Controlling BOINC remotely
From BOINC
The BOINC Manager, which provides a GUI interface to control the BOINC Client on the same machine, can also be used to control the BOINC Client on other machines, if the other machine is configured to allow it.
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Controlling the BOINC Client
The BOINC core client typically is controlled by the BOINC Manager running on the same machine:
The two programs communicate over a local connection, using 'GUI RPC' (Graphical User Interface Remote Procedure Call). It's also possible to use the BOINC Manager to control a core client on a different host:
You can use add-on programs such as BoincTasks or BOINCView to control many BOINC clients at once:
Access control for GUI RPC
Since GUI RPCs can control the BOINC client (e.g. attaching/detaching projects) it is important to protect your BOINC client from unauthorized control. There are two levels of protection:
- GUI RPCs are authenticated with a GUI RPC password. This is stored with the client in the file gui_rpc_auth.cfg in the BOINC data directory (see details below). When BOINC first runs, it generates a long, random password. You can change it if you like.
- You can specify a set of hosts from which RPCs are allowed. By default, RPCs are allowed only from the same host.
A GUI RPC is handled only if it passes both levels of protection.
Allowing RPCs from remote hosts
By default the core client accepts GUI RPCs only from the same host. You can allow remote hosts to control a core client in two ways:
- If you run the client with the --allow_remote_gui_rpc command line option, it will accept connections from any host (subject to password authentication).
- You can create a file remote_hosts.cfg in your BOINC data directory (see details below) containing a list of allowed DNS host names or IP addresses (one per line). Only these hosts will be able to connect. The remote_hosts.cfg file can also have comment lines that start with either a # or a ; character.
If you have a remote_hosts.cfg file but also start the client with --allow_remote_gui_rpc, the file will be ignored, and any host will be allowed to connect.
Note that the "Read config file" on the BOINC Manager, Advanced menu will also read in the remote_hosts.cfg file i.e. a restart of the client is not required to effectuate changes to the permitted IP table.
BOINC data directory
gui_rpc_auth.cfg and remote_hosts.cfg need to be placed in the correct BOINC directory.
- Windows
On Windows with BOINC v5.x the BOINC directory is by default in C:\Program Files\BOINC
On Windows with BOINC v6.x the BOINC directory is by default in
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC
This is a hidden directory so if you can't navigate to it via Windows Explorer Folder view just paste the whole path name, "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC", into the Windows Explorer address line and it'll jump you there.
When upgrading from BOINC v5.x to v6.x your gui_rpc_auth.cfg and remote_hosts.cfg files are automatically moved for you.
- Linux
If you installed the boinc-client package from a package manager in Debian or Ubuntu, client data is stored in /var/lib/boinc-client
- Mac OS X
On a Mac, the client data is in: /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data
- All platforms
If you are in any doubt, to find the exact data directory, go the to client message log. Near the top of the startup section there will be a line printed similar to these examples:
11/02/2010 9:04:24 AM Data directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC
26-Apr-2010 13:08:53 [---] Data directory: /var/lib/boinc-client
Related topics
Boinccmd command line tool
