Problems on Ubuntu 25.04 with subequent installs, updates etc after fah-client v8.4.9 install + simple fix.
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2025 8:52 pm
Just a heads up regarding a previously "ignorable" error during install of the fah-client v8.4.9 on older Ubuntu releases, which now has become a major pain on Ubuntu 25.04...
The install command (from the Linux manual install documentation):
forces the packaging system to ignore errors during install regarding dependencies which earlier had (seemingly) no effect.
Now, this has the effect that installs and updates to Ubuntu fail, and one have to uninstall the fah-client to be able to maintain the installation, and then reinstall the fah-client.
Me, and a friend of mine ( GPTo4
), made a simple bash script to remedy this by unpacking the .deb file and stripping the invalid dependencies, for then to proceed to rebuild the .deb file.
The script can, and will be improved over time, as it now has hard coded URL for download and version of the fah-client among other things, but I post it here in the hope that this can help overcome some initial problems with fah installation.
The install command (from the Linux manual install documentation):
Code: Select all
sudo dpkg -i --force-depends fah-client_8.4.9_amd64.debNow, this has the effect that installs and updates to Ubuntu fail, and one have to uninstall the fah-client to be able to maintain the installation, and then reinstall the fah-client.
Me, and a friend of mine ( GPTo4
), made a simple bash script to remedy this by unpacking the .deb file and stripping the invalid dependencies, for then to proceed to rebuild the .deb file.The script can, and will be improved over time, as it now has hard coded URL for download and version of the fah-client among other things, but I post it here in the hope that this can help overcome some initial problems with fah installation.
Code: Select all
#!/bin/bash
set -e
FAH_VERSION="8.4.9"
FAH_DEB="fah-client_${FAH_VERSION}_amd64.deb"
FAH_URL="https://download.foldingathome.org/releases/public/fah-client/debian-10-64bit/release/${FAH_DEB}"
TMP_DIR="fah-deb-temp"
FIXED_DEB="fixed-${FAH_DEB}"
echo "Folding@home Client Installer (v${FAH_VERSION}) for Ubuntu 25.04+"
# Optional user configuration
read -p "🔑 FAH passkey (leave empty to skip): " USER_PASSKEY
read -p "👤 Machine name (leave empty to skip): " USER_NAME
read -p "🧑🤝🧑 Team number (leave empty to skip): " USER_TEAM
# Clean up prior attempts
echo "Cleaning up previous install attempts..."
sudo apt-mark unhold fah-client 2>/dev/null || true
sudo apt --fix-broken install -y || true
sudo apt purge -y fah-client || true
rm -rf "$TMP_DIR" "$FAH_DEB" "$FIXED_DEB"
# Download if missing
if [ ! -f "$FAH_DEB" ]; then
echo "Downloading FAH client .deb..."
wget -q --show-progress "$FAH_URL"
else
echo "Using existing ${FAH_DEB}"
fi
# Repack .deb
echo "Unpacking .deb to remove broken dependencies..."
dpkg-deb -R "$FAH_DEB" "$TMP_DIR"
echo "Stripping invalid PolicyKit dependency..."
sed -i '/^Depends:/s/polkitd-pkla[^,]*,\?//g' "$TMP_DIR/DEBIAN/control"
sed -i '/^Depends:/s/policykit-1([^)]*)//g' "$TMP_DIR/DEBIAN/control"
sed -i '/^Depends:/s/,,/,/g' "$TMP_DIR/DEBIAN/control"
sed -i '/^Depends:/s/: ,/: /g' "$TMP_DIR/DEBIAN/control"
echo "Rebuilding clean .deb..."
dpkg-deb -b "$TMP_DIR" "$FIXED_DEB"
# Install
echo "Installing clean FAH client .deb..."
sudo apt install -y "./$FIXED_DEB"
# Hold it to prevent upgrade breakage
sudo apt-mark hold fah-client
# Optional configuration
if [ -n "$USER_PASSKEY" ] || [ -n "$USER_NAME" ] || [ -n "$USER_TEAM" ]; then
echo "Configuring /etc/fah-client/config.xml..."
CONFIG_FILE="/etc/fah-client/config.xml"
sudo cp "$CONFIG_FILE" "${CONFIG_FILE}.bak"
sudo xmlstarlet ed -L \
-u "/config/user" -v "${USER_NAME:-Anonymous}" \
-u "/config/team" -v "${USER_TEAM:-0}" \
-u "/config/passkey" -v "${USER_PASSKEY}" \
"$CONFIG_FILE" || echo "⚠️ Could not auto-edit config.xml (install xmlstarlet?)"
fi
# Restart client
sudo systemctl restart fah-client
echo "FAH client installed and running!"
echo "Open browser to https://v8-4.foldingathome.org/ to view web UI"
