boinc - Man Page

The BOINC client program.

Synopsis

boinc [options]

Description

The BOINC "client", boinc, is the heart of BOINC. It controls which project applications are run on your computer, downloading "Tasks" and uploading the resulting files from completed tasks. boinc is usually run in the background, ideally as a daemon. It can then be controlled either by a graphical tool called the BOINC Manager, boincmgr(1), or a command-line tool called boinccmd(1), by means of Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) over port 31416.

The BOINC client can be controlled by command-line options, configuration files, and environment variables. Standard usage is simply to start the client running in the background.

Options

These command-line options for boinc can be used to control how BOINC is started. Once the client has started, you should use a separate program, (boincmgr(1) or boinccmd(1)) which communicates with it by means of Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).

General Options

--help

Show options.

--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.

--dir path

Use given dir as the client working directory.

--no_gpus

Don't check for GPUs.

--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.

Project Options

--attach_project URL key

Attach to a project using URL and authenticator.

--show_projects

Show attached projects.

--detach_project URL

Detach from project specified by URL.

--reset_project URL

Reset (clear) the projectspecified 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.

--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).

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.

--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).

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.

See Also

boinccmd(1), boincmgr(1)

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

Referenced By

boinccmd(1), boincmgr(1).

03 February 2020