File Menu
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[edit] General
The first menu we will discuss is the File Menu. This menu contains the options that allow you to do high level management of the BOINC Client Software. These settings control which BOINC Daemon is to be controlled, or if the BOINC Client Software should be completely shut-down for whatever reason.
This menu has only one or two entries depending on the platform:
In the older Versions of the BOINC Client Software this menu also contained the content that has been moved to the Commands Menu. For details on the older version of the File Menu see the page "File Menu - Up To Version 4.7x".
The option to quit the BOINC Manager on the Apple Macintosh OS-X platform is in the "Apple" menu as the "Quit" command as is standard with all Apple Macintosh OS-X applications.
[edit] Menu Overview
[edit] Select Computer …
Select Computer … Window "Select Computer …" Window
This is an added feature in the latest generation versions of the BOINC Client Software. With this option, the Participant can select a computer other than the one that they are currently on, which is also running the BOINC Software, and monitor and control the BOINC Daemon on that computer.
What this means in practical terms is that if I have two computers one named EQ-1 and the other named EQ-2, I can be sitting at computer EQ-1 and be using the BOINC Manager to monitor and control the BOINC Daemon on computer EQ-2 (and by the way, I do have two computers named just this way).
Select Computer … Window "Select Computer …" Window
If I select this menu option I can enter in the IP Address of another computer and I will see the connection made to that computer in the title bar of the BOINC Manager, and in the "Status Area" in the lower right corner of the BOINC Manager Window.
Select Computer … Window Non-Local BOINC Daemon Selected, Title Bar
As shown in the examples here, I entered the IP Address 192.168.1.102, pressed "Ok" and was connected to the computer with that IP Address.
As can be seen in these examples, the BOINC Manager is now monitoring a computer with the IP Address I entered into the "Select Computer …" window.
This is the only indication that you will have that you are not monitoring and controlling the BOINC Daemon on the computer that you are sitting at.
Select Computer … Window Non-Local BOINC Daemon Selected, "Status Area"
With this new capability, the Participant can monitor and control all of the BOINC Daemons on all of the computers they are installed on, from one computer's BOINC Manager.
- Note:
- The computer to be monitored has to be enabled through the use of a file named "remote_hosts.cfg" in the BOINC Directory on the computer that will be monitored.
- The file must be in plain text (use "Notepad" to create).
- The file must name the remote computer that will be allowed to access this computer's BOINC Daemon.
- See the examples of the plain text file and the directory where one of these files is installed.
- The computers that can contact and control the BOINC Daemon can be listed by IP Address or "Host Name". The IP Address will always work, where the "Host Name" will only work if your local name server is working (at times, my windows machines can't seem to see each other by name, why this happens I have not been able to discover, in those cases I use the IP Address).
- An example file looks like:
- EQ-2
- 192.168.1.100
- 192.168.1.101
- 192.168.1.102
- 192.168.1.103
- 192.168.1.104
- 192.168.1.105
- 192.168.1.106
- 192.168.1.107
- 192.168.1.109
- 192.168.1.109
- With one computer being listed by name, the remainder by IP Address.
- Note:
- For the file to become "active" the BOINC Daemon must be stopped and restarted. If you have a "service" type installation that will require that the BOINC Daemon using the "services" control (see BOINC "How-To" Guide: "Stopping and Restarting The BOINC Daemon, Microsoft Windows® "Service-Type" Install"); or by rebooting your computer.
If you enter the name of the remote computer wrong, the remote computer is off-line, or other connection error; you will see the error message as shown.
To protect the BOINC Daemon from unauthorized access you can use the BOINC Daemon Password to require a password to be used for external access to the BOINC Daemon.
[edit] Exit
Selecting the "Exit" menu option in the File Menu will close the BOINC Manager but this action will not also stop the execution of the BOINC Daemon or halt processing performed by the Science Application(s), unless the BOINC Daemon was started by this BOINC Manager.
This is a change from the old system where the BOINC Manager and the BOINC Daemon were essentially the same program. With the new BOINC Client Software (version 4.25 and up), the BOINC Manager and the BOINC Daemon are not so tightly tied together. For example, if the BOINC Daemon was installed as a service, exiting the BOINC Manager will not halt the running BOINC Daemon.
The option to quit the BOINC Manager on the Apple Macintosh OS-X platform is in the "Apple" menu as the "Quit" command as is standard with all Apple Macintosh OS-X applications. Note that at the moment, there is not the distinction of the separate types of installs and so selecting "Quit" from the "Apple" menu will halt the processing by the Science Applications running and also close the BOINC Client Software.
[edit] Summary
The File Menu is the main control of the operational state of the BOINC Manager and BOINC Daemon.
