Setting so BOINC reports completed WUs instantly?

[nanoprobe]

So app_config works with BOINC 7.0.4xx and higher. Is there one of the newer versions that is actually somewhat stable? I'm doing CPU crunching only.

app_config works only with versions 7.0.42 and above. I'm currently using 7.0.56 and it's very stable but there are now newer versions out. As an FYI you can't use an app_info file in the versions of BOINC above 7.0.42. Your tasks will complete and upload but they will not report. The app_config system is 100x easier anyway so I would recommend updating your BOINC client and using it.

I do not know if you can limit it to run like 4 different cpu only projects and X GPU projects on a machine.

Yes, you can do that. You can run as many different CPU projects as you have CPU cores available or you can split your cores up to run CPU and GPU tasks simultaneously from different projects.

Another bonus of updating to client 7.0.55 and above is that you can modify the app_config files on the run and not have to shut down and restart BOINC every time you make a change or add an app_config file to a project. Just go the the BOINC manager and select Advanced>Read config file.

[Bryan]

So if you have optimized apps (executables) that would normally be defined and called out in an app_info would you do the same thing in the app_config?

[zombie67]

As an FYI you can't use an app_info file in the versions of BOINC above 7.0.42. Your tasks will complete and upload but they will not report. The app_config system is 100x easier anyway so I would recommend updating your BOINC client and using it.

This is not correct. app_info.xml still works as it used to with 7.0.42+.

[zombie67]

So if you have optimized apps (executables) that would normally be defined and called out in an app_info would you do the same thing in the app_config?

Custom apps require anonymous platform (app_info.xml).

app_config.xml is *only* for custom scheduling options.

[Bryan]

@Z ... so I'm assuming you can run both the app_info AND app_config on the same project. So that brings up the question that if max_concurrent is defined can it be used in the app_info or only in the app_config?

[zombie67]

@Z ... so I'm assuming you can run both the app_info AND app_config on the same project. So that brings up the question that if max_concurrent is defined can it be used in the app_info or only in the app_config?

I don't know if both can be used at the same time, for the same project. See my earlier post:

I do not believe that you can use both at the same time for a particular project, but I haven't tested that.

There is nothing added to the wiki for the app_info.xml about max_concurrent. But that doesn't mean it hasn't been added to the functionality. BOINC documentation sucks out loud.

[nanoprobe]

So if you have optimized apps (executables) that would normally be defined and called out in an app_info would you do the same thing in the app_config?

You don't need any executables in the app_config file. All you need is the correct app name which you can find in the client_state.xml file found in the BOINC folder. If you run or have run a lot of projects that folder could be large but the needed info is in there. Here are some examples.

app_config for WCG. As you can see there are no executables, only the correct app name. The max_concurrent tag is only needed for CPU tasks. The gpu_uasge tag controls how many tasks you want your GPU to run. You can put 1 or all of the WCG projects into 1 config file. Only the tasks you have selected on your profile page on the WCG site to run will download and run. The rest of the info in the config file will be ignored. This goes for any project that might have more than 1 app available. The GPU part of this config file will run 8 GPU tasks using 4 CPU cores. You can use partial cores only if you have an ATI card. Nvidia driver support for OpenCl is not very good and requires a full core for each GPU task and you'll probably not be able to run more than 4 tasks simultaneously depending on the model of your card, again because of poor driver support. (From info I've gathered from other Nvidia owners you'll probably not be able to run no more than 2 tasks at a time @WCG)

<app_config>
<app>
<name>hcc1</name>
<gpu_versions>
<gpu_usage>.125</gpu_usage>
<cpu_usage>0.50</cpu_usage>
</gpu_versions>
</app>
<app>
<name>beta</name>
<max_concurrent>8</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>sn2s</name>
<max_concurrent>4</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>c4cw</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
</app_config>

app_config for SkynetPogs

<app_config>
<app>
<name>magphys_wrapper</name>
<max_concurrent>2</max_concurrent>
</app>
</app_config>

This will run the app on 2 of my available 8 cores. As you can see the app name is quite different than the project name. That's why it is important to have the correct name in your app_config file. Since I'm only using 2 of my 8 cores I can run other projects on the other cores by placing an app_config into the correct project folder. If you have 8 cores you could run 8 different CPU projects at a time by assigning 1 core to each project. Just be advised that running that many could take a lot of monitoring. I have run 4 different ones at the same time. Keeping the caches full does take some looking after because of priority settings.

Hope I haven't totally confused you. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have. Once you get the hang of this you'll see how much easier it is to use an app_config over an app_info.

[DrPop]

Thanks guys! That was the one I was thinking of. And now you're getting way over my head so I'll turn the thread over to Bryan and ya'll.

[nanoprobe]

This is not correct. app_info.xml still works as it used to with 7.0.42+.

OK. My bad. It didn't work @ WCG so I assumed wrong that it wouldn't work anywhere else.

[zombie67]

OK. My bad. It didn't work @ WCG so I assumed wrong that it wouldn't work anywhere else.

Right, that get's back to my earlier comment:

At least one project (WCG) will not allow anonymous platform, so app_config.xml was developed as an alternative method to adjust scheduling parameters.

Projects have the ability to dis-allow anonymous platform (app_info.xml). WCG is not allowing it, and there may be others in the future. But the functionality still remains in the BOINC client and server for anonymous platform.

And anonymous platform is still the only way to use custom apps. So app_config.xml is not a replacement for anonymous platform.