boinc(1)

💖 boinc(1) — the BOINC client, but make it make sense 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about boinc, the actual client program — manual section 1, main character energy, no cap. it's the whole entire heart of BOINC and honestly? she runs the show.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

boinc [options]

like... that's it. that's the whole vibe. options go in, magic comes out. 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so boinc — the BOINC "client" — is literally the heart of BOINC. she's the one calling the shots: she decides which project applications get to run on your computer, she's out here downloading "Tasks" and uploading the resulting files from the tasks that are done-done. multitasking queen. 👑

most of the time boinc just vibes in the background, ideally as a daemon, like she's minding her own business. and then you can control her either with a graphical tool called the BOINC Manager, boincmgr(1), or with a command-line tool called boinccmd(1) — both of them talk to her through Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) over port 31416. yes, 31416. it's giving pi-adjacent. iykyk. 🥧

the BOINC client can be controlled by command-line options, configuration files, and environment variables. and the standard usage? bestie it is so simple — you just start the client running in the background. that's the whole thing. periodt. ✨

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

these command-line options for boinc are how you control how BOINC gets started. once the client is already up and running, pls don't try to poke her with these — use a separate program, boincmgr(1) or boinccmd(1), which communicates with her by means of Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs). she's already awake, just text her. 📱

🌸 GENERAL OPTIONS 🌸

• --help — show options. that's it. she's helping. 🫶
• --version — show version info.
• --run_cpu_benchmarks — run the CPU benchmarks.
• --check_all_logins — for idle detection, check remote logins too.
• --daemon — run as daemon. will redirect stderr and stdout to syslog. very "i'll be in the back, don't worry about me" of her.
• --dir path — use the given dir as the client working directory.
• --no_gpus — don't check for GPUs. she's not even looking. 🙈
• --no_info_fetch — don't fetch project list or client version info from boinc.berkeley.edu.
• --skip_cpu_benchmarks — don't run CPU benchmarks.
• --start_delay X — delay starting apps for X secs. a lil pause, a lil stretch, then go. 🧘

💜 PROJECT OPTIONS 💜

• --attach_project URL key — attach to a project using URL and authenticator.
• --show_projects — show attached projects. roll call! 📋
• --detach_project URL — detach from the project specified by URL.
• --reset_project URL — reset (clear) the project specified by URL.
• --update_prefs URL — contact the project specified by URL to update preferences.

💌 COMMUNICATION OPTIONS 💌

• --allow_remote_gui_rpc — allow RPC connections from remote hosts. letting the whole internet into the group chat, okay!! 😭
• --gui_rpc_port port — port for RPCs.
• --no_gui_rpc — omits creation of a socket as required for the remote control of the client. consequently the client cannot be controlled by external tools like GUIs (boincmgr etc.) or the console command tool (boinccmd). so like... she's offline-offline. do not do this and then be confused. 💀

🔥 DEBUGGING OPTIONS 🔥

• --abort_jobs_on_exit — when client exits, abort and report tasks.
• --allow_multiple_clients — allow more than one client instance per host.
• --exit_after_app_start N — exit N seconds after an app starts. useful to look at the files in the slot directory.
• --exit_after_finish — exit right after finishing a task. useful to look at the files in the slot directory.
• --exit_before_start — exit right before starting a task. useful to look at the files in the slot directory.
• --exit_before_upload — exit right before starting an upload.
• --exit_when_idle — exit when there are no more tasks to work on.
• --fetch_minimal_work — fetch only 1 task per device. minimalism era. 🍃
• --file_xfer_giveup_period N — give up on file transfers after N sec.
• --master_fetch_interval N — limiting the period of project master file dowload retries.
• --master_fetch_period N — reload a project's master file after N RPC failures.
• --master_fetch_retry_cap N — exponential backoff limit for downloading project master files.
• --no_priority_change — run applications at same priority as client.
• --pers_giveup N — giveup time for persistent file transfer errors.
• --pers_retry_delay_max N — maximum time (sec) for file transfer exponential backoff.
• --pers_retry_delay_min N — minimum time (sec) for file transfer exponential backoff.
• --redirectio — redirect stdout and stderr to log files (stdoutdae.txt and stderrdae.txt).
• --retry_cap N — limit the maximum exponential backoff time.
• --sched_retry_delay_max N — maximum time (sec) for project RPC exponential backoff.
• --sched_retry_delay_min N — minimum time (sec) for project RPC exponential backoff.
• --unsigned_apps_ok — allow unsigned apps (for testing). testing only bestie, don't get comfy. 🧪

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🔐 ACCESS CONTROL FOR GUI RPC 🔐

by default the client accepts GUI RPC connections only from programs on the same host, which means that any user on this host can control the client.

no cap, that's the default. any user. same host. controls her. lock it down if that's not the vibe you want. 👀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

boinccmd(1), boincmgr(1)

⟨https://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration#Command-line_options⟩

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright © 2007-2020 University of California.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this one's from the 03 February 2020 era, and it lives in section 1 of the manual — boinc(1), iconic forever. go run some tasks, hydrate, and don't forget to lock down your RPC. mwah!! 💖✨🎀