should solve your problem (I forgot this step). Check what's currently set for the boinc group with this: grep boinc /etc/group Mine is: boinc:x:130:glenn If your username is missing on the end, add it with: sudo adduser dave boinc and then run the 'grep' command again to check. This command will prompt you for your password. Then try boincmgr/boinccmd again. You should not need to reboot the VM but I might be wrong. If that doesn't fix it, report back. It should do. |
Send message Joined: 5 Aug 04 Posts: 1120 Credit: 17,193,804 RAC: 2,852 |
I got that half right. On RHEL8 distribution, the boinc commands are in /usr/bin like this. [/usr/bin]# ls -l boinc* -rwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 1112184 Jul 29 2022 boinc -rwxr-xr-x. 2 root root 1112184 Jul 29 2022 boinc_client -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 358784 Jul 29 2022 boinccmd -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 4081696 Jul 29 2022 boincmgr -rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 350704 Jul 29 2022 boincscr Everything else is in /var/lib/boinc. Note that there are two names for the boinc client. Those two files are different (one is not a link to the other) but they are otherwise identical. I do not know why both exist. That part is right. OTOH, the correct command to start running the client is systemctl start boinc-client. not what I said before. Perhaps systemctl start boinc would also work, but I never tried it. I normally never need to start it anyway because systemd starts it whenever I boot my system up. |
Send message Joined: 14 Dec 05 Posts: 27 Credit: 11,235,785 RAC: 4,049 |
I got something quite different:You need to add your user name to the boinc user group, and ensure that is active. My user name was missing from the boinc group, so i added it. Immediately afterwards I got the same message as previously: Can't get RPC password: /var/lib/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg exists but can't be read. See https://boinc.berkeley.edu/gui_rpc.php Only operations not requiring authorization will be allowed. Operation failed: read() failed After restarting the VM I got a subset of the same message: Operation failed: read() failed
I went to https://boinc.berkeley.edu/gui_rpc.phpand read about the key file in gui_rpc_auth.cfg but when I tried looking in that file it seems to be empty. |
Send message Joined: 15 May 09 Posts: 4529 Credit: 18,661,594 RAC: 14,529 |
su chmod 664 /etc/boinc-client/gui_<span class="mark">RPC</span>_auth.cfgwas used by a cruncher over on the BOINC forums. Thread here Worth reading the whole thread. Edit: It is often worth going to the BOINC forums for problems that are to do with BOINC rather than specific to CPDN. There is a lot of information to be gleaned there. |
Send message Joined: 29 Oct 17 Posts: 1044 Credit: 16,196,312 RAC: 12,647 |
After restarting the VM I got a subset of the same message:I think the problem is related to permissions as Dave says. Although your userid is now part of the boinc group, the gui_rpc_auth.cfg may not have 'group' read permission. To fix, first note that the gui_rpc_auth.cfg in /var/lib/boinc is actually a link into the /etc/boinc-client directory: lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 34 Apr 20 2022 gui_rpc_auth.cfg -> /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg and if we look at the permissions of the linked file in my files: ls -l /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg -rw-r----- 1 root boinc 1 Oct 1 2019 /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfgIt says 'root' owns the file but the group owner is 'boinc' and we have group 'read' permission (the second 'r' in the first column). You probably don't have this set, perhaps yours is '-rw------' instead. If that's the case, then change it with: sudo chmod g+r /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg Hopefully that will fix it! A blank gui_rpc_auth.cfg file will work - I tend to keep mine empty. There's also no special reason why /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg is a link to the default in /etc/boinc-client. You can delete the link and create a real file of the same name in /var/lib/boinc-client. p.s. the install, I think, should really have done all this for you. Not sure why it fails on this machine and not the other you mentioned which worked. |
Send message Joined: 9 Mar 22 Posts: 30 Credit: 1,065,239 RAC: 556 |
My user name was missing from the boinc group, so i added it. Immediately afterwards ... Did you logoff/logon or reboot after the change? |
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