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README for OpenFOAM: The Open Source CFD Toolbox
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0. Copyright
~~~~~~~~~~~~
OpenFOAM is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
any later version. See the file COPYING in this directory, for a
description of the GNU General Public License terms under which you can
copy the files.
1. Contents
~~~~~~~~~~~
0. Copyright
1. Contents
2. System requirements
3. Installation
4. Building from Sources (Optional)
5. Testing the installation
6. Getting started
7. Documentation
8. Help
9. Reporting Bugs
2. System requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OpenFOAM is developed and tested on Linux, but should work with other
Unix style systems. To check your system setup, execute the foamSystemCheck
script in the bin/ directory of the OpenFOAM installation. If no problems
are reported, proceed to "3. Installation"; otherwise contact your
system administrator.
If the user wishes to run OpenFOAM in 32/64-bit mode they should consult
the appendix "A. Running OpenFOAM in 32-bit mode".
3. Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Download and unpack the files in the $HOME/OpenFOAM directory as described
in: http://www.OpenFOAM.org/download.html
The environment variable settings are contained in files in an etc/
directory in the OpenFOAM release. e.g. in
$HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-<VERSION>/etc/
where <VERSION> corresponds to the version 1.4, 1.5, ...
a)
EITHER, if running bash or ksh (if in doubt type 'echo $SHELL'),
source the etc/bashrc file by adding the following line to the end
of your $HOME/.bashrc file:
. $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-<VERSION>/etc/bashrc
Then update the environment variables by sourcing the $HOME/.bashrc file
by typing in the terminal:
. $HOME/.bashrc
b)
OR, if running tcsh or csh, source the etc/cshrc file by adding the
following line to the end of your $HOME/.cshrc file:
source $HOME/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-<VERSION>/etc/cshrc
Then update the environment variables by sourcing the $HOME/.cshrc file
by typing in the terminal:
source $HOME/.cshrc
3.1. Installation in alternative locations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OpenFOAM may also be installed in alternative locations. However, the
installation directory should be network available (e.g., NFS) if
parallel calculations are planned.
The environment variable 'FOAM_INST_DIR' can be used to find and source
the appropriate resource file. Here is a bash/ksh/sh example:
export FOAM_INST_DIR=/data/app/OpenFOAM
foamDotFile=$FOAM_INST_DIR/OpenFOAM-<VERSION>/etc/bashrc
[ -f $foamDotFile ] && . $foamDotFile
setenv FOAM_INST_DIR /data/app/OpenFOAM
foamDotFile=$FOAM_INST_DIR/OpenFOAM-<VERSION>/etc/bashrc
if ( -f $foamDotFile ) source $foamDotFile
The value set in '$FOAM_INST_DIR' will be used to locate the remaining
parts of the OpenFOAM installation.
4. Building from Sources (Optional)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you cannot find an appropriate binary pack for your platform, you can
build the complete OpenFOAM from the source-pack. You will first need to
compile or obtain a recent version of gcc (we recomend gcc-4.3.?) for
your platform, which may be obtained from http://gcc.gnu.org/.
Install the compiler in
$WM_PROJECT_INST_DIR/ThirdParty/gcc-<GCC_VERSION>/platforms/$WM_ARCH$WM_COMPILER_ARCH/
and change the gcc version number in $WM_PROJECT_DIR/etc/settings.sh and
$WM_PROJECT_DIR/etc/settings.csh appropriately and finally update the
environment variables as in section 3.
Now go to the top-level source directory $WM_PROJECT_DIR and execute the
top-level build script './Allwmake'. In principle this will build
everything, but if problems occur with the build order it may be necessary
to update the environment variables and re-execute 'Allwmake'. If you
experience difficulties with building the source-pack, or your platform is
not currently supported, please contact <enquiries@OpenCFD.co.uk> to
negotiate a support contract and we will do the port and maintain it for
future releases.
5. Testing the installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To check your installation setup, execute the 'foamInstallationTest'
script (in the bin/ directory of the OpenFOAM installation). If no
problems are reported, proceed to getting started with OpenFOAM;
otherwise, go back and check you have installed the software correctly
and/or contact your system administrator.
6. Getting Started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Create a project directory within the $HOME/OpenFOAM directory named
<USER>-<VERSION> (e.g. 'chris-1.5' for user chris and OpenFOAM version 1.5)
and create a directory named 'run' within it, e.g. by typing:
mkdir -p $HOME/OpenFOAM/${USER}-${WM_PROJECT_VERSION}/run
Copy the 'tutorial' examples directory in the OpenFOAM distribution to the
'run' directory. If the OpenFOAM environment variables are set correctly,
then the following command will be correct:
cp -r $WM_PROJECT_DIR/tutorials $HOME/OpenFOAM/${USER}-${WM_PROJECT_VERSION}/run
Run the first example case of incompressible laminar flow in a cavity:
cd $HOME/OpenFOAM/${USER}-${WM_PROJECT_VERSION}/run/tutorials/icoFoam/cavity
blockMesh
icoFoam
7. Documentation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8. Help
~~~~~~~
http://www.OpenFOAM.org
http://www.OpenFOAM.org/discussion.html
9. Reporting Bugs in OpenFOAM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A. Running OpenFOAM in 32-bit mode on 64-bit machines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linux users with a 64-bit machine may install either the OpenFOAM 32-bit
version (linux) or the OpenFOAM 64-bit version (linux64), or both.
The 64-bit is the default mode on a 64-bit machine. To use an installed
32-bit version, the user must set the environment variable $WM_32 (to
anything, e.g. "on") before sourcing the etc/bashrc (or etc/cshrc) file.
Unsetting WM_32 and re-sourcing the etc/bashrc (or etc/cshrc) file will
set up the user to run in 64-bit mode.