BOINC in WSL GUI

[Dingo]

** It add a lot of programs to your machine **

I finally got BOINC to run in Ubuntu on Windows (WSL) in a GUI.  I was going to save all the commands but because of problems I lost most of them. I still do not have the Nvidea drivers working yet as they are supposed to use the drivers on Windows but I can't get them to work.  Will try again some other time.

Follow this https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/tutorials/gui-apps

Some of the wsl optiions here  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/basic-commands

UPDATE:  Just for my knowledge in the future: In BOINCTasks put the IP address of the Windows BOINC in the computer ip address.  Put localhost as the computer of the WSL BOINC.


UPDATE 2:  I had to install on a machine without WSL so these are the steps.

[NOTES] -  These are the steps for Windows 11.  For Windows 10 there may be some differences like  wsl --install unbuntu

**  Existing WSL install  **

If you already have WSL installed on your machine, you can update to the latest version that includes Linux GUI support by running the update command from an elevated command prompt.

Select Start, type PowerShell, right-click Windows PowerShell, and then select Run as administrator.

Enter the WSL update command:

PowerShell

wsl --update

You will need to restart WSL for the update to take effect. You can restart WSL by running the shutdown command in PowerShell.

PowerShell

wsl --shutdown


1.  Fresh install - No prior WSL installation
You can now install everything you need to run Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) by entering this command in an administrator PowerShell and then restarting your machine.

PowerShell

wsl --install

Once your machine has finished rebooting, installation will continue and you will be asked to enter a username and password. This will be your Linux credential for the Ubuntu distribution.

You're now ready to begin using Linux GUI apps on WSL!

Launching WSL

You can launch your installed Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu) from the Start menu just like any other application.

2. Update the packages in your distribution

Open the WSL app from the the normal APP place on windows

Bash

sudo apt update

Install  Text Editor

sudo apt install nano -y


Install GIMP
GIMP is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized tasks.

Bash

sudo apt install gimp -y

To launch, enter: gimp

Install Nautilus

Nautilus, also known as GNOME Files, is the file manager for the GNOME desktop. (Similar to Windows File Explorer).

Bash

sudo apt install nautilus -y

To launch, enter: nautilus

Install VLC  -- OPTIONAL

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files.

Bash

sudo apt install vlc -y

To launch, enter: vlc

Install X11 apps

X11 is the Linux windowing system and this is a miscellaneous collection of apps and tools that ship with it, such as the xclock, xcalc calculator, xclipboard for cut and paste, xev for event testing, etc. See the x.org docs for more info.

Bash

sudo apt install x11-apps -y

3. Install Google Chrome for Linux

Change directories into the temp folder:

Bash

cd /tmp

Use wget to download it:

Bash

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb


Install the package:

Bash

sudo apt install -f ./google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb

*The -f option is used to fix broken dependencies that may arise during the installation process. The ./ in the command specifies the current directory where the .deb file is located. If the .deb file is located in a different directory, you will need to specify the path to the file in the command.

4.  Install BOINC

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y boinc default-jre default-jdk

# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 5.BOINC Password Setup
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you use BOINC Tasks and want to set your BOINC password do the following.

COPY this complete block and paste into Ubuntu

read -rsp "?? Enter BOINC password (used for remote GUI): " BOINC_PASS
echo
echo "$BOINC_PASS" | sudo tee /etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg > /dev/null
echo "$BOINC_PASS" | sudo tee /usr/bin/gui_rpc_auth.cfg > /dev/null
echo "? BOINC password configured"


6.  Start BOINC Manager in the wsl window

boincmgr

The BOINC Manager should open and then you can add projects etc. 

NOTE:  If you get an error about not being able to open a file then run these two commands to add you to the boinc group.

sudo usermod -a -G boinc $USER

exec su $USER

NOTE  You can exit out of the WSL window and BOINC Manager will continue to run


EDIT  You also need to load the maths package onto Ubuntu if you are going to run Gaia

sudo apt install libquadmath0






[attachment deleted by admin]

[Dave Studdert]

I think I prefer WSL over Virtualbox.
This is a good way to run Linux only apps such as Gaia with your Windows based system.

[Dingo]

Just a BUMP as I have added a lot of info into the post.  I have now converted all my windows machines to run BOINC Manager under Ubuntu on Windows (WSL).  It does not take too long but adds a a bunch of programs.

[Abruraspingi]

Brilliant

[Dave Studdert]

Finally found a way to get a working Ubuntu Desktop from within WSL
Github Ubuntu WSL install script

[Dingo]

Great pickup, that looks a lot easier than my install for the WSL part anyway.  I will give it a go when my new machine arrives on Tuesday.

[chooka03]

Hi Dingo,
I had a bit of a crack at this today but not from the above instructions. I thought it had worked but I can't seem to get any gpu work?

So I did the WSL update and I have a Ubuntu app installed (although I wasn't asked to create a username & password?) I did sudo apt update and installed BOINC, that all works.
I added a couple of projects but I was only able to get cpu work like I had when running Ubuntu in a VM.

Where have I gone wrong? I feel close but something has fallen over.
Any suggestions?

My projects say this if it helps?

Linux Ubuntu
Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS [6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2|libc 2.39]
BOINC version 7.24.1 (I don't know how to update it in Ubuntu... if I even need too?)

I was pretty proud to get this far tbh!

[Dave Studdert]

If I recall you have to install gpu drivers to get boinc to recognize your gpu.
I think stock linux drivers dont have any of the compute stuff like Cuda or OpenCL.

[Dingo]

Yes you need to load the drivers.  I didn't go that far but found this which might help.

https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda/wsl

[chooka03]

Is there a way to load these drivers in Ubuntu?
I updated the drivers on the Windows machine but I'm not sure how to load them into Ubuntu.

[Dingo]

Not sure if this is curent but this is what I did on mine a long time ago.

nvidia-smi
Command 'nvidia-smi' not found, but can be installed with:
apt install nvidia-utils-525         # version 525.147.05-0ubuntu1, or
apt install nvidia-utils-525-server  # version 525.147.05-0ubuntu1
apt install nvidia-utils-470         # version 470.256.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
apt install nvidia-utils-470-server  # version 470.256.02-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
apt install nvidia-utils-535         # version 535.288.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
apt install nvidia-utils-535-server  # version 535.288.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.3
apt install nvidia-utils-570         # version 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
apt install nvidia-utils-570-server  # version 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
apt install nvidia-utils-580         # version 580.126.09-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
apt install nvidia-utils-580-server  # version 580.126.09-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
apt install nvidia-utils-590         # version 590.48.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.4
apt install nvidia-utils-590-server  # version 590.48.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.4
apt install nvidia-utils-565-server  # version 565.57.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.3
apt install nvidia-utils-550-server  # version 550.163.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1


Multi GPU install in Linux.

This is what worked for me in getting Linux up and running.  Have a look at this page and see if the drivers are there.  https://launchpad.net/~graphics-drivers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

1. Install Linux
2. Check for updates and then update.
3. Reboot (doesn't hurt to do this)
4. Update to latest kernel
5. Reboot (doesn't hurt to do this)
6. Add NVIDIA PPA to the repository
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
    sudo apt-get update
11. Look at this page to see what version to install 
8. It will check and give you options on which NVIDIA Driver to install.  https://launchpad.net/~graphics-drivers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa
  currently:  sudo apt-get install nvidia-390  **** Current version is 570  ***
9. reboot
10    Check Installation status
    lsmod | grep nvidia  or try  nvidia-smi

    If there is no output, then your installation has probably failed. It is also possible that the driver is not available in your system's driver database. You can run the following command to check if your system is running on the open source driver nouveau. If the output is negative for nouveau, then all is well with your installation.

      lsmod | grep nouveau

11. Prevent automatic update:
      sudo apt-mark hold nvidia-390  **** Current version is 570  ***

12. Are you running into issues with the new drivers, you can easily remove it.

      a. Remove the graphics-drivers PPA as indicated in the step above.
        b. Enter the following command to completely remove the driver

  sudo apt-get purge nvidia*

13. Reboot

[chooka03]

Thanks Dingo.
My goodness.... that's a lot of stuff to do. Not keen on all that :(

[Dingo]

Thanks Dingo.
My goodness.... that's a lot of stuff to do. Not keen on all that :(

Not that much to do. 


Pick your version from this list.  I have picked version 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2

server  # version 535.288.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.3
version 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
server  # version 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
version 580.126.09-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
server  # version 580.126.09-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
version 590.48.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.4
server  # version 590.48.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.4
server  # version 565.57.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.3
version 550.163.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1



If you have Ubuntu 24.04.02 just do this
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-570  *** -- If you have a different versons of linux pick the number from this list above

Check Installation status
    lsmod | grep nvidia

    If there is no output, then your installation has probably failed. It is also possible that the driver is not available in your system's driver database. You can run the following command to check if your system is running on the open source driver nouveau. If the output is negative for nouveau, then all is well with your installation.

      lsmod | grep nouveau

[chooka03]

Hi Dingo,

I did sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

then

sudo apt-get update

I have Ubuntu 24.04.01
I tried 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 (I changed it to a .1 instead of a .2) and I also tried  550.163.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
but it said this -

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1'

I then tried this -  lsmod | grep nvidia and got -

grep: or: No such file or directory
grep: try: No such file or directory
grep: nvidia-smi: No such file or directory

I tried this - lsmod | grep nouveau but nothing happened.

So I'm not sure what to do from here sorry.

[Dingo]

Hi Dingo,

I did sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

then

sudo apt-get update

I have Ubuntu 24.04.01
I tried 570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 (I changed it to a .1 instead of a .2) and I also tried  550.163.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
but it said this -

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'nvidia-570.211.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1'

I then tried this -  lsmod | grep nvidia and got -

grep: or: No such file or directory
grep: try: No such file or directory
grep: nvidia-smi: No such file or directory

I tried this - lsmod | grep nouveau but nothing happened.

So I'm not sure what to do from here sorry.

If you have version 550.163.01-0ubuntu0.24.04.1 then run

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-550