There are server-side issues that result in failing to get work assigned to your VM, see ongoing discussions here, new automatic bigadv on 16 CPU or larger VMs seems to have helped.
I have now published a short video of downloading/deploying/configuring 1.0.1 on one ESXi 6.7U3 server, it's pretty easy, and only took about 10 minutes!
Dell Technologies has also announced that they're engaging users of Alienware PCs to lend their computing power to Folding@home.
COVID-19 is the name of the disease caused by the new coronavirus that is called SARS-CoV-2, or sometimes just “novel coronavirus”. Source.
Article as it originally appeared below, with updates appended.
I first spotted a few tweets about this ongoing effort by William Lam @lamw earlier this week, hearing he was working on an OVA file to make downloading and installing Folding@home much easier. Hey, I have a home lab, and 3 of my systems could be taken away from my incessant tinkering and put to an even better use for a while.
I'm new to Folding@home, but managed to deploy a few copies of William Lam's OVA which had just been published earlier that day.
Given all the novel Coronavirus 2019 / COVID-19 concern out there, what could be better than a good excuse to have a little distraction (and fun) putting my vSphere 6.7 Update 3 cluster back together, and a chance to use my lab's smooth-running DNS and certificate-error-free HTML5 based vSphere Client.
So when this nudge from my work colleague Matt Webb @dinotheroller arrived, I had already been working to clear my plate of day job and personal responsibilities so I'd be able to invest some of my time into this project Friday night. Yes, responsibilities like getting food when there's less people shopping, got that done first.
Amanda's words are excellent, I encourage you to read her whole article, with just an excerpt below. I've even had the chance to meet her in person at a VMUG a while back, you know, back when we could meet people face-to-face.
At VMware, our EPIC2 values are a core component of who we are. We manifest our values in all aspects of our work and through being a Force for Good in our communities. When I initially read an article about Folding@Home and the project’s impact in helping researchers find treatments for diseases such as Coronavirus, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more, I knew that I had to contribute to the project! To quote foldingathome.org:
The Folding@Home project (FAH) is dedicated to understanding protein folding, the diseases that result from protein misfolding and aggregation, and novel computational ways to develop new drugs in general. ...
Xeon D 1541 8 core / 16 threads, 16 vCPUs assigned to 1 Folding@home VM
Xeon D 1541 8 core / 16 threads, 16 vCPUs assigned to 1 Folding@home VM
Xeon D 1567 12 core / 24 threads, 8 vCPUs assigned to 1 Folding@home VM
Xeon D 2123IT 4 core / 8 threads, 8 vCPUs assigned to 1 Folding@home VM
TOTAL - 24 CPU cores / 48 vCPUs dedicated to Folding@home
Given my SuperServer Workstation is also my daily driver for all TinkerTry content creation and 4K video editing and rendering, and also the RDP client for doing my day job, I needed to avoid using any more than about a third of this systems available threads for VMs.
I'm currently estimating that if I get workload to all my cores, the maximum impact I'll be seeing by firing up 3 additional nodes that I normally leave powered down will be in the in the range of 125 to 175 watts.
This is the page where you'll want to download both: VMware-Appliance-FaH_1.0.4.ova VMwareApplianceforFAHDeploymentSteps.pdf VMware-Appliance-for-FAH-FAQ.pdf
from, this Photon OS based appliance is a mere 281MB in size, so it shouldn't take very long.
While that's downloading, be sure to check out the requirements page to see what else you'll need to know, including port #s that VM will be using, just in case you have outbound firewall rules to deal with. See also security discussion initiated by Chris Colotti here, but he and team 241525 at Cohesity have jumped in as well.
Using vSphere Client to deploy the OVA, you'll simply need to answer some basic questions, and configure your network. It's easiest if you just go with DHCP, and note that this VM doesn't do well if cloned, winding up with a duplicate IP address even if you do remove the virtual NIC to get a new MAC address. It's best to just deploy each VM from the OVA, to as many systems and cores as you'd like to give it.
Steps 1 to 6 are done the usual way you deploy an OVA to a vSphere cluster, using the vSphere client HTML5 UI, see VMware's excellent Deploy an OVF or OVA Template.
Step 7 is Customize template, this is the screen with the most questions.
In my lab's DHCP network, I have IPs from 10.10.1.1 to 10.10.1.255 with netmask of 255.255.255.0. Substitute your network IPs appropriately. I noticed that entering a password in the "Password to configure for remote F&H management" doesn't result in a prompt for a password when I use my browser to have a look at status, so I've removed it from my summary table below.
Here's the only fields I touched, then it works:
Hostname folding5
DNS 10.10.1.1
DNS Domain lab.local
OS Credentials root password VMware1!
F&H Team ID 52737 (leave as-is for VMware, or 236797 for DellTechnologiesNA)
Remote networks allowed to connect to F@H Web Management
(http://[FQDN]:7396) 10.10.1.0/24
Change the CPUs from 2 to however many you want to give it, I chose 16
Change the Memory from the default to 12GB, if you chose 16 CPUs (or more)
You may want to alter the default "Medium" setting for CPU usage in the Folding Power setting seen in the deployment template, or create a separate Resource Group, especially if you cluster is busy doing other workloads. This can also be changed later on easily using the web client.
Power on the VM, opening a console so you can see if it successfully starts work. If you get "Failed to get assignment" errors, don't worry, it will automatically keep trying again. If it sits without work assigned for many hours, I have found a reboot of the VM can often get workload assigned within about 5 minutes.
From a system on the same network as your VM, open a browser and type in: http://[IP ADDRESS or HOSTNAME]:7396
then press enter. There should be no prompts for a password, and you are able to click on the link under 'I'm folding as" to Change Identity, making sure your name, Team Number, and Passkey are in there, using the requested passkey which takes just seconds.
A variety of errors might be seen on your console view of your VMs, including: WARNING Failed to get assignment from Empty work server assignment Exception: Could not get an assignment
At this time, there are some difficulties in getting any work done with the VM during the daytime here in the US. In my 18 hours or so of running so far, the errors might resolve themselves eventually if you simply leave them running. Note, the CPU cycles aren't being used during those waiting periods, which will mitigate the effects on your electric bill.
It's to be expected that the back end servers and employees will need some time to scale up to the increased demand, in part due to this new much-easier-to-deploy VM that even Linux novices should feel comfortable using.
Greg Bowman @drGregBowman Mar 19
Please be patient if you experience idle time on @foldingathome as we face the #COVID19 pandemic together! We are working like mad to start simulations of COVID-19 proteins. The enthusiastic response to our effort has been tremendous and has sometimes emptied our queues.
Jeremiah Miller @perpterds Mar 18
@foldingathome I think something is up with your stats page/server... Getting constant "bad gateway" errors. Confirmed with a friend.
Also, we're both getting a LOT of "Failed to get assignment" errors.
In the Folding Forum, see Temporary server outages for more information on the behind-the-scenes.
Last night, I heard William Lam is working on a new release of the OVA, he tweeted the details about the planned change in his tweet:
automatic configuration of “bigadv” is going to be in 1.0.1 release. In fact, just released it few seconds ago internally for validation before we publish
Title changed from: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - join the fight against diseases such as Coronavirus virtually
to: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers unfold the mystery of Coronavirus/COVID-19 disease virtually
Title changed from: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers unfold the mystery of Coronavirus/COVID-19 disease virtually
to: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers unfold the mystery of diseases like Coronavirus/COVID-19 virtually
Created a shortcut to get to this article that is easily memorized, to share with others. It's tinkertry.com/fah. Changed my name on the Folding@home status page from:
@paulbraren_tinkertry.com/fah
to:
tinkertry.com/fah
since my first 2,735 credit was apparently not showing my name at all, just blank where the name should be.
It's happened 3 times now where I have a VM booted that has had no work assigned for many hours. I heard the interval between subsequent requests for work gets longer the longer the system has been booted. This makes sense, from a scaling perspective. But if I reboot my VM, I find that within about 5 minutes, it usually gets work assigned.
I have some VMs on the VMware Team ID, and some VMs on the DellTechnologiesNA Team ID. It doesn't really matter, since we only have one human race on earth, if a cure for COVID-19 is eventually developed, we all win.
I had some datastore errors on my 4 core Xeon D GIGABYTE SERVER system, so I shut down and reseated the NVMe drive. It's an old Micron 22110 M.2 NVMe SSD, which is extra long, so I have to use a PCIe adapter. That adapter may be at fault here. Rebooted, restarted the VM, and no more disk errors, for now. Will monitor.
I noticed that chrome tends to have issues with the Web client, status won't update. Firefox seems to work fine for days. Chrome is just unreliable, even after clearing cookies or forcing a network reload with Ctrl+F5.
I also noticed that if I look at my Donor: tinkertry.com/fah page: https://stats.foldingathome.org/donor/74495481
for some reason my DellTechnologiesNA Score is going up, but the WUs haven't moved from 1 at all. Not at all sure why, rebooted the VM just in case it makes a difference.
As the impact of COVID-19 spreads, we have two main priorities: caring for the health and safety of our team members, their families and our communities, and doing everything we can to take care of the needs of our customers and partners. ...
To support Folding@home’s efforts to simulate the dynamics of proteins involved in COVID19 and hunt for new therapeutic opportunities, Dell Technologies is engaging users of our Alienware PCs to ‘lend’ their computing power. Each simulation a person runs on their own PC increases the chances of finding possible ‘druggable sites’ on the proteins, which can lead to treatment options for the disease. Learn more by visiting this site.
Disclosure:
I work for Dell Technologies. This is in addition to my detailed disclosure link atop all articles here at TinkerTry.com, my independently owned and operated site. See also on twitter: @paulbraren #Iwork4Dell
VMware Appliance for Folding@Home was updated on Apr 1 2020, here's the changelog:
April 1, 2020 - v1.0.2
F@H software has been updated to latest 7.5.1
Add OVF DeploymentOption (Small, Medium and Large) to help simplify initial configuration including optimal memory setting for 16 vCPU
SSH is now disabled by default (can be enabled during OVF deployment)
I'm happy to report that the Folding@home VM 1.0.2 works fine on vSphere/ESXi 7.0!
Way to go Max! Thanks to @lamw and @AmandaBlevfor inspiring us to pitch in!
Here’s my 16 day TinkerTry lab summary: https://stats.foldingathome.org/donor/74495481 and by tomorrow, I should be at 4 nodes running 4 @foldingathome 1.0.2 VMs on ESXi 7.0, of course!
See also another recent tweet letting Steve Gibson know about this VM version:
VMware Appliance for Folding@Home was updated on Apr 17 2020, here's the changelog:
April 17, 2020 - v1.0.3
F@H software has been updated to latest 7.6.8
Add OVF property (guestinfo.fah_next_unit_percentage) to control Workload Unit Percentage (default value of 90)
Folding@home VM 1.0.3 works fine on vSphere/ESXi 7.0, I've deployed this new VM on all 4 nodes. All screenshots and references above updated.
Team Dell|EMC reference updated to DellTechnologiesNA. Team Home Gadget Geeks ID 243306 added.
Title changed from: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers unfold the mystery of diseases like Coronavirus/COVID-19 virtually
to: VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers unfold the mystery of diseases like COVID-19 virtually
TinkerTry YouTube Channel - Mar 23 2020 - VMware Appliance for Folding@home - help researchers fight Coronavirus/COVID-19 disease virtually
I agree with @sggrc's tweet about the video below:
A fabulous med school level COVID-19 whiteboard walkthrough: https://bit.ly/3dlwjV1
Sit down and rev-up your propeller beanie. You will learn SO MUCH from this. (The last deep diagnostic portion can be skipped, IMO.)
Deploy OVF Template - 4 Review detailsDeploy OVF Template - 8 Ready to completeHere's how it's supposed to look. I have a browser open to the hostname on port 7396, which shows the status of the VM at right. You can use the IP instead of the name, if you prefer.Here's how it's supposed to look. I have a browser open to the hostname on port 7396, which shows the status of the VM at right. You can use the IP instead of the name, if you prefer.
Davide Abrigo @zhaknafein 13 hr
Ok, looks like I was wrong Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat...probably Covid projects are assigned only to "bigadv" clients (16+CPU). BTW, joined 32 cores to help
Scientists at Scripps Research are doing computational research to look for possible treatments for COVID-19, but to be successful they need massive computing power to carry out millions of simulated laboratory experiments.
So they’re teaming up with World Community Grid, an IBM social impact initiative that allows anyone with a computer and an internet connection to donate their device’s idle processing power to help scientists study the world’s biggest problems in health and sustainability.
The researchers want not only to help find treatments for COVID-19, but also to create a fast-response, open source tool that will help all scientists quickly search for treatments for future pandemics.
OpenPandemics will be launching soon, and we need your help. Sign up below to be informed as soon as the project is live, and to learn how you can start putting your computer to work against COVID-19
I’m writing this from my apartment in San Francisco where I’ve been sheltering in place for almost 2 weeks now.
Personally I had been wondering just how I could help, beyond just applying the rules of today… social distancing, not panic-buying, keeping in touch with friends and family with Zoom and FaceTime, trying to limit time spend on Facebook (okay that last one I’m having a hard time with, but still…).
All that stuff is good, but surely there has to be more to do without putting anyone at risk, right?
Well thankfully I’m not the only one thinking that.
My friends and colleagues William Lam and Amanda Blevins, along with the support of the VMware community, have taken the onus to put together a free virtual appliance that can contribute your spare CPU cycles to the Folding At Home project. ...
As Silicon Valley is gearing up to fight against the novel coronavirus, NVIDIA is putting its GPU technology to use by enabling researchers and gamers to join the on-going efforts. ...
This is an update on Folding@home’s efforts to assist researchers around the world taking up the global fight against COVID-19.
After initial quality control and limited testing phases, Folding@home team has released an initial wave of projects simulating potentially druggable protein targets from SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and the related SARS-CoV virus (for which more structural data is available) into full production on Folding@home. Many thanks to the large number of Folding@home donors who have assisted us thus far by running in beta or advanced modes. ...
At VMware, our EPIC2 values are a core component of who we are. We manifest our values in all aspects of our work and through being a Force for Good in our communities. When I initially read an article about Folding@Home and the project’s impact in helping researchers find treatments for diseases such as Coronavirus, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and more, I knew that I had to contribute to the project! To quote foldingathome.org:
The Folding@Home project (FAH) is dedicated to understanding protein folding, the diseases that result from protein misfolding and aggregation, and novel computational ways to develop new drugs in general. ...
This section describes how Folding@home simulations work and why our methods benefit from distributed computing. The descriptions found here may be slightly technical, but aims for people who would like to learn more about how this project works and how their computer is involved. ...
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
