Unix

You'll need to install the following software before building BOINC:

	Server	Core client	BOINC Manager	Applications (non-graphical)	Applications (graphical)
GNU tools (find them here): make 3.79+ m4 1.4+ libtool 1.4+ pkg-config 0.15+ autoconf 2.58+ automake 1.8+ GCC 3.0.4+	X	X	X	X	X
Python 2.2+ MySQLdb module 0.9.2+ (see installation instructions) xml module	X
MySQL 4.0+ or 4.1+ MySQL client	X
Apache with mod_ssl and PHP 4.0.6+	X
OpenSSL version 0.9.8+ (included with the BOINC source distribution for Windows)	X	X
libcurl version 7.14.0+ (included with the BOINC source distribution for Windows)		X
WxWidgets 2.6.1			X
GL, GLU, GLUT libraries					X
X11 libraries and include files			X		X
configure option	--enable-server	--enable-client	--enable-client (if WxWidgets and X11 found)	--enable-client	--enable-client (if GL/GLU/GLUT found)

Operating system notes

• Some parts of the BOINC server (the feeder and scheduling server) use shared memory. On hosts where these run, the operating system must have shared memory enabled, with a maximum segment size of at least 32 MB. How to do this depends on the operating system; some information is here.

WxWidgets notes

Configure with the --with-gtk --disable-shared options (BOINC needs a static library).

If you have an older WxWidgets install, uninstall it (make uninstall), then install 2.6.

MySQL notes

• After installing and running the server, grant permissions for your own account and for the account under which Apache runs ('nobody' in the following; may be different on your machine). All mysql accounts should be password protected including root.

      mysql -u root
      grant all on *.* to yourname@localhost identified by 'password';
      grant all on *.* to yourname identified by 'password';
      grant all on *.* to nobody@localhost identified by 'password';
      grant all on *.* to nobody identified by 'password';
  

• Set your PATH variable to include MySQL programs (typically /usr/local/mysql and /usr/local/mysql/bin).
• You'll need to back up your database. Generally this requires stopping the project, making a copy or snapshot, and restarting. An example is here.
• BOINC gets MySQL compiler and linker flags from a program called mysql_config which comes with your MySQL distribution. This sometimes references libraries that are not part of your base system installation, such as -lnsl or -lnss_files. You may need to install additional packages (often you can use something called 'mysql-dev' or 'mysql-devel') or fiddle with Makefiles.
• MySQL can be the bottleneck in a BOINC server. You may want to learn about (or hire someone who knows about) MySQL performance. For example, read about the MySQL query cache.

MySQLclient notes

• Configure mysql with the --enable-thread-safe-client switch.
• Set your LD_LIBRARY_PATH to refer to the correct library.

PHP notes

• Make sure 'magic quotes' are enabled (this is the default). The file /etc/php.ini should contain

  magic_quotes_gpc = On
  

• By default, BOINC uses PHP's mail function to send email to participants. This uses sendmail. If this doesn't work, you can use PHPMailer instead, which is a very flexible mail-sending mechanism. To do this:
  • Download PHPMailer and put it under PROJECT/html/inc/phpmailer.
  • Set the following variables in your PROJECT/html/project/project.inc file (substitute your own values):

    $USE_PHPMAILER = true;
    $PHPMAILER_HOST = "xxx.xxx.xxx";
    $PHPMAILER_MAILER = "smtp"; 
    

Library notes

If you have old versions of libraries (curl, openssl etc.) in /usr/lib, and newer versions somewhere else (like /usr/local/lib) you must tell the linker where to find the newer versions:

./configure LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/lib

X11 notes

To get the X11 support, select the relevant options when you're installing Linux, or (Redhat) go to System Settings/Add Software.

• Notes for Debian Linux.

Apache notes

In httpd.conf, set the default MIME type as follows (otherwise you'll get file upload signature verification errors):

DefaultType application/octet-stream

• Use Apache's suexec mechanism to make the CGI programs run as boincadm.
• Make the CGI programs setuid and owned by boincadm.
• Edit /etc/group so that boincadm belongs to group apache, i.e. the line:

      apache:x:48:
  

  becomes:

      apache:x:48:boincadm
  

  Add these two lines to the beginning of the apache start script (called apachectl, usually in /usr/sbin on linux):

      umask 2
      export umask
  

  Apache will need to be stopped/restarted for this to take effect. Now any file apache creates should have group writeable permissions (thanks to the umask) and user boincadm, who now belongs to group apache, should be able to update/delete these files.

Windows

WxWidgets notes

• Download and install the WxWidgets source according to instructions on the web site.
• In Settings/Control Panel/System, select Advanced; click Environment Variables. Under 'User variables' click New. Create a variable named 'wxwin' with value 'c:\wx' (or wherever you installed it). Then restart Visual Studio.