HFM.NET - Monitoring Application for Folding@Home v7

[Adanorm]

Hello,

I'm the maintainer of this app.
You can find the software here : https://sourceforge.net/projects/fah-web-monitor/
It works associated to HFM.net, a ftp server, and a PHP/Apache server.

For bandwidth it's depend on your choices : clients refresh rate, include logs or not.

[jimerickson]

is there a tutorial or some installation documentation for this app?

[ChrisS]

I have downloaded the latest HFM program, and presunably to get it working I have to add a client. It asks me for an address. It won't take my email.

What does it need to get it up and running. Is there a set of instructions anywhere?

I rum FAH on a number of machines, do I need ti install it on each one or can I monitor the whole lot from one machine?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[bollix47]

When adding a client to HFM the address it's looking for is the network address of the client you're trying to monitor. Depending on the network setup it can be either the ComputerName or the I.P. address (e.g. 192.168.?.???) of the client you're trying to add.

[bruce]

True. Either will work but it depends on how your LAN is configured. Most local networks use "automatically assign" for IP addresses so when devices are added or removed from the LAN, you don't have to do anything. HFM will reconnect to the same ComputerName even if it uses a different IP address. Pre-assigning IP addresses also works but means you're responsible for each connected device.

It's also possible to connect a client that's not on your LAN, but that it introduces new level of complexity including firewalls, additional security, tunneling, etc. that I prefer to avoid.

[MeeLee]

Is it Windows only?

[toTOW]

Yes, but it can monitor Linux clients.

There's some way to get it to run on Linux (using Mono) but I don't know how to do it ...

[toTOW]

HFM PPD computation are going to be broken in the next psummary updates : there has been a change in FAH API that is discontinuing the display of k-factor. All projects will use the same value which will be hardcoded and no longer published in project summary API.

The current symptom is that HFM will see a 0 for k-factor and will disable QRB for these projects, showing PPD based only on base point.

[JimF]

Yes, but it can monitor Linux clients.

One way is to run it on a Windows machine to monitor Linux clients over the LAN. That is how I use it.
Just place the IP address of the Windows machine in each LInux "Remote Access" section of FAHControl, then place the IP address of the Linux machine in the "Client setup" of HFM.net.
It works like a charm.

[bollix47]

Is it Windows only?

Running HFM via mono on ubuntu 18.04 is possible (apparently 16.04 works too but I have not tried it).
The first thing to do is add the mono repository.

Code: Select all

https://www.mono-project.com/download/stable/#download-lin

Once added run:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install mono-complete

Then download the .zip version of HFM.
Extract it to a directory of your choice.
Right-click on HFM.exe and choose "Open With Mono Runtime".
It can get a little tricky getting it set up although the problems I had occurred quite some time ago and mono has been updated many times since. My advice is save your configuration often during setup. I have been running it for months now and the only problem I've seen is occasionally it closed down for no apparent reason but that was rare and I haven't seen it since the last mono update. When it happened I just restarted it until it appeared. (ie some times I had to start it more than once)

p.s. there may be a new version of HFM in the near future so I advise waiting until then

[bcavnaugh]

So then by years end we will no longer get QRB and no longer can run HFM.NET to track our Clients on Windows and Linux Clients?

[bollix47]

So then by years end we will no longer get QRB and no longer can run HFM.NET to track our Clients on Windows and Linux Clients?

The problems currently being seen have been fixed or are in the process of being fixed ... HFM needs to make a small change to fix the zero k-factor (0,75 will be hard-coded where necessary). Hopefully, it should be fixed soon.

I know of no plan to discontinue QRB and I continue to use HFM on both Windows & Linux. On some projects the PPD and/or the credit may be wrong but that should be fixed by Harlam and folders should receive their full credit as that's done on the server. HFM is a very small change so I don't believe it should take too long but remember any change to HFM requires a fair bit of time for him to compile and set things up.

Patience until then

[harlam357]

Thanks for the quick update harlam357 !

I've noticed a couple of instabilities of HFM when a client (I think it started with v7.5.1) is monitored over the network and disconnects, but I don't have an exact reproduction case. If you want to try to reproduce the issue, add a remote client to HFM (another machine on the same network), then, while it's working fine, go on the remote machine and exit the client (right client on tray icon, exit). This sometimes causes HFM to crash.

Hi toTOW - I think you're right, this started with v7.5.1. I've got a stack trace of the error and I'll get a fix for this into the next, next update. See below.

I still want you to add a new feature, do track the thread-count for CPU clients. If I configure more than one CPU slot, all the data is combined in the reports, whether or not they have have the same number of CPU threads. e.g.- If I have 7 available CPU threads, I'm very likely to configure a CPU:3 and a CPU:4 slot but there's only one summary presented even though the PPD (etc) are different.

Hi bruce - Yep I've seen your request and I completely agree with your observations and how the thread count would do wonders for the benchmark information. You've done an excellent job with the information in this issue. https://github.com/harlam357/hfm-net/issues/298 I've looked at the code and I think I can do this without too much work. However, I think I'll need to put the information in the Name: field. Something like this.

Name: local Slot 01 CPU:6

Is it Windows only?

Hi MeeLee - It will run on Mono in Linux. Never tried Mac, since I don't own one. Once upon a time I had visions of Mono being a first class target. There are even specific code paths in HFM to deal with differences in the Mono runtime. However, that vision is pretty much dead. If it works on Mono for someone, great. If it doesn't and there's no clear path to a fix, then I'm also not going to spend a lot of time digging into it.

With the upcoming release of .NET Core 3 and support for desktop Windows applications, I feel like HFM will move this direction within the year after .NET Core 3 comes out of preview. That will effectively kill any Mono support. I have visions for running HFM as a windows service or console application, REST API, and a web UI for full cross platform support, while maintaining a rich GUI in the Windows environment.

HFM PPD computation are going to be broken in the next psummary updates : there has been a change in FAH API that is discontinuing the display of k-factor. All projects will use the same value which will be hardcoded and no longer published in project summary API.

The current symptom is that HFM will see a 0 for k-factor and will disable QRB for these projects, showing PPD based only on base point.

The FAHClient developer was kind enough to offer up a patch for HFM. I had some questions about the hard coded k-factor and also if ALL projects are going to be QRB. I think I have my answers now.

So then by years end we will no longer get QRB and no longer can run HFM.NET to track our Clients on Windows and Linux Clients?

The problems currently being seen have been fixed or are in the process of being fixed ... HFM needs to make a small change to fix the zero k-factor (0,75 will be hard-coded where necessary). Hopefully, it should be fixed soon.

I know of no plan to discontinue QRB and I continue to use HFM on both Windows & Linux. On some projects the PPD and/or the credit may be wrong but that should be fixed by Harlam and folders should receive their full credit as that's done on the server. HFM is a very small change so I don't believe it should take too long but remember any change to HFM requires a fair bit of time for him to compile and set things up.

Patience until then

Patch is integrated and you should get an update notification soon. I'll post here when it's available as well.

[harlam357]

New Version: 0.9.11 - Revision 815 - Project Site - Download

- Change: Update for changed F@H psummary API (merged PR 301 by jcoffland)

If you've experienced HFM not reporting the correct PPD/Credit for quick return bonus (QRB) projects, then install this update and manually download the project summary.

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Need help with HFM? Have a feature request? Please join the discussions. Post in the HFM Google Group.

http://groups.google.com/group/hfm-net

[bollix47]

Installed 9.11 rev 815 ... I've installed it on both Windows using the .msi & linux using the .zip downloads & both appear to be working for PPD & Credit estimates. Thank you harlam.