Participating in the LHCb volunteer computing project

Thank you for taking part in our project. ! This guide will help you installing the necessary software on your computer.

What do you need :

• BOINC
• VirtualBox

In order to run properly, this project also requires :

• at least 10 GB of disk space
• at least 2 GB of RAM
• an internet connection. There will be a 350-400 MB download the first time the project will run.

Installing VirtualBox

VirtualBox is the software that will manage the virtual machine. It can be downloaded here. You only need the base software, under VirtualBox platform packages.

We recommend that you also install the VirtualBox Extensions (on the same page) in order to be able to access the virtual machine (for debugging purposes).

Installing BOINC

BOINC will take care of getting all the required project files and launching the application. Download and install it.

You can find here the BOINC user manual

If you are using Fedora, you can get the error "cannot connect to local core client" when you try to start the manager.

To fix it, copy the RPC password hash and give it the correct ownership:

sudo cp /var/lib/boinc/gui_rpc_auth.cfg /home/YourUserName

sudo chown YourUserName : YourUserName /home/YourUserName/gui_rpc_auth.cfg

chmod 664 /home/YourUserName/gui_rpc_auth.cfg

Instruct the BOINC client to start at boot

sudo systemctl enable boinc-client

sudo systemctl start boinc-client

Join the project throught the BOINC Client

1) Create an account

2) Select the LHCb application from the preferences page

3) Contact Cinzia Luzzi for the invitation code

4) Launch the BOINC client and click on Add Project > Next (select Add Project). In the Project URL field, put : http://lhcathomedev.cern.ch/vLHCathome-dev/ and click Next. Enter your account informations.

The project should then be registered into the BOINC client and launch its first task !

If you have any question, please, write a message to the message board

Computing preferences

You can customize the way BOINC will be using your computer from the BOINC manager, under Tools > Computing Preferences.

For example, you can specify a daily schedule and/or to suspend when the machines is in use. You can set the number of processors or the CPU time you want to use:

You can set the Computing Preferences also from your account on the page: Computing Preferences.

For laptop users : BOINC computing preferences are set by default to run tasks even on battery. You probably don't want that, make sure to uncheck Do work while on battery.

Important: BOINC computing preferences are set by default to use 100% of CPUs and 100% of the CPU Time. You probably don't want that, make sure to set the correct number/amount before to start requiring tasks.

FAQ / Troubleshooting

See the FAQ for questions and problems not listed here.