[Linux] Monitoring while logged out?

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PPatBoyd

Weaksauce
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Oct 25, 2003
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Ok, I'm another linux nubbie, so go easy on me here. I'm running Fedora Core 2, and I am using this command to run F@H (or i think I am at least) while i'm logged out:

"nohup /root/evolution/[email protected] &" without the quotation marks of course.

Now for reasons I am unable to get away from, I have to keep the computer logged out whenever I'm not directly using it. Is there a way I can:

A: monitor F@H while i'm logged out?
or
B: Keep F@H running in the console while i'm logged out, so I can just log in whenever I feel like checking on it?
or
C: I can monitor it from another computer through Samba, but in a way that I can just pop open the program, see the current status, and then close it again till I check?

The thing about my computers is that I'm not exactly into the money, so all of my computers are RAM low (don't believe any of them have even 512), and I try to keep programs I don't need running from running while I'm folding. Problem is EMIII doesn't work correctly when I just open it every now and then for about a minute. EMIII was saying "33/100" when the real number was "61/100". Am I just being too impatient with EMIII, or is EMIII just not the program for me? (FYI this is on my Windows boxes)

Thanks for all of the help :)
 
I suggest B or C. For FC2, you'll want to make a script file in /etc/init.d (call it "folding" or something) and do chkconfig folding on.

The exact format of the script escapes me, especially since it's been a while since I folded on a fc box. Look at some of the other files in that directory, and if you can't figure out how to make your own, post one and I'll see what I can do.

I might also suggest that you put fah in its own folder, make it its own username, and change the ownership of the folder to the new username. This prevents security problems. If you need help doing this, respond back and I'll help you out.

This will make folding start at boot, rather than at login. I do this on my gentoo box, and it works fine. Even if you log in as a different user (it's too easy to break things as root!) it'll still be running.
 
Well I'm going to defer to u_m whenver it comes to a Linux question, but here's what I do. In /etc/rc.d/rc.local add the lines:

cd /dir/where/fah/is/located
./FAH502-Linux.exe -flags > /dev/null &

That will start fah when the computer starts, substitute the flags you use at -flags (i.e. -advmethods -forceasm etc).
Setup Samba and put a shortcut to the FAHlog.txt on you Windows desktop, whenver you want to check the status just look in the log. You can also us EMIII in that setup I believe.

 
pageian's method is easy to set up, I recommend you go with it. It'll just start the service nicely, though; at shutdown it just gets killed when it says "Sending all processes TERM signal". This will work, on FC2, but on other OSes it may not due to the filesystem being unmounted or remounted readonly. Basically, the only problem you'll have is you'll need -forceasm due to the fact that FAH is never asked nicely to shut down, just terminated.

Here's my quick guide to folding as a different user:
adduser -d /home/FAH -s /bin/false foldingathome # Create a new user to fold as
mkdir /home/FAH # Make a directory for him, put the FAH500-Linux.exe in here and chmod +x it
chown -R foldingathome:foldingathome /home/FAH # Give him ownership of the FAH directory
Then to start the service
cd /home/FAH # change to proper directory
sudo foldingathome ./FAH502-Linux.exe -flags > /dev/null & # Same as pageian's, just run as a different user.

HTH ;)
 
I should start using forceasm, cause I've outright terminated F@H a lot...

The problem's not folding under another user, it's just folding while logged out :p and I needed an easy way to monitor the progress without having to stay logged in to one account, or run EMIII constantly. I'll probably make a new folder and share it, just take a peek at the log file whenever.

Thanks Guys :)
 
If you make a folder and share it with samba, then you can drag-n-drop it into EM3 and it should monitor progress right. Make sure you set the permissions so that it is writable; em3 needs that for some reason.

The reason I suggested folding as another user is just for potential security reasons; if you're the only one using your computer and you're reasonably firewalled it shouldn't be a problem, but otherwise I'd suggest it.
 
Here are some more answers:
A: monitor F@H while i'm logged out?
Click to expand...
examples:
Remote: tail -f FAHlog.txt > /dev/pts/1 &
Local: tail -f FAHlog.txt > /dev/tts/1 &
Output is kinda nasty, and you might have problems finding the correct /dev/device

B: Keep F@H running in the console while i'm logged out, so I can just log in whenever I feel like checking on it?
Click to expand...
linux program called: screen

or
C: I can monitor it from another computer through Samba, but in a way that I can just pop open the program, see the current status, and then close it again till I check?
Click to expand...

setup samba to share the folding folder/directory. use EM3 to moniter it remotely on a windows machine ; last time i used em3 i didnt need to make it writable, tho that was a good 6months ago.

Code: 
[folding]
 comment = Folding@Home
 path = /home/spirit/fold
 force user = spirit
 guest ok = yes
 browsable = yes
 read only = yes

Oh & its good security to run it as a user, not as root :cool:
 
PPatBoyd, FahMon is a good choice to replace EM3 in your case... It starts quickly and shuts down quickly and should work for a shared folder, Samba or not :)
 
Thanks smoky and vxspiritxv, I'll go look for screen right now. I'm not really worried about security though, that computer does nothing but fold (for the next two months, at least).
 
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