Multiple Computers

[Neil-B]

FYI ... anyone can use your username ... but not your username/passkey combination ... I believe FAHControl is available for Linux variants - I can't say for sure mint ... setup of this is relatively easy in Windows - I use it to monitor all my kit from whichever I happen to be logged into.

[MeeLee]

As stated, that ID number is assigned the first time an installation connects to the servers. As also mentioned in another post, no it is not part of config.xml.

What is the file that the computer ID is stored in?
I presume it's locally.

Because I ran multiple PCs with a cloned directory, straight from my MSN Onedrive.
I just downloaded the folder, and modified the config.xml, and it works.
Haven't verified if the server gave me any issues, but they all ran fine (~35k PPD for a core i5 6 core) for many months.

[Joe_H]

What is the file that the computer ID is stored in?
I presume it's locally.

Bruce guessed it might be in the .db file, I have no better information than that. It could be elsewhere, but it definitely is not stored in config.xml.

Most of the time having the Assignment ID cloned onto another system should not give you problems. We do know of corner cases in the past where the same WU was assigned to more than one computer, but the same ID. The second and later returns were dumped by the servers as duplicate returns and no points credited. Additional returns from more than one system with differing ID numbers will get credit.

[bikeaddict]

The client.db file in the work directory is a SQLite database that contains an ID record in the Config table. It can be queried with DB Browser for SQLite (https://sqlitebrowser.org/) AKA sqlitebrowser package on Linux. I had to make a copy of the .db file since it's locked by FAH.

[bikeaddict]

anyway, my question now is, does there exist a way to monitor all of the (linux) machines running fah here? (i trust no one else is using my username since they don’t know my passkey.) i have three laptops, two desktops, and a chromebook running fah. all are running mint. four v 19.3, one each 18 and 17, not sure of subversion for the last ones.
what i’d like to see in the monitor is how many wus have been done by each machine, and current stats: % completed, %cpu, cpu time, tpf, and eta (though i’d call the last etf rather than eta).
then i wouldn’t need to go to each machine and look at its display.
thanks! ə

I have three machines set up for remote monitoring. In FAHControl on each of the remote clients, open Configure and switch to the Remote Access tab. I've set a password on mine. Then in the IP Address Restriction Allow field, after 127.0.0.1, add a space and the IP of the monitor.

The remote clients will need port 36330 opened if they have a software firewall.

Then on the monitor, click Add at lower left and set the name, IP address of the remote client and password. Repeat the above for each remote client.

When the remote ones are selected on the monitor, you can use the Configure button for them or view their info on the Status, System Info and Log tabs.

[bruce]

The EULA requires that you download the client from https://foldingathome.org/alternative-downloads/ or from an authorized distributor. You can choose Windows/os-X/Linux. This solves two issues. *1 FAH knows that the downloads are virus-free *2 The CPUID will be assigned at the correct point in the installation. By making your own Zip file, you're potentially risking both of those issues plus you're violating the EULA.

[Commander_Shrom]

The EULA requires that you download the client from https://foldingathome.org/alternative-downloads/ or from an authorized distributor. You can choose Windows/os-X/Linux. This solves two issues. *1 FAH knows that the downloads are virus-free *2 The CPUID will be assigned at the correct point in the installation. By making your own Zip file, you're potentially risking both of those issues plus you're violating the EULA.

ə i did d/l the latest .deb files from the “fah” site!
as new ones become available, the outdated ones will be replaced in the archive. as stated earlier, i install the packages using the dpkg tool after opening the zip on a new machine.
it just seems silly to me to have to d/l them every time i want to put them on a different comp since they always are the same.
i therefore see no violation.
p. s.: i now have folded 570+ wus. ə

[bruce]

I agree. Downloading the .deb files onto a flash drive ot CD isn't a violation. Pre-installing things and zipping them would be.

[Commander_Shrom]

I agree. Downloading the .deb files onto a flash drive ot CD isn't a violation. Pre-installing things and zipping them would be.

ə i would think that copying the executables and zipping them, then unzipping on a different comp without installing, would create dependency problems or say the command was not found.
i learned a long time ago not to copy these files from one machine to another without doing a proper install as it makes a mess.
pretty much, the only reason i zip up the “folding” directory is to preserve the permissions. it’s extremely distressing to get everything set up without a zipfile only to have fahcontrol tell me it can’t execute the fahcore! i then have to find that file and turn on its execute bit. zipping keeps the permissions intact.
i had a similar difficulty when i wanted to start “boinc” on a different machine. there, though, i had a weird problem because when i tried to copy the zip onto a thumb drive, the drive was formatted in “fat” and the zip was larger than 4gb! i used the usb stick formatter to change it to ext4, then copied the zip. when i tried to do it without zipping, there were far too many executables which no longer worked, and i didn’t want to go through hundreds of thousands of files to find all of them. it was of course frustrating when the copy to the thumb drive aborted after sitting for what seemed a huge amount of time, saying the file was too large!
as i’m writing this, i’ve folded 612. a fairly large one hasn’t been listed yet.
i soon should hit the top 5% in rank.
happy folding! ə

[bruce]

My concern is that once you do the install, FAHClient will contact the internet and get a unique id number and you'll then zip up the unique installation and it will no longer be unique. You absolutely do not want to propagate that unique value to more than the one machine that obtains it.

[Commander_Shrom]

My concern is that once you do the install, FAHClient will contact the internet and get a unique id number and you'll then zip up the unique installation and it will no longer be unique. You absolutely do not want to propagate that unique value to more than the one machine that obtains it.

but the fresh install creates a unique id for the new machine, right?
ergo, no problem with two comps having the same id.
the latest from my end: just sent up the work unit which was the number of the beast.
my chromebook quit for some reason a week ago. when i restarted it, the wu it was working on had expired! not sure what happened to cause the shutdown as the battery was charged. it’s possible it got too hot.
all the others are folding away at full power.
happy folding!

[bruce]

If you happen to get multiple computers with the same ID, you will waste a lot of effort and it won't eliminate be obvious.

Here's one possible scenario.

Computer A with ID N gets an assignment. Computer B with duplicatge ID N happens to request an assignment and happens to be directed to the same Work Server. That WS looks and wonders why you're asking for a new assignment without returning the one you have. One possiblity is that it will reassign the same WU.

One of the finishe and uploads the result Later, the other one uploads an identical result and the server "knows" it's also from the same computer with ID=N. The Work Server figures that you must be trying to cheat by getting double credit while only completing one WU so it discards the duplicate result and awards 0 points.

[Commander_Shrom]

The client.db file in the work directory is a SQLite database that contains an ID record in the Config table. It can be queried with DB Browser for SQLite (https://sqlitebrowser.org/) AKA sqlitebrowser package on Linux. I had to make a copy of the .db file since it's locked by FAH.

sqlitebrowser opened client.db (after i copied it somewhere else; otherwise i got that it was invalid file format) but i have no idea of what to look for in it.
when i asked to browse data, it showed two fields: configured, containing just the number 1; and id, which has a long negative number in it.
i copied the client.db files to the thumb drive, renaming each to correspond to the name of the computer it was on.
all the numbers were the same!
i still am getting results from each machine (673 total) so i obviously need to look somewhere else in the file. since a fresh install was done on each, i know the client.db should be different.
anyway, that’s the latest news from my end.
happy folding!

[YosiMor]

If you use the same username and passkey, each computer should get a different WU. However do not clone an installation of Folding@home from one computer to another. Each installation is given an unique machine ID the first time the folding client connects to the folding servers, if you clone the installation you can cause duplicate systems that will download the same WU.

Does this hold true also for a single desktop machine that can be dual-booted into either Windows or Ubuntu (and in either case receiving the same static IP-address)?

Thanks in advance,
- Yosi

[Joe_H]

Does this hold true also for a single desktop machine that can be dual-booted into either Windows or Ubuntu (and in either case receiving the same static IP-address)?

Yes, the unique ID assigned on first connection is not connected to your IP address.